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He shook his head. “It makes sense, but…”
“But you don’t want your ex going to jail, possibly scarring your kids for life,” Doug put in, astutely.
“Got it in one,” Mike grunted.
“Okay. What if…?” Now Kyle got a sly look on his face. “What if we scare the shit out of them instead? We all know Mellie,” he looked around and received nods from everyone but Elle. “No offense or anything Mike, but she’s always been a little self-serving, so we know she’ll pick the avenue that’s most advantageous to her. If we set up a sting like Elle suggested, but instead of turning the pair in, we tie them up, then posture like we’re going to do away with them for their misdeeds, they’ll back off. Especially after we make very convincing noise about how we’re going to hide their bodies where no one will ever find them.”
“And then?” Mike grunted, not sure what Kyle was getting at.
“After scaring the crap out of them, we’ll give Melanie a few options. They can either kiss their asses goodbye, be turned over to the police and be convicted of attempted murder, or…,” here he paused gleefully, “they can promise to back off and leave you the fuck alone, and we’ll do the same with them.”
“And why would they agree to that?” Elle asked, clearly skeptical.
“Because not only will Mike, at that point, tell them he’s changed his paperwork so Mel’s no longer a beneficiary to anything, but as added incentive, with all the witnesses—us—who are aware of her and her boyfriend’s perfidy, he’ll let her know if so much as a hair on his head is harmed in the future, they’ll both disappear off the face of the earth completely—complements of his team.”
Mike tugged on his beard, which, yes, was still crusty with dried blood despite the wet-wipe. “It could work. Mellie’s never been the intrepid sort to risk her ass.” Unlike the woman whose green gaze had barely left his since they’d had their tussle. He knew she wouldn’t blink at any threat aimed her way.
Elle cleared her throat. “But she knows all of you pretty well, doesn’t she?” she asked the group. “Which means she knows you’re all goodie-two-shoes; boy scouts who stick pretty closely to society’s rules.”
The guys all looked a little sheepish, because, yeah. They all respected the law, and killing Mellie wouldn’t just be a stretch, it would be a hell no in their book, and his ex would know that.
“Right,” Mike agreed. “She’s not going to buy that we’re a threat.”
The eyes which had mesmerized Mike suddenly glinted with a joyous kind of evil that had his heart flip-flopping in his chest.
“Me, on the other hand?” Elle smirked. “I’m a wildcard. So if I come off as the lunatic bitch with, let’s say, a knife, who’s protecting her new…boyfriend,” her smile turned up in wattage as she pursed her lips and sent a puckered kiss Mike’s way, “she’ll be pooping her panties by the end of our confrontation.”
“I like it,” Welker stated, laughing. “But truthfully? I think once Mel finds out she’s off a dearly-departed-Mike’s gravy-train, she’ll give up her plot and slink back into obscurity. That being said, however, I’m all for seeing her face when she not only finds out Mike’s got a hot girlfriend—Uh, sorry. Not PC. A lovely lady of interest—but finds out her replacement is a bit on the cray-cray side.”
“Mike?” Elle asked, her brows raised as she attempted to tamp down her amusement. “What do you say, sweet cheeks? You wanna shack up?”
Mike looked around at his friends who were trying hard not to roar with laughter. They knew him well enough that they fully expected to see drool oozing out from one corner of his mouth.
But aside from the shit he’d take if he agreed to Elle’s proposal, was he on board with accepting the mysterious woman’s offer?
Hell yes.
But, dammit, he wanted her proposal to be real. He wanted this woman in his bed and underneath him…hell, on top of him if that’s what she liked, until he could work her out of his system.
That clearly wasn’t what she’d put on the table, though. Or was it? He couldn’t get a read on her, and that ramped up his fascination and his cock another degree.
Mike forced his libido back down, with difficulty, making a snap decision.
With as much dispassion as he could muster, he gave his answer.
“Sounds like a plan.”
CHAPTER TEN
Joelle couldn’t believe she’d had the audacity not only to kiss Mike, but to suggest they become an item so his ex would back off. It wasn’t going to be a hardship for her… Ah, helmet. Yes, it was. Because she wanted to jump Mike’s bones for real, and other than a little PDA aimed at confusing the murderous Mellie, nothing more would be on their proposed agenda. What would her excuse be if she accidentally took things to another level in private?
Oh, don’t mind me. Just part of the job. I’m rubbing up against your impressive shnick in order to keep you alive.
Joe managed to avoid a snort. Barely.
Mmm, hmm. She’d felt the more than adequate bulge in Mike’s BDU’s—or BVD’s—before he’d leveraged himself off her. Which meant… He had to be physically interested in her, too. Right?
She broke into a grin. This thing might just work out for both of them.