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A zrael had been walking on air from the moment Real had said those three little words.

Of course, he had leaped up and wrapped himself around Real at that moment. It wasn’t until much later that he fell back on the bed, breathing hard, completely sated.

“So…what are we going to do about Titus?” Azrael asked, toying with Real’s fingers.

The morning light continued filtering through the partially closed drapes, the sound of birds in the willow tree outside sang through the air.

“We’ll get him. I wouldn’t be surprised if Viper calls a meeting today to discuss it,” Real said.

If Viper did call a meeting, Azrael knew YA would be included—they had earned their place on the ranch.

It wasn’t until two days later that Viper called a meeting.

Genesis, along with YA and a few people Azrael from Dave’s place were in attendance.

“Why are Seth and Jordan from Pegasus here?” he whispered.

“I don’t know,” Real murmured.

Real had opted to sit next to him instead of at the head of the room like last time. It was nice, and Azrael preened a bit. How could he not when he was sitting beside the hottest man in the room?

He shouldn’t have been surprised to see Seth and Jordan, and after today, Azrael wouldn’t be.

The ranch was, in truth, a place where anyone from Dave and Will’s specialty teams were welcome.

They came and went at their leisure. Maybe just passing through on vacation, needing a place to hole up, or restock on supplies. It was a win-win situation for all.

Azrael noticed that Quick Jameson was also in attendance, having gotten back from a recent trip to god knows where. While Quick was a trainer on the ranch, he frequently returned to Phoenix to help train recruits for Dave.

Azrael returned his curiosity to Seth and Jordan. Seth, also known as Reboot Hell and Jordan, who went under the mysterious name of J, were both excellent hackers from Dave’s team.

Viper stood from where he was sitting at the head of the room.

“I would call the breach of Micky’s compound a win,” Viper said. “And every one of you played a significant part.” Viper eyes traveled over the people gathered in the room.

“I have a few announcements before we get into the discussion about Titus,” Viper continued.

There wasn’t a soul who wasn’t paying attention. Viper had the full attention of everyone in the room. The only noise was that of an occasional cough or a shoe scuffing.

“Most of you know Seth and Jordan from Pegasus. They are here to help with the research into Titus,” Viper said, pointing to the two hackers.

Seth stood around six feet. With vivid, bright green eyes, a slim build, and dark, nearly black curly hair, the man stood out. His large eyes with long, thick lashes, a delicate but firm jaw, and lush full lips set him apart.

Seth was married, and Azrael discreetly glanced around looking for the man’s husband. He found Frost leaning against the wall, and that was why he’d missed him. The big man’s corded arms were crossed, and his crystal blue eyes were locked on his husband.

Jordan, who sat next to Seth, had dark curly hair, bright blue eyes, a quick smile, and was certainly a head turner.

“Now onto other official business,” Viper said, bringing his attention back to the leader.

Azrael expected more about Seth and Jordan, but that was all they got.

Viper wasn’t one to go into details when he figured everyone should know their shit.

And Azrael did know his shit, he just expected Viper to explain it to the room.

Like they were all dumbasses or something.

He almost snickered, but muffled the sound, earning a frowning glance from Real.

“You all know that YA is an official part of Genesis. I have assigned Azrael, along with Rebel, as co-leaders of the group. They will answer to me and Real, but they will be in charge of searching for and identifying more young assassins, starting with the few that came out of Micky’s compound.”

Azrael nodded. He knew that three of the young adults rescued from the compound were former assassins.

According to Micky, they had been sold to Titus from Tanis.

The sad part was that the three had originally come from Solomon.

Then Solomon sold them to Tanis, who turned around and sold them to Titus.

God, he was glad Tanis, that fucker, was dead.

He felt sick to his stomach thinking of what those young men had been through with all of those sick fucks.

“You good with that?” Viper asked him, and Azrael snapped straight in his chair.

“Yes, Sir,” both he and Rebel answered at the same time.

“Next order of business is that the site in Colorado has been built and finished. Like this place, it is a training facility. If any of you are interested in a change in environment, then let me know.”

A soldier raised a hand.

“Yes?” Viper called on the guy.

“Does that include active military, Sir?” the soldier asked.

Viper thought about that for a moment and then nodded. “Put in your requests for transfer, and I’ll make it happen unless it makes us shorthanded, and then you may need to wait a bit.”

“Thank you, Sir,” the young man said, sitting down with a smile.

“Next order of business is Titus. I sent out a recon group to the locations Micky gave us, but my team missed Titus by minutes,” Viper said.

The low sound of murmurs traveled around the room.

“It’s a heavy blow, and I’ve personally posted a million-dollar bounty on his head,” Viper continued.

That didn’t surprise Azrael. He’d heard that Viper was stinking rich.

The guy came from old money. Not sure where it all came from, but probably oil.

Real told him that if you make too much money in the military, a person can actually be booted out, but Will had stepped in, and that was that.

Azrael figured friends in high places could make anything go away.

Or, in this case, the Secretary of Defense could make the call.

“So, my bounty on Titus negates the hundred thousand Titus put out on Real,” Viper said with a smirk.

Real snorted softly and gave the man a slight nod. Azrael reached over and linked their fingers together.

“With that said, we will continue to hunt Titus and continue to do business as usual. I know Titus, and I know what he’s capable of. Make no mistake, we will take him down.”

Azrael did a double-take. Viper personally knew Titus? Why was he only now sharing that fact with them?

Oh shit.

There must be some bad blood between them.

“Meeting is adjourned and the floor is open for questions,” Viper concluded.

The room erupted with noise, and several people raised their hands; others stood and wandered to the table in the back with the coffee and pastries.

Viper patiently answered questions as they came his way.

“What’s the deal between Viper and Titus?” Azrael whispered to Real.

“It’s a long story, I don’t know most of it, but what I heard was that it goes back to before boot camp,” Real murmured.

“So, they served together?” Azrael studied Viper.

“I don’t know. Before boot camp could mean they knew each other before the military. That’s all I know.” Real kept his voice low for his ears only.

“Okay, when can we get out of here?” Azrael asked, leaning into Real.

“We can leave now.” Real smiled.

“Good, because I want to go swimming,” Azrael said, waggling his brows.

Three states away in Topeka, Kansas.

The door to his study opened and Titus glanced up from the document in his hand to the man striding inside.

“Did they get him?” Titus placed the document aside.

“Yes, Micky is dead,” Walt Beckman, his second-in-command, said before taking a seat in one of the two leather chairs that sat facing his desk.

“And the compound?” Titus asked.

“Burned to the ground.”

“Any survivors?” Titus squeezed one fist.

“Genesis rescued the captives,” Walt said.

“I’m talking about the men in the compound. Did any of Micky’s men survive?”

Walt shifted in his chair at his boss’s biting tone.

Titus never lost his cool, but when he used a certain tone of voice, Walt knew he had better pay attention.

“Maybe five got away?”

“Find out and eliminate them,” Titus ordered.

“We will,” Walt promised. “What about Tatum? He’s still out there.”

“I’ll take care of my brother.” Titus squinted toward the window and the stretch of grasslands beyond. The sky of Kansas had fluffy white clouds shooting across a crystal blue sky.

“Can I ask you something?” Walt said, even though his gut was trembling.

“What?” Titus cocked his head and leveled those pale blue eyes on him.

Titus’ build was not bulky, but the man had powerful muscles that were all but hidden beneath his blue jeans and blue button-down work shirt.

Titus came across as tall and slender, and he was, but he was way more powerful than he appeared. Walt knew that firsthand.

“Why not just contact Genesis and tell them Micky worked for Tatum and not you? They can help us,” Walt said.

“That’s a long story, and I don’t have time to go into it, just do your job,” Titus said, his tone cold and biting.

“They have a hit out on you when it should be on Tatum!” Walt insisted.

Titus sighed and turned away. “Trust me, it’s better this way.”