Page 7

R eal walked through the halls of Dave’s estate.

His plan was to locate Azrael, but he’d heard from the kitchen staff that the twins and Cash had gone to breakfast.

He helped himself to a few scones from the cook with the nice smile. She was thrilled when he complimented her on the ham and cheese tucked inside.

With his stomach full, he left the bakery smell of the kitchen and headed into the foyer. From there, he turned left and walked down the wide hallway toward where the gaming room was.

Voices drew his attention from the direction of the guards’ quarters and he hooked another left down a back hallway.

“Damn it, bring him over here and let’s get that bandaged up.”

“We should drive him to the hospital.”

“No, no hospital.”

Real moved quietly to the break room door that the guards used.

When he spotted the one guard without a shirt and another one patching him up, Real pinched the bridge of his nose and held back the sigh.

Apparently, Azrael was back. Those slices in the guard’s chest looked suspiciously like the young assassin’s handiwork.

Real stepped away, heading down the hall, and he pulled up the surveillance app on his phone. He wanted to get a look at Azrael’s handiwork.

He flipped back through the video and stopped in his tracks. He pressed the Bluetooth in his ear that would connect the video’s audio to his phone.

The surveillance video played the chain of events, along with every fucking sound.

He stilled, watching and listening to the clip in its entirety.

Turning on his heel, Real walked back down the hall.

Entering the break room, the three guards glanced up at him.

Real stalked closer.

Without warning, he slammed the closest guard’s head into the side of the metal refrigerator. Knocked out cold, the man dropped like a stone.

Real jabbed a second guard in the throat with one hand and slammed his fist into the man’s nose. He heard a satisfying crunch before the guy fell away, tripped over the table, and toppled to his ass.

Real turned on the man with the X sliced into his chest.

“I…” the bloodied guard said, and Real grabbed the man by the throat. He was tempted to crush his windpipe, but refrained—just barely.

Hefting the fucker up from the chair, Real fisted the hair at the back of the man’s head and frog marched him out of the break room, down the hall, into the foyer, and toward the front door.

“What’s going on?” Stone asked gruffly, coming to the study’s doorway.

“Taking out the trash,” Real said as if it were an everyday thing.

“Okay…” Stone said slowly.

He hadn’t seen that look on Real’s face in months. Something had the former Navy SEAL in a cold rage and Stone was going to stay the fuck out of Real’s way.

Whatever the guard had done, he no doubt deserved it.

A noise from the far hallway sounded, and another guard stumbled from it. When a second guard hurried out and helped the first one walk, they both spotted Stone at the same time.

Stone squinted and then slowly jerked his head to the front door. “You had better beat it before he comes back. I’ll wire your last paychecks.”

He didn’t know what the fuck they’d done, but he trusted Real.

“What the hell?” Dave said, stepping up behind him in the doorway.

The man looked all sleepy and Stone was pissed that the scuffle had woken Dave from his morning nap. The man barely slept at night, and when he napped, Stone took the opportunity to sit near him and rest.

Dave looked over the two injured guards.

Stone drew his gaze from Dave.

Blood dripped down one guard’s face. Broken nose, Stone thought. The other was holding the side of his head, looking dazed.

“They fucked with Real,” Stone told Dave.

“No, we didn’t,” the guard with the bloody nose cried nasally, his voice hoarse.

It took Stone a second to process that before he spoke again. “Then you fucked with Azrael…and that’s the same as fucking with Real.”

“Stone will wire your pay. Don’t come back and don’t use me as a reference,” Dave snapped, stalking closer to grip the open front door.

Both men skirted way around Dave and disappeared outside. A second later, Real came back through the front door.

“Where did you throw him?” Stone asked.

“Out the front gate,” Real told him and stalked toward the stairs.

When Real was halfway up, Stone called out. “Are you going to tell us what happened?”

“Check the surveillance,” Real said and disappeared up the stairs.

Azrael heard the knock on his door, but he was showering. He figured whoever it was would come back later.

They probably wanted to chew him a new one for slicing up their guard, but so what?

He washed his long hair and rinsed off before grabbing a towel to twist around the long black strands. He dried with another gray fluffy towel and dressed in a pair of black pants with a gray t-shirt.

Catching Real inside his room brought him to a standstill in the bathroom doorway. He wondered if he could make it to the window in time to disappear, but Real didn’t give him the chance.

The big soldier blocked the path and the light coming from the window. He would have to leap over the bed and somehow get past Real before he could throw open the damn thing and make his escape.

There wasn’t any way to get past Real.

“What do you want?” Azrael yanked the towel from his hair and rubbed it over the wet strands while he glared at Real.

“Just checking to make sure you’re okay.” Real’s eyes looked more gray than blue in this light.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Real shrugged and glanced away. “This is…your home.”

“This is not my home,” Azrael said, irritation from the guards lingering.

“It is for as long as you want it.” Real turned back to him.

Damn, the man looked so good. Real would forever be a sexy warrior in his mind.

The former SEAL wore a pair of tight blue jeans with a dark blue long-sleeved Henley and black chunky combat boots. His hair was cut short, almost a military style, but the top was longer and combed back from his forehead.

Of all the men Azrael had been around, Real was the most delicious.

With the man’s hard face and intense gray-blue gaze, Azrael could never really figure out what Real was thinking. The man didn’t give anything away.

Azrael suddenly wondered what Real would do if he did what he wanted to do.

That near kiss on the roof had settled into his core. It had taken over his brain, that was for sure. Otherwise, he would have never done what he did next.

But screw it!

Azrael jumped up onto the bed and launched at Real from there.

The big warrior was tall and big, and when Azrael hit him, Real only grunted beneath the impact.

Azrael’s plan worked, and he wrapped his arms around Real’s thick neck and his legs around the man’s waist.

Real’s big hands came up to cup and then clench his ass cheeks.

Azrael leaned in and kissed Real on the lips.

The man’s mouth stayed firm and unrelenting.

What the hell?

He drew back slightly. There had to be something behind Real’s glittering gaze, right?

Azrael searched Real’s eyes and face, but the only reaction he could see was a muscle ticking in the man’s tight jaw.

Was Real clenching his teeth?

Azrael leaned in again and instead of a hard kiss, he brushed his lips lightly over Real’s mouth.

Closing his eyes, he nuzzled his lips against Real’s.

Finally, Real’s lips parted, and a growl emerged from the man’s throat. The kiss turned heady and hot and Azrael sent his fingers into Real’s hair at the top of his head to hold on when his mouth was possessed—taken and owned for almost a minute.

“Real,” he moaned against the man’s lips.

That got a reaction.

Only, it wasn’t the one he wanted nor expected.

Real jerked his head away and dumped him on the bed.

Azrael bounced and rolled to his knees in time to see Real’s back as he stalked out of his bedroom and snapped the door closed.

Clenching his fists, Azrael fought back the burn that hit his eyes.

He should have known better.

That asshole was as cold as ice.