Page 5

Chapter five

The Tour

Gideon

I nteresting—and rather disturbing. Just what the hell had Carlos Vega done to her? It was obvious there were things she hadn’t divulged. And I couldn’t figure out what she was hiding. Was it all an act to garner our sympathies? “Will it bother you if we go in? To set up surveillance equipment, of course.”

And to examine everything inside to help us collar Santos. But I wasn’t going to admit that’s why I wanted full access to the room. We had to establish trust before we even considered divulging the truth of why we were here. We had been monitoring her phone and laptop, and when she started searching for a bodyguard security team to hire, we had put the business together as a front. Then, with Mateo’s brilliance behind a keyboard, he had pushed the fake company to the top of the search engines until she had finally called us.

It didn’t hurt that Mateo had messed with the other security companies’ schedules to make it appear like they didn’t have any openings for another two weeks.

“No. Have at it. I can’t tell you what you will find besides layers of dust. I haven’t even had the maid go in there. Sandra comes three mornings a week. Given the size of this place, there’s no way I can keep up with it.”

“That’s understandable. It’s a lot of space for one person.”

“It is.” We followed her into the basement once we had toured the first floor except for Carlos Vega’s office. I could only shake my head at what was in the basement. There was a full gym I had every intention of taking advantage of, a sauna, a bowling alley with ten lanes, a movie theater with plush leather seating, a bar and old-school popcorn maker in the theater, and storage areas with extra food supplies and stockpiles of toilet paper. There was also a locked room with keypad access.

“What’s in there?” I asked, nodding my chin toward the door.

Kylie glanced at the door. A pained expression crossed her face before she met my gaze with a nonchalant shrug, like she couldn’t care less what was inside. “Don’t have a clue. It’s another room my late husband warned me to stay out of or face dire consequences. After my foray into his office once, I never went anywhere I wasn’t supposed to in this house.”

Damn.

Her words sounded grim. The other guys’ brows rose at her offhand comment. Mateo nodded with a sanguine expression, giving me the signal that he could breach the security. There was an electronic keypad with multiple locks. Made a man wonder what was so important to keep locked up that way and keep his wife from ever entering.

We toured the rest of the house. Damn thing was massive. Each bedroom had its own sitting room and bathroom. She even allowed us inside the enormous master suite. She must have redecorated here too. Her bedroom was distinctly feminine, with a bed large enough to host a party.

The massive oak four-poster bed had mounds of pillows and looked like a pink cloud. Everything reflected softness and comfort, and the scent she wore was stronger in here.

When we returned to the living room with a firm grasp on the equipment we would need, I said to Kylie, “We’ll get all the legal stuff, like the contract, done and tour the grounds outside once we are set up here. My associates and I will head out and grab everything we’ll need. We shouldn’t be gone more than two hours maximum.” They would be back inside of an hour. Mateo had already been texting our superior everything we were going to need on this job. The team at headquarters would have it all together for us. And when it came to our personal effects, we already had our bags packed, plus three trucks full of surveillance supplies we’d already amassed. It was simply a matter of collecting everything from headquarters.

“Okay. You’re sure it won’t take longer than that?” Kylie asked nervously. Poor thing was really spooked. Like she expected Santos and his men to stage an invasion.

“Did something happen recently, Kylie? I need you to be honest with us if we’re going to be able to do our job.”

She sighed, her shoulders sagging with the weight of her fear and anxiety. “It’s probably nothing. I’m likely being overly dramatic. Yesterday, during the day, the doorbell rang. But when I checked the security camera feed, there was no one there. It happened four times yesterday. And I...I don’t feel safe. Not after the boxes of body parts and threats Luka Santos has lobbed my way.”

Fuck.

She was being terrorized. I glanced at Axel and had a wordless conversation with him to stay here and keep an eye out. I trusted him to get her to safety if Santos attacked. Axel nodded his understanding in response.

“Axel will stay with you while the rest of us grab what we’ll need for this job. This way, you won’t be alone. The rest of us will be back soon. Kylie, we’re good at our jobs and will protect you with our lives. Just trust us and do whatever Axel tells you to without question, all right?”

Kylie visibly relaxed. “Okay. Thank you.”

“It’s what we’re here to do, Kylie. Axel’s going to walk us out but will be right back. Okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll be in the kitchen. Any requests for lunch or dinner?”

She was so eager to please. I cocked my head as her question finally sank in. “Wait, you cook?”

She gifted me with the first genuine smile we’d seen today. “Yeah, I do. It’s one of my favorite things.”

“We’re not picky.” We spent years eating MREs and would eat whatever was put in front of us. “Surprise us.”

Pleasure washed over her. A pinkish blush stole into her cheeks, and she dipped her head in a submissive gesture. “All right, I will.”

“We’ll be back soon.” At her small sign of submission, I had the startling urge to gather her in my arms and swear everything would be all right. Which was ridiculous. I was all about the collar and closing a case down, not comforting the widow of a Mafia goon.

It’s why we tended to share women between us. Because one, it was hot as fuck. And two, it helped me maintain an emotional distance. The last thing I wanted was to be tied down.

I headed toward the front door with my crew in tow. On the front porch, I spoke quietly to Axel. “Keep your eyes out for anything suspicious.”

“Are you sure we won’t need to bring more agents in on this?” he whispered urgently.

“Not yet. This is our case. If we need to bring others in when we have more solid evidence, we will. But between the four of us, we can protect her.”

“She’s a pretty little thing. Wouldn’t mind having her dance on my magic stick.” Chase chuckled with a lewd grin.

I leveled him with a glare. Sometimes his inability to take dangerous situations seriously got on my nerves. “It’s not that kind of operation.”

“I wouldn’t turn her down either.” Mateo grinned, opening the van door with White Security on the side. The paint for the logo had been applied yesterday and dried overnight.

“Focus on the mission now, your dicks later.” Why couldn’t Carlos Vega’s widow have been an ugly hag instead of this vision of quintessential female beauty.

“Hey, if she comes on to me, I’m not kicking her out of my bed,” Chase stated with his hands up in an I surrender gesture, while wiggling his brows in a suggestive fashion.

Axel shook his head in disbelief at Chase’s antics. “I’m going to get back inside.” He was a man of few words and tended to brood more than any man I’d ever known.

“Look after the Phoenix while we’re gone.”

Axel gave me a sharp nod of ascent.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t have drawn straws to see who stays behind?” Chase asked, glancing at the front door as if he could see through it to the woman inside.

“Why would we do that?” But I knew. I wasn’t the only one affected by Carlos Vega’s widow.

“Because Axel will get a head start before the rest of us. She might decide she wants to screw him instead.”

“Nah, Axel’s become a monk this past year. You don’t have to worry about him.” Mateo grinned. “But I’d be up for a friendly wager to see who gets there first.”

“Agents. At least try to act fucking professional.” I snorted and climbed into the driver’s seat. Axel strode back inside the house, closing the door with a hard thud. The other bozos climbed into the van, tossing digs back and forth on each other’s prowess and who might score with Kylie first.

We had two objectives with this case. One, gather enough evidence to finally pin charges that will stick on Luka Santos and take his entire organization down. And two, protect Kylie Vega from certain demise at Luka Santos’s hands. Unfortunately, neither of them was fucking Kylie Vega.

Although, if I was honest, I wouldn’t turn her down either. In fact, a part of me would relish the opportunity to take her to bed if it arose.