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Chapter twenty-five

Mika

It was complete chaos for a while after Chance and all the people he’d brought in on this arrived. I still couldn’t believe that the Iron Jackals had been involved in human trafficking. I hadn’t particularly liked any of them, but I didn’t think they were evil.

I should have felt bad that Butch was dead. After all, I’d once claimed to love him, but I didn’t. He, along with his other gang members, had participated in the kidnap and transportation of other humans. What kind of monster does that?

Add to that the fact that he’d not only held a gun to my head, but he’d injured one of Chance’s men and shot Gator. No, he deserved what he got, so I didn’t have it in me to feel bad about it. Hawk said that might change after everything that happened had sunk in, but I didn’t think it would.

The local police department had taken statements from everyone involved, but since Chance was in charge of the operation, it was mostly a formality. As it turned out, Gator’s wound was, in fact, not just a scratch. It was what the paramedic called a through and through as they argued about whether or not Gator had to go to the hospital.

“I knew it wasn’t just a scratch,” I grumbled.

“It’s nothing, Mika, honest. I’ll be fine. I’ll have Rylan take a look when I get to HQ.”

I rolled my eyes at him. I could tell he was in pain, and as far as I was concerned, all this macho shit could fuck right off.

“What you’ll do is get in that ambulance like the nice paramedic said and go get stitched up. Do you hear me?”

Gator looked to Hawk for an assist, but Hawk just shook his head. “You heard him. Besides, Rylan isn’t in town, remember?”

“Fine, but I expect brownies as a reward for being good.” Gator made a pouty face that was ridiculous on the big man.

“Gator, you got shot rescuing me. I’ll make you brownies anytime you want.”

“Within reason,” Hawk growled. “You gotta watch what you promise this one.”

We stepped back and watched as they loaded him up in the ambulance, then I let out a relieved sigh.

“It’s really over, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, baby boy, it’s really over.”

I looked around at all the aftermath. There were police officers and agents everywhere, most of them running around trying to look important.

“How long do we have to stay up here?” I asked.

“We can leave whenever you’re ready. If they need anything else from us, they know where to find us.”

I nodded. “Take me home, Daddy.”

“Hey, Chance,” he called out, and the agent looked up from the notepad he was writing on. “Mika and I are leaving. If you need us, you know where to find us.”

Chance said something to the man he’d been speaking with and then came over to us. “Thanks for your help, Mika. I’m sorry about what happened. Butch never should’ve gotten that close to you.”

“How’s agent Collins?”

“He has a concussion, and they’re going to keep him for observation, but he’s doing okay.”

“Good, I’m glad.” I knew it wasn’t my fault, but I still felt horrible about him getting hurt. I wanted to leave, but there was one more thing I needed to know. “How are the people who were in the van? Are they okay?”

“They’ve all been taken to Vesper Memorial to be checked out, but physically, they seem to be in good condition.”

I noticed he said physically, and that was good to hear, but I was sure they were in much worse shape emotionally. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be in their situation.

“This has been quite a day.” Hawk slipped an arm around me and pulled me against his side. “So as long as you don’t need us, I’m going to take Mika home.”

“You’re good to go. I’m sure this is going to be an open-and-shut case, and I don’t expect any problems. But I’ll update you as soon as we get everything all situated.”

Knox had agreed to take the car Hawk and Gator had driven back to their headquarters, so Hawk and I drove mine. He parked next to his truck in the parking garage, and we got out.

“I need to stop and update Wolfe. Do you want to come with me or head on upstairs?”

I let out a tired sigh. “I need to call Andy, my mother, and Mary Ellen, so I should probably head on upstairs and make those calls while you talk to Wolfe.”

When the elevator doors opened up on the eighth floor, he brushed a kiss across my lips and stepped out. “I won’t be long, baby boy.”

I nodded and pushed the button for the tenth floor. As soon as the door to the condo closed behind me, and I was alone, the reality of everything that had happened hit me. I’d lived with this fear for so long that I didn’t even know how to feel now that the threat was gone.

My mind was still having a hard time wrapping itself around the idea that these men that I’d spent months with could be involved in something so horrible. I’d known they weren’t on the up and up, but nothing like this.

My thoughts were racing as I went back over every interaction I could remember for a sign that they were the kind of people who would do these things. I didn’t want to tell the story of today’s events over and over until I’d had time to figure out just how I felt about all of it, so I took the easy way out and sent text messages to Mary Ellen and my mother to let them know that it was over, and I would be calling them with details the next day. I knew that wasn’t going to fly with Andy, though, so I dialed his number and waited for him to answer.

“Hey, Mika, what’s up?” he answered.

“Have you seen the local news?”

He paused and then said, “No, why?”

“They arrested Butch’s guys on human trafficking charges today.”

“Butch’s guys, but what about Butch?”

“He’s dead, Andy. This whole thing is over with for good.”

“Butch is dead?”

“Yeah, he tried to take me again, and Hawk rescued me.”

“Okay, I feel like I’m missing a big piece of the story. Tell me everything.”

So I did. I told him about how the FBI’s plan to lure Butch out had worked, about him trying to take me, and about Gator getting shot. Then finally, I told him about Hawk shooting and killing Butch.

“Okay, and how do you feel about that?”

“Oddly enough, I’m okay with it. They were selling people, Andy. I just can’t feel sorry for someone who would steal someone else’s entire life just to make a buck.”

“Yeah. It’s hard to believe human trafficking is even a thing, but it is.”

“Exactly. To be perfectly honest, part of me feels like he got off too easy. The other guys he ran with will all be going to prison, where they’ll have to live with the consequences of their actions.”

“I get that, and I don’t disagree. So what are you going to do now that this is all over?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to do?”

“Are you going back to your house? Are you staying at Hawk’s place? Are you two going to keep seeing each other? That’s what I mean.”

“It just happened, so we haven’t talked about it today. He did tell me before that he wanted me to stay here with him, so unless something’s happened and he changed his mind, that’s my plan.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about him changing his mind. He’s gone on you. I can tell. This is the real deal for him.”

“I sure hope so because this is the real deal for me.”

We made arrangements to get together soon, and I hung up the phone. Then I decided I needed a distraction, so I went into the kitchen and pulled out the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies and brownies.

When life didn’t make sense to me or things got overwhelming, I always turned to baking because recipes were black and white. If I followed them as written, I was pretty much guaranteed a positive outcome, which sounded pretty good to me right now.

Hawk

I hadn’t wanted to leave Mika alone after everything he’d just been through, but I’d not only discharged my weapon, but it had resulted in a death, so I knew I needed to stop by and talk to Wolfe. We had rules and procedures in place for things like this here at Three Bears, and they applied to everyone, owners included.

I stopped by the ops center to give Kat a hug and thank her for all of her help. She was the best at what she did, and we were damn lucky to have her working with us. I wanted to make sure she knew that we were aware of that fact.

From there, I went to Wolfe’s office and sat down.

“Have you heard from Gator?” I asked.

“Yeah, they wanted to keep him overnight, but he charmed his way out of it. Knox is there to pick him up.”

I wasn’t at all surprised he didn’t stay. All of that business about how his gunshot wound was just a scratch was only partially about male bravado and making Mika feel better. Truth was, Gator would do just about anything to avoid hospitals. He really hated them.

“I’m glad he’s okay. It could’ve been so much worse.”

He nodded his head and let out a sigh. “How’s Mika?”

“He’s okay. He went on up to the condo while I stopped down here to check in.”

“And how are you? It’s never easy when you have to pull that trigger.”

“He was holding a gun to Mika’s head, Wolfe. The son of a bitch is lucky all I did was kill him.”

There was no way for me to describe the way I felt when I came around that corner to find him holding that gun to Mika’s temple. The only thing that kept me from losing my shit was the knowledge that Mika needed me. Here at Three Bears, we required mandatory counseling for anyone involved in a shooting that resulted in a fatality. I didn’t have any issues with how I handled the situation, and I didn’t feel the need to talk to anyone about ending Butch. However, that image of my boy in danger was going to haunt me. So when Wolfe set things up for me to talk to someone, I wouldn’t put up a fuss.

“I hear you, but you took care of the problem. Now, why don’t you get on upstairs to Mika? He may seem okay, but it had to be terrifying for him.”

I stood up, ready to get to my boy. “It was. I’ll talk to you later. If you need anything, come bang on my door. I’m turning my phone off for the night.”

“That sounds like a good plan. As a matter of fact, why don’t you take a couple of days off? If we need you, we know where to find you.”

“I’ll take you up on that. Thanks, Jason.”

When I opened the door to the condo, I wasn’t at all surprised to be greeted by the heavenly smell of chocolate and vanilla. I’d already figured out that baking was relaxing for Mika, and today had been nothing if not stressful.

“I’m home, mouse.”

“In the kitchen, Daddy,” he called back.

I walked in just as he was pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven. I grabbed one off a plate and took a bite, and fuck, that was good. It might’ve been the best chocolate chip cookie I’d ever eaten.

“Damn, baby boy. These are good.”

“Better than the brownies?” he asked.

“Don’t get me wrong, your brownies are great, but these cookies are next level.” I grabbed another cookie, but off the cooling rack this time. I thought they’d be even better still hot.

“It’s the extra vanilla. It makes them taste extra cravable. I made brownies for Gator. I thought maybe we could take them to him at that hospital. I could put in some cookies for him, as well.

“He’ll love that, but we don’t have to take them to the hospital. He’s on his way home right now. Knox is picking him up.”

Mika’s eyes lit up, and his smile widened. “Really? So it really was just a scratch after all.”

“Maybe a bit more than a scratch, but he’s fine.” I wouldn’t mention to him that they’d wanted to keep him overnight. He was already baking the man brownies and would probably fuss over him to no end. I sighed inside just thinking about it. Gator would eat that shit up.

I rounded the island, pulling him into a hug. He let out a sigh and relaxed against me. I placed a kiss on top of his head. “Are you okay, mouse?”

He nodded against my chest before looking up at me. “I’m fine, but how are you?”

“I’m fine. You’re safe, and that’s what matters to me.”

“I just can’t believe this is over. I’ve been so scared for so long. Even when I thought I’d moved past it, subconsciously, I was still living in a hyper-alert state. I’m not even sure how to live without that fear, but I’m looking forward to finding out.”

“That’s what I wanted for you, baby boy. To be able to live without fear.”

“And I’ll be able to because of you, Daddy.”

“Because of you. You’re the one who was brave enough to put yourself out there so we could catch him. All I did was what I’m trained to do.”

“You tell yourself that if you want, but I know the truth. You saved me.”

“The truth is, seeing you standing there like that with him threatening you was hands down the most terrified I’ve ever been. I love you, mouse. And I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

“I love you, too, Daddy, and you aren’t going to lose me. Do you need to go talk to anyone else about what happened today?”

“No, I’m all yours, baby boy.”

“Great, it’s been a long, crazy day. I think we should go to bed.”

“Oh, you think so, do you?” He nodded his head and bit his lower lip. I grinned at him and grabbed his hand. “Well then, let’s go.”

We headed for the bed, losing our clothing as we went. He beat me in there, and he crawled up into the middle of the bed, waiting for me. I chuckled and ran a hand up over his leg. “Damn, baby boy, you’re something else.”

“Says the sexiest man ever,” he said.

I laid down on the bed beside him, kissing and licking at his neck. I reached between us, taking both our cocks in one hand and pumped a few times.

He threw back his head and moaned.

“You like that, baby boy?”

“Oh yeah.”

He rocked against me in time with my strokes. Any other time, this would’ve been a nice little bit of foreplay, but today, after almost losing him, I was too close to the edge.

“I need to be inside you when I come.” I reached for the bottle of lube where we kept it on the bedside table. I opened the lid and poured it into my hand. “Baby, want you to look at me.”

He looked into my eyes, and the love I saw there almost undid me. I slicked up my cock and reached down, trailing my lube-slicked finger down his crack and over his tight hole. He shivered, but he didn’t break eye contact.

“You’re so tight and so needy for Daddy’s cock, aren’t you?” I asked as I slid one finger inside him. He took in a shaky breath and nodded, pushing back against my finger, releasing a moan. “I love the sounds you make. Those little moans and gasps make me want to bury myself deep inside you. So deep you can’t tell where you end and I begin. Do you want that, baby boy?”

“Yes, Daddy, yes, please,” he moaned.

I lined up my cock and pushed inside him, sliding home. I grabbed his hips and pumped into him hard and fast. He cried out, gripping my shoulders as he held on.

I slowly pulled back out, then thrust back in hard. Out slow, in hard, over and over. I tightened my grip on his hips to hold him in place as I slammed into him. I chased my orgasm, lost in the sensations of his tight channel around my cock, the sounds he made while I fucked him, and the knowledge that he was completely and truly mine.

“Make yourself come for me, baby,” I instructed.

He reached down and began to stroke his dick. It didn’t take long before he cried out, coming hard, and I was right there with him. I slammed into him deep and stayed there as my climax rolled through my body, and I filled him with my cum. I fell to the bed and pulled him up against me, his back to my front, and held him as tremors still ran through my body.

“I love you, baby,” I said.

“Love you, too, Daddy,” he said, snuggling back against me.