Page 14 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)

Ryan could see the indecision on her father’s face. He didn’t blame the man. It was taking all of Ryan’s willpower not to grab Keely and run away with her. There was no real proof that she was at risk, but it just didn’t feel right to let her walk around in public right now.

“Thank you, gentleman, for your help. Do you need anything else right now?”

“No, but make sure to give us a call if anything else comes back to you.”

“I will,” she said, leaning down to kiss Maya’s head. “Let me know if Maya likes the biscuits I made her.”

He nodded and then watched as her father walked her out. She was…still stunning. She had been gorgeous the night that they found her, but now, after a couple of good nights’ rest, she seemed to glow.

“You might want to get a towel to get rid of the drool,” Kap said.

Ryan slanted his friend a look. “Fuck off.”

“Ooohh, Ryan cussed.”

“Wait, what?” Nikki asked, stopping by the door. “Captain America cussed? Say it isn’t so!”

Rami was right behind her, as he usually was, as they both entered the office.

“What’s up?”

“Ryan cussed,” Nikki said, as if she were revealing some kind of big secret. He cussed a lot. Most of the time, it was in his head.

“He used the word fuck,” Kap said, glee threading his voice.

His teammates were assholes. Every fucking one of them. So, he didn’t cuss that much, at least outside of his thoughts.

“Get bent, Kap.”

“Why so agitated, amigo?”

Dammit, when Rami used Spanish, he was trying to get under your skin. Ryan had seen the man use it repeatedly when questioning suspects. Mostly, when he wanted the person or people to think he was slow. They always fell for it, but Ryan knew better.

“You can get bent, too.”

“He was drooling over Ms. Templeton,” Kap said. “Probably upset his dog got more attention than he did.”

He glanced at Maya, who was watching the team with interest. Ryan turned back to his team.

“I will never be jealous of Maya.”

“That’s okay. We understand,” Kap said.

Ryan narrowed his eyes as he glared at his teammate. “What do you understand?”

They all shared a look, then Rami said, “Performance issues.”

Jesus. “I don’t have any performance issues.”

“It’s just that we’ve been a team for nine months. No sign of a woman.”

“Do you actually think I would introduce a woman I was dating to you?”

“Oh, okay,” Rami said as he shared a glance with Kap, then they both turned to face him.

“Worried about the competition?” Kap asked.

“What competition? The two guys who can’t keep it in their pants? I mean, do you even remember the name of the last woman either of you had in your bed?”

He didn’t say it with anger, but with enough force that it caused both of them to wince.

“Yeah, exactly. She’s a victim. She’s part of a case, and while I think she is gorgeous, I won’t step over that line. I have integrity. Maya, let’s go for a quick walk.”

At the sound of her name and one of her favorite words, she jumped to her feet. He led her through the common area and out the door. The moment the sun warmed his skin, he felt the tension easing and the muscles in his neck relaxing.

He knew that there was nothing in the handbook against him wanting to date Keely and actually doing it.

Hell, Adam Lee was married to a woman who had been a victim in one of their cases.

But he knew those lines could get blurred really easily.

And while he didn’t think Keely was involved with the situation, he knew there was something really off.

There didn’t seem to be a reason for the hit.

Yes, there was some kind of a connection with the Yakuza, but there wasn’t a reason for them to be slaughtered like that.

He’d learned while he was at LAPD that there was always a chance he could be blindsided by a pretty face and an innocent smile. That his mistakes had left his reputation in tatters, and he had been lucky that TFH had even wanted to hire him.

So, to keep himself, his team, and Keely safe, he would keep his distance as much as possible. The alternative could end in death.

The office was quiet after Ryan left. Kap looked at his teammates.

“I guess we have a wager on him and Keely?”

“Yeah,” Nikki said. “Emma’s handling it.”

He fought a wince. If the boss knew his wife was handling most of their bets these days, he would probably lose it. Gambling was against the law in Hawai’i, and Del was convinced that it was bad for office morale. Kap thought the opposite.

“Boss ain’t gonna like that. Not at all,” Rami said, voicing Kap’s thoughts.

Nikki shook her head as she smiled. As the only woman on the team, the former Coastie could hold her own with all of them.

Truth was, she was probably tougher than all of them put together.

She also had a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and her ability to get in and out of buildings was legendary.

At one time, she had told him she’d been in gymnastics, and it showed.

“Boss knows.”

“No way, he would put an end to it,” Rami said.

Oh, here we go. Lately, these two had been on each other’s nerves. He just wished they would fuck each other and get rid of the tension.

“How would he do that?” Rami asked. Actually, it sounded more like a demand.

“He would tell her to knock it off.”

Nikki laughed. “Oh, damn, I forgot you’ve never been in a long-term relationship. The boss knows, he just doesn’t give a damn. If you didn’t realize it yet, that man is wrapped around her finger.”

“Oh, yeah? You’ve never been married, so what do you know about it?”

“True, but I’ve been engaged.”

Stunned silence filled the space. Kap eyed his teammates. They were in front of the office door, making it hard to get by them without a tussle. Or worse, they would draw him into their argument.

“When?”

Nikki’s eyes widened, and Kap understood. It was the same tone Rami used when he was interrogating a violent suspect.

“Excuse me?”

Great. Now they were going to fight. Never failed these last couple of months. And he was stuck there.

“When were you engaged?”

“Why is that important?”

“Because I think you’re lying.”

Kap took a step back to avoid the blow zone. Nikki was a small woman, but she was lethal with her hands and feet. There was a good chance she would kill Rami. A movement in the doorway caught his eye, and he realized it was Autumn. Good. Maybe Seth’s crazy fiancée would settle things down.

She was eating one of the cookies Keely had brought.

“Oh, damn, you just told a woman who can kill you with her hands that you think she’s lying.”

Rami blinked as if just realizing other people were gathering around. In fact, Tamilya, a tall drink of water with light brown skin and a killer smile from Team Alpha, and her husband, Marcus, the leader of Team Charlie, joined Autumn.

“What’s going on?” Tamilya asked.

“Rami called Nikki a liar because she said she was engaged at one time.”

The two of them were still staring each other down.

“Well, yeah, she was,” Tamilya said.

“What?” Rami finally broke eye contact with Nikki.

“We talked all about it at our last girls’ night,” Autumn said.

“What the hell?” Rami asked. “You go out with the other team?”

“Oh, no, Nikki, did you not get permission to hang out with us?” Tamilya asked, sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

“I go out for girls’ nights because hanging out with a sausage fest all day isn’t my idea of fun.”

“And, we have our lunches. Although Charity bailed on the last one because she was taking a nap and everything makes her want to barf in the middle of the day,” Autumn said.

“No one’s taking a break,” Seth announced just as Ryan walked back in with Maya.

Their captain was eyeing the group that had gathered, then his gaze took in Rami and Nikki.

Kap knew that those two were going to get a meeting soon.

Seth was easy going, but when he was mad, he was a little scary… not that he would admit that out loud.

“What’s up?” Ryan asked.

“Ray’s alive and at Queen’s Medical.”