Page 29 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)

Sixteen

I t took Ryan a few minutes to recover. Once he did, he realized he had just collapsed on Keely like a freaking oaf.

He leaned up, balancing himself on his forearms. Her skin was shiny with perspiration, some of her thick waves sticking to it. She was a bit of a mess and the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

“Are you staring at me?” she asked, her husky voice wrapping around him. She didn’t open her eyes, but her mouth curved up into a smile.

Ryan knew he could play it off, make a joke, but he didn’t want to. At that moment, he wanted to be brutally honest.

“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

Her golden eyes blinked open and, there…right there. He felt it to his soul when she looked at him. Just like that first night.

“Did you hit your head? I’m a mess.”

“No. You’re you.”

For a long moment, she didn’t respond, but slowly, her mouth curved into a smile. “That’s one of the sweetest things anyone has said to me.”

He kissed her nose. “Be right back.”

After a quick trip to the bathroom to throw away the condom, he hurried back and slipped into bed. She had snuggled under the sheets, so he joined her. She immediately rolled over and into his arms.

“See, I was quiet,” she whispered against his skin.

His mouth curved. “You were.”

Before she could respond, a vibrating sound filled the air, and he realized it was his phone. With a sigh, he went in search of it and found it in his pants. Pulling it out, he grimaced. Seth.

“Boss, what’s up?”

“It seems we’ve found Ray once again. That kid has nine lives. Anyway, Alpha got the call. They’re bringing him in, but Tamilya called me to say Ray insisted your woman isn’t safe. Chad knows that she’s in a safe house.”

“ Fuck .”

“I think until we know for sure, you need to bring her into headquarters. Once we question him, we’ll have a better handle on what is happening.”

“Got it.”

He hung up and looked over at Keely. She was sitting up and watching him carefully. All the happy glow she’d had just moments before had disappeared.

“What’s going on?”

“We found Ray, but he’s saying Chad Brothers knows you’re in a safe house. Seth thinks it’s best to bring you in.”

She nodded and slipped out of bed. He wanted to ignore the world, to take her away from all of this and shield her. It was something new for him. He had always been a protector, but he’d never really zeroed in on one person specifically.

“What?”

He shook his head. “We have a lot to talk about, but it can wait. We need to get to headquarters.”

He dressed as fast as he could, then, with another kiss, he headed back out into the living room.

“I heard from Charity already,” Emily said. He noticed the other agents were geared up and ready to go. “Let’s hope this is the end of this insanity. We’re leaving Aaron here just in case that asshole shows up, although I doubt it.”

“You don’t think he found out where we are?”

Ian shook his head. “No. We just bought this apartment last month and had it set up. This is the first time we’ve used it. Everyone who lives on this floor works for Dillon. No one leaked this information.”

“So, I think he was just bullshitting Ray,” Emily said. “From what I heard, Brothers beat the shit out of him. It has not been that guy’s week.”

“Ray got beaten up again?” Keely asked.

He turned and found her completely dressed and ready to go. Her eyes were huge, and her face was too pale for his liking.

“Yes, but he’s fine. They have him at TFH, and Elle is taking care of him,” Mix said. “Helps that she’s a certified physician.”

“So, we’re taking two vehicles just in case that guy is outside,” Eden said. “Aaron will stay here and see if Brothers shows up. Are we ready?”

She drew in a deep breath and nodded. Ryan noticed that, once again, Maya was standing beside Keely.

“Then, let’s roll,” Emily said, and they headed out.

After all of the worry, the trip to Task Force Hawaii was uneventful. Granted, Keely felt a little calmer once she walked through the front doors, but it had definitely been a quiet trip.

When they walked into the common area, there was a buzz of activity. Everyone seemed to notice them at once.

“I’m glad you made it in. Any problems?” Seth asked.

“No.”

“Of course not. Brothers was just BS-ing that Ray dude,” Emily said. There was something in her tone that had Keely looking over at her. She wasn’t sure what it was, but the way the other woman said Ray’s name made the fine hairs on the back of Keely’s neck rise up.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Kap asked.

Keely glanced at him, but she realized he was looking over her head at someone behind her. She glanced back and saw Eden’s eyes narrow. “My job, Kappy.”

She glanced at Ryan, but he said nothing.

Before she could say anything, the elevator doors opened, and a blonde woman wearing a lab coat escorted Ray into the common area.

“Keely,” he said, rushing forward, but he stopped when Maya growled at him.

Keely immediately brushed her hand through Maya’s fur. “It’s okay, Maya.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay.” He sighed.

“You need to have a seat, Ray,” the woman dressed like a doctor said. She guessed this was the Elle Emily had mentioned.

“Why don’t we go sit in the break room?” Keely suggested. She looked at Ryan. “We can wait for y’all in there.”

He didn’t like leaving her. She got that from the way he looked from her to Ray and back to Keely. She stepped closer. “I’ll take Maya to protect us if anything should happen.”

“I need to use the bathroom first,” Ray said.

She nodded. “Maya and I will be in there waiting on you.”

He walked off in the direction of the bathroom.

“I don’t like it.”

Her mouth twitched. “Tell me something I didn’t figure out on my own. Go investigate.”

“Morrison, you’ll do more good by doing your job,” Seth said. “The faster we find Brothers, the faster we get to close out this case.”

Ryan nodded, but he was still frowning. It made him look all sexy, and, yes, she was losing her mind if she thought a man frowning at her was sexy.

She smiled at him, then turned to go into the break room, but he stopped her.

After slipping his hand around her waist, he pulled her closer and kissed her.

It wasn’t overly sensual, but it sent her pulse racing and her head spinning.

When he pulled back, he stared down at her.

“We’ll get him.”

“I know.”

She still had doubts that Chad had done what they said, but everything seemed to be pointing in his direction.

“Morrison, take Emily down to Charity’s lab. The two of them will work on searching for Brothers.”

“I know where her office is,” Emily said with a sniff.

“But you aren’t a member of TFH. You need an escort,” Seth said. To which Emily rolled her eyes, but she walked with Ryan to the elevators.

“Go on into the break room,” Seth said. “And I will apologize for Autumn if she appears to ask you millions of questions about cooking.”

She smiled. “I can handle that any day of the week.”

Eden frowned. “We’ll guard the door.”

Keely shrugged. “I’m in TFH Headquarters. If you can help TFH more, I’m sure I’ll be safe.”

“She’s safe, and Maya will be with her. I can guarantee that dog will not let anyone hurt her.”

Eden sighed.

“I promise I will stay in the breakroom. If you aren’t in the common room, I’ll text you even if all I need to do is pee.

” Eden and Mix both looked like they wanted to argue with her.

“Listen, I get that you are my protection, but if you can help with trying to find Chad and end this nightmare, I am all for that.”

“Okay. If anything is off, you text me right away. Or yell.”

Keely nodded. “I promise.”

Autumn walked up. “I want to ask you about those lobster rolls you made and how you made them into burritos, but Adam said I have to help with the search.”

The woman sounded so put out about it. “No worries. I’ll talk about food anytime.”

And she could. She was starting to think that she was made for teaching rather than running a kitchen.

At the moment, though, she didn’t want to think about that.

She didn’t have the bandwidth currently.

Right now, she only had to hope that if Chad was behind all of this, no one else got hurt.

She sat in one of the chairs, and Maya sat beside her. She just wanted it all to be over.

“Don’t be grumpy. You can dump me off, then go back up to your lady love,” Emily said as they stepped off the lift.

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Boss said to come down here with you, and that means stay with you.”

“I am not a threat. To you. Or to TFH.”

He slanted a look at the woman. She seemed delicate, but he had noticed the muscle definition. With Mad Dog Davis as her brother, she probably knew how to fight.

“I know that. Del is just really particular about protocol.”

He opened the door and held it open for her.

“Oh, nice manners. Also, just so you know, that kiss was so hot.”

“What kiss?” Charity asked.

“This one planted one on Keely before we came down. In front of everyone. Big points in my category.”

He shrugged. “It was just a kiss.”

She snorted. “It was to put everyone on notice that she is yours. And that is sexy. Better than trying to hide things.”

He frowned, but Emily hurried over to Charity. “Do you have a place for me to set up?”

Charity pointed to an area where she usually had forensic stuff stashed. “There you go. You can use my stuff, though. Del cleared you after chatting with Conner.”

“Cool.” She set her computer down and opened it up. Then she wandered over. “What are you doing here?”

Ryan’s attention was on the big screen. It seemed like Charity was running some kind of search.

“I’m still confused by what happened to Keely when she was younger. It’s just odd that she is embroiled in two major crimes. I mean, what are the odds?”

“Not good,” he murmured.