Page 5 of With A Little Luck

Chapter Four

Ridge

S hadow Security isn’t a bad place to work. My boss might be a clinical psychopath, but I’m probably a sociopath, so I don’t judge. Not much fazes me, and I still get a pit in my gut when Easton calls me into the office when I’m not expecting it.

Briar smiles as I pass her desk, but the omega isn’t looking at me.

She’s got one of the rodents sitting on her tits, and the little thing squeaks and chirps, bumping its nose against her finger as she scratches its head.

Easton’s wife is beautiful, but you don’t admit that aloud if you want to keep your balls attached.

“The overlord rang?” I ask, rocking on my heels in front of her desk.

“Yup,” she replies, nodding toward the boss’s door. “Go on in. Be warned…” She laughs a light, airy sound. “He’s in a stellar mood.”

I snort. “Isn’t he always?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” she says ominously.

Fucking wonderful.

There are a lot of things I expect to find when opening my boss’s door—the top of the list being him red-faced and pacing.

He loves to explode when someone doesn’t have a hope in hell of escaping.

It’s not like anyone with any brain cells is going to get up and walk out while he’s ranting and raving.

A guy with glasses, who’s basically a younger version of Easton, wouldn’t have made my top hundred guesses of what I’m expecting to come across.

He sits in one of the two chairs on this side of the desk, and I try to do the math to determine how old Easton would have to be in order to have a kid that age.

Nah, it’s mathematically impossible, but they look eerily similar, down to the shrewd dark eyes as the man’s head swivels to take me in.

I freeze dead in my tracks, squinting and trying to figure out if Briar was so distracted by the guinea pig that she sent me in before she was supposed to.

“Have a seat, Ridge,” Easton says, gesturing to the free chair.

I toss up a thumb, pointing behind me. “I can come back if you’re busy.”

“I called for you because I needed you,” my boss snaps. “Sit down.”

Sighing heavily, I close the door behind me and stride over, taking a seat in the free chair.

The man who looks like Easton huffs and pulls his legs back, making room for my massive frame.

I smirk and shrug.

I’m six-foot-seven. Even when I try to scrunch up, I’m a fucking giant.

If I was thinking about it, I could have pulled the chair back before taking a seat, but I was distracted.

It’s not even like I’m man-spreading.

I’ve just got really long legs.

“What’s up?” I ask, refocusing on the overlord.

“We have a problem.” Easton clasps his hands, gesturing at the man with both pointer fingers.

“I’m on vacation,” I say, barely holding back from shoving out of the chair. “You promised me that my boots wouldn’t leave American soil for at least three months! I haven’t even recovered from needing to internet search every dish?—”

“God, you complain more than anyone I’ve ever met.” Easton rolls his dark eyes. “This isn’t me trying to send you on an assignment. I have confirmation, the remaining half of the Maloney twins is in Vermont, and Costa is out for blood.”

“Fuck,” I hiss, my head falling back as it shakes.

It’s always one goddamn thing after another.

I’m still resentful about that job.

Not only did Easton call me away four hours after I woke up alone in that hotel room, following my night with Quincy, but he wouldn’t hear a word I said about taking out both twins at once.

“Can I say I told you so now?” I growl, refocusing on my pain-in-the-ass boss.

“It’s a bad precedent to set to give two-for-one specials,” he says, like the delusional fucker he is.

“And I told you, you can’t take out one brother on contract and not expect his twin to come looking for retribution,” I deadpan, wondering if we should even be talking about this with Easton’s doppelg?nger present. “And why the hell has it taken him so long to act?”

Easton shrugs. “Technically, it didn’t. He went after Evan first.”

Evan Franklin was the payer of the contract. He’s the one who wanted Cash Maloney dead.

If Costa killed Evan in retaliation for his brother…

Lovely.

That means I’m next.

This is the last bullshit I need.

After taking out Cash in Vegas, I planned to come back to Vermont to search for Quincy. Only Easton sent me to Florida and then Indiana. I was just wrapping up the Indiana job when all the shit went down with Briar’s family.

Easton called me to Boston to reunite with Leo and Shaw. We wiped the Manzos off the map and stayed to ensure the cleanup went smoothly. Before that was even complete, Saylor Callahan went missing in Amsterdam. That led to several long weeks in Europe.

I got back to the States and immediately had to leave again to spend Christmas with my family, which was the last thing I wanted to do at the time, but if I didn’t go to them, they would have come to me.

It’s been a long ass few months, but I’m finally back in Vermont, and my only goal is to find the woman I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.

Now this bullshit?

My patience has officially run out.

The naughty little omega better have a damn good excuse for running from me, or she’ll be going right over my knee.

I made it clear to her that I don’t do one-night stands.

I told her about a million times that I intended to keep her.

She never once said anything to make me believe she wasn’t on board with that course of action.

There’s a whole chunk of missing time where I slipped into rut, and the only thing I can come up with is that I came on too strongly.

I don’t fucking know.

I don’t date.

I’ve never been a fan of hookup culture. I was serious when I told her that if she let me inside her, she better be in it for the long haul.

Only, it’s been eight months, and I’m sure she thought I was just spewing bullshit.

That’s not my style.

Not by a long shot.

“Costa is on the warpath, looking for vengeance for Cash. Leo and Shaw are otherwise engaged.” Easton gestures at the man to my left. “As a result, I called in someone I knew I could trust to keep you alive.”

“Oh, fuck off.” I scoff, shaking my head.

We both know I’m more than capable of keeping myself alive. Easton just lives to get under someone’s skin. Calling my abilities into question is exactly like him. He lives to rile you up. That way, you’re more likely to play right into his hands.

“So, what?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest and nodding at the unknown. “You brought in your doppelg?nger to watch my six? If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he has to be related to you.”

Easton’s eyes narrow. “You’re not wrong.”

My jaw falls, and I hike a thumb at the other guy. “I’ve met your brothers. The twins, anyway.”

“Trigg is my half brother, but from my father’s side,” Easton says calmly. “After my biological father abandoned her, my mother remarried. My father apparently continued his attempts to populate the Earth with a whole herd of little psychopaths.”

I laugh, but honestly, I’m surprised he’s sharing this information at all.

A slow smile crosses my face.

I always knew I was getting through that tough exterior. He probably even considers me a friend rather than disposable muscle.

I almost laugh.

Easton views everyone as disposable. I’m pretty sure he would have killed off Keir and Calder ages ago if he wasn’t afraid of pissing off Briar.

“When I turned twenty-one, I gained the inheritance my father left for me, along with a letter detailing where to locate the younger half siblings I had no idea about. It included some of his hopes for what I would use the money for,” Easton says.

“For the record, I used it in none of those ways, but you’ve met my family.

How did you think I got the funds to start Shadow Security? ”

Fuck.

I hate when he puts me on the spot.

“Honestly?” I tilt my head down, looking at him over the top of my aviators. “I assumed you blackmailed someone.”

Or, more accurately, multiple someones .

“Well, that is my favorite way to expand the business, but no. Every penny I put down to start the company came from my biological father.” Easton pauses.

“I tracked down Trigg a couple of years ago. The siblings you know about do not know about him, and I would like to keep it that way.” His eyebrows rise, like he’s waiting for confirmation that I’ll keep my mouth shut.

I nod.

I’m a vault.

More than that, it’s none of my business.

“Excellent,” East says. “Trigg has my full confidence. He’s been in town for several weeks. He was watching you from afar, but with recent developments, I believe it’s time he moved in with you full time.”

My head shakes. “King doesn’t do well with unknown men.”

“King?” Trigg says, leaning forward and glancing between me and Easton.

Easton snorts. “Ridge’s English bulldog. Don’t worry. Even if he were to attack you, you could just nudge him aside and walk away at a brisk pace. He’s far too obese to keep up for long.”

“Hey,” I growl, jabbing a finger at Easton.

“Oh, right, the mutt,” Trigg says disdainfully.

I move to glare at him next.

I will mess someone up for talking shit about my dog.

Not that he isn’t a fat little fucker, because he is. He can’t help that, though. It’s genetics. He goes on walks twice a day, and the vet put him on a weight control diet.

The little guy is a tank.

He’s cute.

I’m the only one allowed to make fun of his chubby ass, and that’s only because he knows I don’t mean it.

I took out a bookie a few years ago who called himself a breeder. King was just a puppy, but those big blue eyes caught mine as he jumped around in the shit-covered crate, and that was that.

I couldn’t leave him behind, and I even made sure animal control knew where to raid to find the others. He’s a little smaller than normal. Maybe because he was the runt or maybe because of the lack of proper nutrition when he was a puppy, but he’s healthy now, and that’s all that matters.

“Can we get back on track?” Trigg asks in a clipped tone. “I was pulled away from my lunch to be here, and I greatly value routine.”

Oh yeah, me and him?

We’re going to be like oil and water.

I’m chaos personified.

He’s going to hate having to put up with me, which gives me a nice little buzz of enjoyment.

“What made this meeting an emergency, anyway?” I ask.

Trigg sighs heavily. “I spotted several members of Costa’s team earlier today. They strolled directly past the glass at the restaurant I was eating at.”

“Damn,” I grumble. “So, we have confirmation they’re in Burlington.”

“Indeed,” he agrees. “I don’t believe they’ve made me, but it is a strange coincidence.”

“Why wait until now to tell me?” I ask Easton. “At the very least, you could have warned me to watch my back.”

“You live in my neighborhood,” Easton says, shrugging.

“The gate guards, as well as the neighborhood patrol, have upped their game since you got back. Your built-in backup is less than two minutes away. Leo and Shaw live legitimately right across the street, while my pack is just down the road. You’re moody after traveling.

I thought it best to give you some time to recuperate in peace before springing something else on you. ”

He’s not wrong.

I am a terrible traveler.

Burgers and pizza are my comfort foods. I know it makes me a cliché American, but I like what I like. I ate some foods in the Netherlands and Germany that I probably would have been happier not knowing what I was served.

Not that it was bad.

It was delicious, but I psych myself out in my own head.

Not to mention, I’m a literal fucking giant. Hotel beds are never meant for people my size, and I missed my damn dog. There are plenty of guys who get excited about taking jobs halfway across the world.

I’m just not one of them.

Yes, fine.

I’m frustrated that I haven’t been able to find Quincy, and it’s spilling into annoyance about everything. I’ve had more than a few thoughts about quitting just to get a fucking break so I can search for her without being pulled away on some new contract.

“I need this handled quickly,” I say before I can stop myself. “I have personal business that I want to address once Costa is no longer a threat. I’ve been trying to get to it for months, and I’m not putting it off anymore.”

“I’m fine staying at the hotel,” Trigg says before Easton can acknowledge my request for time off. “I’m actually allergic to most dogs.”

“You’d better purchase some over-the-counter allergy medication, in that case,” East says, addressing his half brother and completely ignoring everything I said.

“I’m serious, Easton. I’ve been at your beck and call for the better part of a year,” I growl. “No more assignments. Not until I tell you I’m ready to go back into the rotation.”

“Fine.” Easton rolls his eyes. “I swear, you assholes live to make my life more complicated than it needs to be. Leo and Shaw just put themselves on indefinite hiatus too. I’m going to have to hire a whole new team. Possibly two. You know how much I hate the interviewing process.”

“That is not my problem,” I deadpan. “Calder does all the research. Shove the interviews off on Keir.”

“Am I good to leave?” Trigg asks, pushing to his feet. “Easton has my number. He can pass it along to you.”

This is the guy who’s supposed to watch my back?

I don’t have high hopes.

He can’t seem to get out of here fast enough.

“The two of you need to get on the same page,” Easton says, sighing heavily.

“I’m actively monitoring every single surveillance feed that Calder has access to in Burlington,” Trigg says.

“I’ve got eyes on Ridge’s house at all times.

The gate guards have my information.” He looks at me.

“Call me if you plan to leave your home. If you’re here or at your residence, you don’t need a constant babysitter.

If you leave the house, I will be there to back you up.

” He steps around my chair and moves to the door.

“You know I prefer to hunt without an audience. Let me do my job.”

The door closes loudly behind him.

I quirk a brow at Easton. “And I was just going to say, it’s practically impossible to tell the two of you are related .”

Easton snorts. “I’ll text you Trigg’s information. Get the fuck out of my office.”

I shove myself up without complaint.

I’ve put off asking Calder for help finding Quincy because he tells Easton everything, but now I know one of Easton’s secrets…

I have leverage.