“And I came to Guatana and saved your ass!” Morgan roared in return. “So you best be damn glad I know how to use my trigger finger!”
Cate reeled back as if he’d punched her. Ashen-faced, she inched closer to the doors. “You know what? I’m sorry I called you for help. So fucking sorry.”
And then she whirled around and ran inside.
“Damn it, Jim.” Noelle’s chair scraped across the stone floor. “When are you going to start watching your mouth with her?”
“She drives me crazy.” He slammed his fist on the table. “I’m trying to keep her safe.”
“You’re a dumbass.” Noelle sighed. “I love you, but you’re a dumbass.”
The others seemed to be fighting laughter as Noelle strolled into the house without a backward look at her husband. Ash was too worried about Cate to even crack a smile. She’d looked and sounded . . . devastated.
“Ash, get in there and tell Cate to settle her ass down.” Morgan jerked his thumb toward the second floor in the general vicinity of Cate’s room.
Ash’s shoulders went as rigid as the stone columns on the patio. How many times had he done everything Jim asked? A thousand, at least.
He’d jumped when Morgan said jump.
He’d killed when Morgan said kill.
He’d talked Cate into going to college when he’d wanted nothing more than for her to stay.
He breathed deeply, trying to loosen the tension in his body. It didn’t work. Cate’s wounded blue eyes continued to flash through his head. Her weak voice when she’d whispered to her dad—“I’m sorry I called you for help”—continued to buzz in his ears.
He exhaled in a rush. “No. I can’t do that.”
Morgan’s eyes narrowed. “Why not?”
“Because Cate is as vital to this op as any other person here. We’re not dragging Rivera out of hiding unless we have Cate with us.” He hesitated. “She’s willing to put herself on the line and make a sacrifice to keep the rest of us safe. And I . . .” He gulped. “I’m going to respect that.”
“You’re willing to put someone you love in danger? Jesus! Do you even have balls between those legs?”
Ash crossed his arms tight to his chest before he gave in to the urge to clock Morgan. “I’m going with your daughter, sir.” Then he stopped and corrected himself, because as Cate had said so pointedly this morning, she was more than Jim Morgan’s daughter. “I’m going with Cate. If that takes her to Guatana, I hope the team is there to back us up. If not”—he shrugged—“then I guess it’ll just be Cate and me.”
He moved toward the door, turning his back to the man who’d saved his life and his dignity five years ago. To the only father figure he’d ever known.
Morgan’s cold words rang out clear in the mid-morning air. “If you leave, don’t come back. You won’t be welcome here.”
Ash swung around and raised his right hand to his brow. As bitterness rose in his throat, he gave Morgan a sharp salute. “Yessir.”
It was the last order he’d ever take from Jim Morgan, and they both knew it.
* * *
After the shit show on the terrace, Liam couldn’t escape fast enough. He excused himself under the pretense that he needed to call his family, leaving the others to deal with the mess. Though honestly, he wasn’t sure if any amount of cleanup could make this mess go away.
Ash had quit.
Cate was upstairs packing.
Noelle was pissed at Jim.
Jim was pissed at everyone.
With the threat of Rivera still hanging over their heads, Liam couldn’t handle any more drama. Morgan would get his shit together, he always did. Until that happened, Liam was perfectly content to hide out in his room.
He made a beeline for the private bath, ducking inside to take a quick shower because he hadn’t gotten around to doing it last night. After he’d washed himself clean, he wrapped a towel around his waist and entered the bedroom that he hadn’t slept in for two years. Before that, this room had been his home, and he was gratified to find that nothing had changed in his absence. The navy-blue-and-beige color scheme, the king-size bed, the cozy sitting area, and huge flat screen mounted to the wall. Morgan’s housekeeper Inna had either cleaned the room regularly or tidied it up right before his arrival because there wasn’t a trace of dust and the hardwood floor gleamed beneath his bare feet.
He sat on the bed and ran a hand over the impossibly soft bedspread. He’d been living in Boston for the last two years, yet the apartment he was renting didn’t come close to feeling like home. Not the way this room did. He’d loved living on Morgan’s compound. Being surrounded by his teammates. Having the mountains, jungle, and ocean at his disposal, the gun range and training course where he could expend his energy.
Fuck, he’d really missed this place.
A knock sounded on the door. From the macho tap-tap-tap, it wasn’t hard to guess who it was.
“Come in,” he called.
Sure enough, Sully stepped through the threshold. He wore olive-green cargos, flip-flops, and a white wifebeater that revealed the roped muscles of his big arms.
“So that was interesting, huh?”
Liam snickered. “Understatement, dude. Morgan looked ready to slit Ash’s throat.”
“Yeah. But I’m with the rookie on this one. Cate’s a tough cookie—she can handle this work, if that’s what she wants to do with her life.”
He nodded in agreement. “She might be tougher than all of us combined.”
Shifting awkwardly, the blond man shut the door and then glanced around the bedroom. “Uh. So. You happy to be back?”
“Yeah. I am, actually. I was just thinking about how this place feels like home.”
“I thought the same thing when I walked into my old room,” Sully admitted. “It’s weird, but when I was growing up, I never really felt like I belonged anywhere. And somehow I wound up with not one, but two places that I consider home—here, and on my boat.”
Liam swallowed. “That’s . . .” He stopped, averting his eyes as the heat of embarrassment rose in his cheeks.
“That’s what?”
“Forget it.”
“What were you going to say?” Sully approached the bed, his fingers hooked loosely in his belt loops.
“That’s my list too,” Liam finally mumbled. “Where I feel most at home—here, and on your boat.”
Their gazes locked. Something traveled in the air between them. Not tension or hostility, but . . . fuck, it felt like regret.
And in that moment, Liam understood why Sullivan was standing in front of him right now.
“You’re leaving,” he said flatly.
Sully gave a quick nod.
“We haven’t found Rivera yet.”
“You don’t need me for that, mate. The boss is awake now—he can coordinate the op from his bed if he needs to. He’s got Noelle, Ethan, you. Trevor and the rest of them will be back from New York soon. Plenty of manpower to go around.”
“You don’t want to see this through to the end?” The question held a double meaning and they both knew it.
But Sully only addressed the obvious one. “What, you’re going to accuse me of being a coward again because I’m bailing on this op?” There was a bite to his tone.
Liam shrugged.
“You guys don’t need me here,” the other man insisted, as if he were trying to convince himself rather than Liam. “I came to Guatana to say good-bye to Jim in case he croaked, but he’s alive and kicking and I’m feeling restless, craving the water. I need to go.”
Liam offered a nod. He could have called bullshit, but he didn’t. No point. He knew damn well why Sullivan was leaving. And yes, it was because he was scared. Last night, when their bodies had been pressed together, the connection between them had been impossible to deny. They’d experienc
ed a sense of closeness that Liam had desperately missed.
The depressing thing was, Sully had no idea how monumental last night had been. It was the first time Liam had let another man fuck him. It had been a major exercise in trust, a moment of sheer vulnerability for him, but he wasn’t about to tell Sullivan that. Hearing it would just send the man running even faster.
Still, he couldn’t stop himself from voicing at least some of what he was feeling. “We are,” he said thickly.
A dark-blond eyebrow arched his way. “We’re what?”
“Friends.” He laughed under his breath. “We keep saying we’re not, but that’s a load of bull, dude. We’re always going to be friends. Even if you walk out this door right now and then show up again in fifteen years, it still wouldn’t change that. We’re friends for life.”
A sad smile lifted Sully’s lips. “I know.”
Liam took a breath. His brain screamed for him not to keep talking. To simply shake this man’s hand, say good-bye, and let him walk away. But the words popped out before he could curb them.
“I could come with you.”
Sully looked startled. “What?”
“I could come with you,” he repeated. “I meant what I said before—I feel at home on your boat. I feel at peace there, just like you do.” His throat tightened. “We could be at peace together.”
The silence that followed was like a dull blade to the gut. Yeah. He should’ve kept his mouth shut. Of course Sullivan didn’t want him to come along. How could Sully hide away and pretend he wasn’t scared shitless if Liam was there to witness it?
“Not a good idea, mate.” Sullivan ran an agitated hand over his scalp. “We’re not . . . you’re . . . if you come with me, it won’t end well . . .” He snagged his bottom lip between his teeth. “I can see in your eyes what you’re really asking.”
“And what am I really asking?”
“Whether or not we can continue . . . this . . .” Sully gestured between them. “But we can’t. I told you, I’m not interested in relationships.”
“Yeah, you said that.”
“I’m not interested in loving someone again.”
“Yeah, you said that too.” He got to his feet.
Sully’s nostrils flared when Liam stepped closer. “Boston . . .”
It was a warning.
Liam ignored it. He slipped his hands under the hem of Sully’s shirt and slowly dragged the material up his friend’s chest. Heat rippled through him as his palms glided over defined muscles and heavy pecs.
“I’m . . . I’m leaving,” Sully muttered.
“Yeah, I got that, man. But you’re not leaving until I do this.”
He undid Sully’s pants, then slid his hands inside and groaned when Sully’s bare ass filled them. The man never wore any boxers, which was not only hot as fuck, but it definitely made life easier.
“Until you do what?” Sully croaked.
“Make sure you never forget me.”
The man’s breath hitched. “What are you talking about? I could never forget—”
Liam silenced him with a kiss, and as usual, his heart took off in a gallop the moment their lips touched. It was so jarring kissing a man after he’d spent a year kissing Penny. So different. The scrape of stubble against his chin, the dominating thrust of tongue.
Groaning, he tugged on Sully’s waistband. In response, Sully kicked off his flip-flops, ditched the pants, and pressed his long, muscular, naked body flush against Liam’s. Liam had expected a little more resistance but his friend was kissing him back in desperation, frantic hands already fumbling with the knot of Liam’s towel.
And then they were both naked and stumbling toward the bed. Sully fell onto his back with a soft thud. Liam lowered himself over him and their erections slicked over each other.
Jesus.
So good.
He groaned again and wrenched his mouth away. “You’re going to remember this,” he said hoarsely. “When you’re in the middle of the ocean, sitting alone on that deck and staring out at the water . . . you’re going to remember this.”
Then he kissed his way down that hard, male body and took Sully’s cock into his mouth, lapping up the salty, masculine flavor. He sucked him all the way to the base, then teased the shaft with decadent licks before kissing his way down to that tight sac.
“Boston,” Sully said helplessly.
“I’m here,” he murmured. “Don’t you fuckin’ forget that.”
He left the bed briefly to grab a condom and lube, then resumed the task of driving the other man crazy. He sucked, licked, pumped, tormented. He twisted his fingers inside the impossibly tight passage. Nuzzled the man’s thigh and jacked his cock until Sullivan was panting in desire. When he felt the motion of Sully’s hips speed up, he tore his mouth and fingers away and rose up to his knees, quickly sheathing his aching cock.
“You’re going to remember this,” Liam promised.
Gray eyes, burning with need, peered up at him.
Liam was swamped with sensation the moment he slid inside. Sweet mother of God. It was incredible. Tight and hot and . . . home.
It was fuckin’ home, and as he drove in to the hilt, he finally grasped the true meaning of that word. Or at least, what it meant to him. Those two places he’d named . . . the compound . . . Evangeline . . . the only reason he considered them home was because of Sully.
Home was Sullivan Port.
His eyes felt hot all of a sudden. Christ. His pansy-ass was close to weeping. He didn’t want to say good-bye to Sullivan again. He couldn’t.
Blinking rapidly, he pushed aside the sorrow and focused on the pleasure, the relentless tingling at the base of his spine, the snug warmth squeezing the hell out of his cock. He’d planned on dragging this out, but urgency overtook him now, his hips pistoning as if they had a mind of their own.
Sully let out a husky, pleasure-laced sound. “Yes.”
Liam leaned forward on one elbow, fucking him harder. Watching as Sullivan’s eyes glazed over with arousal, darkening to metallic silver.
He wasn’t going to last much longer. He was damn certain of that, so he reached down and took hold of Sully’s dick, jerking it in time to the fast, deep thrusts of his own cock.
“Come for me,” he growled in Sully’s ear.
“Fuck,” was the choked response.
It ended way faster than Liam had intended, but when release hit . . . holy hell, it was spectacular. A full-body orgasm that pulsated through every square inch of flesh, turning his limbs to jelly. Sully shuddered and came in Liam’s hand, and Liam instantly dipped his head and captured his friend’s mouth in a kiss, swallowing up his moan of pleasure.
His heart was still hammering uncontrollably as he gingerly pulled out. He sat up and studied Sullivan’s expression. The man looked dazed. Stunned. And . . . afraid.
Yeah, Sully was definitely freaked out again. Liam suspected that his friend would’ve already been tearing out the door if it weren’t for the ringing phone that captured both their attention.
Naked, Liam stood and grabbed his cell from the night table. His brother’s name brought a grim smile of satisfaction. Good. Maybe Kevin had finally come to his senses and was ready to leave Boston.
“Kev. You changed your mind?”
“No, that’s not why I’m calling. Is this a bad time?”
Liam’s gaze traveled to the naked man on the bed. He closed his eyes briefly, wondering what his brother would say if he told him he’d just fucked another dude. Kev would either spew a litany of homophobic words or go into cardiac arrest. Neither scenario sounded appealing at the moment, so Liam kept his mouth shut.
“It’s fine. What’s up?”
“I’ve got one of your cartel buddies locked up in my interrogation room.”
Liam froze. “What? Who? How?”
> “The motherfucker just waltzed into the building,” Kevin answered, sounding amazed. “Told the guards downstairs that he was there to deliver a message.”
“And you let him up?” Liam said incredulously.
“He was unarmed. Didn’t have anything on him except a very detailed file on you.”
A flicker of unease tugged at Liam’s insides. A file? What kind of file? And what did Kev mean, detailed? What the hell did it say?
“He speaks English but has a Spanish accent. Dark skin, dark hair, tattoo on his wrist—a bleeding rose. That’s the Rivera brand, no?”
Fuck. “Yes. It is.” He paused. “So I’m assuming since you’re calling me, that you managed to take him down?”
“No takedown necessary. He came up to my office, sat down, and assured me he wasn’t going to hurt me or the family. Said he needed to talk to you.”
“To talk?” Liam echoed. He glanced at Sully, who was watching him warily. “Who the fuck is this guy? Send me a pic so we can ID him.”
“No need. He was more than happy to introduce himself,” Kevin answered in a flat tone. “It’s Benicio Rivera. Mateo Rivera’s son.”
Chapter 31
Boston, Massachusetts
Seven hours after the most incredible sex of his life, Sullivan was in the passenger side of a black Escalade. In the driver’s seat, Liam pulled up to the curb in front of Kevin Macgregor’s security firm in South Boston. He killed the engine and jumped out of the car, while Sully hopped out of the passenger side and sidled up to him.
A moment later, an identical SUV pulled up behind them. Two doors slammed. Cate and Ash joined them on the sidewalk.
They all looked toward the four-story brick building, which was located near Summer and A Streets, in an area that was mostly commercial and not at all busy.
“So this is where you’re working these days?” Ash teased Liam. “Is it as boring inside as it looks from the outside?”
“Pretty much.” Liam’s tone was distant. In fact, he’d been aloof ever since they’d boarded the jet back in Costa Rica.