I walked into the safe house under my own steam. It took about a week, but I was finally free of all restrictions except lifting. I had to wait for my abdominal wound to completely heal for that to be lifted. "Honeybunses, I'm home!" I crowed into the empty foyer of the house. The thunder of stampeding feet rushed towards me. Jessa got to me first. "What the hell, babe? We were supposed to come get you." She pulled me into her arms, looked me over with her medically trained eye. She smiled when she finished, looked me in the eye. "You're feeling much better."I nodded, pulled her in for a hug. "In large part thanks to you."She poo-pooed my words. "Queen, you've been kicking ass this whole time. I think Fate is scared of you right now."Foster pulled me from her arms and caught me up in his.I grabbed his head, smacked my healed lips to his. He made a sound low in his throat as he changed the angle. I wrapped my legs around his waist, met him thrust for thrust. "Ahe

I caught Jessa as she passed out. "Someone get the phone."Smoke, Maggie Rollins, picked it up. "We're still here, Grasshopper. Go ahead.""Is Jessa okay?""Tell us what's going on, Nik. Please." I carried Jessa to the couch. Laid her flat. Talia ran from the room. She was back in moments with a bottle of water. I smiled at her in thanks. Breaking the seal, I poured some into my palm. Splashed it on Jessa's face. I knew she'd want to hear anything about her missing sister. She came awake with a start. "Jaz!""We know where she is, Jessa. We need to go get her," Nik said. "If the intel is reliable, and from everything we can tell, it is, then Jasmine is being held in some kind of facility in Croatia. Under..." Nik's voice trailed off. "Some woman named Marika.""Karine said someone would kill Marika if we showed up," Foster said. We all looked at him. "Roger, Striker, Mas, and I were there." He looked at the other men. They all nodded. "Croatia. Where in Croatia

I slammed my fist down on the small table, glared at the man across from me. "No! I refuse to allow that to happen."The man smiled. I felt my balls curl up inside my body and start to shrivel. Thank the goddess I'd already gotten Jessa pregnant."It doesn't matter if you allow it. It will happen," he said, his voice a low, broken whisper. "You can fight me, but you will lose."Narrowing my eyes at him, I studied his posture. Relaxed, confident, in control. No emotional leakage whatsoever. The man was a bloody statute sunning himself on a summer day with a cool breeze to settle the heat. I sat back. Jessa was going to fucking kill me. Hell, I'd hold still to let her do it. But there was no way around this guy. I should know. He was my little brother. I nodded. "Fine, but you get to tell Jessa." His dark bronze skin washed pale as he swallowed. He gave a short dip of his chin. "Fine." He picked up his phone, punched in the numbers. Massimo's face pinched as he he

Taxing over to the private airfield customs line, we gathered our stuff and waited for the plane to come to a complete standstill. The guys were all good to go: their gazes focused with that relaxed tension in their bodies. We were a small, well-trained strike team. We just had to tell customs we were here for a vacation so we could start on our mission. Easy peasy. The co-pilot came out of the cockpit. "We've been cleared to disembark. Thanks for choosing Elite Air for your private travel needs. Enjoy your stay in Italy, gentlemen." He shook each of our hands as we deplaned. They had quality service. But nothing could compare to using family or family resources for what we were about to take on. I just needed to make sure we had a plane available. Puddle jumping back and forth from Croatia to Italy too often would raise too many red flags. I made a mental note to call Turo. We had a shit ton of logistics to figure out. And if there was ever a planner in our family, it was

My phone rang just as we were getting ready to sit down for dinner. I sighed, pulled it from my pocket. When I saw Nik's name scroll across the screen, I called out to the room, "Pack it up, we're going to mission ops."Two of the tech team ran over, grabbed my phone. "We'll get it all set up for you, Capo.""Thanks. Just call me Dom, please."They nodded and rushed off. I doubted they'd do what I asked them about my name, but I could try. Well, keep trying. It was essentially useless asking them to be less formal, but Andrea preferred the formality on the regular. Her domain, her rules. Walking with the tide of the tech team and strike team operatives, I carried my plate and glass of wine. Striker and Roger were chatting about something in low tones, a couple chuckles passed between them. Something about Roger made my skin chill, but he was Mas' man. And from what I heard, he was a stellar lieutenant. I could deal with the creepies. Mas and I brought up the end of the t