Colorado Connection (Colorado Heart Book 6) (17 page)

When the movie ended, Mike tapped him on the foot. “Hey, bro, you need to head to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. You’ll be meeting everyone and you’ll have a few more test cases to figure out.”

Matthew stretched on the recliner, throwing his arms over his head and arching up off the seat. “Thanks for letting me sleep. It was nice being in here with you guys. I know I missed most of the movie but I enjoyed being in the same room with you all. I felt… I don’t know, safe.”

Zander reached down and took his hand, pulling him to standing and into a hug. “It is safe here.” Zander pushed Matthew to arm's length, his gaze serious. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you did. You could have abandoned me after you found me, but…” Zander shook his head, closing his eyes.

“I would do it again.” Matthew’s throat closed with emotions. “I’m glad you’re home.”

“I haven’t told anyone here how bad it was,” Zander whispered as their gazes met. “Thank you.”

He nodded, knowing what Zander was talking about. When the guys at the ranch had first seen Zander, he’d been cleaned up, changed into clothes that hadn’t looked like someone had rolled him in shit. Matthew respected his privacy.

Marshal and Mike said goodbye, both of them giving him a good fist bump before leaving the room. Zander waved again then shut the door, the lock sliding home. Matthew stared at the door for a short moment then shook his head. This wasn’t a test for him to pass. He turned on the bathroom and bedroom lights before flipping the switch, leaving the main room dark. There was no question in his mind if he would like it here. He knew he would. He only hoped Jazz would join him.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Two weeks had flown by since Jazz had said goodbye to Matthew. Fourteen days of being
on
had left him exhausted. Sleep was hard to come by, and when he did get some rest, his mind wouldn’t stop spinning. As a grunt in the Marines, he’d had access to some information, but at this facility, everything was taken to the extreme. To say that the government edged the line of legality and responsibility when dealing with threats was an understatement. It scared him when he studied how close they’d come to almost being annihilated. There were some things the public just didn’t need to know.

He worked hard, studied, then studied some more. Days melted into weeks and then he’d been there for nearly a month. He was almost ready to leave training and the loss of his leg hadn’t really been a problem. The physical tasks he had to complete were modified, so he could learn how to do things like scale a wall with his leg on and with it off. He excelled at climbing the rope, and he was able to work his way through an obstacle course. The instructors helped him come up with alternate ways of completing the task if he got hung up. This training was the best opportunity he’d ever had in his life, and he was so freaking happy that after this place he’d be back with Matthew.

On the day he finished with his training, he felt a little sad to be saying goodbye to Mitch. The man had endeavored to help him figure out how to work physically with his limitations. Once he was on a private jet flying to God only knew where, he finally relaxed. When they’d insisted on blindfolding him, he’d hated it, but he knew he would be with Matthew soon so he went along with their plans. The vehicle they were in came to a stop and his heart started hammering. What if Matthew didn’t want him? What if they weren’t really suited for each other and Matthew had found someone else?

“Don’t take the blindfold off yet,” a deep voice rumbled beside him.

“Sure.” He knew without a doubt he could defend himself if he needed to, but he had the feeling that he wouldn’t need to. The government hadn’t just spent millions of dollars training him, they’d also fitted him with a new leg which had special hidden gems. Even if he was flying commercial, he would always be packing heat. If they were going to end him, they wouldn’t have spent the money. He really was a bionic killing machine now. He just had to keep that information under wraps. The guys at the ranch surely knew, and Matthew would know, but not everyone at the training complex he’d just left knew about his leg.

The car door opened beside him, and he felt a hand touch his shoulder. “Step out.”

Jazz placed his foot on the ground then made sure his prosthetic leg was stable before standing. He took a deep breath, smelling pine, dirt, and cows. The sound of a horse nickering close by told him they were in the country. A crisp breeze ruffled his hair, and he smiled. They were somewhere near the mountains. The flight time, the way his ears popped, the feelings he had all told him he was probably in Colorado or Utah.

“Jazz, it’s good to see you again. You can remove the blindfold once we’re inside.” It was Grant’s voice, and he couldn’t hold back the smile that overcame him. Because of Matthew, he’d trusted them and they’d come through. He could only imagine Matthew was somewhere inside waiting for him.

Someone held firmly on his arm as they led him inside. Before the door shut, he heard the vehicle he’d arrived in take off. No one from the facility where he’d lived for the last four and a half weeks was staying. Since he had lost a leg, one of the things they’d wanted him to learn was to count on his senses. At first, he’d thought it was silly, but Mitch had insisted, so he'd worked on it. He knew how to recognize what was going on around him based on sounds. It was a little thing, but it would allow him to never be startled and feel like he couldn’t defend himself.

The lock clicked behind him, and he took off the blindfold, surprised to see a well-appointed den. The room had a pool table, a television, a foosball table, and a couple of couches.

“Welcome home, Jordan.”

He glanced up and saw Marshal was the one who had spoken. His gaze traveled from Marshal to Grant then around the room looking for Matthew. He wasn’t there.

Worry pulsed through him. “Where’s Matthew?”

“Before he comes in, we wanted to make sure you understand the responsibilities of this post. There are documents you have to sign, and you need to be aware that if you leave, you can’t speak of this place to anyone. We’ll be monitoring your phone, social media, really everything if you choose to not stay. We value our privacy and once you know fully what we mean by that, you’ll appreciate why we demand compliance on this point,” Grant said.

Jazz took a step closer to the men and went from looking Grant in the eyes to Marshal, hoping they understood his position. “I’m a realist and know there are some very nasty people in this world. Those people scare me. The government is hobbled and can’t take care of everything. From the training I received and the…”

“The equipment you’ve been provided?” Grant cocked an eyebrow, his lips curved up in a sly smile.

“Yes, that. So you know about that?” Jazz asked.

“Of course, we insisted,” Marshal said.

“With the
upgrade
I received, I can only guess that this unit, or group, or whatever it is you call it, isn’t here to make nice. We’re here to take out the trash and clean up what can’t be taken care of through official government channels.”

“You understand completely. Our world has changed since we started this group. It’s more dangerous than ever before, and we can’t touch some of the people we desperately need to get rid of. We need you to help us shut down certain entities. You won’t be working quite the same way Matthew will, if you really choose to stay.”

“I’m not leaving. Matthew is here, and you’ve given me something to live for.” Jazz hadn’t really been close to suicide, but he’d seen the beauty of ending it all. At times, when he’d heard of some of his friends from his battalion taking that path, he’d been jealous. A small part of him had wanted to be brave enough or maybe desperate enough to make that decision, but he hadn’t been. He wanted Matthew too much to give up.

Grant picked up a phone and typed something on the screen before he glanced up and smiled. “I just texted him. He should—”

Shouts could be heard from the other side of the door. The sound of footsteps coming close made his mouth curve up in a smile. The door swung open, and he braced himself as Matthew ran in, his arms opening wide just before he got to Jazz.

“I’ve missed you,” Matthew choked out as he pulled Jazz into a tight hug. “God, I’ve missed you.” Matthew leaned back, his gaze searching. “Did you sign?”

“He’s about to. I wanted you here,” Grant said.

They sat at a table, and Grant handed him a stack of papers before giving him a pen. “By signing these you are agreeing to never mention this place.”

Jazz nodded then caught Matthew’s gaze, holding it as he picked up the pen. “There won’t ever be a reason to talk about it. I’m happy to spend my life with Matthew and I would never put him in danger.”

The pink on Matthew’s cheeks grew a little darker, and he leaned in closer, placing one hand on Jazz’s shoulder. “Our room is already set up, but there’s another room if you’d rather not live with me.”

Jazz brushed his lips over Matthew’s cheek. “We’ve spent enough time alone. I want to be with you every day.” He glanced around and lowered his voice. “They’re okay with that? Us being together?”

Grant laughed and nodded. “The last thing any of us are worried about is someone being gay. Don’t sweat it. We’re cool with you guys being together.”

“Grant’s lover, Roger, is here on the ranch,” Matthew said.

“And mine, too,” Marshal replied.

Jazz finished signing all of the papers. He thought that would be it, but he was given a folder and asked to detail what should be done, if anything. After one read through, he pulled the papers out, organized them in a different order, and looked through the information again. He took a few minutes to get coffee and eat some of the food provided. When he sat at the table after finishing his meal, he took a pen and paper and began writing before he started talking.

“First off, there are a few problems. The guy, he was funding terrorism and he was trying to profit by killing kids. Personally, I would want to torture him, however, that would make me no better than he was. The business he runs, you need to take a large percentage of his money, but if you take it all, that would alert him. So you really need to remove him as a problem first. He takes medicine for a bad heart. He needs to have a heart attack. I would go in as a service employee and get close to him. You’ll need to be careful how you drain his accounts. There are more security measures put in place now than there were even two years ago. I learned a few tricks during training. I think we could have the money transferred to an account which could be used eventually, but it would need to go through a lot of washing to be hidden well enough. But yeah, I hope this guy is already dead, because if he’s not, we should kill him immediately.” Jazz looked up, his heart racing as he prayed his analysis was good enough.

Marshal nodded before reaching for the paper he was writing on. “I like how you work. And yes, the man is gone, his company's in bankruptcy. We have another case for you to look over. Of course, once you’re part of the group you won’t be on your own to figure out what to do. We question everything. Everyone gets a chance to raise concerns.”

Jazz gave a quick smile, relief filling him. “I like that. Having to do it on my own was a little daunting.”

Matthew reached out and took his hand, squeezing it. “I need to take care of some tasks, but I’ll be back before you go to sleep. We’ll stay in here tonight.”

“Oh? Why in here?” Jazz asked.

“About twenty percent of the men who come here leave in the first few days. If all you’ve seen are these four walls, it’ll be harder to describe where we are,” Grant said.

“I understand. I have to say that I’m not leaving. I’m with Matthew, that’s what matters most. That I get to help make a difference in the world, that’s just an added benefit.”

Grant stood and stretched. “We’ll take a break and eat some dinner. I’ll have one of the guys bring in some food, and you can look at the next case file. We’ll go over it when you’re comfortable.”

While Matthew was gone, he read through the next case, figuring out quickly that the guy was a scum bag, but someone else could take care of him. He told Grant and Marshal as much.

“Good catch,” Marshal said. “We decided the same thing. He was eventually arrested by his own government and isn’t an issue anymore.”

The door opened, and Matthew stepped in. Grant and Marshal stood and so did Jazz. Matthew came over and took his hand. Grant’s cheeks were a little pink and Marshal started blushing too. They both chuckled and Jazz started to feel a little uncomfortable.

Grant bit his lower lip before he sobered. “Um, there are cameras in this room so you may not want to get too chummy together.”

“Oh,” Jazz said and felt his cheeks heating. He’d been planning on getting very close to Matthew, but he guessed that would have to wait.

“We’ll leave you two. Enjoy the evening, just not too much,” Marshal said.

They were finally alone again, and he turned to Matthew, placing his hands on Matthew’s face. “Are you really happy here?”

“Yes. I want to stay here with you. The guys are great, the place is a nice home, and though I haven’t seen any action yet, I like what this group does. We can be open here, and no one will care.”

“I missed you so much. I can’t believe you never gave up on me.”

“I couldn’t lose you. You’re mine and I’m yours.” Matthew stepped closer and pulled him into a kiss.

Their tongues tangled together as he pressed his body against Matthew’s. He sighed, glad to feel his dick growing hard. It hadn’t done much in the month he’d been away and worry had plagued him, leaving him wondering if he would have issues once he was back with Matthew, but apparently he wasn’t going to have any problems.

Matthew ended the kiss and leaned back. “There are cameras in here everywhere, except the bathroom. They might hear us, but they won’t be able to see what we’re doing.”

Jazz leaned his forehead against Matthew’s and blew out a breath. There was so much to say, but they had time to talk. “Yeah, let’s go to the bathroom. I could stand to shower.”

“We did fit a few of the bathrooms with equipment for you in the last month. Our room is set up for your convenience.”

“That’s good, I guess.” Jazz felt a little weird about needing special equipment.

“Really, the guys are excited to have you here. The stuff in the bathroom, please don’t think anything weird about it.”

He shook his head. “I don’t. I just… We’re really together, right?”

“Yes, we are.”

Matthew took his hand and led him into the bathroom. He watched Matthew’s tight ass sway as he moved in front of him. Jazz sighed, happy he had his man again.

Being here, no matter where here really was located, was all he wanted. Matthew was his heart, his soul, and he thanked God every day Matthew hadn’t cared about the damage to his body and he’d never given up his quest to get them back together. They were a couple, and he wouldn’t screw this up. He wanted this, wanted Matthew, and knew living at this place would be an adventure, something to grow into, and he was glad he was growing with Matthew.