Keeping You: KJ Elite Inc. (25 page)

Heartless idiot henchman shrugged and strode back over to the group, re-taking his position.

“Dumbass. Can’t take you anywhere.” He turned back to the camera and said, “My apologies. Some of us don’t know how to act professional when conducting a kidnapping.”

I scoffed, angry at his lame comedic attempts.                         

“Alright look, we both know I’m not getting through the door but I always get what I want. So why don’t you just hand her over and call it even?”

His offer was quite obviously riddled in unspoken words that didn’t escape Noah, if their shared expression told me anything.

“Well, no time to think it over, cavalry is on its way. And no, to answer that pesky little question of yours; no insides on this. We’re just better.” The jerk grinned again before turning to leave, his lackeys already downstairs.

One foot out the door, he turns to the hallway camera and says, “For now, Ms. Wright.” He winks and jogs out.

Luke is furiously typing away at his computer when I look at his worried face on the bottom center screen.

Noah touched a small button under the screens and asked, “Anything?”

“Silent entrance from the south,” Noah cursed loudly at that. “Team three’s all black, hot exit to the East. Baby’s got one pinned.”

“They’ll leave him, he’s nothing to them if he’s been taken. Instruct baby to keep him alive, my orders.”

“Hold tight, Alpha’s moving.”

“Tell em’ to bring up a large bowl with water in it.”

“You got it.”

The sound went out though the video feed remained. I don’t really know what to say, so I just stand there quiet for a minute, deciding.

“Talk about dinner and show.”

His barking laughter fills the silence of the closet/safe room, shaking me and making Luke eye his big brother.

“Jamie.” He laughs, shaking his head and squeezing me once.

“So…who was that guy?” I ask nervously, unsure if I’m allowed to ask or know. Or if I want to know.

“Do you want the long or short story?”

“Short is fine with me.”

Luke snorted and muttered, “You’ve got the right brother then,” under his breath. I had an inkling he wasn’t poking fun at his brother’s height.

Noah let it go, focusing on me, giving me what he knew I needed; a sense of control and inclusion.

“You’ve just met my old squad leader turned enemy.”

“Don’t forget that whole sticky bit about him being Little Lou’s daddy.”

Noah turned to the screen angrily. “Don’t ever call him that again, Luke. You know damn good and well that blood doesn’t make a father.”

I
definitely knew that all too well.

“Baby know he’s here?” I ask, suddenly angry. Angry for me, angry for Baby, angry for Louisa.

“Was.” Luke said.

“Was?” Anger morphed into confusion.

“He
was
here. He’s long gone by now.”

“It’s only been, what…?” I look down at my naked wrist, despite my forever lack of a watch.

“Three minutes and twelve, thirteen seconds.” Luke counted.

“No. She doesn’t know he’s involved.” Noah answered, lost in thought.

“How do you know?”

“Because I just found out myself. Baby hasn’t talked to or seen him since she kicked him I the balls and threw the pregnancy test in his face. Literally.”

I wondered silently if she actually hit him when Noah read my mind and proudly informed me, “Baby don’t miss.”

“On top of that, if she knew, you’d hear her. Chances are likely, they’d all be strung up by the ball sacks, too.”

“All?”

“His two person team included. Guilty by association and all that.”

Chapter 12

“Okay, so what now?”

He stepped back and tossed me one of his shirts.

“First, you get dressed. Then, we go to Betty.” Without turning away he said his brother’s name and the camera made a soft clicking noise. His picture went off-screen as well making me believe that he was giving us some privacy. All other views of the house remained and we could still hear talking from the command center mic.

“I’m sorry our evening was interrupted.” Noah said softly, untying the robe.

“Thank you. For tonight.” I let him open the robe and look his fill before tracing a laugh line on his handsome face.

“Oh no, sugar. Thank
you
. You’ll never know how precious a gift you gave you me tonight. You’ve cleansed a piece of my tarnished too long soul. You’ve given me a piece of you that no one will ever have. Made again virgin or not, you can never again choose to sleep with someone for the very first time ever. You gave me you, and I’ll never let anyone take that away. No one. You belong to me, and I belong to you, Jamie. Completely. If you’re not going to listen to the words, then remember what just happened between us. That isn’t common for casual hookups and booty calls.”

By the time he finished, I was dressed in baggy black sweat pants, a too large, soft, grey, cotton t-shirt and crying like the mess that I am.

I’m afraid to say it.

I’m kind of like that, ‘always the bridesmaid, never the bride’ saying. Though I’ve only been a bridesmaid once and that was a few months ago, but that’s neither here nor there.

While I’ve seen lots of people in love, I’ve not experienced it for myself. This whole thing is so foreign to me. It’s like a dream. When can you say stuff, do you say it first, is there a timeline? My thoughts carried again.

I spent more time in my own head than I did in the real world. Kind of like the lottery, it was random and I never knew if I’d be sucked into thoughts that droned on and on or a nightmare I couldn’t escape.

Noah manually unlocked and began lifting the giant wall/door with the help of…Mike. His brothers own brick house of a body appeared on the other side, accompanied by his team.

“Candace and Pey just landed, plus one.” Mike said. He and Noah exchanged looks, conveying a message.

I was silently watching the guy from Mike’s team who walked in with the bowl Noah had requested. Without anyone asking or giving the directive, he began cleaning up the rocks and tried to scoop several fish in the bowl that were still flopping with the signs of life. The much larger rock followed to give the turtles a place to sit out of the water and then the turtles themselves. He was around my height and four times my size looking like a competitive weight lifter. Yet despite his size and rough demeanor, he was delicately scooping fish and baby turtles to rescue them.

“Thank you.” I say to him quietly.

He turned to me and nodded solemnly before walking out.

“You okay, Jamie?” He asked me, kindly. Or, at least he was going for kindly.

Mike was no-nonsense and rough around the edges. Not bad boy but lethal. You could easily discern that he wasn’t criminal, but incredibly dangerous nonetheless.

We hadn’t had much interaction with one another so our relationship if you will, is shaky and awkward at best.

I nod at him and follow behind Noah who is once again clothed and holding my hand. A gun sat in his waistband at the base of his back, over his shirt. Easy access?

“We’re going to get you over to Betty. If it’s alright with you, Baby, Candace or even I can come back and pack you up a few things.”

Upon mention of him coming back without me, my grip tightened on his hand. He returned it and continued, moving us downstairs.

“Everyone is going to be shacking up. Tonight goes to show we are dealing with more than one delusional male with a crush.”

“Or two.” Mike grunted.

Clearly he was still upset about the security breach under all their noses.
He
had everyone fooled.

Noah maneuvered like Gumby on steroids to pick me up in a bridal carry as we were all walking down the stairs. Me more unsteadily than the others.

“Noah!” I chided quietly. “Are you okay? Am I too heavy?”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes at me.

“You’re far too light still, sugar. Just let me hold you.”

I stopped my half-hearted struggling. We were in the car in ten second and entering “Betty” in thirty.

Entering the command center was a feat in itself with its three step verification process for entry. The command center was on what looked like its own compound, what with the large lights surrounding the building and twelve foot high electric fence, barbed wire on top like a cherry. The door to the command center was exactly what you would expect; large, metal, bulletproof and security measured up the wahoo. In order to get inside “Betty”, you had to have an I.D. badge, pass a vascular biometric scan of the back of your hand and just to be safe, a periodically changed password.

There were four doors on the far wall and four more on the opposite. To the right was two doors for a kitchen area and sitting room with the intent of providing some sort of privacy and comfort to the people who came in to discuss their situations or reunite with loved ones rescued. The opposite wall to the left was a heavily armored door that led to their armory. Bank vault doors had nothing on this bad boy. With intricate locks and puzzles all over it, there was no simple entry about the door. Only the brothers had access to it and it would stay that way, likely forever. The building was quite expansive with much more that wasn’t shown above ground, but that was the brothers’ secret. It was easy to keep so much hidden when they were the ones who built it from the ground up, literally, with no outside help.

To the right past the kitchen doorway was a long hall that housed the group offices for Alpha, Bravo and Charlie teams as well as their meeting room. The halls made a horseshoe effect with a second hall to the left side of the building that led to interrogation rooms and the elevator which led to a separate lower level which housed, well, housing. There were rooms for each employee of KJ Elite Inc. at double occupancy per room. We’ve built up a little, or down rather, clearing some storage rooms and an extra gym Mike had put in underground to make extra bedrooms for the family. Those rooms were much more comfortable and located separate from the employee’s barracks.

Everyone had their own place outside of the compound but during times like these, it was essential to have. In addition, we were following up with plans to expand and add larger units for the guys with families. If they’re in lockdown, their families should have a safe place too. For now, they stayed in the smaller rooms, taking up two or three.

The underground levels are information only few know – as in, employees and family only. We don’t advertise but just in case our family suites are separate. Shit has happened in the past so it’s not about trust, it’s about safety. It’s also located about two or three levels lower than the employee quarters and pushed out farther, rather than directly under the building. It requires an elevator that only the brothers have access to.

Arguing raised voices greeted us as we neared their meeting room.

“Good, Noah’s finally here. Maybe you can keep her from murdering the dickhead.” Charlie said when we entered. Noah let me down but tucked me into his side before answering.

“I don’t really think I’d help with that considering I’m all for it.” He said, his chest rumbling under my cheek. His statement should have terrified me paired with his ice cold tone but I knew he had given the order that this man was to stay alive. Baby knew it too and they were good people who didn’t kill unless it was absolutely necessary. At least I think I know that. Roughing up was a different story.

Charlie however, was in a mood and obviously coming off of a very long shift judging by his dirtied and wrinkled uniform and the sleep deprivation coloring his face.

“I’d really rather avoid the paperwork. I know yall think it is all rainbows and lollipops in my office, but I’m left cleaning up all the local shit yall blow up. In case you hadn’t noticed, my broom handles broken and my rug looks like a mountain – all the shit’s been swept under it.”

He mumbled the last bit, foretelling how annoyed he really is.

“Lowlife threw her kid in foster care and skipped town with every single thing she had. If she lived in a mobile home he probably would have driven it away.” Noah argued.

Okay, color me clueless. I thought we were talking about the guy she “pinned”.

Even still, I wasn’t off put by his white-hot anger. Baby and Louisa meant so much to him.

“Listen, I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve it. I’m just saying maybe might could you take it to another county?”

“Where are they?”

“Peyton took Baby downstairs to cool off and collect herself while Candace sits in interrogation 2 with dipstick.” Luke answered from the corner.