Operation Date With Destiny (25 page)

“
Found who?
”

“
The attorney. His name
’
s
Vincent Lemon
t
.
”

Tupper instantly felt his good mood slip away. The last few days, everything had been perfect…better than perfect
.
For the first time in too long he was happy to kick back and relax. The restless need to keep busy—to always be on the move had left him—granted it had only been a handful of days—but still…he knew it was as a result of having Destiny by his side.

He loved waking up in the morning and listening to her quiet breathing, watching her sleep so peacefully. In sleep, she lost that wariness that always followed her around. She looked younger—happy. He loved holding her as they slept—him…
Mr. Love em
’
and L
eave em
’
,
he actually enjoyed sharing his bed with this woman
.
For a while he chose to forget the fact this was only temporary. In the back of his mind he knew they were getting closer to tracking down the attorney and then it would only be a matter of time before they could shut down
Tre
’
ago
’
s
business and be done with the guy once and for all…but he didn
’
t want it to be just yet.

He also knew that was being selfish…every minute these guys were still on the loose brought the threat of danger to not only Destiny and her brother
,
but also to the rest of them. There was no way he could afford to let anything happen to his family—Summer, Willow, Mercy and the kids were just as much his responsibility as they were to Tate, Del and Maloney. One in
,
all in.

Shaking off the bad mood that threatened at the thought of his happy being squashed
under the heel of Tre
’
ago
’
s
boot,
he bit back a sigh and tried his best to look suitably impressed.
“
Good work
,
baby.
”

“
What
’
s wrong?
”

Okay so as an actor he
’
d suck.
“
Not a thing. We
’
d better get up to the house and tell the others.
”
He stilled as he felt her hand on his arm as she caught up to him outside.

“
Something
’
s up. Now spill.
”

“
Do you have any idea how emasculated that makes me feel?
”

He saw Destiny kink an eyebrow at him
skeptically
.
“
Emasculated?
”

“
Don
’
t look so surprised—I know
some
big, impressive words too ya
’
know.
”

He saw her bite back a grin, but raised her hands before her in a placating manner.
“
Okay. I
’
m sorry. I didn
’
t mean to take away your manhood. Sorry I asked a simple question.
”

“
For your information it
’
s the guys job to ask the
,
is something wrong?
q
uestion
. A
nd it
’
s the
girl
’
s
job to say
no, when
clearly there is.
”

“
Have you been drinking or something Tupperoni?
”
she asked staring at him oddly.

“
Forget it. Let
’
s just go tell the others.
”
Crap.
He was losing it big time around this woman.
Maybe he needed to go and shoot something or take down a few bad guys and regain his masculinity or some shit. Maybe he should just take Destiny back to bed and prove he was the man that way…but the thought of their limited time left in that bed now, almost made him tear up…
oh yeah—t
his was going to be one,  long-ass, day.

****

“
Is this information reliable?
”
Willow asked after Destiny finished filling in the others on the Attorney
,
now known as
Vincent Lemont
.

Destiny switched her gaze to the woman across the table and blinked at her waspish tone.
“
I have no reason to believe it wouldn
’
t be.
”

“
Where did you get it from?
”

She wasn
’
t sure what she
’
d done to annoy this woman today, but she was beginning to get on her nerves.
“
Look, t
he
i
ntel
’
s
reliable.
”

Willow went to open her mouth again and Tate quickly stepped in.
“
I
’
m guessing with the contacts Destiny
’
s got, this would be pretty dependable
.
”

Destiny caught the flash of hurt that crossed the other woman
’
s face and immediately felt bad.
“
I didn
’
t mean to step on your toes
,
Willow.
”

Willow sighed and eased her weight down into a chair.
“
If only I could see my toes,
”
she smiled sadly.
“
Sorry, I
’
m just crappy at everyone and everything lately.
”

She couldn
’
t blame
her;
Destiny wasn
’
t sure how she
’
d deal with the whole being pregnant thing and
forced to
sit on the sidelines either. Clearly Willow had always been an important part of this
group
’
s
team and Destiny had blundered in without giving it a second thought.

“
So his last known whereabouts were New York?
”
Tate asked and waited until Destiny gave a curt nod.
“
Right. Then we need to move on this thing fast.
”

“
Look, Willow and Mercy are getting pretty close to their due dates—I really don
’
t think it
’
s such a great idea for Del and Maloney to be leaving right now,
”
Destiny pointed out. It
was something that had
been bothering her a lot lately—just how much these people had been willing to sacrifice to help out someone they didn
’
t really know. She couldn
’
t live with herself if something happened and one of the men missed out on the birth of their child
.

“
Tupper and I can handle this,
”
Tate said, seeming to agree with her point.

“
Tupper, You and
me,
”
Destiny
emphasized
.

“
Nope. Not you. Just Ox and me. You don
’
t need to be out there exposed to Rothman any more than necessary. We
’
ll go and find this attorney—get the info we need and come straight back. That wa
y,
at least we know Maloney and
D
el will be here to keep an eye on this place while we
’
re gone.
”
Johnny
said, the idea obviously ticking all the right boxes in his head as he went along.

“
I
found the guy.
I
’
m
going with you,
”
Destiny told him, barely managing to keep her tone civil.

“
You may have
found
him—but there
’
s no way you
’
re setting foot off this island until we get Rothman off the street for good and
Tre
’
ago 
neutralized
.
”

Destiny glared
at him as he shook his head.
“
I wasn
’
t
asking
your permission.
”

“
Too bad. You
’
re stayin
’
right here.
”

“
Who the
hell
do you think you are, Tupperoni?
”

“
I
’
m the one who gets to call the shots.
”

“
Over my dead body!
”
she snapped.

“
Which exactly why you
’
re
not
going.
”

“
Stop treating me like a damn child! I know what I
’
m doing.
”

“
Well stop acting like one,
”
he yelled back at her.

Around the table the others sat
silently, unwilling to
get involved. Clearly
they were happy to let her and Johnny
fight this one out between them.

“
I have just as much right to be going along as you do.
”

“
I don
’
t care. Your safety is my only concern right now—and I
’
m not putting you in the line of fire.
”

“
My safety is
not
your concern. We had a
deal,
”
she stressed angrily, furious that he was being so dictatorial in front of an audience like this.

“
You
made a deal. I never
actually
said I
’
d go along with the stupid terms of it.
”

“
God you
’
re such a pain in the ass!
”
she yelled, leaving the table without a backward glance. The man was infuriating!

“
Yeah well—you
’
re no ray of freakin
’
sunshine either
darlin
’
,
”
he added, but she didn
’
t bother replying.

****

The meeting had come to a close shortly after Destiny left the room, everyone seemed to feel maybe they could reconvene a bit later to work out the last of the details and Tupper left without further comment. He needed to clear his head—badly.

What was happening to him?
He didn
’
t even know himself anymore…when did a woman suddenly begin ruling his every thought and decision?
Him?
And why the hell did it feel so …right?

Damn her and her stupid deal. He
’
d only agreed to go along with it in the first place to shut her up…okay and maybe because it was the only way to get her to willingly stay in his bed without having to beg and plead and constantly have to evaluate what it all meant
. B
ut something happened…he knew this was something weird—something that he
’
d never experienced with a woman before—but he
’
d thought—secretly hoped even, that if they spent as much time together as possible that it
’
d wear off
, that
things would be back to normal and he
’
d be able to shake this stupid love sick fool feeling he
’
d been feeling since he
’
d laid eyes on her in that damn bar.