Secrets and Satin: A MacKenzie Novel (Romantic Suspense) (MacKenzie Family) (12 page)

She lifted her head and a smile quirked at the corner of her mouth. “I must have missed that phase of your life.”

“Yeah, I missed it too.” He felt the tension he carried whenever he talked about his family lighten and was able to laugh a little. “I took up the MMA training while I was overseas, and it became addictive. So you can imagine his surprise when I signed up to fight in the ring and chose to ignore the family summons home so he could throw a big party in my honor and introduce me to all of his campaign contributors. And then the DEA recruited me and I never looked back.”

He’d made a lot of detours in his life, searching for something to give him purpose and support as his family never had. Carrying a badge had given him that purpose, and he was grateful for it.

“Like you, I often wonder if I’d have taken a different path if my parents had lived. It’s hard for me to remember them other than what I see from pictures. I remember my mother’s laugh and the way dad looked when he tied his tie in front of the mirror. I remember they loved me and reminded me how important it was to bring honor to the Devlin name. To always remember where I came from and be grateful to those before me who’d made sure we never had to worry about where we’d get our next meal.”

“They’d be proud of your service,” she said. “You’ve more than brought honor to the Devlin name.”

“Not according to my grandparents.
They sent flowers when I was shot, and my grandfather tried to get power of attorney over all my holdings and my trust, using the argument that I’d never be of sound mind again. He’s still trying to get control last time I talked to my attorneys.”

Jade raised her brows. “On what grounds?”

“Of consorting with nefarious criminals, squandering Devlin money, and blackening the family name. In their eyes, there’s nothing in what I’ve become to be proud of. And I have to let them continue to think that way.”

She propped herself up on crossed arms and looked angry on his behalf. That was enough to wash away his own anger at the people who’d raised him. He’d come to realize they didn’t have the ability to love or nurture as they should have, and it wasn’t worth wasting the time or effort on
them any longer, though that didn’t make the hurt go away.

His body was still joined with Jade’s,
and he smoothed a hand down her back and rested his hand on her rear, loving the feel of her. She was so soft and smooth compared to his own body, though the strength beneath that softness was obvious.

“To show you what a good friend I am,” she said, grinning, “The next time you’re invited home for dinner
, I’m going to let you take me as your date. We’ll see what the Senator has to say about that.”

“I’d take you anywhere and be proud of it,” he said seriously, watching as the laughter faded from her eyes. “The deficiency is in them, not either of us. Just like it was with your mother’s family. Two lost souls, babe.” His hand squeezed at her hip and he laid his other over her hand on his chest. “And we turned out just fine.”

A high-pitched alarm sounded on his phone and Jade rolled off of him and grabbed the pistol she’d put under the chair. He grabbed his own weapon and the phone and they ran back into the house.

“Someone’s on the main road to the house,”
he said. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a white shirt and then shoved his feet into his boots. Jade did the same thing and then pulled the black bag she’d stashed from under the bed. Max flipped on the flat screen TV and watched as the surveillance cameras gave faces to their visitors. The road leading to the house made them have to slow down enough that the cameras could see inside the car.

“It’s not Vassin,” Jade remarked, loading a magazine in her we
apon and then putting it at the small of her back. “But there are only two. How do you want to handle it?”

Max picked up his own weapon and then he picked up the familiar thumping sound in the distance.

“Shit,” he said.

“They’ve got a chopper. That could
be bad.” Nothing much ever fazed Jade. That’s why he’d always liked working with her.

Max hit the security panic button and metal shutters closed over all the windows. Damned if he wanted to have to replace a bunch of broken windows if they came out of this alive.

“They’ll try to take me,” he said. “Vassin wants the information too bad. And these men aren’t likely to see you as a threat. Let’s let them keep believing that.”

He looked her over from head to toe and couldn’t help the rush of desire that thrummed just below the skin and had his dick spiking beneath his cargos. Her skin had darkened and glowed from the time in the sun, and her cheeks held a flush that any red-blooded male would recognize on a woman who’d just been satisfied
. The green of her eyes was vibrant and sharp as she opened the front door to see which direction the chopper was coming in from.

“ETA
two minutes,” she said.

He pulled her back and closed the door with a snap, pressing her against it with his body, his cock pressed between the juncture of her thighs as his mouth slanted over hers in a scorching kiss. It never seemed to matter that he’d just had her. He’d
always
want her. His tongue pushed into her mouth, tasting the dark pleasure and drinking in her moans as she rocked back against him. He broke free and they stood staring at each other, panting for breath.

“It’s good to know you’
re locked and loaded,” she said.

He grinned and shoved away from the door, opening it so they could meet trouble head on.
“Have I told you I’m crazy about that mouth of yours?”

“That’s not what you said
the time we got stuck during that hurricane and went three days without electricity.”

“That’s because I wanted you so bad I could hardly breathe. The close quarters weren’t helping.”  

“Then let’s finish this quick and we’ll do a replay. Only this time you can do whatever you want to me. We’ll make our own storm.” She winked at him and then chambered a bullet in her gun, taking her place just to the side of one of the thick cedar posts on the porch.

Max took a seat on
the front steps and propped his arms on his knees in a casual pose so no one would get too jumpy, and he watched as a cloud of dust plumed from the bottom of his driveway. A sleek black sedan shot out of the tunnel and sped toward them even as the
whoomp, whoomp, whoomp
from the chopper became louder and the blades kicked up red dust and dead grass.

The helicopter was bullet-shaped and black, and it touched down in the
wide expanse of his lawn just as the car pulled to a stop. Max slowly got to his feet and walked out to meet the new arrivals halfway. He kept his hands loose at his sides as two men got out of the car.

Dressed in worn jeans and T-shirts, they could have been any average Joe walking down the street. Except for the fact that they just looked like thugs.
Slicked back hair and big, meaty hands that would do serious damage if they made contact. One of them had a ragged scar on the side of his eye and the other had a tattoo of a snake wrapped around his neck.

Both of them were armed. Max counted at least 3 weapons
hidden under their clothes. These guys were the muscle—probably hired out locally and too dumb to do any research other than what Vassin spoon-fed them.

It was the two men coming from the helicopter that would have to be watched. They were dressed in black cargos and T-shirts, reflective black sunglasses covering their eyes and their guns visible in the shoulder holsters
they wore. They moved with an easy balance that only someone who’d been trained could carry off. They looked ex-military or government, and that just pissed him off.

“You Max Devlin?” one of the thugs from the car asked.

Max ignored him and watched as the two from the helicopter moved in closer. They’d all positioned themselves neatly around him so he stood in the center of their little circle.

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” the same guy said.

He could have sworn he saw one of Vassin’s personal men grin when he continued not to respond to the overgrown bully. Max kept his gaze on the two in the sunglasses, knowing where the real threat was.

“Martin Vassin requests your presence, Mr. D
evlin,” Sunglasses #1 said.

“I don’t know a Martin Vassin. And I don’t have time in my schedule at the moment. You can contact my personal secretary if he’s looking for a donation. As you can see, I’m on vacation.”

He moved slightly back and to the side, repositioning his body so Sunglasses #2 wasn’t at his back, and he nodded to Jade up on the porch. She looked sexy as hell leaning against the porch railing, and the two thugs couldn’t seem to take their eyes off her. The two in the sunglasses barely spared her a glance, dismissing her as non-threatening. Their first mistake.

“I’m afraid w
e’re going to have to insist,” Sunglasses said. “You’ve put out the word that you have something for sale. We’d like to buy.”

“Like I said, I don’t know Martin Vassin. I’m picky about my customers and I have a reputation, which you’d know if you bothered to look into my background. Now if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen. This is private property.”

The guy with the snake tattoo reached out and grabbed his arm and Max gave him a chilling look that had him dropping it in a hurry, though he tried to bluster his way through by taking another step closer.

“You don’t want to touch me again,” Max said. “It makes my bodyguard unhappy.”

“I don’t see no bodyguard,” Tattoo said. “Just your cunt whore and you, pretty boy.”

“What Mr. Evans means,” S
unglasses #1 broke in smoothly, “is that Mr. Vassin has given you the option of coming with us the easy or the hard way.”

“No,” Max said.

No one moved as they waited for him to say something more. But there was nothing else to say. He’d made his position clear.

Tattoo snorted out a laugh. “You can’t just say no. He just told you you could come the easy or the hard way.”

“Yes, Mr. Evans, I can hear. My answer is still no.”

A red flush worked it
s way up Tattoo’s face, either in embarrassment or anger; Max didn’t know, but probably a little of both. He was the weak link, the one whose anger would get out of control and make him do something stupid.

They all spread out a little around him, widening the circle, and Max smiled, recognizing the brawler in each of them.

“You’ve fucked up, Devlin,” Tattoo said, cracking his knuckles. “Looks like you’re going to get the hard way. And maybe when we’re done with you, Jimmy and I will show your whore what a real man feels like. Maybe we’ll let you watch so you can pick up some pointers.”

“That’s the second time you’ve insulted my woman,” Max said. “You’re going to pay for that. And if you do it again
, I’ll kill you.”

“How you plan on doin’ that?” the one called Jimmy asked. “It’s four against one
, asshole.”

“Well, Jimmy—” Max paused and raised a brow. “You don’t mind
if I call you Jimmy, do you?” The tension rose higher than the heat and they began to shift, waiting for the opportunity to strike. “The first thing I’m going to do is take out Mr. Evans. I’m going to kick in his knee and then deliver a second kick to the stomach, while using him as a shield so I can take out Sunglasses over here.” Max pointed at the man in question. “I’ll probably break his arm, but I haven’t quite decided yet. I like to keep my options open.”

No one moved a muscle as he continued on. “And then I’m going to get to you, Jimmy. You’ll want to put some ice on the headache you’re going t
o have. And then that’ll leave Sunglasses number two. If he’s smart he won’t try to throw a punch and I’ll let him deliver my message back to Martin Vassin without any damaged body parts.”

“You’re a crazy-assed motherfucker, is what I think,” Jimmy said.

“I’ve been called worse,” Max said. And then he put his words into action. His foot struck out and hit Tattoo’s knee, bones and cartilage crunching with a sickening sound, and his high-pitched scream was cut off by the second kick in the stomach.

Max caught him on the way down and used the momentum to push hi
m into Sunglasses #1, throwing him off balance so Max could grab the other man’s arm and twist. He felt the shoulder slip out of socket and then he kneed him in the kidney and tossed Tattoo and Sunglasses in a heap on the ground together.

His blood pumped and his muscles sang as
he dodged a blow from Jimmy’s meaty fist, and the sting in Max’s knuckles was sweet satisfaction as he gave Jimmy a quick jab in the stomach followed by an uppercut to the jaw.

The sound of a gunshot had everyone looking up to the porch in surprise. Jade stood much like she had been before, completely relaxed against the thick post, only this time her gun was pointed in their direction, obviously having just been fired.

“No one said knives were allowed in this fight,” she said.

Max gave Jimmy another shot to the jaw, taking him down for the count, before he turned his attention to the last man standing.
The man’s hand was covered in blood and he held his wrist tight where the bullet had gone through. She’d made a hell of a shot—a small target that had been in motion—but he knew she’d hit exactly what she’d aimed for.