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There was plenty of craziness in my life already, without adding in a woman who was nearly twelve years my junior. Christ, she was barely old enough to drink. Besides the fact she not only worked for my soon-to-be sister-in-law, River, the two of them were best friends with my other brother’s girlfriend, Emory. It was a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
A little over a year ago, my oldest brother, Gabriel “Gabe,” came to this quaint little town to help out his friend, the chief of police, Caleb Matthews. He fell head over heels in love with Cate and her son, Miller. Next thing I knew, we moved our company, Quattro Security, from its headquarters in Atlanta to Mountain Grove, Maryland.
My youngest brother, Enrico “Rico,” quickly followed in Gabe’s footsteps, finding his forever with River Rayne, the owner of a little shop on Main Street called To A Tea. That was where they’d met and where Rico had untimely proposed. They’d been through some serious shit in their short time together, but they’d made it to the other side with only a few bumps and bruises.
Not one to be left out, Luciano, “Luc,” fell hard and fast for sixth grade math teacher, Emory Daubson. They’d returned from a trip to New York three days ago, where her father, Senator Anthony Daubson, announced he would be running for president. The problem was, Luc hid the fact Quattro had been hired by the FBI to investigate Daddy Dearest for treason. When she caught him going through her dad’s office, all hell broke loose, and not simply because he’d betrayed her trust.
Luc’s trip to New York and what he’d discovered was undoubtedly the reason for the meeting I was being forced to endure at o’ dark thirty with our FBI contact. Unsurprisingly, Gabe had beaten me to our offices, which were located in a large warehouse that also housed our training facility.
Quattro Security didn’t merely take on government contracts to hunt down the bad guys, we also provided a range of services including cybersecurity, weapons and hand-to-hand combat training. The four of us had formed our company after Gabe was injured in the Army, and within a few short years, our business exploded into something none of us had ever expected.
Rico was our in-house computer geek. He was a damn good hacker—the best, actually—and had been recruited by the FBI. Luc, a former Navy SEAL, was the sharpshooter. Which left the hands-on training to me, since it was my specialty when I was an Army Ranger. Gabe handled the day-to-day operational bullshit, but also lent a hand wherever he was needed.
Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies sent their officers to train with us. We were damn good at our jobs—thanks to Uncle Sam—and most of the time, the men and women who came to Quattro wanted the insight we could provide. There were a few, though, who showed up with the sole purpose of trying to take down the legendary del Toro Four. Those were the ones I couldn’t wait to get on my mat. At six foot three and two hundred fifty pounds of solid muscle, I wasn’t easily taken to ground. The years of martial arts training I had under my belt didn’t hurt either.
“What’s got Duncan all fired up, FratelloBrother?”I asked Gabe, who was seated at our conference table with a cup of coffee in his hands.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he answered.
Duncan Palmer was the FBI agent who contacted us regarding the case against Senator Daubson. We’d only met with him in person the one time, but it was enough for me to see the man had demons, though he hid them well. Like recognized like, I suppose.
“I’m gonna wait outside for Luc.” Gabe pushed back from the table, leaving the room without another word.
The moment he disappeared; my mind drifted to Quin, something which happened with alarming frequency. It seemed the harder I tried to push the intrusive thoughts away, the quicker they burrowed their way into my subconscious. I had no idea why this particular woman was wreaking havoc on my mind, body, and soul, but something had to give before I went completely insane.
Shaking my head, I moved to the Keurig on the counter, needing a jolt of caffeine—or ten—to deal with whatever was coming down the pike. Nothing good ever came from an impromptu briefing with the federal government in the early morning hours.
Heavy footsteps against the concrete floors alerted me to their presence and when I turned around to see Luc and Gabe strolling in, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Well, well, well. It looks like our little brother finally extracted his head from his ass,” I teased.
“And how do you know that?” Gabe asked.
“He’s wearing the same clothes he left in yesterday.”
Gabe’s head twisted to Luc, who merely shrugged. I was thrilled my brother reconciled with Emory, though I wished she’d have made him suffer a little longer. It was obvious to anyone who was around them for more than two seconds, they were in love, so I was confident he would win her over in the end.
“It’s about fucking time,” he said.
“I’m so glad to see you all can joke around when soldiers are dying,” Duncan grumbled.
How this guy had snuck up on me, I’ll never know. Regardless, he had my attention. Rico sauntered in behind him, looking far too awake for my liking. I wasn’t in the mood to handle his jokester ways at the butt-crack of dawn.
While he and Luc made their way to the coffee machine, the rest of us gathered around the table. I couldn’t hear the majority of what my brothers were discussing as they waited for their drinks, however, I knew Rico dropped River off at Emory’s apartment on his way to Quattro, so when I heard the words “Quin” and “there” I assumed the girl squad was getting together.
The longer we sat, the more agitated Duncan became. His knees bounced and his fingers tapped a wild rhythm against the table. When he stood, moving toward the Keurig, I thought nothing of it, until Luc spun around and got in his face.
“What the fuck is your problem, Palmer?” Luc yelled.
Rico, Gabe, and I were at his side within seconds, ready to defend him by any means necessary. With the three of us flanking Luc, Duncan’s demeanor flipped on a dime. All of a sudden, he looked…defeated.
Apologies were exchanged and as we, once again, sat around the conference table, we discovered the reason behind his distress. A terrorist organization, known as HQN, claimed responsibility for an attack on a black ops military base in Kabul, killing eight soldiers and wounding many others.
Since the FBI and the CIA had been investigating Senator Daubson’s involvement in selling the locations of various classified military installations, along with his association with a known member of HQN, the early morning meeting now made perfect sense. The problem was, the government had the wrong man on their radar.
Luc spent the next few minutes explaining what he’d uncovered while he and Emory had been in New York; which included the short list of the players involved. Rico then showed Duncan the extensive gambling history and subsequent debt the ringleader had accumulated over the past few years. It always came down to greed and the almighty dollar with those guys.
Six hours later, we’d come up with a plan of sorts to shake things up a bit and make these guys desperate enough to tip their hands. Then we’d have them. Lock, stock, and barrel.
