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Now Ace didn’t know how far Nestor’s circle reached. He couldn’t even trust the local police. His family was all he could turn to at this moment.
“Are we getting closer to the house?” Dakota asked.
“Yes,” he said.
Dakota let out a sigh of relief. Maybe she wanted nothing more than to get away from him; he wasn’t sure. She was in for a surprise, though, because he wasn’t letting her out of his sight for a while, not without knowing exactly where Nestor was.
“Don’t get too excited. It’s gonna be you and me for a while,” Ace said.
“I’m under witness protection,” Dakota muttered.
“I’m not too bad a guy to have around,” Ace told her.
She gave him a mocking look and then faced forward as he drove. That tingling on the back of his neck was there again, and he reached back and itched at the place. This night was only just beginning, and it had already been one hell of a day. At least he could never complain that life was boring—danger was a surety in his line of work.
They pulled up to the house, and Ace was tense. His brothers were waiting. Ace didn’t waste any time telling them about the danger he’d brought to his family’s doorstep.
“It’s time for you guys to get out of here,” Ace said. “They know where I am, and they know where you are.”
“We’re not leaving you, Ace,” Cooper said. Nick and Mav nodded.
“This isn’t up for negotiation,” Ace thundered.
Cooper was silent for a few moments before he sighed and looked at his wife, who was white-faced as she stood next to Lindsey.
“We aren’t hiding,” Cooper finally agreed. Ace got ready to argue, but Cooper held up his hand. “However, we do need to get our wives and children out of here until we figure this out.”
“Agreed,” Nick said.
Stormy stood up. “We’ll take the kids and get them settled,” she said, “then we’ll come back. We won’t be able to stand by while this is happening. We’ll go back and forth.”
There was more arguing, but eventually Ace and his brothers agreed. Ace determined this would end, and it would end soon.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Ace was flanked by Cooper and Maverick, while Nick stood in front as they entered the secure building where they were meeting with Bill. Nick had been beyond ticked all morning. It was all fun and games until your truck got blown to smithereens. Now he knew the reason why.
Nestor had officially gone too far in his revenge scheme. No one else was going to get hurt. And there wouldn’t be any further property damage, either, if Ace had his way. Ace was in his zone—he was one hundred percent the agent he’d been for nearly the past decade as he moved with ease, knowing exactly who he was.
Moving across the room, they came to the reception desk, where an alert woman sat. She remained emotionless as the four hulking men approached her, showing various scowls on their faces. “I’m here for a meeting with Bill Hammond,” Ace said. The woman looked down at her screen before meeting his eyes again.
“Name?” she asked. Though Ace was sure she knew exactly who he was.
“Ace Armstrong.”
“Yes, Bill is expecting you.” She stood up, her sleek blue suit screaming all business and zero pleasure. That’s how it was in the CIA, though. They weren’t there for some frilly office party or just to earn a paycheck.
Being a part of the CIA was a calling. And though Ace was in full agent mode at the moment, he was beginning to wonder if his time was up. He didn’t love it like he once had, and he didn’t want to have to stay away from his family anymore, or from Dakota. When he had more than a few moments to breathe properly, maybe he would analyze that a bit more. Not today, though.
“Follow me,” the woman told him. She looked at his brothers when they stepped forward with him. “The meeting was supposed to be one-on-one.” She frowned disapprovingly at the other three men.
“It’s been changed to four now. These are my brothers, and they’re a part of it,” Ace told her. His voice wouldn’t tolerate any kind of argument from her.
The woman sat back down and lifted her phone to her ear. Ace internally rolled his eyes. He knew how this game worked, but they were wasting time, and he was annoyed. She hung up and stood again.
“Okay, this way.”
They were led down a long hallway. When she reached an open door, she stepped aside and held her hand out for them to enter.
