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“Welcome to the Elite, Katia,” I say, throwing one of my arms across her shoulders and pulling her towards me. “Where fighting bad guys, being bossed around, and eating food is what we do.”
Katia’s shoulders shake as she laughs. “Wow. Who would have thought that the great Natalia, Printsessa of the BraTVa, was fighting crime. Also, did you say food?”
My smile goes wide. “Oh, there will be food.”
We break apart, making our way downstairs, and sure enough, a delicious smell hits us. Katia and I both let out a moan that could probably be confused for getting off. Food can have that effect on us, though.
Walking into the dining room, I see takeout boxes scattered across the table. This table is much smaller than the one in Vegas, but it’s the perfect size for this team. “Hope you like Thai food, Katia,” BJ tells her.
“I am a fan of all food,” she replies.
“Good, because I got a little bit of everything since it is on the company card. We have spring rolls, pad Thai, -my favorite- som tum, kao pad, and well…everything, as you can see.” BJ beams with pride. She really wants to make Katia feel welcome, and it shows.
Once everyone is in the room and seated, we all dig in. BJ ordered way too much because we barely made a dent in what was on the table.Good. I love leftovers.Stryker then stands at the head of the table.
“We all didn’t just come in here to eat,” he starts, but there is a unanimous groan at the table. “We’re not stopping until we put these guys down.” With that, he signals to Conrad, who projects the image of Andrei on the screen, along with a question mark where the other picture would be. “There are no images of Ivan, so he really is a Shadow. Conrad tried to track a private jet that left right before shit went down at Cooter’s Clubhouse but is coming up empty-handed. These guys are smart, and they know how to cover their tracks. The interrogations didn’t turn up much eith–”
“Let me talk to them,” Alexie interrupts.
“We want them alive,” Stryker responds.
“Pity,” he replies.
“Anyway,” Stryker goes on. “The Vegas team will continue interrogations, and don’t worry, they’re not making them pleasant. They had to stock up on more smelling salts. I’m waiting for an update from our New York team, who are checking all previously known addresses and affiliates of Andrei. We’re pushing hard, but that means they’re probably feeling it. Once you back someone into a corner, they have no choice but to fight their way out. We don’t want him sending this Ivan character off to do something drastic like he did at Reds,”
“That wasn’t drastic,” I chime in. “Mass casualty is what they will go for when they want to be drastic.”
Everyone at the table seems to shift in their seats. We have no clue where they are, and they could come for us at any time.
“On a pleasant note,” Stryker says. “All the victims from Vegas have either been reunited with family and friends or have been set up with services to help them through this tough time. Conrad has also worked on tracking down victims from other auctions by looking into the killed and captured affiliates from this auction. He’s been working on handing it over to another team that will focus solely on finding and rescuing these victims, as well as bringing those involved to justice.”
Conrad is still looking at his computer screen, but the smile on his face shows how proud he is of the work he is doing. He should be proud. I’m proud of him, and this could help save so many. Once all this is over, I might try to convince Stryker to switch to tracking down trafficking groups and victims.
“That is all I have for tonight,” Stryker declares. “Get as much rest as you can. I’ll be in my room working on some admin bullshit and private matters.” He winks at me, making me wonder what he is up to.
Stryker walks out of the room, and we all take that as our cue to leave as well. As I stand from my seat, an arm wraps around my waist, spinning me around. Lips crash onto mine, and I know it’s Alexie from the feel of his body against mine before I even put my eyes on him. His hand moves from my waist to my ass cheek, and he grips me hard. His other hand grabs the back of my neck, pressing me into his lips harder. He pulls my neck back, releasing my lips. “I’m going to spar with Prince-y in the backyard. You are welcome to watch me beat him down or join in. I know how much you love fighting as a little foreplay,Malyshka,” he coaxes,
Alexie releases his hard grasp on my ass and neck, stepping back while waiting for my response. Then a hand slaps down on the cheek Alexie was gripping, making it sting more. I jump a little and turn to see King smirking at me as he keeps walking past us, but he stops at the door frame. “Or you could watch me beat down your little BraTVa Prince here, Luci.”
I roll my eyes at both of them. “As much as watching you two beat the shit out of each other is making me wet just thinking about it,” I see King suck in his bottom lip, “I’m going to pass. I’m having a movie night with Katia.”
King says nothing, turning around and walking out of the room. Alexie leans forward with both hands behind his back and whispers, “Next time you tell me that you’re getting wet, I will throw you on this table and make you scream my name in front of everyone.” Then he turns and walks out too.
I turn to see Katia’s eyebrows raised as she stares at me. “Dang, girl. Talk about having them all wrapped around your finger,” she comments.
“What can I say, King made a comment once about me having a magic pussy. Maybe he’s right,” I say, causing her to roll her eyes at me, and we both laugh. “Why don’t you go up to our room,” I suggest looking over at Conrad. She follows my gaze to see who I’m looking at, and I cut her off when she opens her mouth to say something by saying, “I’ll be up in a few.”
Katia looks back at me. “Mhm, a few minutes?”
“Yes, just a few,” I call out to her as she walks out of the room.
I walk around the table, but Conrad doesn’t look up from his computer until I move closer with the front of my legs pressed against the side of his chair. He sits back in his seat and looks up. I take his movement back in his chair as an invitation to sit on his lap. Conrad wraps his arms around me, pulling me into him as he nestles his face into my neck. After a moment, he pulls back. “Only a few minutes?” he asks.
I press my forehead to his, saying, “Never. A few minutes with you is never enough. You know that’s not what I meant.”
He leans his face into me and gently presses his lips to mine for a moment. “I love you,” he tells me. “I would absolutely take you on this table the way Alexie described, but I’m on a trail that I can’t afford to lose.”
“You are amazing, Conrad,” I assure him. “I love you.” I kiss him on the forehead and hop off his lap.
