AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So you’ve got a bull rider, a former FBI agent, a mobster, and two other guys from your team.”
“There’s also Jacob, Grant’s boyfriend. He was also a client. He and Rogue were friends—just friends. He had some bad guys after him, and Rogue brought him to the ranch to keep him safe.”
“And on top of all of these interesting characters, there are also lots of cows and horses and—”
“Just horses. It’s a horse breeding operation, but unless you want to, you don’t have to interact with the horses, especially not if you’re afraid.”
“I’m not afraid of a horse.”
“Have you met one?”
He rolled his eyes. “Only from the side of a racetrack.”
“They’re more intimidating than you’d think, but the bulls Rogue used to ride, now those animals are scary as fuck.”
“I can only imagine. So he was a real honest-to-God rodeo star?”
“The three of them grew up in Texas. I mean, what do you expect?”
“That they’d join the marines to get the hell out?”
Fox laughed. “They’re good guys. They’re going to help us.”
“At least a ranch has got to be better than that motel you tried to make me stay in.”
“Yeah, Jacob keeps things nice, and he cooks too.”
“You mean we’ll be expected to sit down to family dinner?”
“I suppose you could be a snob and have a tray brought to your room, though you might have to bring it yourself.”
I sniffed. “I’m capable of making my own plate.”
“You can dress yourself, pack, and make your own plate? Amazing.”
I gave him a look that would’ve sent my underlings fleeing.
“You know that look isn’t going to work on me. It’s hot as hell, though.”
“You’re fucking impossible.”
“Nah, I just know how to push your buttons.”
I tried to keep my expression neutral as a jolt of fear hit me. Fox did know exactly what to do to rile me up, and he knew it too well. Lawson understood a lot of my quirks, and he knew what would get me to bend when he really needed me to, but this was different, and now Fox knew he could bend me to his will almost as easily as I’d bent him to mine. I hadn’t been at such a disadvantage since I was a kid.
The conversation was headed off the rails again, so I said something guaranteed to ease my feelings and create chaos. “Why exactly are Ahmed and Abdul after you?”
“X didn’t tell you everything?”
“Does he ever?”
Fox laughed. “No. I mean maybe if you’re his boyfriend, but otherwise, definitely not.”
“I can’t even imagine dealing with that man all the time.”
Fox gave me an up-and-down look. “I thought you were convinced you could handle anyone.”
I gave him an icy glare.
“The details of the mission are classified.”
“Your rule-breaking stunt that resulted in you killing someone that these men want revenge for is classified?”
“Yep.”
I didn’t say anything else; I just held his gaze. Eventually, he sighed.
And I relented. “I really don’t want to talk about it, but I left camp without orders and did what was necessary to get information out of a man, then I killed him.”
The story didn’t sound all that remarkable, but Fox looked fucking haunted as he talked. I sat up and laid a hand on his thigh. “Did it help keep your team safe?”
“It did. I took a risk, and it worked out, or at least it worked out then. Now I’m in trouble, and I’m bringing it right down on my friends because I don’t know where else to go, and apparently, no one thinks I can handle this myself.”
I nodded. “I get that. I like to handle things myself too. It took me a long time to learn I needed a trusted team working with me if I was going to accomplish all my goals.”
“Damn, now you sound like Grant.”
“God forbid. Me sound like a rancher.”
“Grant grew up working with horses, but when you meet him, the first thing you’ll think is, he’s special forces.”
I already had a feeling Grant and I were going to clash—over methodology, over Fox, and over God knows what else.
“Did you learn to work with a team for all your different businesses?”
“Yes, the legal and not-so-legal ones.”
“You’re telling me there aren’t missions where you know you’re the only person who can handle it.”
“I know I’m the person who needs to be in charge, but it’s rare a mission can be handled by only one person. Didn’t you have to work as a team in the marines?”
“Sure, but I’ve never been good at taking orders.”
“You did pretty damn well earlier.”
“That was different. I didn’t have to take orders. I wanted—” His eyes widened, and he turned away to look out the window at the clouds.
“Of course you wanted to. I’m very good at getting what I want.”
“Son of a bitch,” Fox snarled.
“I wanted to too.” He whirled around to face me again. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
