Page 24 of Under Control

Delta flexed his jaw and stared down his friend. “You really need to read the intel. Don’t go to that wedding. Cut this jobnow.”

“Why?”

Delta discreetly looked side to side, seeming to check their surroundings, and said, “Petrov crime family—heard of them? Your buddy Kosta runs the Russian mafia here in LA. You do not want to fuck with this guy.”

Carrick’s mouth opened as he processed, narrowing his gaze back on the shop then back to Delta. Now, it was all starting to make sense. He knew a thing or two about the mafia—and it wasn’t pretty.

“What about her?” Carrick nodded to the shop.

Delta shrugged, a dark shadow crossing his face.

“I can’t just throw her to the wolves,” Carrick said, his back stiffening. “You know what those people will do to her?”

“It’s not your job to save her. This is her family.”

“Well, we can’t exactly call the cops now, can we?” Carrick responded, realizing his advice to Danica needed to be tweaked. Her options for fighting back were diminishing by the minute.

I’m her only option left.

“There’s one cop I know…” Delta started, his head cocking to the side. That was a road Carrick didn’t want to go down.

“You’ve burned that bridge, haven’t you? She hates your ass,” Carrick pointed out. “Look… I’ve run ops solo in five different fucked-up countries. I’ve fought my way out of foreign prisons and backwater torture camps. I can handle the fucking mafia.”

“You’re too distracted.” Delta stepped forward, fiercer. “And now you’re not just putting her at risk here. You’re putting yourself at risk, too. The mafia will ruin you.”

Carrick stepped a half-foot back, looking down at his friend—a guy who was like a brother to him, a guy who’d been there.

“I’m not leaving her.”

“Thenreadthe intel,” Delta finally snapped, never letting up the intensity. “And focus, for fuck’s sake. I didn’t save your ass from a body bag in Syria just to watch you die in LA.”

“Fine,” Carrick retorted. “I’ll read it when I get back. For now, I need you handle the office. McDonough wants an update on her missing son in Peru, and I need you to explain to her it’s looking like a kidnapping.”

And just as the last words rolled off his tongue, he noticed movement across the street. Danica appeared, coming out of the shop door. And damn, Carrick’s jaw nearly hit the floor. She was fully decked out, ready for the wedding.

Christ, she was lookingunbelievablyfucking hot.

He had to keep it together.

He had to help her.

And what hewantedto do to her? That sure as hell wasn’t going to help her at all.

“Oh look, a fucking sniper is about to take you out,” Delta muttered sarcastically as the lithe brunette crossed the street, absorbing every ounce of Carrick’s attention.

Carrick heard Delta’s words but nothing registered, not even the fact that Delta was dead right that Carrick was brutally distracted.

All he could see was Danica pulling down the edges of her short, tight black dress and nearly stumbling as her black stiletto leather heels clicked across the pavement on the street. The cute-shy thing was killing him, and his cock hardened and lengthened down his pant leg. The thing that was almost his undoing was when she shot a shy grin at him and Delta as she waltzed over, like she had no idea what an absolute rocket she was.

“This is all they had that fit.” She shrugged, looking down at the pavement and fumbling with her small clutch bag. “So…”

“It’s fine,” Carrick choked out and turned back to the truck, a hot flush running up his neck.

Back to mission-focused, Carrick immediately got down to business, unzipping the suit bag and whipping off his gray long-sleeved T-shirt. He’d changed in the middle of war zones and war ships. He didn’t need a private dressing room to get ready.

“You look nice.” Delta smoothly complimented Danica behind him, shooting up his ire.

Delta was moving Danica around the back of his truck, creating space between them. Carrick didn’t like that, so he hopped into the truck and finished whipping on the suit as quick as he could, smoothing back his hair in the rearview mirror as he kept his eye on them. What was Delta going to say to her?

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