Page 12 of The Fixer

He’d taken me from a well-known lady’s club in broad daylight. Raithe had walked in as if he owned the place, and no one stopped him. I had no knowledge of what occurred after he’d abducted me, and I doubted anyone would have called the police once Raithe’s name was mentioned.

The helicopter rocked as it began its descent toward the helipad. My heart lodged in my throat as fear and apprehension for my team’s well-being warred with rage and the sharp sting of claws digging deeper into my flesh. Since the day my view of the world shifted, I’d always held control over my fate. Until now.

“Don’t hurt them, Raithe,” I breathed through the thickness in my throat. “They’re my family.”

Turning his head, before angling it down, he frowned at the fear churning in my eyes. “Don’t make me hurt them, little lamb.”

A shiver of dread trickled down my spine, but the sound of a male’s pain-filled yelp jerked my focus toward the helicopter, where the door had opened. Penelope was attacking one soldier. She was on his back, holding on like a spider-monkey. He had three angry nail marks raked down his right cheek, and she’d wrapped her hands around his throat. A loud, angry feminine snarl came from inside the helicopter as a man rushed out, but Rory’s arms were tightly bound around his waist.

“But I love you, Bob!” Rory snickered.

“My fucking name is Carl! Get off of me, female!” the man roared, fighting to escape her hold.

“I thought you loved me, too, Cletus!” Rory continued. My eyebrows pushed up on my forehead as the man battling to prevent further injury to his face shouted to Raithe for help.

“Mr. Dravyn, a little help. Please?” he croaked and then shrieked as Penelope’s nails caught flesh once more. “Stop stabbing me, girl!”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I tilted my head as the man finally removed Penelope from his back. Holding her at arm’s length, he shook his head and swore in a foreign language I wasn’t fluent in. The plop of feet hitting the ground had me refocusing toward Anastasia, Einri, Colt, and Felix, who’d just exited the helicopter with two armed men. The cruel look burning in their depths and frowns pulling their mouths down in angry lines told me they’d intended to thwart their guards the moment they exited. Ana’s loud, shocked squeal of my name stopped the other girl’s struggles.

“Chevelle?” Ana shouted as her emerald-green eyes slid between me and Raithe and then settled back on Raithe. Not that I blamed her for it. He was an entire candy store of sweets to take in.

“What the hell, Pat? How’s our relationship supposed to work out if you can’t even tell me the truth? I guess this is where it ends for us, lover boy,” Rory stated dramatically as she released the guard and sauntered toward me.

“Why didn’t you just start out with the fact you were bringing us to Chevelle? Idiot,” Penelope grumbled, also making her way toward me. “These assholes kidnapped and threw us in a helicopter! They wouldn’t tell us anything, and for hours,” she snapped, tossing her black, glossy curls over her shoulder, “they made us think we were being spirited away to be killed!”

“Interesting,” I stated without emotion. “We have a job.”

“Wait,” Penelope said with her hand going up in the air. One by one, her finger followed her mental calculations. “Since when do you take a job without asking us first?”

“Right now,” I answered with a slight tremor of unease. I’d always called a meeting and laid out the case, seeking their input before agreeing to take a contract. It gave them a chance to put forth their questions or worries but it also helped us outline points we needed to address if we accepted. “This is my unicorn case.” A unicorn case was one that the others couldn’t argue with logic or valid points of concern. We were each allowed one, and I’d never used the unicorn card until today. Knowing that, they all turned to stare at Raithe with curiosity.

“Why use it now? Who is he? Are you sleeping with him?” Penelope asked in rapid-fire questions. Her eyes narrowed on Raithe and slowly slid back to me with something worrisome in their purplish-blue depths. “He’s not even your type.”

Anastasia whistled before speaking. “You’re blind, Penny. That man is every woman’s type,” she whispered with a purring sound added on to the end of her words. “If you’re not fucking him, I will be. I’m a naughty, naughty girl, Daddy. Punish me.” Fanning her face, she didn’t hide her simmering hunger and or blatant invitation.

“Why all the secrecy here, Chevy?” Felix sought. Forcing heavily tatted fingers through his dark, sandy blond mane, he then crisscrossed his densely tattooed arms over his equally tattooed chest, which was concealed beneath his crisp, white dress shirt. “We don’t have secrets from each other, remember? You told us that,” he pointed out with the skin around his eyes tightening, glaring with skepticism.

Felix was a frogman, ex-Navy Seal operator. He was experienced in operations, weapons, and had a ton of other useful tools in his belt. Felix had been homeless when I’d found him—or, rather, when he’d found me, and I’d never regretted inviting him to the team.

I’d been following a serial rapist as he’d strolled through a college campus, searching for drunken college girls to prey on. While doing surveillance, I’d been oblivious to the man trailing me and would’ve ended up in a dangerous position if Felix hadn’t intervened and taken the man down. Afterward, I’d taken him out to breakfast and heard how he’d ended up homeless after his fourth deployment to the sandbox. His entire team had been wiped out, and he’d lost the will to go back to civilian life after the war. I’d hired him and let him sleep in the building I’d rented for the control center of my business.

“Because this isn’t like our other cases,” I admitted as I slowly stuck a stubborn strand of hair behind my ear.

“Is he a bad guy, Chevy?” Einri inquired delicately.

“If we can get inside before the storm unleashes hell on us, I will explain who he is and why we’re here.” I was tapping the toe of the strappy heels when the first raindrop fell. “I’m sure Raithe will concur that this discussion is best had inside his palace.”

“Hold up,” Penelope urged with her finger in the air for silence. “Raithe,” she mumbled before pointing at the fellow who’d called for help earlier. “Who is likewise Mr. Dravyn? Raithe Dravyn?TheRaithe Dravyn?”

“Yes, he’s Raithe Dravyn. He’s our client, and my unicorn card,” I affirmed. The moment the last word left my lips, a deafening clap of thunder rumbled overhead and a torrential monsoon unleashed on the islet. Opening my lips to say more, violet light lit the evening and struck a tree not five feet from where we stood.

“We’re leaving, now,” Raithe voiced against my ear, firing warmth over my chilled flesh. My nipples hardened against the bodice of the dress, and before I could object, Raithe entangled his fingers with mine and hauled me toward the luscious garden and the palace. “Glad to know my influence isn’t diminishing.”

“It’s not a good influence,” I blurted before I could think better of it. The deluge of rain wasn’t letting up, which ended up with Raithe snapping out orders to the surrounding men. One moment, I was being led through the verdant archway of the garden, and the next, I was being jerked into an alcove. Raithe slapped a switch, and a curtain of leafy vines with bright violet flowers hanging from it slid down and concealed us from view. “What the hell?” I questioned as the others ran past where we were secluded from sight.

Raithe tugged my frame into the strong, powerful wall of his body and smirked wickedly. “You look good with mascara running down your face. You’d look even better if those perfect, pouty lips were wrapped around my cock while it trailed over your blush-stained cheeks.” The air quit my lungs in a weak whimper as his hand curved around my throat, compelling me to step back until chilled metal bit against my spine. The thumb he’d pressed against my thundering pulse lazily caressed the vein delivering oxygen to my brain. “You’re frightened of me?”

“You’re pretty intense, Raithe.” His gaze dropped to where I licked my lips and then followed the trail my tongue took. Before I could think better of it, I pushed up on my tiptoes and claimed his mouth hungrily.

---