Page 5 of Caged

At the time, I’d still planned on becoming a fireman when I left the Marines.

But over the last five years, I’d watched too many buildings burn and seen too many innocent people die in the flames. Fearing I couldn’t handle fighting a fire without tossing my cookies, or worse, freaking out and endangering others, killed my career before it began.

So, I joined the family business.

In some ways, it wasn’t a hard decision because I’d always wanted to serve my community after serving my country. Becoming a fireman was supposed to be my way of being true to myself without inviting direct comparison to my law enforcement family.

Which makes me a fool for joining the family business where I get compared to them every fucking day, just like when we were kids.

Unable to say no to Meg, I forced a smile and said, “Sure, can I bring anything?”

“Just your charming self,” Jack answered from behind me with a clap on the shoulder.

“You’re just jealous.” I said. Of what I couldn’t imagine; he had a great life.

“You keep telling yourself that.”

“Be nice you two,” Meg scolded us, practicing her mom voice. I had to admit, she was pretty good at it. “You don’t need to bring anything. Dinner’s at seven.”

“Okay, thanks. See you then.” That gave me just enough time to pick up a six-pack so I didn’t show up empty handed. Ma taught us better than that.

Maxwell was straightening up her desk when I walked in to grab my laptop and gear. “You know the world won’t come to an end if the edges aren’t lined up, right?”

Her piercing blue eyes bore holes in my skull. Her cheeks turned a vibrant shade of pink causing her scant freckles to stand out. Her teeth clenched.

God, it’s fun to mess with her.I shouldn’t have watched her ample chest rise as she breathed in slowly through her nose to calm herself down before responding, but I did. There was nothing I wanted to see more than Catelyn Maxwell losing control.

Something told me it’d be magnificent.It’d probably rock my world. I shook my head to clear out the thoughts.

“Why does it bother you?” she asked, her tone cold enough to freeze the bottle of water on her desk.

“It doesn’t,” I lied. My desk would never be called neat or tidy but it wasn’t trashed either. I preferred to think of it as organized chaos, and it worked for me. It only looked messy because it was in the same room as hers.

“Then shut up,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am.” I saluted before draining the water on my desk. After tossing my laptop in my backpack, I walked out without another word.

Remembering the frustration in her eyes when I pinned her to the mat, and ignoring how good she felt under me, I grinned. Maxwell was brilliant, and if I was being honest with myself, gorgeous. There was no way I’d ever measure up to her, except on the mat.

I’m an ass.I chided myself for gloating about beating a woman six inches shorter and at least sixty pounds lighter.

Chapter 3

Cate

“He’s such an asshole,” I complained to Charlie during our weekly Sunday morning zoom call. We met during Marine boot camp and became fast friends; our friendship grew to sisterhood when we served together overseas, and survived our transition to civilian life. Like me, Charlie went into law enforcement, much to her mother’s disappointment, when she returned to her small town. Her mom was proud of her, but had hoped Charlie would finally be out of harm’s way after leaving the Marines.

Not like my dad, he was thrilled when I joined the FBI. But not so much so when I left to join Sheppard & Sons. I had my reasons, but I couldn’t tell him. He wouldn’t understand, and end up being even more disappointed.

“I thought things were going well at SSI?” she asked instead of fueling my fire.

“They are. It’s a better fit than the FBI. Except for Jaden, he’s an ass.” I considered myself a calm person, and hated myself for letting him get to me.

“So you said. What’d he do now?”

“He took out his anger issues and embarrassed me on the mat.”

“Are you sure you’re not just upset you lost?” Humor danced in her eyes.

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