Page 55 of Pitbull
“Look.” Anke snapped. “I know you’re trying to protect me, but this will never end if we don’t do something drastic. I’m tired of running from someone I don’t even know. I’m sick of all the hell this man his dumping on our heads all because someone he knew couldn’t follow the damn law. I want to sleep in my own bed!”
“Mine isn’t good enough for you then?” Pitbull asked.
The room descended into silence then. Anke’s face caught fire but she didn’t look away from him. The softness with which he asked the question ruined her and there was nothing she could do about it. It didn’t matter that the entire team was sitting there, awestruck. It didn’t matter this conversation was one they should have in private. All that mattered was Pitbull felt helpless and she never wanted him to ever go through those pains.
Anke cradled his face and slipped to her knees before him. When she met his eyes, Anke sighed. “That should never be a question you ask me,” Anke replied. “Your bed will always be one of the best places for me to be. This is about me sleeping at Zero’s or Mouth’s or on a sofa at the headquarters. This must end, Pit. You know that. I’m not scared.”
“But I am.” His Adam’s apple danced.
“There’s no reason for me to be afraid.” Anke smiled up at him.
“How come?” His voice cracked.
“Look at the army I have around me, huh?” She asked. “I have a Tex, a Beast, a Mouth, a Mozart, my very own Spiderman, a Zero, a killer Barbie—most importantly, and my favorite part of all, I have a Pitbull. What do I have to be afraid of?”
He stared into her eyes then for an eternity then smiled before kissing her forehead. “But if anything goes wrong…”
“It won’t.”
“Okay, but you wear a tracking device Tex will have access to,” Pitbull said. “And you follow instructions.”
“As you wish,mein könig.”
Pitbull’s massive shoulders rose and fell heavily, and she knew she’d scored a rather tentative victory with him.
Within minutes, a plan was hatch.
She would be the bait.
16
Two nights later, the plan was put into motion. It hadn’t been hard for Tex to find out where Penrod would be. The man seemed to live on his phone. It seemed strange he would be so careful with everything but not use a burner phone. Most of his calls were to sex lines which confused Pitbull. Penrod was married, yet still he found it prudent to talk dirty to some faceless woman.
No matter how many times Pitbull had seen men like him, he was still amazed—in a horrible way—by it.
He’d insisted on being the one to drop Anke off. He needed the last few minutes with her, to feel her hand warm under his—to hear her breath soft and rapid around him. All the way there, all Pitbull wanted to do was slam on the brakes, hit a U turn and speed back the way they’d come.
Pitbull still hated the plan. Miracle wanted to be there with her, but she was taking care of Eden and Anya. Barbie was set up in a place where she had a limited view of the inside of the place but it was better than nothing. And the others were all strategically placed around in case of an emergency. But even long after he’d kissed Anke and she exited the rental car, the feeling of doom still hovered over Pitbul like a dark cloud.
He kept his eyes on her for as long as he could and the moment she was out of his sight, his heart slammed into his chest.
“Mouth?” Pitbull called.
“I got her,” Mouth said from where he was seated in the restaurant.
That calmed Pitbull—only somewhat.
He waited at the designated area, watching the building while tapping his fingers against the steering. A searing pain vibrated outward inside his chest. It meant something. Just the thought of Anke being hurt angered him so desperately, he clenched the steering until it was as if his knuckles would break.
It dawned on him then—he needed Anke to come back to him. He needed her to be all right. He needed to lecture her about taking such a stupid task and risk having his heart ripped from his chest.
No other woman had been willing to take a chance on him. They would wither in his shadow. That was never the plan—he never wanted a woman who wouldn’t walk by his side. But Anke was on shrinking violet. She hadn’t backed off when he growled at her and had climaxed when he growled for her. She’d taken the control he’d given her and twisted his body into the most wonderful carnal knot. Afterward, she’d given herself to him, freely and without reservations.
He yearned for a woman like her. And he’d found it all in Anke.
“Come back to me.”
“What?” Beast asked.
