Rev It Up (Black Knights Inc. #3)(17)

“Assassin?” Jake interrupted. “Good God, Boss, who’d you piss off this time?”

His former CO shrugged, shaking his head. “It’s a long story, and I haven’t got time to tell it. All you need to know right now is that there are an unknown number of guys gunning for us and though I’m confident of the security I have in place, I’d still feel better if you kept your eyes and ears open for the next few minutes while you look after Shell and Franklin for me.”

“That’s a given.”

Boss clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Thanks, man. And, believe me when I say it’s not going to be an easy task, especially since I need you to convince Shell to stay out here while the rest of us go inside to try and find out what we can from this sonofabitch.”

Jake glanced around the courtyard. “You sure it’s safe out here?”

Boss nodded. “Right now it’s the safest place on the compound.”

Jake took Boss at his word, trusting him to know his own security.

“So, assassins, huh?” He shook his head and pointed a thumb overhead at the red-and-white-striped awning covering the courtyard. It hadn’t been there last night when he’d arrived from the West Coast. “I guess that’s why you guys unrolled canopy.”

“Yeah. A little insurance against prying eyes. That’s also why I’ve been running around all day like a chicken with my head cut off and didn’t get the chance to welcome you back properly, man. For that, I’m sorry. So, I’ll say it now, I’m glad you’re back.”

“I’m glad to be back.” And that was truer than Boss would likely ever know.

Boss nodded and began to turn away. Then he hesitated. “And Snake? Just because I don’t think there’s any cause for alarm, that doesn’t mean—”

“Enough said,” Jake raised a hand. “I’ll be totally frosty.”

Boss nodded and took a deep breath. Then his face fell into a series of harsh lines. “You love her, right?”

There was no need to ask who they were talking about.

“I’ve always loved her. I’ll love her until I’m dead and buried.”

“So what happened back in Coronado?”

And though he’d known the question was coming, it still caught him by surprise. Especially given the timing. But okay…whatever. It seemed they were going to get into this. Now.

And damn the assassins trying to blow a hole into the compound…

Boss had always been a multitasker. No reason to assume things had changed.

“I was so screwed up back then,” he admitted. “You know some of the stuff I was dealing with, what I almost did during that patrol after the barracks bombing. And it all came down to the fact that I didn’t feel like I could trust myself anymore. And that scared me shitless.” He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. “I thought I’d push her away for a while. Give myself time to figure out just what the hell was going on with me. But I wound up pushing her right into Preacher’s arms.”

Boss searched his face for a long moment. “And Preacher didn’t hesitate to accept that gift, I’m sure.”

Yeah, not even for a split second…

“Preacher always was the smart one.” He shrugged. “And afterward, I was so jealous I could barely stand myself. Part of that was because I knew Preacher was the better man. He and Shell were both so goddamned nice, it was like watching the real-life version of Ozzie and Harriet. It made me crazy.”

“Sometimes it’s opposites that make a relationship work,” Boss mused.

“Yeah,” Jake shook his head, “and what? Suddenly you’re all Jedi Relationship Master now that you’ve got yourself a brand-spanking-new fiancée?”

Instead of taking offense, Boss wore the smug expression of a man secure in his woman. “And now? You’ve conquered your inner demon, and you’re ready to do right by her?”

“I wouldn’t say conquered, precisely,” he admitted. “He’s still there, still inside me, but he doesn’t scare me anymore. And as for Shell, all I’ll do is right by her…if she’ll let me.”

“It won’t be easy.”

“Nothing worth having ever is.”

“Right answer, my man.” Boss nodded his approval, and Jake felt for sure the next words out of the dude’s mouth were going to be and may the force be with you. Instead, he motioned through the door to the munitions shed. “Help yourself to whatever you need.”

Amazed at how easily that conversation had gone, Jake went to step into the building, but Boss stopped him again with, “Hey, Snake?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll do what I can to help you with Shell.”

He swallowed and nodded his thanks, realizing how much he’d missed the big, mean bastard and how much it meant to be so easily accepted back into the fold.

There was a lightness to his step as he turned and pushed through the door to Arsenal Alley, and then all he was thinking was…ahhh, yeah.

Because, as he stood there looking around, he was like a kid in a candy store. A very deadly candy store. His eyes pinged from one set of stocked shelves to the next, gleefully noting that each held more impressive weapons than the one before. But his first priority was Shell and Franklin.