Under Pressure (Body Armor #1)(88)
With new alarm, she gasped, “No—”
And Leese stole away the protest by kissing her.
Not a quick, easy peck. No, that wouldn’t do. He took her mouth in a devouring possession so hot, it obliterated the pain in his side.
“Get a room, already.”
Leese pulled away and found Armie grinning at him.
“Hard to believe you were wounded.” Armie tipped his head, looking at him critically. “Gunshot, Justice said?”
“Sloppy,” Stack accused. “You sure you shouldn’t return to fighting?”
“He’ll have a badass scar now,” Armie pointed out, then gestured at Cat. “Clearly, the ladies love that macho shit.”
How had he forgotten that they were all here?
Behind those two, Denver, Cannon, Miles and Justice pushed into the room.
Cat stared at the group, her expression boggled. “Wow, that’s a lot of big men.”
Armie stepped forward. “Armie Jacobson, friend of Leese. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I told him you’d bring her to us, but he didn’t want to wait,” Stack explained. He held out a hand. “Stack Hannigan. Also Leese’s friend.”
She tried a silly smile. “Hello.” And then to Leese, she said, “You fighters sure are big and buff.”
Leese looped an arm around her shoulders, and with his other hand he pointed out each friend, giving Cat their names and allowing each man to make some outrageous remark to her.
Cannon said, “Good catch, Leese.”
“I agree with Miles—she’s too cute for you,” Stack said.
Denver looked her over and announced, “No similarities. That’s a good thing.”
Confused, Cat blinked. “Um...similarities?”
“To my wife.” Denver smiled. “Total opposite, in fact.”
Cat looked to Leese for an explanation.
Put on the spot, he rubbed the back of his neck. “You remember that situation I told you about? The girl who had some trouble? Denver is her husband.”
Cat’s eyes widened with understanding. “Ah,” she said, looking at Denver again, this time with a sly smile. “The foot-dragger.”
Armie choked on a laugh. “Nailed it! In fact, he dragged those big feet so damn long, he almost lost her.”
Cannon slowly pivoted to stare at Armie. “Seriously, you are going to accuse anyone of being slow? That’s a laugh.”
“Brand would have been here,” Armie said, doing his utmost to change the topic. “But he’s fighting soon and caught up in promo.”
“Lucky for you,” Stack said to Leese, “since Brand is still single.” While bobbing his eyebrows, he grinned at Cat.
And on and on it went with the good-natured heckling.
The upside was that Cat couldn’t dwell on problems when the guys kept teasing her, giving her extravagant compliments and doing a hell of a job distracting her.
While Denver entertained her with stories of his wife, Leese got drawn aside by Miles and Justice.
“When you leave,” Miles said, “we’re going to follow. Justice already gave us the address and it can’t hurt to have a little backup just to ensure you get there without being hijacked.”
With Cat’s safety at stake, Leese didn’t object. “Thanks. Appreciate it. Just be sure to be invisible, okay?”
“Definitely. I don’t think a parade would help to keep you off the radar.”
Justice explained how to get to Sahara’s using an alternate route that was a little out of the way, which made it a better, less risky choice.
After half an hour, Leese checked the time. “I want to visit with Enoch before we go.”
As far as hints went, it failed, because everyone decided to join him.
“We’ll just peek in,” Cannon said. “I want to thank the guy who tried to save your hide.”
Leaving Cat with the group just outside Enoch’s room, Leese tapped softly on the door and stepped in. Enoch was awake, and yeah, someone had bludgeoned him pretty badly. One side of his face was a mess, swollen and discolored. That eye was completely closed.
Leese had seen plenty of shiners before, cuts from a perfectly placed elbow, bruises from a hard kick, but this was something altogether different.
Through one barely opened eye, Enoch looked at him. He tried to smile, but the swelling in his face and mouth didn’t make it possible.
“Damn,” Leese said softly, turbulent with a mix of rage and pity.
Sahara stood from her bedside vigil. “I owe him a year’s pay for this.”
Enoch protested with a small shake of his head and somehow, even with the abuse making expressions nearly impossible, he looked ashamed.
Leese saw it, and it killed him. He’d been there, felt shame for what he hadn’t done, what he hadn’t been able to do.
Enoch had no reason to feel that way.
“He’s too proud,” Sahara said, handing Leese another paper. “And he blames himself when he absolutely shouldn’t.”
Leese glanced at the scratchy, nearly illegible writing that partially explained Enoch’s ordeal.
Wanted to know if Cat was inside. Didn’t tell him but he found her picture in my case. Sorry. So sorry.
Approaching the bed, Leese looked down at Enoch. “I don’t have Sahara’s cash flow, but I know there’s not enough money in the world for me to repay you.”