Beyond Control(16)

Jasper chuckled. "Now don't get your little feelings hurt--"

Bren punched him on the shoulder. "Cruz is good, and maybe he is smoother in a fight. A clean fight. He's gonna have to learn how to fight dirty."

"He's gonna have to learn a lot more than that," Mad said, shaking his head. "He's wound tighter than Bren was. It doesn't matter how many fights he wins, no one will accept him if he can't drink a few shots and relax."

"Or a few beers," Jasper muttered.

That momentarily distracted Dallas from his mental checklist. The O'Kanes didn't make beer, and they didn't drink alcohol produced by anyone else--with one exception. The same exception who hadn't given him anything to drink with his lunch. "So that's actually happening? Rachel and the city boy?"

"Loudly and frequently," Jas confirmed. "If the rumors are to be believed."

Some rumors were easier to believe than others, and Dallas would wager this one held more salacious curiosity than truth. "I'll believe that when I see it. Even Ace couldn't score any alone time with Rachel, and all the women love him. God knows why."

Bren and Jasper both turned to look at Mad, who snorted. "I should let you all wonder if it's true. If you want answers, listen to what people are saying when you haven't asked them a question."

"Pithy," Dallas grumbled. "Is that some wisdom of the Prophet?"

Mad tapped the side of his head. "That's advice from a spy. And the answer to your question is...it's none of your damn business."

Figured. Mad knew everything because people trusted him, and people trusted him because he didn't spill secrets. "Fine. We gonna discuss anyone else's love life before we get back to actual business?"

Bren regarded him with a bland look. "Is yours on the table? 'Cause I had to stand outside your door for a good ten minutes this afternoon before I f*cking dared to knock."

Dallas had f*cked women in front of Bren before. Hell, he'd f*cked women with him and had never felt the slightest bit possessive or self-conscious.

But that moment of Lex melting beneath him--that tiny crack in her impenetrable f*cking façade--that should have belonged to him alone. Bad enough that he'd been dragged away before he could savor it, but knowing Bren had been witness to it infuriated him.

Fucking irrational, but damned if he cared. "That's what an orgasm sounds like when you do it right, *," he snapped, anger turning his tone ugly. "Jas can show you."

He wasn't playing, and they all knew it. Jasper and Mad exchanged an uncomfortable look, but Bren only lowered his gaze. "Message received. Not on the table at all."

Dallas got the message, too. Too far. There was a line between strength and abuse, and he'd been walking the wrong side of it more often than not lately. It was one thing if he needed to be vicious for their safety, but not when it was all about his own stupid pride.

Grinding his teeth, he forced himself to take a breath. "I don't like this. I don't like dragging her into Sector Two, and I don't like having to go there now, when I'd rather be figuring out how to put an end to Gareth Woods. I'm pissy."

"Then you get through it," Jasper said evenly. "As quick and easy as possible. Then you can get on to more important things."

Unless the whole meeting exploded in his face, or they ended up at war with whoever had backed Wilson Trent's attack. Both seemed equally probable, at this point.

What a grim f*cking future for him and his newly collared queen. "Recruitment drive," he told Jasper. At least with that rolling, he'd feel like he was preparing for whatever came next. "Make it a priority. When we get back, we'll all sit down and figure out the quickest way to bring up our numbers without taking on any dead weight."

"Yes, sir."

Mad and Bren were still silent and stone-faced. Dallas tried to lighten the mood with a crooked smile. "Cheer up, boys. You're headed to one of Cerys's parties. Expensive * and someone might try to stab you. Can't get more exciting than that."

"It's not a party until someone pulls a blade." But there was a rough edge to Bren's voice, with no trace of his usual quirky humor.

Mad stepped into the awkward silence with his easy smile, but Dallas had the distinct impression that Mad was rescuing Bren, not him. "Bren will handle the knives, and I'll take care of the hookers. It'll be a regular shindig. Is that all you needed, boss?"

It was a question, but it also wasn't. Mad had a look in his eyes, a set to his jaw and brow, one that told Dallas that it had better be enough. "Yeah, you two go pack."

They filed out, but Jasper stayed behind, rubbing at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Jesus, Dallas."

The bottom drawer of his desk held rum, whiskey and two glasses. Dallas dropped all of it on his desk and poured himself a triple. "I know, I know. But I thought the bastard would laugh. We've all watched him get off how many chicks in the damn cage alone? What's got him so defensive?"

"Maybe he can take some good-natured ribbing, but doesn't like having his head bitten off."

"Is that what I did?"

Jasper arched an eyebrow. "What would you call it?"

He didn't have an answer for that--not an honest one he wanted to give. Dallas drained his drink and slammed it down. "Fuck, Jas. She's got me turned inside out, and I can't afford that right now. None of us can."

"That's not Bren's fault. It's not mine, or even hers." Jasper rose and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Get it as right as you can before you leave, because if you lose your shit in Two, you make Lex a bigger target than she already is. Truth."

"I hear you." But hearing wasn't enough. Somehow, he had to get a chokehold on his own base reactions, along with the f*cking temper that ran too close to the surface where Lex was concerned. "I'll make things right, too. With Bren, with you and your girl."

Jas shook his head. "First order of business--stay alive. Everything else can wait."

Dallas almost laughed. "That's the one thing you don't have to tell me, man. I always stay alive."

"You've never done this before. Watch your back."

"I'll do you one better. I'll let Lex watch it." Dallas smiled wryly. "You don't think she'd let anyone else sink a knife in it, do you?"

But Jasper didn't smile. "No, I don't. I wonder if you do, though."

No, that was one thing Dallas had always been certain of, whether Jasper believed it or not. Lex was fully capable of trying to tear out his heart with her bare hands if she thought he deserved it, but she reserved that right for herself.

And if he didn't get his temper under control, she'd be trying sooner rather than later. "I'll see you after dinner. We can walk the warehouse and check the next shipment."

"I'll take care of it." Jasper turned the knob with a grin. "Bren and Mad aren't the only ones who have to pack." He slipped out and closed the door behind him.

No, they weren't, and they had the easier task. Bodyguards faded into the background. Dallas would be front and center, and he had to look the part. Deadly and uncivilized, the living embodiment of why no one should f*ck with Sector Four. Truth in advertising--the only political game he actually liked to play.

He'd done it before, always with Lex's advice. Now he'd have more than that. He'd have her at his side, his dangerous, beautiful queen, and together they could present a united front of strength that should keep anyone from stepping so much as a toe in Sector Four.



Lex juggled the bags in her hands as she opened the door to Dallas's suite. He usually asked for her help with his wardrobe when he had to visit another sector, and this time was no different. It was damn hard to walk the fine line between dangerous criminal and civilized businessman--especially when, by his very nature, he tended to veer toward the rough-and-tumble side of the equation. So he relied on her to put the finer touches on his image, little things that screamed money and class without also screaming, I give two shits what you think.

A noise drew Lex's gaze, and she stopped short just inside the room. The bags slipped from her fingers and hit the floor with a thump.

He usually had her help him pack. What he didn't usually have was a naked woman in his bed.

Six rolled from between the sheets before the door clicked shut, the wide, wild look in her eyes betraying her panic. Her gaze darted from her clothes to Lex and back as she shifted self-consciously, like she was trying to figure out if she could reach the tangle of fabric before Lex reached her.

She looked tensed for a fight. A beatdown.

The spot right behind Lex's eyes had already started to ache, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Put your panties on, honey. We've got to have a little talk."