Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(72)

“Whatever you make is fine,” she managed.

“Okay, Ev. Try not to worry. Meat’s good at what he does. If he found something, I can guarantee that he’ll have suggestions as to how we should deal with it. And not only that, but if we need to worry about someone hurting Elise, the entire team will be on it. No one’s gonna threaten one of our own and get away with it. Hear me?”

Yeah, she heard him. Loud and clear, and nothing had ever felt better in her life.

She’d always been the oddball. A female in a male-dominated profession. The girl with the deaf sister. The kid who had a druggie mom. But knowing she had the Mountain Mercenaries at her back if something happened to her sister was almost as comforting as one of Me-Maw’s hugs.

“Yeah, I hear you,” she said.

“You want me to text Elise and let her know the plan?”

Knowing she was pushing her luck already and needing to get her head back into work, Everly said, “Please. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me for something that I love doing,” Ball chastised. “I told you that last night after you tried to thank me for giving you an orgasm.”

Everly grinned at the memory. He’d made her come harder than she’d ever come before, and she’d lain on the bed, a boneless mess, only able to say “Thank you.” He’d laughed and told her that

he should be the one thanking her, and if she ever tried to thank him for something he did for his own pleasure again, she’d be in trouble. He’d gone on to say that if she really wanted to show her appreciation, she could do so by fucking him like she had their first time together.

So she did.

They’d both been boneless messes by the time they were finally ready to go to sleep.

“Ball?”

“Right here.”

“I . . . I don’t know how I’d get through this without you.”

His voice lowered, and she could hear the sincerity when he said, “You would’ve done it the same way you’ve kicked ass for the last thirty-four years of your life.”

“I’m scared to death of letting you down like your partner and ex did,” she admitted softly.

“Not happening,” he said firmly. “Everly, you’ve already shown me in a million different ways that you are nothing like them. I held a grudge against all women because of the actions of two.

That was stupid. I’m just glad you were able to forgive me and help me see the error of my ways.”

“I—” Everly stopped herself from blurting out that she loved him just in time. It wasn’t that she was ashamed to tell him, or even afraid, but the first time she said it, she wanted to be face-to-face with him. She wanted it to be special. It was crazy-early to even be thinking about love, but she’d never been one to hold back what she thought and felt.

“You what?” Ball asked.

“I’ll see you later.”

“Be safe,” Ball told her.

“I will.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” Everly clicked off the phone and tried not to think about what Meat might’ve found on Elise’s phone. Ball had told her the same thing he’d told Elise, that if she’d opened an attachment of any sort, it could’ve contained a virus that could lead a trafficking ring right to her. That wasn’t likely, since those people liked to take girls no one was terribly concerned about . . . and with the publicity of the case and the fact that Elise wasn’t even living in Los Angeles anymore, it made her a less-than-desirable target.

But that didn’t make Everly feel any better.

Her radio crackled to life, the dispatcher calling for aid for a possible breakin in progress.

Thoughts of her sister and Ball moved to the back of her mind as she switched gears to do her job.

Elise’s head was down as she texted Kim, one of her friends back in Los Angeles. She kept in touch with a few girls, but not many. Most had seemed to forget about her the second she left.

Trudging up the stairs to the apartment, thumbs moving quickly over the screen of her phone as she texted, Elise wasn’t in a hurry, because Everly wasn’t home and Ball wouldn’t be there for another hour and a half or so.

Smiling at the story her friend was telling about one of their old teachers, Elise told her to hang on a second, that she had to unlock her door. She put her phone under her arm so she had both hands free.

The second she’d turned the key in the lock and twisted the knob, someone shoved her inside so violently, Elise fell to her hands and knees just inside the door. Her phone fell to the floor, and

Elise twisted to see who’d pushed her.

Gasping, she could only stare as the man she never thought she’d see again smiled down at her.

He’d shut the apartment door and was saying something, but she couldn’t understand him.

Scooting backward as fast as she could, Elise gasped again when her head hit a wall behind her.

The man who’d kidnapped her crouched, smiled, and, wearing gloves, badly signed Hello before standing up and reaching for something in his back pocket. He was tall and thin and extremely normal-looking. He had brown hair and extremely dark eyes . . . he didn’t look threatening at all, which was why she’d gotten in the vehicle with him in the first place.

It wasn’t until he’d grabbed her arm and yanked her purse away that she’d had an inkling he wasn’t the mysterious Rob’s father.