14
Liam kicked back in a plush leather boardroom chair while JRad took his shift manning the computers in the command station. Ruby had gone on break, whisked away by Sola and Kennedy for a couple hours of girl time. He’d tried to follow but they’d shooed him away, insisting Aarav would be there for backup guard duty. Liam wasn’t an idiot. He knew that meant the women were digging for dirt on whatever the fuck was happening between him, Ace, and Ruby.
Maybe after they figured it out they could tell him what the hell he was supposed to do with two amazing people who, for some reason, put up with his shit even when he couldn’t pull his head out of his ass long enough to man up and confess he was afraid he’d fucking die without them.
The past couple of days of near constant orgasms had diverted attention from the harder questions they were going to have to figure out answers to soon, but for the moment he was more content than he’d ever thought possible.
JRad didn’t turn his chair, continuing to monitor lines of code flying past. The bank ransom deadline loomed, and the masked hacker was going to have to make their move soon. He didn’t move, but he cleared his throat.
Ah shit.Here it came. Liam had been waiting for them to be alone.
“Go ahead. Say whatever it is you’ve been choking down.” Liam huffed out a laugh. “You’ve been right every other time so far. What am I screwing up now?”
“Ace and Ruby look pretty damn happy.” JRad hummed. “At least with each other. Have you told them you’re crazy about them yet?”
“Probably not the best idea with this case ongoing.” Liam folded his arms over his abs and the acid that still churned in his guts at the thought of doing anything that might negatively impact Ace and his concentration in the field. “I think we should save the heavy discussions until after this is wrapped.”
“In our line of work, you should never hold back saying something important in case you never get the chance.” JRad shook his head.
“Your wife doesn’t work with you in the field, does she?” Liam wondered.
“Not regularly, but we met on a case. And it was…” JRad whistled.
“Ruby told me something about a sex drug and some wild shit going down.” Liam cocked his head. “Wasthatthe case?”
“Yup. Same one where Lucas lost his leg and met the love of his life, who’d been imprisoned and brutalized.” JRad scrubbed his hands over his face. “The things we survived together changed us, forever, both for better and for worse. But at the end of the day we’re stronger for having gone through it together. You need to trust that they can handle it.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second.” Liam sat up. Was that what Ace and Ruby thought too? That he didn’t have faith in them to endure? “It’s me I’m worried about. I would lose it entirely if something happened to them, especially because of me. Ace in the field or Ruby because she’s associated with us or…”
“What?” JRad asked, this time spinning his chair to meet Liam’s gaze.
“What if I’m the top and something happens to me? Don’t you worry about that?” Liam winced.
“Of course. That’s both your nature and your responsibility. Mine too.” JRad waved his hands around him. “But do you think for one second that if the worst came to pass that the rest of the Shields—or, hell, even me—wouldn’t look after them for you and make sure no one took advantage of their grief or their submissive tendencies until someone who deserved them came along?”
“Oh.” Liam blinked.
“Right.” JRad turned back to his work as voices neared, ending their private conversation. Ace ambled through the door talking excitedly with Lucas.
“How was the range?” Liam asked, eager to mull over the ideas JRad had planted in his mind. With a safety net like that, maybe it was possible to finally go after what he’d desperately wished for and yet thought impossible for so long.
“Fucking great.” Ace flashed one of the grins that had been achingly sparse lately. “It’s only been a few days and I’m hardly missing with my other hand at fifty feet.”
“Nice.” Liam beamed at him. “I’m proud of you, Ace.”
Ace froze and whipped his gaze from Lucas to Liam. “Yeah?”
The reflection of JRad’s smile in the monitor made Liam certain he was heading in the right direction. He stood and crossed to his partner, bumping his shoulder into Ace’s good side. “Of course. You’re doing everything you can to be ready for action.”
“I’malwaysready for action.” Ace raised his brows and smirked, which made Lucas snort.
“Good thing,” JRad interrupted. “Because here we go. The drive was just activated.”
Monitors flashed and things began flying around the screen.
“Go get Ruby!” JRad shouted. “I need her. Now.”
“Can’t we just text her? It’ll be faster.” Ace had his phone out of his pocket.