1
Ansel
As I sat staring at my cousin’s lips moving, my gaze lingered on the woman that had captured my attention from the start. A steady flow of air flirted with a loose tendril of her dark hair, making it flap against her cheek.
Her skin shone with a bronze tint, enticing my gaze to explore more. It was hard to pinpoint her unique tone—dark, creamy caramel or smooth, smoky butterscotch. Her big brown eyes were aimed at Megan, but she sensed my eyes were on her. They always were. When a smile graced her face at something Megan had said, my lips twitched as well.
“Ansel, are you listening?” Aaron questioned, his face pinched into a tight frown.
“Yes. I’m to be well-behaved and protect Regina as I would anyone else in our family.”
Ha! My cousin must have been out of his fucking bullet-ridden mind. He’d been shot in the head and almost died, and he’d gone to war against a cartel over his woman. He’d even gone as far as making Megan his wife. Yet, he had the nerve to brief me on what I should and shouldn’t be doing with Regina. He was the one who’d brought her to my house in the first place.
Three weeks ago, Aaron helped Regina escape a group known as DG6, her cartel family. The Dominquez family had been a meth-dealing, body dropping terror to the nation for over a decade, and we had taken out the upper echelon of the group in a covert mission we’d labeled Operation Take Six.
The deadly deed was carried out to keep Megan, who’d become a little sister to me, out of harm’s way. The top members of DG6 also needed to die to prevent them from recapturing Regina, who was one of the original six’s daughters.
With help from our friends, most who were ex-military like Aaron and me, the mission had been a success. DG6 had been destabilized for the moment.
Five days had passed since we’d completed our operation. So far, not a word had been mentioned about the members we’d killed. Nothing was being broadcast on the news, nor were there any updates or alerts from our contacts in law enforcement.
We’d just returned from the Justice of the Peace’s office. Myself and the self-named, Twisted Justice League, which consisted of Megan’s friends Laura and Beverly, and Aaron’s friends D and Dax had stood and witnessed Aaron and Megan’s wedding ceremony. After the wedding, the guests returned to their lives in Texas.
Aaron and Megan had planned to take a weekend to celebrate their newlywed status, but I’d talked them into taking two weeks for my own selfish reasons. They had been due to leave over half an hour ago, and their lingering had me ready to push them out the door.
Aaron had pulled me off to the side to have another in a line of talks I wasn’t going to listen to. His mouth continued to move, but I didn’t hear shit my cousin was saying. The image of Regina cuffed to my headboard was looped on a reel in my head.
“You were just married,” I pointed out, cutting into Aaron’s brief. “Regina doesn’t have a desire to tag along and be the third wheel. Besides, she and I already told you days ago that she’d be staying with me. Now, run along and enjoy your honeymoon.”
“Staying? I hope you don’t think I’m leaving her here with you permanently,” Aaron spat before Megan and Regina approached, interrupting his speech.
Regina placed a delicate hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “August, I’ll be fine. Ansel’s right. I don’t wish to tag along with two newlyweds.”
Regina was a ray of positivity now, but she didn’t know me the way Aaron and Megan knew me. My screws were one turn from falling clean out of my head. Being a newbie to our group, Regina hadn’t discovered that life could get interesting when hanging around with a Knox man.
A deep crease of concern wrinkled Aaron’s forehead when he turned to face Regina.
“I promised you, Regina, that I’d keep you safe.”
“I know, August, and you’ve kept your promise. I’ll be okay with Ansel,” she assured him.
Regina’s gaze met mine, and I couldn’t keep a sly smile off my face. I hadn’t gotten the full story of why she called Aaron by his first name, August, but I’d eventually get it out of her.
Regina and Aaron had been captives together in the cellar on her family’s farm, so they’d established a duty of protection for each other that I would probably never understand.
Her job was to burn my cousin’s body with the rest of her family’s victims. After she’d discovered that the gunshot Aaron had sustained to his head hadn’t killed him, she’d gone against her family’s rules and saved him, using her medical skills.
“I’ll be back in a few weeks to pick you up,” Aaron assured Regina before glancing back at me. “Take care of her,” he ordered, letting his authoritative gaze settle on mine.
I knew my cousin well. He’d muted his words, but he was laying down the law with his eyes. He’d caught me eyeballing Regina during the weeks they’d lived under my roof. So, I’d been the good Ansel, putting my best behavior on full display. It had been hard, but except for the first day, I’d kept my hands to myself and off Regina.
Now that we were about to be alone for the first time, I wasn’t sure I had the strength to cast aside my need to turn her sexy ass out. I was willing to tell my cousin whatever the hell he needed to hear so he would leave already.
My hand landed with a hard smack across his broad shoulders, and I shoved him towards my front door, making his boots thump against my shiny floor.
“You guys go and have yourselves a nice honeymoon. I’ve got this. Regina is safe with me. If her family tries some shit, you know I’m ready.”
I’d finally managed to get Megan and Aaron to approach my open front door. April in California produced the perfect temperatures, sending a light warm breeze through the open door that caressed my face. My lips smacked against Megan’s cheek before she hugged my neck.