“Fuck, man.” From behind him, Cole sighed heavily. “She thinks you’re trying to get him arrested?”
“Of course, he’s…” Mina trailed off, her eyes narrowing dangerously as the pieces clicked into place. “That was never the plan, was it?”
Goddammit, Cole. “No. That was never the plan.”
“Of all the stupid, boneheaded, asinine—”
“Watch it, Ace.” He murmured the warning, watching in perverse delight as she snarled at him. “I’m not above giving Cole a show if you can’t keep a civil tongue in your head.”
“You expect me to be civil when you’re sitting here, talking about murdering your brother in cold blood?”
“I promise you, my blood is anything but cold right now.”
That earned him an eye roll. “You know what I mean. Cyrus, you cannot just go around killing people, no matter what they’ve done to deserve it.”
“Why not? My family has done it plenty of times.”
Her expression softening, she leaned into him, her eyes bright with conviction. “That is exactly why. You aren’t your family.”
Dropping his forehead to hers, he closed his eyes, not caring they had an audience. “It’s the only way I know to keep you safe, Mina.”
“Actually…I might have an idea.”
As one, they turned to Cole, who was watching them with a wide grin. “And it’s a much better idea than you getting yourself killed or locked up for life trying to take out your brother.”
Mina pounced immediately. “Sold. What’s your plan?”
“As it happens, I have a few buddies in the FBI who owe me some favors.” His smile turned wolfish. “I would be more than happy to call those favors in for this.”
A glance at Mina’s earnest face was all it took to make Cyrus cave. “All right. Tell me your plan.”
* * *
It wasn’t,Cyrus was forced to admit, a bad plan.
They’d spent hours hammering out the details. Between the three of them, he was fairly confident they’d identified every possible weak spot, possible hole, or possible leak.
And still, he wasn’t convinced it would be enough.
But they’d done all they could for the day. Cole had gone back to the city, and he was back in the master bedroom with his woman, contemplating his next move. Clutching the bag Cole had passed off with a wink and a smile before he’d left, Cyrus watched Mina move about the room, readying herself for bed.
He wanted to put the bag to good use, but she was still hurting. Still grieving. The planning today had chased some of the ghosts from her eyes, for which he was grateful, but she was still so…fragile.
Not that she would have thanked him for thinking of her that way. More than once during the day she’d sent him a withering look when he’d babied her too much. But he couldn’t help it. The Daddy in him wanted,needed, to care for her.
“I swear I can hear you thinking from all the way over here.” Down to nothing but an oversized t-shirt and a pair of panties, she turned, an amused smile tugging at her lips. “Whatcha thinking about so loudly, counselor?”
Deciding honesty was the best policy in this particular situation, he returned the smile. “I’m thinking about how you might stab me in my sleep if you knew what I was really thinking.”
“Hmmm.” Crossing the space between them, she slid her hands up his chest, her fingers brushing the nape of his neck as she looped her arms around his shoulders. “How about I make this easy on both of us? I need you. I need you to make me forget, the way only you can. Please, Daddy?”
Perhaps it made him weak, but he didn’t have the strength to ask if she was certain, not when her eyes were pleading with him to give her what they both so desperately wanted. “Strip for me, Ace, and go kneel on the bed.”
She moved quickly, apparently as eager as he was to get things started. While she divested herself of her clothes, Cyrus placed the bag on the dresser and unzipped it.
Cole really had come prepared, and he said a silent prayer of thanks to his friend as he perused the contents. The impact toys were all of the quieter, whippier variety. They would come in handy if Mina decided to test his promise about punishing her if she didn’t listen to the guards, but for tonight he was of a mind to give her something different.
And Cole had managed to pack exactly what he needed. Breaking open the brand new packages, he gathered everything he needed and turned to join her.