Sons of Justice 12_Confident in Love Read online

  “But telling Nathan helped?”

  “Saying it aloud helped, and him being here, moving here, and all you guys have done to help them, means so much to me and so I was able to say it.”

  “Sometimes just getting things off your chest helps, and admitting your fears, and learning that getting help doesn’t make you weak, it provides reinforcements to battle the barriers you’re facing. We’re your reinforcements, baby. Now kiss me, and then let’s join the others.”

  She pressed her lips to his and then hugged him. From where she sat on the couch with Spadaro, she could see Nathan talking to Avana. Avana blushed and lowered her eyes, and when he reached out and pressed a strand of hair from her cheek, she shot her head up and stepped back, then started making busy work at the counter. Nathan leaned against the counter watching her, and Talia wondered if Avana would let those walls down, put aside the fears she had, and give Nathan, Frankie, Cole, Spade, Woodrow, and Bronco a chance. She exhaled. Six men. Avana was going to fight this tooth and nail and then some.

  She squeezed Spadaro tight.

  “Come on, I think Avana needs help.” Spadaro lifted up with her in his arms and set her feet down. “What do you mean? Nathan is in there,” he said to her.

  “You do realize that Nathan and his team, Frankie included, have their eyes on Avana?”

  He chuckled. “Hell yeah, and she’s blowing them off, just like apparently she does to every group of men who have asked her out, or asked for guardianship of her through Cesar.”

  “A lot of men have?”

  “That’s what I hear, and she just doesn’t react with any kind of attraction.”

  “Well look at her now? Does that look like she isn’t affected by him?” she asked, and Spadaro looked just as Nathan gave her arm a little push and they laughed, and Avana shyly looked way up at Nathan and Nathan licked his lips.

  “I wouldn’t go playing matchmaker just yet.”

  “I’m not doing any such thing.”

  “Sure you aren’t. That’s your brother and one of your best friends, plus his team are like brothers to you, as well. If it’s meant to be it will happen.”

  “Well, it would be awesome if it did. That’s all I’m saying about it.”

  She gasped as he gave her ass a slap just as they entered the kitchen.

  “Spadaro,” she reprimanded, and he hugged her from behind and Avana laughed.

  * * * *

  “So you work for an insurance agency, how do you like that?” Nathan asked her as he took a slug from his beer. Avana was stunning, with gorgeous brown eyes, long wavy brown hair, sensual lips, full breasts that immediately caught your initial attention, and she was petite. He towered over her, and it made him wonder how Frankie trained her and didn’t crush her. She was sexy and beautiful, and he had this overwhelming urge to lift her up, make her straddle his waist while he kissed her breathless. He was pretty sure his hand could cover her ass cheek and then some.

  “It’s okay, and the pay is good, but I don’t know. I kind of don’t really like it. I might look into something else, but everything that pays better is a distance from Repose.”

  “How much of a distance?” he asked her.

  “An hour.”

  “Oh yeah, that would stink. There isn’t anything in town here?”

  “Nope. Not that I heard of. I guess I could put out some feelers. I don’t know.”

  “What is it specifically that you don’t like about the job?”

  “My boss.”

  He chuckled. “Seriously?”

  She laughed. “He’s totally a nightmare to work for. He isn’t an owner or anything. He runs this particular department, but I can never seem to do things right in his eyes. He corrects me all the time even when I do things his way. It’s like he hated me from the start or something.”

  “That’s not good. Maybe you can start putting out feelers for other work. Maybe talk to Spartan or Cesar? They seem to find out about things before other people do. Maybe they’ll know of something.”

  “Maybe. I suppose it couldn’t hurt to ask. I just don’t want to depend on anyone. They’ve all done so much for me and for Thylane, Lauren, and Tiana when that crazy stuff happened to our dad and uncle. I don’t want to take advantage of the generosity.”

  “I only know a little bit about what happened, but it seems to me this town Repose, and its people love to help anyone in need. I haven’t been here long, and it’s strange. It feels like a home, not like we’re visiting,” he said, and squinted then looked away from her. How could he admit something like that to a woman he hardly knew? He would come across as a wimp or some strange dude.

  She touched his arm and he froze, their gazes locked. “I completely understand exactly what you mean. I panicked at first. The happy faces, the giving people, the comforting feeling this town emits, it all shocked me,” she said, and he just stared into her eyes.

  “You’re so beautiful, Avana. Your eyes are stunning,” he whispered.

  She pulled back. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, touching her arm so she would turn back to look at him.

  “Nothing is wrong. I’m just not interested in your lines or in sharing emotions, or sharing, anything,” she said to him.

  “Why not? I thought we were getting along nicely.” She looked way up at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

  “Listen, you seem like a really nice guy, and I’m great friends with your sister and I don’t want to screw that up.”

  “How would we screw it up by being friends? By getting to know one another?”

  “Come on, Nathan. You aren’t serious.”

  She went to move and he covered her hand with his she had sitting on the table palm down. Her eyes widened, and she looked up at him.

  “Don’t be scared of me. Of my team,” he said, and pressed closer, reached up with his other hand and pressed her hair from her shoulder. She had her head tilted up toward him and he would have to bend lower to kiss her lips, but that would be pushing it right now.

  “No complications, just friends first. Like maybe you could show us around town? Let us in on the best places to eat. Things like that,” he said to her.

  “Cole and Woodrow asked me that earlier and I told them no.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t date. I don’t fool around. I’m just trying to live my life. To survive.”

  “That doesn’t mean you need to do it alone. I like talking to you. I know you feel the attraction, so let’s just see what happens.” He released her hand and stepped back, and she teetered a moment as if she were affected not only by how close he was and how he touched her, but also how it felt to have him move away and release her. He felt the exact same thing, and an intensity that sent his mind into a lot of what ifs. Like what if, she’s the one for him and the team to share, like his sister had her men, and like their friends had their women? Maybe this was good timing for all of them? Maybe Avana had secrets of her own, and they were what was really holding her back.

  * * * *

  “A serial killer? Holy shit.” Spade said to Tat and Spartan.

  Tat exhaled. “This is going to be rough. These are good friends of ours. Men we did some missions with. We’ve met this woman Meredith, and attended Falzone’s sister’s wedding to Cade and Ben. This is family, and I want to be sure we can help at a hundred percent,” Tat said to them.

  The others gathered around by the fire pit. Nathan, Cole, Frankie, Woodrow, Bronco, Spadaro, Basile, Vacarro.

  “Anything you need from us, Tat, Spadaro, you just ask. We can even do any grunt work since we’re between jobs,” Nathan offered.

  “We appreciate that. Once Falzone, Biani, Vella, and Messina get here, and we go over what they have and where we can start, we’ll see who we need to bring in for assistance,” Tat said.

  “Plus, we want to be sure to not let the authorities know quite yet that SoJ is investigating. We have a lot of connections to inside people in law enforcement, the feds, e
tc., and if need be, we’ll use them,” Spartan added.

  “About ten years, I had a friend, a guy who was in boot camp with me. His sister went missing out in Missouri. Turned out to be a guy who had been abducting and killing women for several years. Anyway, he went hunting, actually found the guy, and then rescued his sister in time. He got help from people and the connections he had through the military. So hopefully we all can do the same thing for your friend,” Cole said to them.

  “Damn, they were lucky. I’m not having a good feeling about this right now, and I don’t even have all the details. Falzone’s brother-in-laws’ sister has been missing for several weeks. As soon as they get here, we gather a team. We work together with them,” Spartan said to them.

  “We’re in. Whatever you need,” Bronco said, and Tat nodded then looked toward the doorway to the porch where Avana, Talia, Lauren, Merica, and Thylane were talking to Merica and Thylane’s men. All these people, all their friends were family, and this extended family of SoJ expanded across the United States and even out of the country. They would do whatever was necessary to protect their women, and to help find Meredith. Everything.

  Chapter Two

  “Did you get done what I asked? I don’t see anything on my desk?” Austin Marquis asked Gale and Avana the second he arrived at work right before lunchtime.

  “I have everything right here, Austin,” Gail said to him, and stacked the files and then handed them to him. He stood there staring at her. Eying her over.

  “My desk,” he said, indicating that was where he expected Gail to place them.

  The rest of the office staff pretended to be working but they were listening in. Everyone knew he was a jerk, but since the owners of the business rarely came into the office to work and took advantage of working from home, they were all stuck with several managers that lacked personality and respect for their employees.

  Avana wasn’t one to be assertive or to talk back, but she didn’t allow anyone to walk all over her. It was one of the reasons why she enjoyed training in self-defense. It was one of the things that was building her self-confidence and making her feel empowered. She felt a little nervous thinking about her session after work this afternoon. She was going to have to change at Frankie’s house before she started the session. Two other women, friends of guys Frankie knew were supposed to be in attendance. As she thought about that, she thought about Frankie, all those muscles, that chiseled face, and his capabilities. Would he use her to show different moves today? How would it feel with his thick, strong arm wrapped around her tiny waist? She liked him. Hell, she liked the other men in his team, too, but she shouldn’t. Oh Lord, she thought about them all day Sunday and now here Monday at work. Those muscles, the tattoos, their sizes, all aroused her. Which was crazy. They could do some serious damage to her if they were anything like Ben. She gulped.

  “Avana!” She jumped as Austin yelled at her for not paying attention. Jesus, she was starting to tune the man out. Maybe she did need to look for work elsewhere. Her head started to pound as he reamed into her. Tears filled her eyes. She wasn’t as strong as she wanted to be. As she needed to be, needed to be in life and in dealing with aggressive people like this jerk.

  “This is not correct,” he said, and tossed a paper at her desk. “Nor this one, or this one. You did seven of them fairly well, but these three aren’t correct. If you can’t get the formula right, then maybe you need to think about a new position,” he said to her, shocking her.

  She heard the gasps from other staff and when he looked around they all hid their faces. They were all intimidated by him. She worked hard, and extra hard on that paperwork. She stood up, picked up the papers he threw onto her desk, and then looked at him. “Maybe it isn’t me who is in the wrong line of work,” she said to him.

  Gail bit her lip as Avana looked at her.

  “What did you say?” he asked.

  She cleared her throat, straightened out her shoulders, and looked at the papers.

  “I did this the way I was taught to do the work. If it isn’t correct then someone needs to explain to me how to do it correctly. If you yell and don’t help, then I’ll just keep doing it wrong because you aren’t showing me what you want,” she said to him.

  He squinted at her and then at Gail. Then back at her. The sour puss went to a grin. “Finally, you ask for help. That’s all I was waiting for. Both of you come into my office, and we’ll go over the details and your errors. Then maybe we won’t have these situations any further.” He turned around and walked into his office.

  Gale widened her eyes. “Holy shit,” she said.

  Avana was shaking as she exhaled and squeezed her eyes tight. “You go, Avana,” one of the other women said, and then a few of the guys gave her thumbs up. Apparently, she impressed the office with her backbone.

  “I’m so confused. He just wanted us to ask for his help?” she said to Gale.

  “Listen, if it gets him to stop yelling at us all the time and being such a dick, I don’t care. Let’s go in there and see where we supposedly keep screwing up.”

  “Wonderful. I have to face him again?” Avana asked.

  “Honey, you were so good just now. I’m impressed. For a petite little thing, you got guts. Let’s do this,” Gail said, and they gathered their papers and went into his office.

  An hour later, a little frustrated but understanding how he wanted things done, they went back to their desks. Lunch long past and just a few hours left to go. She was leaving early to drop off documents to a client on her way to Frankie’s, and before she left, Austin called her name.

  “Avana, come here before you go,” he said, and she exhaled, putting her bag onto her shoulder, grabbing the files for the client, and then heading to his office.

  “Yes, Austin, what did you need?”

  “I have these two additional papers for Mr. Newman. Can you add them to the file you’re dropping off to him? Oh, and this envelope, too.”

  She took it from him and placed the folder down and then added it. She felt Austin’s eyes on her and of course her chest. She wore a pretty, sleeveless blouse in blue, a slim fitting knee length skirt in black, and heels to give her some height. Her hair was done up in a classy, business-like style making her look professional, which she tried to be every day for work, not knowing when she might need to talk to clients, deliver documents or go out in the field for some reason, especially dealing with closings on homes. She was liking those deals more than others, and was considering looking for a job in real estate like Tiana, but homeowners’ insurance and things like that.

  She felt the envelope and squinted, looked up at him. He was in a dead stare at her.

  “What’s in here?” she asked.

  He looked at her like how dare she ask. “Never mind,” she said, and he came around the desk as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

  “Tickets to a play at the performing arts center in Cinder.”

  “Not for tonight’s show?”

  He gave a soft smile, looked her over again, making her feel self-conscious. It was given because people tended to talk to her breasts instead of her face. “Yes, you know the venue?” he asked her.

  “I know of the performance and that show has been sold out for months.”

  “I have a friend with connections.”

  “Wow, Mr. Newman will be thrilled I’m sure.”

  “Got to keep the clients happy, Avana, and the bosses, too,” he said, and winked.

  She got an awkward feeling and realized he was flirting. “That is true. Lucky you’re in your position because I wouldn’t be good at that. Well, I need to head out.”

  “Have your self-defense training today?” he asked, going back around to his seat.

  She was shocked that he knew, and why did he know? How? She squinted at him. “How do you know that?”

  “I hear you talking to Gail. She should consider getting some self-defense, too. Every woman should,” he said to her, confusing her, and making her t
hink maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy.

  She smiled. “I agree. Well, have a goodnight, and see you tomorrow.”

  “Yes, goodnight,” he said, watching her, and she exited the office.

  Gail gave her a look and she gave one back, indicating that everything was fine. They had one another’s back, and Avana felt badly that she was considering looking for another job, but she really wasn’t happy here. She always left with a headache, and right now, she had one as usual.

  A good forty minutes later, she arrived at Frankie’s house and noticed several vehicles there. She grabbed her gym bag with her change of clothes and headed to the side door to the gym. When she came inside she was surprised to see Woodrow, Nathan, and Bronco working out in the corner on the boxing bags, while Spade, Cole, and Frankie were doing some moves on the mats. The door slammed closed behind her and all the men looked.

  She felt self-conscious in her business attire, and adjusted the bag on her shoulder.

  “Hey, sunshine, running late today?” Frankie asked, walking away from Cole and Spade. Why did the men have to look even more lethal and attractive on the mats and by the boxing bags? She also wondered where the two women were who were starting today.

  He eyed her over. “You look good.”

  She looked at him, said thank you, and in her head thought he looked pretty damn good as usual.

  “I just need to change,” she said, and he smiled.

  “Of course. You know where the bathroom is inside. Go ahead in,” he said to her.

  As she walked past, him, Cole, and Spade gave her a wave, she waved back, but Nathan, Woodrow, and Bronco were too absorbed in their workout to acknowledge her. She felt a little annoyed at that and then wanted to give herself a smack. Why did she want their attention? She turned them down for a date, for a friendly tour guide date. She exhaled, and her head pounded more. Then she realized that she’d missed lunch. This wasn’t good at all. She got changed quickly, applied more deodorant and some lotion to her skin that was light, and that Frankie complimented her on. She was doing all the different things women did when they liked someone. She was fighting with herself on this big time.