Sunrise For Three: A Military Erotic Romance (Sexy Siesta Series Book 3) (6 page)

Was that a nice way of saying she was a cock tease? She smiled. Good. They needed a little of their own medicine.

“Mr. Dangere, we’re ready for takeoff, sir,” the pilot called to Marc from the direction of the cockpit, breaking the spell both men held over her.
Demonios
, they had a way of commandeering all her senses every time they were close to her. She didn’t even hear the pilot approach them.

Marc leveled his attention on her. “Wait for me.”

Colt gave her hand a gentle squeeze then returned to his seat across the aisle from her.

“Not that I have anywhere else to go, right?” Mia tried for nonchalant but only mustered a half smile. Marc narrowed his eyes on her and Colt shook his head. Damn, she really needed a filter between her head and her mouth.

“I’m sorry. That came out wrong. I really appreciate all this.” She gestured to the plane and the data Colt had pulled up on his laptop which currently showed her employee profile. “It’s just a lot to take in.”

“I read you loud a clear, Mia.” Before walking off to speak with the pilot, Marc smiled, a warm and inviting gesture that reached his eyes. She took a mental picture and tucked it away from those special occasions when she needed something positive to recall during all this craziness.

She reclined against the head support and breathed out heavily. Marc and Colt were going to tie her in so many knots she’d never be free of them. Heat warmed her face and she pressed her knuckles into her cheeks and let her eyes drift closed. She needed to remove herself from the chaos a minute to catch her breath. Everything was moving so fast.
They
were moving too fast, sweeping her into a tailspin of desire at every turn.

But she couldn’t shake a nagging question. What if all this lead to nothing more than a crash and burn? A quick fling brought on by the excitement of the night and the danger. She fantasized about being theirs, but at what cost?

She’d spent plenty of restless nights thinking about them, but never thought anything would come of her fantasies. Now that they were way past first base and heading toward home plate, she needed to think, and fast. The guys seemed serious about protecting her. And there was no denying more came with the package.

Warning bells sounded in her head about getting involved with her bosses. What would everyone think of her at work? Nothing good that was for sure. If she followed through with the connection she felt toward both men, she’d have to find another job.

On that thought, she’d have to find another place to live too. Her stomach dipped. Thank God she’s skipped lunch and had no dinner to speak of or it might be all over the thick carpet at her feet right about now.

Flashing orange lights zipped below her small portal window and she watched the last of the crew clear the area so they could take off.

Colt’s cell rang, interrupting her train of thought. She turned to him and he motioned her closer with two fingers.

“Hey, Sam, thanks for getting back with us. Sorry for taking you away from your family so late at night. Did Joel give you the run-down on what happened today?”

There was a short pause before Colt spoke up again. “Good. Listen, Sam, I need you to run a partial plate number from one of the vehicles that was parked along the driveway to Mia’s.”

Mia pulled out the folded piece of brown paper bag Joel and written down for her from her front sweats pocket and handed it over to Colt.

“There’s more. Joel will take you photos of the vandalized car and the item left behind intended as a death threat for our client in the morning. We’d like to keep the car as evidence in our storage under lock and key until we get this all figured out. The less they know about what we have so far the better, know what I mean?”

Colt paused a longer beat this time, his face turning grimmer with each passing second. Whatever he was hearing he didn’t like. He locked a dark gaze on her before continuing with the person on the other end.

“Thanks for moving on this fast, Sam. Listen, I’ve gotta go. We’re wheels up in five and I have to get off here. Marc and I are heading to Mexico on a job. When you get something back, let us know. We’ll do the same. And if you need to get a hold of Miss Vega, she’ll be with us at this number or Marc’s.” He pressed end on the call and placed the phone on the table. “Son of a bitch!” Colt rubbed a hand across the scruff on his jaw and sat forward. His one expletive mirrored the hardened expression on his once relaxed face. Ah no, she wasn’t going to like this.

“So?”Mia drew out.

“Mia, it’s not good news, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”

They’d left her house on fire and hightailed it out of there without a backward glance. She knew there was no way anything could be saved or that good news was coming her way. Not any time soon.

She combed a hand through her hair, hitting several knots along the way. She gave up and crossed her arms across her chest instead. She might know what was coming, but her nerves were still on pins and needles. “No need to sugarcoat it, Colt. Give it to me straight.” A look of respect flashed in his eyes. Colt pushed up from his chair to kneel on the floor in front of her.

He eyed her cautiously before continuing. “Everything’s gone. The fire department wasn’t able to get there in time, Mia. The police captain who works alongside us on special cases from time to time has already dispatched forensics to comb over the place for anything that might help in nailing the assholes that did this to you.”

A stab of pain shot through her, but she swallowed past the sharp intrusion. She’d asked for it, she knew it was coming, but to hear it out loud sent another wave of anxiety straight to her heart. She had nothing but the clothes on her back. And they were borrowed at that. Acid burned the back of her throat. Knots tightened deep in her stomach and she bit down on her lip to force herself to focus.

Marc walked toward them and his presence helped calm her rebellious stomach. Out of the corner of her eye she caught how his otherwise strong cadence broke slightly by the damage to his leg. He favored his right a little more than normal. The running must have irritated his injury. She offered a small smile and received one in return.

He joined them in a chair opposite her and Colt’s and stretched his legs in the aisle. One of the perks of a private plane. Plenty of legroom for all that man. Instead of focusing on the bad and ugly, her mind took a detour for the easy. Marc Dangere in tight jeans and a black fitted T-shirt made a woman’s mouth water. When had he changed?

“When should they have something for us? Marc reached over and plucked the laptop off the table for a closer look at the information Colt had pulled up on her and all the interactions she’d logged in at work over the past month. Several emails between Tech, a couple other secretaries on data reports and two new clients that wanted a security upgrade. All routine.

It was fascinating to watch Marc’s mind shift into Rambo mode. She ducked her head and hid her smile. He’d probably threaten to spank her again if he knew what she’d mentally called him.

He must have sensed her attention on him. His gaze shifted to her while Colt filled him in on his conversation with the sheriff. His gaze caressed her face then moved down to her breasts and settled on the apex of her thighs before returning to hers. A burst of excitement rushed up her body to pebble her nipples against the confines of her bra and shirt.

“Sam said he’d be in contact within the day. From what he can tell so far, not much was left behind except a set of tire tracks from the one vehicle and a couple of boot prints along the bank of the lake, which confirmed what we thought about the ambush coming from that direction. Whoever was in the vehicle must have been there as backup. A second getaway car, I guess. Hell, none of this makes any sense.”

“It’s a miracle they didn’t run into Joel.”

“For them. That man is like a one-man assault team on two legs.” Colt rubbed a hand down his face. He looked tired. She felt tired. Marc looked anything but tired.

Mia swiveled her chair to face away from the men toward the back of the plane and let their voices drop into the background. The plane taxied for takeoff and within a few short moments the city below became nothing more than twinkling lights in a blanket of darkness.

She pulled her phone out of her sweats pocket and dialed her sister’s number from memory. The airplane leveled out just as the voicemail on her sister’s phone picked up. “Mí Amore Flowers. Leave a message and I’ll call you back shortly.”

Her heart shed a pound of worry just by the sound of her sister’s voice. The play on her name and their native language was her sister’s idea for the flower shop and every time she heard it, she smiled. Her father had called her
mí amor
. She nibbled on her lip and shoved thoughts of her papa back into the tightly closed box of memories it escaped from unbeckoned.

Her sister’s voice mail beeped. “¡
Hola!, chica
, I’ll be out of town for a day or two. I’m heading to Puerto Vallarta on business. Nothing big, just a meeting with clients. The guys mentioned we’ll be staying at a place in the Mismaloya area a mile or so south of Vallarta. I lost my phone so you’ll have to call me on this borrowed number. I’ll call again when we land with more details. ¡
Te amo
!
Chao.
”

She pressed the red button to end the call. God, what was she thinking? She’d just lied to her sister. But what good would it do to worry her? She pulled a lock of hair between her fingers and tucked her other hand around her waist. She would call her back when there was more information.

Mia closed her eyes and sank back in the leather seat. The adventures of the day washed over her. She rolled her eyes at her own sardonic thoughts. Ha! Adventures.

Her stomach growled, but a double shot of tequila would settle better than a plate of food right now.

She took a deep breath and let it all go. Since she didn’t notice a bar on the way in, she accepted what there was—Marc and Colt.

Their deep voices carried on in the background and she let the warm sound caress along her frayed nerves.

Someone’s phone binged with an incoming message. Mia shoved away the pull of sleep lulling her and slowly turned back around to face them.

Colt looked between the two of them. “IT has checked over your phone. They pulled nothing on the hang-up calls you received last night, but they did track down the server the pictures were sent from. They’re digging deeper to verify if it’s legit or a decoy server. They’ll get back to us on it.”

Mia dragged her attention away from Colt when her phone vibrated in her hands. Her sister must have gotten her message. She flicked it on and caught an image loading on the small screen. Unlike her smartphone, this one she had to scroll to see the entire picture.

Her heart sank to her feet and she had to wrangle her stomach back into place.

Not again.
Por favor, Dios
. She stared at herself sandwiched between Marc and Colt boarding their corporate plane. She quickly scrolled to the end and read the large bold words at the bottom of the message.

NO ONE CAN PROTECT YOU

She turned to Colt then Marc, holding up the phone for them. Their mouths set in grim, flat lines. The creases around their eyes deepened and anger rolled off them in violent waves that sucked the air out of the cabin in mere seconds.

Their emotions jacked up her tension and she struggled to calm down and take a couple of deep breaths. Her chest rose and fell sharply but nothing she did to slow her breathing helped. Her head began to spin and silver spots danced in her vision.

A firm hand grasped the back of her neck and shoved her head between her knees.

“Breathe, Mia. Once through your nose, then out your mouth.”

She tied herself to the sound of Marc’s voice and did as he commanded. “Again. Nose, mouth.” She did it five more times before her panic attack released its tight grip. Marc helped her up and Colt handed her a glass filled halfway with amber-colored liquid. “Drink this. It’ll take the edge off.” He winked at her and she knew it was to make her shift focus. Marc slipped her phone from her fingers and handed it to Colt.
Dios
, would the surprises ever end?

“
Gracias
.” She tipped the glass in salute, then downed half the contents in one swallow.  She raised the glass again and finished off the last of the liquid and welcomed the burn with every swallow.

“Easy, darling.”

“Or you could give me another.” She cocked her head to the side and shook her now empty glass between them.

“Maybe or you could talk to me. Tell me what’s going on in that pretty mind of yours.”

Oh, now he wants to talk.
“Do you think they’ll have any luck finding the van we saw by my house?”

“I’m not holding my breath on that.” Marc pulled her hand into his and turned it over to trace the lines in her palm. The small touch created a wonderful sensation of calm to settle over her and ground her to the here and now. “We’ll find whoever is behind this, Mia. We’ll protect you. Trust us.” He raised his eyes and immediately she felt the clash of his dark stormy gaze with her own. Conflicting emotions ran across his face before he settled on one—sincerity.