Code Name: Aries by Janie Crouch

14

Ian

The newest office of Zodiac Tactical had opened somewhere I’d never dreamed I’d have a branch.

Oak Creek, Wyoming.

About a month ago, Landon had dragged my ass onto the jet and taken me back to Oak Creek. I hadn’t been sad to be heading there, but I’d been surprised when I’d seen where he’d taken me. He’d made an office out of the small house at the edge of town, renovating it so one of the bedrooms was a full office and the other, well, the other was still a bedroom.

It had been six weeks since the night Wavy had spent with me in the penthouse. Not surprisingly, I hadn’t been able to walk away from her. If I hadn’t been able to do it before tasting her luscious body, there was no way I was doing it afterward.

But the distance had been hard. We tried to talk every day and see each other as often as we could, but life hadn’t stopped for either of us. My goal of taking down Mosaic hadn’t shifted.

But now that my mind and body knew what it was missing out on when I wasn’t around Wavy, I craved her. When I wasn’t around her, it was like the rainbow was missing from my sky.

I wasn’t much fun for my team to be around.

The house had all the security and tech I needed to communicate with any of my other offices without having to rely on a single laptop in a hotel room. It allowed me to have a home base and still be close to Wavy at least two or three days a week.

Landon had said the Oak Creek office was vital for the survival of the company since one of them was going to kill me if I kept biting everyone’s head off.

Being around Wavy was the only thing keeping me sane.

Especially since the entire situation with Mosaic was moving in fucking circles. Like I’d promised Sarge, I’d tasked Varela with trying to find out what he could about Bronwyn. I kept him on it for a week, but his intel about her had been scarce, and what he had been able to gather hadn’t been timely enough to help us figure out where she was.

His questions were raising suspicions, so I’d pulled him off Bronwyn detail. Sarge hadn’t liked it. But it always came back to winning the war, not just the battle.

Sarge had gone to ground to see if he could find any intel about her through unofficial channels. He still reported in a couple of times a week, usually to Landon since Sarge and I almost came to blows every time we talked, so he was in essence gone for now.

Varela hadn’t been as useful as we had hoped. He checked in with Callum and me every week. He’d been able to get us some names of leadership—two in particular, besides Erick. But ultimately, Varela was little more than a low-level thug. Maybe smarter than most, but not a part of Mosaic’s inner circle. The more questions he asked, the more suspicious they became of him.

We would have to pull him soon. He was going to bolt—take his chances on the run. I was sure of it, especially after our last conversation two days ago. He’d been pretty shaken.

“Man, you’ve got problems.”

“Varela, it’s four o’clock in the fucking morning.”

“I know. But I think they’re watching me. Might know something’s up.”

Shit. “Then come in. Leave now.” He was no good to us dead.

“I can’t. I have to get proof. The stuff they’re doing. You won’t believe it.” His voice went in and out like he was leaning away from the phone and back.

“Human trafficking. I know.”

“This is a shit ton more than trafficking, man. They’re—” There was silence for a second before he finally spoke again. “Listen, just know Erick Huen isn’t your biggest problem.”

“Then who is?”

“Not who. What.”

“Fuck, Varela, stop talking in circles. If you’ve got something, come in and let’s figure out how to move forward together. It’s the safest thing for you.”

“I’ll be in at the normal time if I can.”

Damn it. “Be there. With proof or without. What do you think is happening? The more you can tell me now, the better.”

“It’s the science. The drugs. They’re— Shit, I gotta go.”

The line went dead.

I’d contacted Callum immediately to let him know Varela was probably in trouble, not that we knew exactly where he was at any given time. Bugging him would’ve signed his death warrant. But Callum had received a couple of texts from him in the past forty-eight hours, so at least we’d known he was still alive. We’d all meet tomorrow and figure out where to go from there.

But now. Tonight was my night with Wavy, and I needed it. All my frustration melted away when I could see her smile, take some of her rainbow in for myself.

And she wanted to spend time with Ian DeRose the man, not Ian DeRose the billionaire or Ian DeRose the well-connected head of a world-renowned security company.

Me.

My jet sat a mere ten miles out of town, but she never asked me to take her anywhere. She knew I had contacts that could help her with her art career, but she never hinted at wanting assistance.

I hadn’t told her that I’d sent a couple of her paintings to the office of an acquaintance of mine, François Nester. François probably wouldn’t look at them himself; he was basically art dealership royalty, but maybe the pieces would catch the eye of one of his assistants. They might be willing to talk further with her. And not because I’d strong-armed anyone. All I’d done was send a courier with her work.

I wanted to do that for her because she’d done so much for me by just being who she was. She’d brought so much light and joy and color into my life merely by being there.

She gave me what I needed to keep up the battle to take Mosaic down. The nightmares were fewer. The panic had lessened. I was able to see a little bit more clearly. If I had been this way six weeks ago when Sarge had first came to me about Bronwyn, it’s possible I would’ve agreed to put all our resources toward finding her because saving one of our own was more important than anything.

There were little sticky note-sized paintings all over my desk here in Oak Creek and in my home office at the penthouse. Wavy gave me one almost every time I saw her, the hues on the tiny pieces of canvas matching whatever rainbow that had most recently stained her wrist.

And the more I had of her, the more I wanted.

Hell, I had turned off the security cameras here in this office because the last time she’d shown up with a spicy little smile and a painting for me, I’d had her bent over the desk and screaming my name within ten minutes of her walking through the door. Of course, she’d returned the favor, and I’d lost control embarrassingly fast when she got on top of me in bed a few hours later.

She had a couple of days off, and I was going to take her back to Denver with me. Except for the meeting with Varela and Callum, I wouldn’t be leaving her side for forty-eight glorious hours.

As if my thoughts had summoned her, a slight tap came at my door. A second later she peeked inside.

“Hi.” I knew I had a goofy smile on my face, but I couldn’t help it.

She smiled back. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

I walked over and wrapped my arms around her hips, hiking her up close to me. “It’s been two days, but I’m not pathetically counting or anything.”

“Two days and six hours. Now who’s pathetic?” She grinned at me. Her arms wrapped around my neck, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to wait until Denver to have her under me. Hell, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to wait until the bedroom.

“I missed you,” she said against my lips this time.

“I missed you too.” When my hands slid to cup her ass and lift her, she wrapped her legs around my hips.

Her lips broke into a smile against mine. “Do we have time for a quickie before we fly to Denver?”

“That is the most wonderful question I’ve heard all day. And yes, we do, even if I have to fly the damn plane myself.” Which I could if I had to.

I had her perched on the desk when my goddamned phone rang.

“I’m going to ignore it,” I said against her mouth. “If it’s an emergency, they’ll call back.”

The phone fell silent, and I unbuttoned her blouse, kissing down her neck as I went. But a few seconds later, the phone rang again.

I wanted to let out a curse that would make my navy buddies proud.

“You’re fired,” I said as I grabbed the phone and put it to my face.

“Boss, we need you here at the office,” Landon said. “Immediately.”

I stiffened. “What happened?”

Wavy eased away, looking at me in concern. She could hear Landon too.

“It’s Varela. He’s dead.”

I let out a low curse. “Are you sure? How do you know?”

“Mosaic mailed him to Callum Webb. In pieces.”