Page 39 of Back To Our Beginning

Simon shook his head. “No, we’d been hired by a corporation to check into why they were leaking money like a sieve. It took some time. Needed to bring in an expert, because that’s not Roan or me.”

I frowned. “A military asset?”

“Fuck no.” Simon was aghast. “We would never pull in one of my old military subordinates on something like this.”

Drake chuckled. “He doesn’t have to, not when he can pull in one of their wives.”

I was confused. “Wives?”

“Two of my teammates are married to superb hackers. These ladies give our computer tech a run for his money. So did you pull in Lydia or Rylie?” Drake asked Simon.

“Rylie,” Simon answered. “She was able to narrow it down to one woman. She was siphoning off everything to a Swiss bank account. Turns out her brother was a member of the Blood Ravens, a motorcycle gang out of Chicago. He was the one pulling her strings. She had no priors. We should be able to scoop him up the day after tomorrow.”

I was impressed. It would be damn tough to separate a brother from his gang and have him arrested.

“How are you going to do that?” I asked.

“Let’s just say it’s going to be tricky, and leave it at that,” Roan answered.

“Gotcha.”

“So, you see why we need to expand,” Roan said to me. “We are getting more and more cases, and we need experienced men.”

“It’s a nice problem to have,” Simon said as he tipped back his beer.

“About that time, Nolan O’Roarke⁠—”

“A former SEAL out of Little Creek,” Simon interrupted Roan.

“Yeah,” Roan agreed. “Nolan came to live here in Jasper Creek with his wife and adopted daughter. Simon talked him into joining us, so we could cover the jobs we wanted to take.”

“Then they recruited me,” Jase spoke up.

“And me,” Kai grinned.

I held up both my hands. “I see where this is going, gentlemen. But I’m not interested. I’ve got five more years to serve before I hit my twenty. I intend to serve it.”

Drake took a step toward me, his expression flinty. “Then what are you doing with Mads?”

“That’s between her and me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Drake said as he pushed into my personal space. “You’ve already pulled a runner on her before, and I sure as hell won’t stand for you breaking her heart again.”

“Again. It’s between her and me.”

“Beaumont—”

“Leave it.” Simon settled his hand on Drake’s shoulder. “All of your sisters are grown women. They appreciate the fact that you care about them, but there is a line you can’t cross.”

Drake glared over his shoulder at his brother-in-law. “I don’t want to see Maddie hurt.”

“She’s a smart woman. She can handle herself,” Simon assured Drake.

“Drake, I care too much about her to lead her on.”

“That better be true.” Drake glowered at me.

“So, you’re heading back to California?” Kai asked. “When?”