Under Control (5 page)

“She couldn’t have gone far,” Joey said.

“She might have hitched a ride. Though few taxis come to this part of the city, and not quickly at any rate. She has to be on foot.” Gabriel threw him a dark look filled with the remorse that Joey felt.

Sitting on the edge of his seat, Joey searched out the windows for her. “She may be smart and savvy, but I don’t want her out here very long.”

“Yeah, and my name’s in the media. This ex of hers might have tracked me down and suspects she’s with me.” His nostrils flared and he slammed the heel of his hand off the steering wheel. “Dammit, what did she overhear from our argument?”

“Probably all the wrong things.” Joey hated to admit that, at seeing his lover’s blood, he’d proposed that Jayla go. But the second the words were out, he’d hated himself for them. The woman was a virtual stranger, but he couldn’t deny that her big blue eyes made him want to enfold her in his arms and shield her.

Gabriel made a right turn. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, babe. If the situation were reversed and you were walking in covered in blood, I would have reacted the same way.”

“We’re loyal to each other, but she hasn’t done anything to be pushed out of our ring of protection. Find her, goddammit.” Joey felt the need to get out and run the streets screaming her name. Tension crashed through the truck cab. Gabriel’s fingers turned white on the steering wheel. Each minute that passed without finding her made Joey want to scream.

“Call Hanna and Jagger. See if they’ll help us find her.”

“Good idea.” Hanna was one of Joey’s best friends, and her new husband, Jagger was an elite member of the East Street team. He took out his cell and made the call.

Telling his friend that his argument with Gabriel had driven Jayla away was a little cathartic, and he was able to stop hating himself so much. Hope rose inside him that they’d find her soon.

“Dammit, how can one little woman disappear so thoroughly? She had to be picked up. Either that or she saw the truck and hid until we went by.” It was Joey’s turn to slam his knuckles off the dashboard.

Gabriel shot him a look. “We can’t stop searching. That bastard’s going to come after her. His name is all over the news and cops are crawling the city looking for him.”

As they passed a corner market, Joey caught a flash of his own navy sweatpants he’d loaned to her. “There!” He jabbed a finger toward the place.

Gabriel laid on the brakes, and the smell of burning rubber flooded the truck. Joey shot out the door and took off after Jayla while Gabriel abandoned the truck in the middle of the street.

“Jayla!”

She whipped around, panic crossing her beautiful face. Joey closed the gap and snagged her sleeve between his fingers. She whirled to face him. She’d been crying, tears tracking down her cheeks making him feel like a grade-A ass all over again.

He yanked her into his arms. When she thumped against his chest, something happened inside him. He flexed his arms around her and buried his nose in her thick hair. “Thank God we found you,” he breathed.

She trembled in his hold. Just then he felt Gabriel’s strong form at his back. He tugged her away from Joey and into his embrace. “You’re coming home with us and we’re going to sit down and talk about everything. No arguments, sweetheart.”

She pulled away enough to look between Joey and Gabriel. Then she gave a small nod. Getting into the two-seater truck presented a small problem, until Joey drew her firm little ass down on his lap. As they drove, he almost groaned at the feel of her bouncing on his cock. Every bump was exquisite torture.

“Give me your address, sweetheart.” Gabriel headed toward the city.

“Wait—are you taking me home?” Her muscles tightened, and Joey slid his hand down her spine to soothe her.

“No, but you want your own clothes, right?”

“You really don’t need to do this. I can take care of myself.”

“We have no doubts about that.” Joey let his fingertips skim her hair. What he wanted more than anything was to curl his fingers into the mass, pull her head back, and kiss her. He resisted, but it was damn hard. “Look, your ex is at large. He tried to kill you. And neither of us trust the police to keep you safe. You’re staying with us until this blows over.”

The look on Gabriel’s face said
or until the asshole’s dead.
But Joey didn’t think she needed it spoken aloud. She may still have feelings for her ex.

Weaving in and out of traffic headed across the bridge into the city meant Jayla was slipping around Joey’s lap like an exotic dancer. She grabbed the “holy shit” handle above the window and tried to keep herself from being tossed, but there was no help for it. Joey arched a brow at her in silent question. When her eyes sparked with something that made his heart turn over, he wrapped both arms around her and hitched her high on his lap.

Her scent and the feel of her body were such a difference from the hard masculinity he was used to with Gabriel. His arousal was at a fever pitch, and he tried to think of terrible things to keep his cock from swelling under her.
Circus clowns, those animal shelter commercials with the sick puppies…

Nope. No use. All he could do was grit his teeth and endure. And on the way home, he’d get behind the wheel and put Gabriel in the hot-seat.

»»•««

The inside of Jayla’s apartment was messy after the authorities had ripped it up searching for clues as to her involvement with the bombing.
I hope they found my toy stash and that old carton of Chinese in the fridge that’s gone bad,
she thought with less heat than she should feel after seeing her place in this state.

Behind her, unfamiliar voices sounded and she turned to see a big man and a beautiful woman entering her apartment behind Gabriel. He introduced the guy as Jagger, a fellow firefighter, and his pretty wife Hanna. She greeted them pleasantly, but her mind was far from civilities.

She wanted to hunt down Blaine and pin his ass for this crime. Anger rolled through her as she gathered a few belongings to take back to Gabriel and Joey’s home. By the time she was ready, their friends had left, leaving only the three of them.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she allowed Joey to take her bag. Gabriel was looking around her possessions, and she watched him carefully. Did he believe she was really part of this scheme of Blaine’s? That she was lying?

No, he wouldn’t let her under their roof if that were the case. He wasn’t without wits.

Blaine had a key to her apartment, and she’d gotten it back after their breakup, but what if he’d made a copy?

He wouldn’t be dumb enough to come to her. And she couldn’t fear for her life—he wasn’t a big enough threat physically. It didn’t surprise her that he was using chemicals to commit these crimes. He’d never wanted to do much work, and physically grabbing her with intent to harm her would be too much work for him.

“I’m ready,” she said to the guys.

“Can you think of anything that the FBI might have taken from here? Anything that would have connected you with Blaine?”

She shook her head. “There’s nothing. I don’t even have a photo of us. I deleted them all from my phone.” She knew a lot about Blaine, but it was mostly useless information. Like how lazy he was and how crappy he’d treated her.

Gabriel placed a hand on the small of her back, leading her out the door. Joey locked it and closed it behind them. All the way to their truck, Jayla tried to think of a way to connect her ex with these crimes as well as to locate him. She wasn’t about to stay in hiding forever, even though the guys’ bed would be a hell of a place to hunker down.

“C’mon, Jayla. Everything will be okay.” Joey’s words soothed her but for how long?

Gabriel positioned himself between Jayla and the door. No way was she escaping this conversation. She needed to know the facts about her safety. He’d probably sprouted five gray hairs in the past hour of searching for her.

Tossing a look at Joey, he noted the telltale bob of his Adam’s apple. If he glanced down his lover’s lean, hard body, he’d find a bulge in his jeans. He kept his gaze riveted on Joey’s face—no way could he lose control with his lover while this little temptress stood between them.

Visions of pinning her between them on the big leather sofa flitted through his head, and he rubbed a forefinger down the bridge of his nose. Focus. He needed focus.

“You overheard our argument,” Gabriel said without warm-up.

She lifted her jaw a bit. “I wasn’t eavesdropping.”

“I know. We were loud, and all sound seems to carry through these thin walls.”

Joey made a strangled noise, and Jayla’s cheeks turned to pink blossoms. Gabriel folded his arms and leaned against the bar cart, amused as hell. He wasn’t ashamed to admit he’d loved every minute of the previous night’s sex-capade.

Who was he fooling? Part of him wanted this aired so they could get past it and do it again. It had been some of the hottest sex of his life.

“Our conversation sounded terrible, Jayla, I’ll admit. But you didn’t stick around to hear what the conclusion was.”

She blinked, hands knotted before her. Dammit, she was wearing Joey’s navy sweats, the ones Gabriel had pulled off him on countless Sunday mornings. Pulling them down now, what would he see? Warm skin infused with the flush of arousal? Was she even wearing panties under those sweats? They were too loose to see a panty line.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and fought to concentrate.

“I reacted to seeing Gabriel covered in blood, and I’m sorry,” Joey offered. “None of it is your fault—I know that, but I’ve always been known for my hot head and big mouth.”

Gabriel nodded. “Bet you can’t guess how many times I patch him up after he’s taken a swing at some drunk at the bar. It’s a wonder he even has a job.”

Jayla made a small noise of amusement. “I don’t mean to be a pain. I’m a stranger to you, and you’ve both been very kind to take me in when I was at my worst. But I can handle myself now. I’ll leave you in peace.”

When she didn’t move to leave, Gabriel let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “No, you won’t,” Joey said, stepping up to her. He took her hands, slid his fingers up her palms to her wrists, and then clasped her forearms as if to hold her in place.

Gabriel studied his lover. Joey was as smitten as he was. They both wanted her, and that was no good for any of them. She was vulnerable, and they couldn’t take advantage. More than that, he worried what would happen when she returned to her life, leaving him and Joey without her.

Yeah, I can fall too easily.
Maybe it was her big trusting blue eyes or that they’d literally been thrown into each other’s paths. Whatever it was, it was real.

“The best place for you right now is here.” Joey didn’t release Jayla’s arms. He took a step closer, and she tipped her head back to see his face. “Gabriel discovered that your ex fled or is in hiding. Nobody knows where he’s at—but he knows where to find you. Unless you stay here.”

A visible shudder racked her. “I know you’re right. But I might be able to find him.”

Gabriel stepped in. “And what? Get yourself killed? The man is dangerous, sweetheart. He’s getting cocky too. Can you think of any reasons why he’d want to claim his crimes?”

Just then, his cell vibrated with the beeping ringtone that meant he was being called to a fire. “Dammit.” He pulled his phone out and stared at the address. Must be a big fire if the guys on duty at East Street couldn’t handle it without calling reinforcements. “I’ve gotta go, but this conversation isn’t over. I want to know everything you can tell me about this ex of yours.”

“What’s the address of the fire?” she asked.

He jerked to face her and rattled off the street. “Does that mean anything to you?”

A pensive expression settled over her beautiful features and then she shook her head. “I just thought it might be Blaine’s fire, but I can’t connect that address with him.”

On impulse, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss between her drawn brows. She tasted of warm spice, as if she’d been sitting in the sun gathering all that was good and wholesome from the world. He drew away and stamped Joey’s mouth with a full-on kiss.

Jayla’s sharp inhalation sent a spike of need straight to Gabriel’s groin. She liked seeing them—and hearing them—together.

“Wait for my text, babe.”

“Be safe,” Joey called to his back. He was fifteen minutes from the city, but he could cut that in half if he took a shortcut. He stuck his flashing light on his roof and sped out of the suburbs. The drive was too short to give much consideration to his confusing thoughts of Jayla and Joey. Somehow during that lust-filled, noisy night, they’d all become entangled in his mind.

How to unravel that was something he couldn’t do—at least not right now.

By the time he reached the scene, East Street was deep in the flames. Gabriel reached into the back of the truck and retrieved his extra gear. In thirty seconds he was outfitted and striding toward the burning building.

“Gabriel on the scene. Where is everybody?”

“Team two just entered the building,” Corey’s voice intoned through his earpiece. “We’re seeing no signs of trapped persons yet.”

During his ride, he’d listened to the talk over the scanner. House fire believed to have started in the garage. Two possible victims of unknown sex. East Street was on the scene first.

He barreled through the door and stared hard through the smoke haze. As he passed a wall outlet, it glowed. Fire in the walls already. “We need a hook here,” he called.

“Where are you, Gabe?” This from Jagger. Someone bumped into him, and he braced his legs wide to keep from falling over. Jagger laughed. “Guess I found you. Can’t see shit in here.”

“That’s usually the case, asshole,” he teased. Together they set off through the space until they caught up with Corey and Dirty D. Another firehouse handled the hoses, and the noise of water flooding the nearby garage lifted the hackles on Gabriel’s neck. He pushed forward.

“Has anybody said if the owners were home?”

“No, but we can’t reach them either,” Corey said. “Right now, we treat this like a rescue. Gabe, take the west wall with Jagger.”