MARTY sat upright in bed. From somewhere in his apartment, an old car horn incessantly blared. “What the fuck?”
“It’s your damn phone,” Luke complained next to him. He wrapped his arms around Marty and pulled him back into a lying position. He snuggled his naked body against Marty’s back and sighed as the phone finally fell silent. “It’s been going off for the last fifteen minutes.”
“I should throw it away,” he said, wiggling his ass against Luke’s growing prick.
Luke kissed the nape of his neck. “You’ll get no argument from me.”
Marty burrowed under the covers to escape the harsh morning light. “What time is it?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care,” Luke replied. “I’m keeping you naked in bed all damn day long.”
Marty liked the sound of that. He could think of nothing more he’d rather do today than feel Luke’s naked body on top of him, thrusting into him, and finally climaxing inside him. There was nothing more important than that, not even his sister’s—
“Fuck!” Marty flew out of Luke’s arms and sprang out of the bed.
“Where are you going?” Luke complained.
Marty turned on his phone to find six missed calls, two from his mother and four from his sister. A glance at the clock on the screen told him it was almost eleven o’clock.
Sophia was going to kill him.
Before he could tell Luke to get up and get dressed, the old car horn started honking again. It was his sister’s ringtone. He girded his loins and accepted the call. “Hey, sis. What’s up?”
“What’s up?” she practically screamed on the other end. “My wedding is in two hours and my brother isn’t answering his damn phone.”
“Sorry about that,” he said, fumbling open his dresser drawer. He tossed a pair of underwear onto his desk and sprinted over to the closet where his suit hung. “I’m almost ready.”
She snorted. “Liar. You just woke up. I can tell by your voice.”
Marty cleared his throat and motioned for Luke to get his butt out of bed. Luke groaned before pulling back the covers. The sight of his naked body almost made Marty hang up on his sister and jump Luke’s bones, but they didn’t have time for that. At least not right now. “Must be allergies. Don’t worry. We’ll be there.”
“You scared me, Marty.” The tone of his sister’s voice changed. It went from shrill banshee to genuine concern. “After what happened yesterday, well, I didn’t know what to think. I told Mom to go over and knock on your door, but she refused. She said you two needed your privacy. Can you believe that? It’s my wedding day, and she’s worried about your privacy?”
That didn’t sound like his mother at all. When it came to butting in, she was usually the first in line. At least when it came to his life. Maybe now that it appeared he actually had one, she might finally back off. “I’m sorry,” he finally said. He’d been terrified yesterday too, but being in Luke’s arms chased that fear away. Today he felt more powerful than a locomotive. “I’m fine. Luke’s with me. He’s been here the whole night.”
“I bet,” she said with a snicker. “The two of you have a lot of explaining to do, you know?”
He nodded even though his sister couldn’t see him. “I promise to tell you everything.”
“Really?” she asked. The tone of her voice reflected the nasty thoughts running through her mind. “Everything?”
“Sophia!”
“What?” she asked. “Luke’s fricking hot. I bet he’s packing some serious—”
“I’m not going to discuss that with you. That’s gross.”
Luke pulled on his underwear and arched one eyebrow at Marty. He pointed to the phone and stuck his finger down his throat, pretending to gag.
“So the two of you did do it!” she squealed, and from the sound of her breathing, she was jumping up and down. “That’s my brother!”
He couldn’t help the schoolboy giggle that escaped his throat.
“Was it everything you hoped it would be?” she asked.
Marty glanced at Luke. He was getting dressed in the clothes Crispy had gotten for him yesterday. Luke Myers was drop-dead gorgeous in jeans and a tee. In a suit, the man turned into a fucking Adonis. “And more.”
“Good,” she said. He could hear the smile in her voice. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”
“Thanks.”
“Now get that flat ass of yours to the church pronto!” she demanded before ending the call.
“What was that about?” Luke asked, zipping up his black pants.
Marty tossed his phone on the desk. “Just my sister being my sister.”
“Is she upset that we’re running behind?”
“Is Bruce Wayne Batman?” he asked in reply. He pulled his underwear on and then stepped into his dress pants. “If we don’t get there soon, she’ll send my mother, and neither of us want that.”
Luke shook his head vigorously and then quickly buttoned up his shirt. Marty chuckled. How his mother managed to terrify someone as big as Luke astounded him.
“We need to talk about security for today,” Luke said.
Marty finished buttoning his shirt and sat down to pull on his socks. “Right now?”
“Yes, now,” Luke replied from where he sat on Marty’s bed, tying his shoes. “We’re still not completely safe, or have you forgotten?”
As if Marty could forget. “You said that you didn’t think they’d try anything out in the open. The middle of a wedding is pretty out there.”
“You’re right, but that doesn’t mean that we can afford to get lax or sloppy. As long as there’s any danger, it’s my job to protect you. Nothing else matters beyond that.”
Steely determination reflected in Luke’s blue eyes, and it made Marty’s heart soar. He’d told Luke last night that he really, really liked him, but that wasn’t the truth. As impossible as it might be, he had fallen hard for Luke, but Marty couldn’t say the words. Even he knew it was much too soon for that.
Instead, he closed the distance between them, wrapped his arms around Luke’s neck, and brushed their lips together. Luke moaned into the kiss, surfing his hands down Marty’s back to his waistband, and untucked his shirt.
“We’re already late,” he mumbled into their kiss.
Luke slipped his hands underneath the fabric and palmed Marty’s ass. “We won’t be missed.”
If they didn’t leave soon, they’d be in a world of trouble. Right now, Marty didn’t care. He couldn’t resist Luke’s gentle kisses or his roaming hands. A raging inferno only Luke could put out erupted across his skin.
Fuck it. He undid the button of Luke’s pants and he was about to yank them downward, when the phone rang.
This time it was Luke’s.
“Sorry,” Luke said as he scrambled for the phone on the desk. “It’s got to be Crispy.”
Marty had just started to like Crispy Aguilar too. He didn’t like him much anymore.
While Luke answered the phone, Marty once again tucked in his shirt and had to readjust his pissed-off cock. It had just been awoken only to be denied a second later. It was clearly going to repay him for that with a bad case of blue balls.
“Are you fucking serious?” Luke bellowed into the phone.
A boulder suddenly rolled around in Marty’s stomach. Whatever news Luke’s partner had given him, it definitely wasn’t good.
Luke paced the apartment like a caged lion. “How is that even possible? We had—” Luke’s face went beet red. “You’ve got to be shitting me!”
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Luke glared up at him but didn’t answer. Instead, he turned around and whispered into the phone. Marty could no longer hear anything he said. A second later, Luke hung up, let out a deep sigh, and turned around.
“Your cousin was released this morning.”
Marty couldn’t even respond. Simple words like how and why seemed much too complex to be formed by his numb lips.
“Don’t worry,” Luke said. He rushed toward Marty’s closet and pulled out a suitcase. “I’ve got a plan.”
“Wh-what are you doing?” His voice sounded distant, as if he were speaking from the other end of a tunnel.
“We’re getting the hell out of here,” Luke answered as he grabbed a handful of Marty’s clothes, hangers and all, from the closet. “I’m taking you to a safe house.”
Luke’s words snapped him out his fog. Marty couldn’t leave. His sister was getting married today. “The only place I’m going,” he said as he slipped his feet into his dress shoes, “is to my sister’s wedding.”
Luke gaped at him as if Marty were an idiot. “You can’t be serious.”
“I can and I am.”
“Marty, do I need to remind you how dangerous Rogelio is?”
Marty stared blankly at him. “I’m well acquainted with my cousin’s homicidal tendencies, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to my sister’s wedding.”
“Why are you being so difficult?” Luke dropped the clothes onto the floor. He zipped to Marty’s side and placed his hands on his shoulders and rubbed them. “He went after you at a family party last night. What makes you think he won’t do it again at the wedding?”
“He might,” Marty answered, pulling away from Luke and studying his appearance in the mirror. He wasn’t used to seeing himself in anything other than a graphic tee. He looked pretty good, if he did say so himself.
“Then what’s the problem here?”
“The problem is that no one is going to make me miss my sister walking down the aisle,” Marty answered calmly. He was surprised by how composed he was. He’d spent so much of his life running away from problems, he couldn’t believe he wasn’t spiraling into panic right now. But when he thought about it carefully, it made sense that Rogelio would stay away. If he was let out of custody, it had to be on some insane technicality. Showing up with a weapon in front of hundreds of people would land his cousin right back in jail.
Rogelio might be a lowlife, but he wasn’t stupid.
“Fine,” Luke said. The scowl that wrinkled his lip told Marty that Luke realized he wasn’t going to change Marty’s mind. He stormed back over to Marty’s phone and started scrolling.
“What are you doing?” Luke asked.
“Calling your mother,” he answered. “We need to cancel this wedding.”
Marty sprinted to him and yanked the cell from Luke’s hands. “Don’t you dare. My sister has waited months for this day, and I won’t let anything ruin it.”
“Right. Because nothing says forever like a hail of bullets.”
Marty took a deep breath. Luke was trying to protect him, so Marty couldn’t be too angry. He had to get Luke to realize that the best thing for all of them was to move forward. If they did and nothing happened, then canceling the wedding would have been a mistake. If something did happen, then Luke and the other agents would be there, and this time, they would make sure all the bad guys got what was coming to them.
The only thing left to do was convince Luke of that too.
WHEN Marty screeched to a stop in the church parking lot, Luke couldn’t believe he’d given in to Marty’s crazy logic. Marty believed that acting as if nothing had happened, as if Marty’s life wasn’t in danger, would either get El Dragón and his men to think twice, or piss them off so much that they’d do something stupid.
Why Marty acted as if that was a positive was beyond him.
These were dangerous and powerful men they were dealing with. They didn’t need much of a reason to kill, and Luke and Marty had given them plenty of reasons to put them in their crosshairs. Luke had infiltrated the cartel, and Marty could identify the mole in the FBI, the same mole that was likely responsible for the mysterious disappearance of the surveillance tapes from Marty’s wire.
Without that evidence, El Dragón’s lawyer had gotten Rogelio Sandoval out on bail, and if Luke knew Rogelio like he thought he knew Rogelio, he’d be out for blood. Their blood.
That was why parading in public without a care in the world was the most insane yet fucking brilliant move to make. El Dragón’s men were likely watching him and Marty. He knew it, and they knew he knew it.
But they also knew the FBI was also watching. If they wanted revenge, they’d have to be bold and reckless, both of which could land all those motherfuckers in jail.
Marty was right. This was a good move, but Luke didn’t have to like it.
“Stop pouting,” Marty said from the driver’s seat.
Luke crossed his arms. “I don’t pout.”
“Well, you’re doing a great imitation, then,” he replied with a chuckle before he leaned over and pressed his lips to Luke’s.
Luke wrapped his arms around Marty’s shoulders and practically dragged him over the console. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you.” God, he sounded like a wuss, but the idea of anything happening to Marty wrenched his gut.
“Are you going to stay by my side the whole time?” Marty asked.
“I’m sticking to you like glue,” Luke answered.
“Are you ever going to let your guard down?”
Luke snorted. When did he ever let his guard down? Well, besides when he was naked in bed with Marty. “Of course not.”
“Are there agents all over this church? And will they be at the reception hall?”
“Why are you asking me questions you already know the answers to?” Luke asked.
Marty flicked Luke’s nose and smiled. “Because we’ve got all our bases covered. If my cousin or El Dragón try anything, we’re going to nail their asses to the wall, right?”
The resolve reflected in Marty’s eyes gave Luke all the strength he needed to carry through with this plan.
“Okay,” he said with a nod. For now he’d play it Marty’s way, but they’d use Luke’s rules. He opened his phone and sent a text for his partner to meet him in the church’s foyer. He opened the car door and stepped out. “Let’s go get them.”
“WHAT the hell?” Marty asked from within one of the private meeting rooms inside the church. As soon as he and Luke walked through the front doors, Crispy escorted them down the hall and into this room, where he locked the door. Marty hadn’t even had time to tell anyone he had finally arrived. “You’re going to hold me hostage in here?”
“Of course not,” Luke said. He grabbed the bag Crispy had been carrying and took out its contents. He held it out for Marty to see.
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” He switched his gaze back and forth between Luke and Crispy. Their blank stares told him this wasn’t a joke. He glanced down at the black monstrosity Luke held. “You want me to wear a bulletproof vest?”
Luke nodded. “And you will.”
Marty studied the clunky equipment and scrunched up his face. “Is this really necessary?”
“That depends,” Crispy replied. “Do you enjoy being shot?”
“Do you enjoy being an asshole?” he asked in reply.
Crispy grinned. “I actually do.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Luke said as he unfastened the vest’s straps and approached Marty. “Take off your shirt.”
“We don’t have time for that either,” he replied with a smirk.
Luke flicked his nose and grinned. “Stop being a smartass.”
Marty took off his coat and undid the buttons of his shirt, which was a few years old and a little tight to begin with. With the vest on underneath, he just knew he was going to look like an overstuffed scarecrow. “I’m gonna look stupid,” he complained.
“You’ll look sexy.” Luke helped Marty take off his shirt and then put on the vest. He adjusted the straps on each side to make sure the protective gear stayed in place. “Maybe you’ll even wear it to bed tonight.”
Marty blushed before dragging his gaze to where Crispy clasped his hands over his ears.
“I’m not hearing this,” he complained from where he stood by the locked door.
“Oh shut it,” Luke replied as he helped Marty back into his shirt.
Marty turned around and looked at himself in the mirror that hung on the wall behind him. Well, at least his sister wouldn’t have to worry about any birds dive-bombing her wedding. “I look ridiculous,” he said as Luke attempted to fasten the buttons that refused to close. “It’s not going to close.”
“Yes. They. Will,” Luke replied as he forced the buttons into their holes. When he was finished, he stepped back so Marty could see. “See. It’s not that bad.”
Where was Luke looking? From where Marty stood, he looked like an idiot. The shirt fabric pulled taut across his chest, and even with the coat back on, it appeared as if Marty was wearing a box underneath his clothes.
“This wasn’t the look I was going for.”
Before Luke could respond, someone banged on the door.
Crispy pulled out his gun and Luke whirled around, stepping in front of Marty and reaching for his revolver.
“Martín!” his sister said from the other side of the door. “I know you’re in there, and you better let me in right now. If you’re doing what I think you’re doing, I’m going to kick your ass.”
“Put away your guns,” Marty said as he crossed over to the locked door. “If you shoot my sister, you won’t have to worry about El Dragón. My mother will rip your balls out through your throats.”
Crispy cut his gaze to Luke, who motioned for him to stand down. His partner placed his pistol back in its holster and stepped aside.
“What’s up?” Marty asked after he threw open the door.
Sophia stormed past him in a flurry of white raw silk. She shot daggers at Luke, and when she noticed Crispy standing by the door, she took several steps back. Unlike Luke, Crispy came across as hard and dangerous. He wasn’t someone you wanted to run into in a dark alley. But after Sophia had time to recover, she squared her shoulders and stood her ground. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Special Agent Crispin Aguilar,” he uttered.
She gave Crispy a polite smile before turning to Marty. “Why is there another FBI agent at my wedding? Didn’t we have enough of them at my party yesterday?”
“I can’t apologize enough for that,” Luke said from behind her. “My partner and I are here to make sure there are no other problems.”
She arched one eyebrow at Luke. “And what other problems might there be?”
“Don’t you worry about that,” Marty replied as he rushed to his sister’s side. “All I want you to focus on is getting married.”
“Yes, well, I would like that too, but I can’t seem to go anywhere without stepping on a government agent. What the hell is going on in here?” she asked, switching her gaze between the three of them. “So help me, if you were having a three-way in here…!”
“What?” Marty asked as Crispy shut the door. “Why the hell would you even think that?”
“I don’t know, Marty,” she said. Her eyes were wide and frantic. “You certainly haven’t been yourself lately. You’re usually so predictable it’s boring, but all that’s changed.” She spun around and tracked a path toward Luke as if he were the coast and she was a category-five hurricane. She got in Luke’s face and pointed her finger. “And I blame you!”
“Me?” Luke asked. “What did I do?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “What did you do to my brother? Before he met you, he didn’t arrive late to family functions, he didn’t keep secrets from me, and he wasn’t getting shot at!”
“That’s not Luke’s fault,” Marty said. “I would be dead if it wasn’t for Luke.”
Her eyes became slits as she turned back to face Luke. “Like I said, no one was trying to kill him before you.”
Oh for heaven’s sake. She was getting as irrational as their mother. “Sophia, will you stop?” Marty gently grasped his sister’s forearm and turned her toward him. “I know none of this makes sense right now. I bring a stranger into our lives who turns out to be an FBI agent. Our cousin tries to kill me at your party and gets arrested. That’s a lot for anyone to take in. I get it.”
Her eyebrows remained stitched and her jaw set. He’d seen this before. She was in big-sister mode.
“But none of that is going to ruin your wedding. I promise.”
Her expression relaxed a bit as she blew out a quick puff of air. “I know I’m being a bitch,” she said. “But this has nothing to do with the wedding! I love you, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. You know that, right?”
“I know.”
“Good, it’s just—” She stared at his shirt and grimaced. “What the hell are you wearing under there?”
“Nothing,” he replied, trying to pull his coat over his chest.
Sophia batted his hands away and peeked inside his shirt. “Are you wearing a bulletproof vest?”
“Sophia—”
She whipped around to Luke. “Why is my brother wearing a bulletproof vest?”
“For protection,” Luke replied.
“Why do you need protection?” she asked Marty. “What’s going on?”
“It’s too much to get into right now,” he answered. “But I’m safe. I promise.”
“Safe? You’re wearing a bulletproof vest. That’s the very definition of not being safe.”
What could he say to that? “Listen, Luke and Crispy are here to make sure things go smoothly, and they will.”
She grabbed his hands and squeezed them. “If I need to cancel the wedding, I will. Just tell me.”
He loved his sister so much right now. She had been fantasizing about this day since she was a little girl. They would play pretend wedding all the time. She’d wear a pillowcase for a veil, and Marty would escort her down the aisle to Mr. Snuggles, her stuffed-animal husband. “No,” he said with a firm shake. “Everything’s fine.”
She eyed his chest and stared blankly at him.
“Trust me,” he said before kissing her cheek. “Have I ever lied to you?”
He might have lied to everyone else in his life, but he’d never been able to hide the truth from her. When her shoulders relaxed, he was happy to see she realized that too. “Fine.” She turned around to face Luke and walked right up to him. “If anything happens to my brother, I will never forgive you.”
Luke nodded. “I will protect him with my life.”
The conviction in his words put an end to Sophia’s tirade. She gathered her dress about her. “Good.” She turned around and took Marty’s hand, and a huge smile spread across her expression. “Because it’s time for me to get married,” she squealed.
“And you’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen,” he said, kissing Sophia on the cheek.
“Naturally,” she replied with a wink. She led him toward the door. “Don’t those vests come in a size small? You look all boxy and shit.”
Before Marty could reply, the music started up. The wedding was about to begin.