Frost
Noah jumped up from the table with his phone to his ear and stepped out of the room. The man returned quickly and whispered something in Mac’s ear.
“Excuse me, guys, but I’ll be right back.” Noah glanced at him, and then left. There’d been a troubled expression in Noah’s gaze and the tight line of his mouth gave Frost a weird feeling. As if something had crawled over his skin. He knew without a doubt that if it had been about the unit, Noah would have filled him in. This must have been personal.
Hearing the rest of the dinner party arguing about the wine selection downstairs, he stood and stalked to the window that overlooked the driveway. Scratching at the stubble on his jaw, he watched Noah’s SUV drive away.
When the vehicle disappeared, his gaze was suddenly snagged by the view. The sea was a churning, foamy green with waves cresting white as they smashed against the rocky shore of Alameda, California.
The couple had recently relocated. Their current home was identical in some ways to the home Mac’s grandfather had left him in San Diego. Mac and Noah had rented out the San Diego beach house as a weekly getaway, which had given the couple extra income to buy this home. It made sense that once Phoenix headquarters was established here, they gravitated toward the area.
Mac worked out of the San Jose Marshal’s office most of the time with his partner, US Marshal Jake Coleman. Jake, who lived in San Diego, bunked half the time at Mac and Noah’s and half the time at FBI Agent Kane Quintana and his wife Becca’s place. Kane, Becca, Jake, and Mac went way back. Everyone was a bit scattered, but they were making it work. Frost had heard that Mac and Jake’s boss, Deputy US Marshal Scott Buller, wasn’t too happy about the move at all, but the man had conceded in order to retain two of his best men.
“What’s that about?” he asked, not moving from where he stood gazing out the window.
“Oh, Seth called. Something about some shit going on.”
“What shit?” Frost spun around.
Mac quirked a brow. “Settle down, Noah’s bringing him back here for the night.”
“Is he hurt?” He couldn’t get his demanding tone to change, nor could he give a fuck about it. He wanted every bit of information on Seth, right the fuck now. “Tell me!”
“Hey, easy,” Roscoe said, suddenly near his side. Frost hadn’t even heard the agent reenter the room.
“What’s going on?” Kane asked, joining them, holding a bottle of wine.
“I don’t know. Frost is being an asshole,” Mac growled, and then set a calming hand on the top of a massive chocolate-colored Labrador who bared his teeth at Frost. The marshal shushed the dog. “Easy, Havoc.”
Becca clicked her tongue and slipped around Mac to take a seat at the table next to where Jake had slid into a chair.
“If Seth is hurt…” Frost charged.
“We don’t know that yet, just let Noah handle it,” Mac barked out the order.
He gnashed his teeth. Roscoe put a hand on his arm. “Hey, calm down. If Noah needs us, he’ll call.”
His eyes narrowed. Shit. True enough. Seth was a grown man and could certainly handle himself. But Seth had trouble written all over him. Frost clenched his hands. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. “Sorry, Mac. I’m… Sorry.”
“It’s okay, man. No harm,” Mac said and nodded to Kane.
Kane filled everyone’s glass with wine, and then took a seat next to Becca.
The wait was excruciating. The minutes fucking crept by. Frost didn’t drink the wine and he couldn’t sit still, no matter how hard he tried. Instead, he paced back and forth between the kitchen to look out the window, and then into the living room so he could watch the front door. It gave him something to do. He didn’t care that his odd behavior had everyone staring at him.
At the sound of the returning SUV, he stalked toward the door and yanked it open. Noah stepped through with Seth, but Frost only had eyes for Seth and the black eye that flawed the man’s adorable perfection.
Frost gently lifted Seth’s chin. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
Seth closed his eyes and Frost eased an arm around the man’s waist.
“Not now, Frost, he needs to rest,” Noah snapped.
“I’m okay,” Seth mumbled, fisting a hand in Frost’s shirt, but then just as quickly, released it with a wince. Frost tightened his arm around the slender man, noticing the marks on Seth’s knuckles.
“Where can he lay down?” Frost asked gruffly.
“Through here.” Noah led them to one of the guest rooms and then hurried back down the hall. Frost eased Seth onto the bed and crouched next to Seth’s knees.
The bruise was going to be a doozy and certain to be there for a while. Tracks of what looked to be tears had dried on Seth’s cheeks. Every muscle in Frost tensed and he imagined his hands around the boyfriend’s neck.
“Tell me he’s gone,” he demanded. He wasn’t going to look too deeply as to why it mattered, but it fucking did. He tried to keep the bite out of his voice, but failed.
“He left me,” Seth admitted sadly.
“That fucker doesn’t deserve you,” he swore between his teeth.
“Frost,” Noah warned, coming back into the room.
“He doesn’t.” Frost glowered at Noah before turning back to Seth. He lifted a hand and gently pushed the soft, dark curls from Seth’s forehead. Seth closed his eyes and leaned into his touch.
“Here,” Noah encouraged quietly, holding out an ice pack.
He snatched the pack, ignoring the strange look Noah shot him. Carefully, he lifted Seth’s chin and placed the ice gently over his eye.
“Thanks.” Seth hissed, and after a moment, reached up to hold the pack in place.
“Care to tell me what happened?” He dropped his hand away and rubbed his palm on his jeans. Seth looked away and Frost took that moment to ease onto the bed. Their legs bumped when the mattress dipped and slid them together. Seth’s shoulders hitched.
Frost slowly squeezed his hands into fists and then released them. Fucking keep it together! He had to check his need to dominate and control situations. A clear head might prevent him from killing Seth’s boyfriend. He fucking doubted it, but that was what he was telling himself at the moment.
“He walked out,” Seth admitted, darting one green eye in his direction. “No warning. He just packed up everything and left.”
“And then took a swing at you.” He clenched his teeth. It looked like he wouldn’t need to call Dennis a worthless asshole. Seth had surely figured that out by now.
“He took all of our stuff, even the bed,” Seth said in what sounded like disbelief. “He said he was seeing someone else. I was trying to make it work, ya know? I thought it was my fault that he was so angry all the time. And he was cheating on me for six months. With someone else. And before that? Well, I don’t know before that. I need to get tested,” Seth finished with a mumble.
That right there was a game changer. The dick had put Seth’s life at risk. It wouldn’t matter how much distance the fucker put between them or how far he ran, there was nowhere to hide.
“I hit him,” Seth confessed. “I need to get tested,” he whispered again. “I have to make a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.” Seth twisted the blanket between his fingers.
“There’s time for all that,” Frost said gruffly, cutting through the younger man’s rambling stammer.
“I just don’t understand why he didn’t say he wanted out. I would have let him go, ya know? I wouldn’t have held onto someone who didn’t want me. I’m not like that.” Seth wiped at his nose with his free hand.
“I know,” he soothed. Fucking hell! The guy looked so despondent, he drew Seth into his arms. Feeling the shudder against his chest, he smoothed a gentle hand down Seth’s back. “Do you have anything back at the apartment you need to get?” he asked in a lowered voice.
“No, I only had my clothes and shoes and personal things. Noah helped me load it in Mac’s SUV. I’m not going back there. Noah said I could stay here until I find somewhere else to live.”
“Good idea,” he agreed, easing back a bit. “Is your lease up?”
“It has been for about four months. We’re month to month, so thankfully, I don’t have to worry about that. Not that Mr. Henderson would do that though, he’s our …er the landlord. He owns the place. He’d probably let me make payments.” Seth stopped speaking abruptly as if he’d realized he was rambling again. Frost smirked. He could only see the side of Seth’s face, and the man’s neck and cheek flushed adorably. “I’m sorry, I ramble when I’m nervous.”
He held Seth at arms-length. Well, that was interesting. He wanted, no, he suddenly needed confirmation. He brushed the back of his fingers along Seth’s flushed cheek, enjoying the way the color filled beneath Seth’s skin. Seth’s long lashes blinked up at him and his lips parted. “I make you nervous?”
“That’s not nice, Frost,” Noah said, coming back into the room and effectively killing the moment. Seth slipped away from him and Frost wanted to growl, but dropped his hands away.
“I’m not a nice person,” he sneered irritably at Noah.
“Yes you are,” Seth argued, his all too seeing gaze searching his face.
He stood abruptly. Rubbing a hand at the back of his neck, he gave Seth a hard look and turned brusquely toward the door.
Frost loved flirting with men. He never hid who he was. But the way Seth was looking at him made him uncomfortable. Maybe he’d come on too strong just then. But Seth had to know it was harmless flirting. And no matter how much Seth turned that alluring gaze on him, it wasn’t going to change the fact that he didn’t do relationships. And the fact that he was thinking of Seth and relationships in the same sentence churned his gut.
“You need to rest,” Noah said, and the man urged Seth to lay back on the bed.
When Becca came through the door carrying a tray loaded with a shit ton of food and goodies, Frost seized the moment and stalked toward the door. Roscoe and Kane hovered near the doorway, probably wanting to say hello, and Frost took the opportunity to leave.
No way was he getting caught up in someone else’s drama. How the fuck had he forgotten that? He always steered clear of emotional crap. Give him jobs and missions, those were his areas of expertise. Fighting crime was what he was good at. He was out of the house in seconds, and quick strides took him toward his jeep.
The front door opened and closed a moment later, but he kept walking.
“What are you going to do?” Roscoe asked, jogging to catch up with him.
“What makes you think I’m doing anything other than leaving?” He yanked open his jeep door.
Roscoe’s hand came up and caught the door.
“I know you,” the man said flatly.
Frost stepped up into his jeep. “It’s none of my business.”
“That’s not what it looked like inside.”
“It wasn’t like that, I was just concerned for a friend, just like you all were.”
“Mmhmm, and may I point out that we didn’t say we wanted to kill the guy’s boyfriend.”
“That was just a gut reaction,” he countered, returning Roscoe’s stare.
“Right. So, what are we doing?”
He sighed when Roscoe released the jeep’s door and strode around to hop into the passenger side.
“Getting his shit back.”
Seth
He adjusted his hearing protection and nodded. Reggie hit the button and the target buzzed and ran along the railing. The target stopped at twelve feet away. He took aim and hit the outline on the paper close to the center, then pulled the trigger three more times.
With a nod, the target moved out to twenty-five feet. Even as nearsighted as he was, he hit the head on the target at twenty-five feet. Now, if he lost his glasses or his contacts fell out, it would be a whole different story.
Even through ear protection, the sound of the gun banged explosively. He remembered the first time he’d shot a gun. His uncle had taken him to the shooting range and he’d tried out a nine millimeter Glock. He’d been afraid the kickback would jerk the gun out of his hands, but his uncle had assured him that it wouldn’t.
Taking a chance, with his heart pounding, he had squeezed the trigger and his eyes shut at the same time. He’d hated it. The sound and feel of the gun jerking in his hand had been violent and brutal. His heart had pounded and his palms had sweat. It had taken awhile, but over time, he’d been able to get past the brutality of it all.
He took off his ear protection and stashed it in his case. He bought his own gear, like any experienced shooter did. Most people looking at him would probably underestimate him. Smaller than most of the men in his unit, he’d trained hard to learn to fight dirty. He still preferred his knives over a gun, but he had to keep up his practice with combat and shooting. The knife he kept tucked close to his body had been a gift from Lash. The skills he’d acquired had also come from the operative, but his expertise with a blade was nowhere near Lash’s.
“Damn, Seth, good job,” Reggie said, holding up the target. Seth smiled back at the fingers Reggie waved through the bullet holes peppering the paper.
“Not too bad, at least I hit the damned thing.”
Reginald Ackerman, nicknamed Reggie, was the unit’s computer geek technician. The guy was just a year younger than him. Reggie wore his light-brown hair buzzed close on the sides and messy on the top. Intelligent brown eyes had the girls and boys falling over the guy. The thing Seth liked about the techie was that he wasn’t conceited. The guy had come to Phoenix a few years ago to help with the computer technical side of their work and had very little interest in field work. Reggie didn’t mind hanging out with him, but that was the extent of it. The kid’s exposure to combat was when the guy drove the unit’s tactical SUV or provided technical support during missions. Seth figured some people liked doing that stuff, staying behind the scenes. Hell, he’d done the same at first, but after a while, he’d grown bored with staying behind and had branched out.
“And we can make his life miserable,” Reggie was saying. Seth had missed the first part.
“What, who?” He frowned, unloaded his gun, and put everything away in his case.
“Your stupid ex.” Reggie pointed at his eye. The shiner was fading after two weeks, but a yellow portion of the bruise still ran beneath his eye and along his cheek.
“Nah, he said he was sorry and I got my stuff back, so…”
Reggie rolled his eyes like he was still in high school. “So, what? He needs a beat down if you ask me.”
He snorted. “And you’re going to do it?”
Reggie flushed a bright red and shrugged.
Seth grimaced and reached to gently squeeze Reggie’s shoulder. “I don’t want to keep reliving it. It’s over. I’m moving on. I got tested,” he admitted to his friend.
“And?”
“It’s negative, so at least I don’t have that to worry about.”
“Still, he put you and the guys he was cheating with at risk. Someone like that should at the very least get the snot knocked out of them. Even if it’s not me,” Reggie said, pushing open the door.
“Maybe.” Seth stopped at the elevator that would take them upstairs. “If he keeps on the way he is, though, karma will get him.”
“True,” Reggie acknowledged. “You want to get a drink at that new bar tonight?” Reggie rattled off the name of a new night club that had opened over the weekend.
“Nah, Noah and I are heading out later.”
“Oh? Need a techie?”
“Yeah, but if you’re going to be partying…” Seth chewed on his lip to keep a smile hidden.
“Oh, hell no! Nope, no partying for me. Count me in. Where’re we going?” The questions came firing off, the techie’s thick eyebrows scrunched together.
Seth chuckled, then sobered. “We might have found one of Yakov’s locations.”