Sauntering into Dragonfly had been a breeze. Their little group had sailed past security with the fake Donovan leading the group. The vice president didn’t even realize they were coming until they stepped through the door. The look on her face was worth every ounce of trouble it took to get there.

Her hand reached out to her phone but Darkness was on her before she could reach it. Jerking her by the hair of her head, he stood her up and Margaret gave the woman a pat down. Finding nothing, Darkness eased her down into an arm chair.

“Why are you here?”

Dark kneeled down in front of the woman.”

“I want to know about your conversation this morning with Donovan.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Without preamble, Dark backhanded her across the face. Margaret could tell he’d pulled his punch with the woman.

Cupping the side of her wrinkled face with her hand she stammered indignantly, “Don’t you have any sense of decency?”

“Look, you need to know something about me. Your boss shot one of my men in the stomach, took two women hostage and tried to beat information out of one of them. You’ve been holding my favorite gal here against her will and making her shot people in the head for months now. If you think I’m going to show you an ounce of mercy because you’re a woman, think again.”

The woman stared at him with her mouth hanging open.

Dark continued, “Do you think you’re better than either of them, just because you have a fancy office? Trust me, you ain’t any better than anyone else. The only real difference is that you’re part of a skeevy multinational organization that kills people for a living. You’re going to tell me what I want to know, or so help me, I’ll gut you in this very room.”

The woman snapped to attention. “He’s going after that mafia guy, the young one. He thinks if he kills the son, the father will lose his will to fight. He’s convinced that if he kills the father, it would just motivate the son to take his place and turn the whole mafia on us. Jeff’s really smart that way.”

“Actually, Jeff’s a bit of an idiot. I want access to everything you’ve got on Dragonfly.”

“No.”

“I don’t accept no for an answer.”

“That’s all you're getting from me. I won’t betray Jeff that way. He’s been good to me.”

“Sweetheart, the part you’re not getting is that nothing about this situation has anything to do with you. It’s all about my Ms. Margaret, Ms. Elsie and a war between Dragonfly and the damned mafia. You’re knee-deep in the shit that’s being on around here. Neither your pretty face nor your fancy job title will keep me from cutting the damn information out of you.”

When she didn’t respond, he stepped back. “You’re a stubborn woman. Darkness, want to have a go at her?”

Stepping forward, the big man pulled out a roll of duct tape from his jacket pocket.

“Wha...what are you doing?”

“I’m really pissed with you and I’m going to cut on you. This is to keep down on the noise since we’re in an office building.”

Margaret pulled out her burner phone. “I can fix that. I’ll just have Donovan call everyone down to the first floor and tell him to give them a little pep talk.”

“You brought that charlatan. No one will believe he’s Donovan.”

Stepping forward as he pulled a long strip of tape out, Darkness informed her of one simple fact. “They already do, bitch. Now are talking or am I practicing my knife skills?”

Clamping her mouth closed, she closed her eyes.

Wrapping the tape around her entire head, Darkness stepped back to see her struggling in the seat. Margaret grabbed a pen off the desk and punched two holes in the tape for her to breathe.

Darkness shrugged, clearly not concerned at all about freaking the woman out.

Dark jerked his chin for his son to get on with it.

“Here’s how this is going to go. Since you can’t talk, you tap the chair arm twice when you’ve had enough. Meanwhile, I’m just gonna keep cutting until you tap out. Are we clear?”

The woman immediately began to tap the chair arm twice over and over.

“Dammit, do I have to let her go, old man?”

Winking at Darkness from behind her, he said somberly, “You know the rules, son. No cutting on women for fun. If she’s trying to stall for time or play games, you can double cut her though. I think that’s only fair.”

“Freakin’ great. That will have to do, I suppose.” Using his knife, he cut the tape away from her face. “Talk and don’t piss me off.”

Taking a big gulp of breath, she mumbled, “Aron927 is the password to my computer. It’ll get you everything. I don’t want any trouble. Just do what you gotta do and leave me out of it.”

Dark jerked his chin for Margaret to check out her password, before turning his attention back to the frightened woman. “You voluntarily got yourself into this situation, so don’t think for a damn minute we’re letting you out of anything. Sorry about being harsh with you, but you gotta understand that this situation has gone way too far for you put it right again.”

Margaret spoke up, “He had his corporate jet fueled this morning. He left already for the States. We need to get humping if we’re gonna catch up with him.”

Glancing down at the woman with tape still wrapped around the back of her head, he sighed, “Get yourself together. You’re coming with us. You’re still employed by Dragonfly and for now, that’s us.”

Nodding, she didn’t even try to argue. Her trembling hand came up to begin removing the tape and righting her clothing.

By and large, Dark didn’t like mishandling women, but this one was a special case. She’d been shamelessly helping Donovan hurt Margaret and that was something that stuck in his craw. His son was good at scaring people, and this woman had been an easy mark. She needed to work to undo her own wrongs. If she couldn’t manage that without double-crossing them, Dark had no problem giving her a dirt nap. The world was better off without her ilk anyway.

They passed by Jasper, doing his best Donovan impression. Whatever he was telling them, they were eating it up. Giving Little John a swift jerk of his chin, they headed to the landing strip.

Approaching the plane, Darkness picked up his pace and ran ahead. When Dark arrived with the two women, he saw his son hanging onto one of the wings flirting with Elsie.

Elsie lit up when she saw Margaret. “Samuel’s here. I told them to get on board. He’s got a cute wife and a little girl. I hope you were serious about protecting them.”

Dark shot her a quick glance. “I’d never lie about shit like that. I’m always serious by the way.”

Rolling her eyes Margaret quipped, “That’s mostly true but not a hundred percent.”

Swiveling his head to look at her, he stated brazenly, “At least, I’m not handing out IOU’s to snipe someone as party prizes or anything.”

Strolling past him, Margaret commented casually, “No, but you definitely thought it was funny at the time.”

Elsie frowned, “It doesn’t sound very funny, mate. It sounds crazy.”

Climbing onto the plane, Margaret clarified, “It was more of a joke. You kind of had to be there.”

Since about half of his crew was asked to stay behind to help manage Dragonfly operations, there were only about a half dozen men on the plane. He immediately went to Dawg. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m doing okay, Prez. Doc is going to meet us at the airfield when we land and take me to the clubhouse to recuperate.”

“If there are any problems, you’re going to the clinic.”

“There ain’t gonna be any problems. I’m gonna hole up at the clubhouse until I’m healed and then Eagle Eye is gonna teach me to snipe.”

Margaret kneeled down to talk to him, “You bet I am. We’re gonna be partners.”

“Damn straight, and I ain’t gonna be dancing naked for you ever again, ‘cause that ain’t quite manly.”

Elsie teased as she began to shut the door, “Wow, some girls get all the luck.”

“You want a man to dance naked for you? I got it covered,” Darkness interjected.

Shooting Darkness an evil look, she responded primly, “I want your ass in a seat and a three-point safety harness buckled over your sexy bits. That’s what I want.”

“You sure you can fly this thing, baby?”

“Don’t start, you sexy bastard. That shit is what got you on my bad side right out of the gate.”

Within fifteen minutes, they were in the air. Dark sat staring straight ahead, mulling the situation over in his mind.

Margaret’s hand landed on his. “You look like you could use a good night’s sleep, baby.”

Looking down at her, he couldn’t help but smile. “I’d rather have you under me, Eagle Eye. Once Donovan takes his dirt nap, I’m going spend about a month in bed with you.”

“In your top secret underground lair?”

“You like our little supply depot, don’t you, sweetness?”

Cupping the side of his face, she murmured, “I like having you out of danger a lot more.”

Taking her hand in his, he sighed. “That ain’t ever gonna happen. There’s always going to be danger. We’re just gonna to roll from dangerous situation to another together.”

Leaning over she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. “There ain’t no two better people than us to live a life like that.”

“Don’t be stupid. She’s using you to get her freedom. Once Donovan’s out of the way, she’ll hit the road.”

Margaret’s head jerked around to their female prisoner, Eleanor. “Where did you suddenly get balls of solid brass? Weren’t you all ‘shut the fuck up and cooperate’ just a minute or two ago?”

“It’s obvious that you’re stringing the older gentleman along to get what you want. I just thought he might want to stop and think about what he’s doing for just a minute. He’s risking his life and his son’s life thinking that you like older men and we both know the truth.”

“What truth might that be?”

“That younger women don’t date men with greying hair, without an ulterior motive.”

“Well, his son is present or I’d be telling you exactly what I like about Dark.”

Darkness spoke up, “Hey, I’ve got an idea. How about you shut your damn pie hole, ‘cause ain’t nobody here interested in the meaningless garbage coming out of your mouth.”

Dawg threw in his two cents’ worth, “Dark’s a grown ass man. He knows how deceitful a woman can be. But go ahead and keep trying to manipulate him with your little ‘I know all about what women really want’ routine. It’s transparent as hell, but on the up side, you’re proving your own point. Broads by and large ain’t to be trusted. Eagle Eye is the exception to that rule.”

“Tell yourselves whatever you want, but I’m right about her.”

Dark finally spoke up, “Shut your mouth or you get the gag. You no longer have the privilege of saying whatever pops into that head of yours.” Turning to Margaret, he lifted the arm rest between them and pulled her close to his chest.

“There’s my big sexy guy,” Margaret’s voice was a soft purr.

Pressing his forehead to hers, he closed his eyes for a brief moment and just enjoyed being close to her.

The hag was wrong about his Margaret. He could tell by the way she looked at him and touched him that her heart belonged to him. The cold hard fact of the matter was if she wanted to leave him with this was all over, he’d be grateful for the time he’d spent with her. She was young and beautiful. Hell, tying her to him was a shitty thing to do when he really thought about it.

“Don’t.”

“What?”

“Let her get to you.”

“I’m not weak. It would take more than a bitch to break me,” Dark replied.

“Are you referring to her or me?”

“Her.”

“You and I need some alone time.”

“If and when we get the chance, alone time with you would be real nice. I’m a big boy though. I know how to delay my gratification until the job is done.”

“Well, I don’t. I need you,” she replied saucily.

Unbuckling his safety harness, he watched her do the same. Heading to the tiny restroom, he pulled her along with one hand. Flipping the lid down on the squeaky clean toilet, he sat down and pulled his love mate into his lap face first. “I had to get away from that bitch’s prying eyes.”

Margaret cupped his face, kissing him gently. “Some women really know where to stick their claws. I’m sorry she used me to hurt you. She hates that we called her out on her association with Dragonfly’s dark deeds and she’s trying to take it out on you.”

Dark shook his head slightly as he pulled her closer. “Folks like her always play people off against each other. It’s how they get power. If I had my way, no one would ever talk about what we have together.”

“They can all talk themselves stupid. What we have is never going to change. You know that, right?”

“Everything always changes, Eagle Eye.”

“It doesn’t have to. I won’t let it.”

“You ought to know that sometimes change can come fast and hard and other times, change is so slow we don’t even see it happening until it’s too late. Change is the one constant of the universe. We can’t escape it, just shelter ourselves from the damage it causes in our lives.”

“Your wheels are always turning aren’t they, big guy? Sometimes, I think you’re too intelligent for your own good. Times like this, your greatest asset turns into your biggest stumbling block.”

Knowing what she said was true, he kissed her instead of admitting that he tended to worry too much over nothing. His propensity toward over analyzing every detail of his life had proven beneficial in terms of keeping his club safe and outsmarting his enemies, but it somehow made thing more difficult when it came to his feelings for Ms. Margaret.

Shoving away all his self-doubts, he concentrated on the moment. Her lips were warm and eager for his touch. The feeling of her tongue flicking against his, gently sucking as her fingers sifted through his hair took the edge off for him.

“Please, baby. I need you,” Margaret beseeched him.

Pride surged through his chest every single time she asked for his rod. This time was no different. Refusing to tarnish what they shared by talking about the mile-high club and stupid shit like that, he promptly began pulling her clothing off.

She eagerly pulled his jacket open and unbuttoned his shirt. “God, I love your chest.”

He responded reverently, “Is that so? I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“But that’s not all you were thinking, was it?”

“No. I was also thinking about how hard it was to let you walk into danger back at the bunker. It nearly killed me.”

“I’ve been thinking about that as well. I don’t want you feeling worried and agitated all the time, so I was thinking that I might be okay with you keeping me out of harm’s way some of the time. I’d be happy to just hang back and cover your six.”

Grabbing her by the back of the neck, he kissed her passionately. “I love you for that.”

“I love you full stop.”

“The last I heard you were falling in love with me. When did it change?”

Running her palm over the side of his face she murmured, “I wish I knew. All I know is that I want a chance with you when all this is over. Please tell me you aren’t going to push me away.”

“You’re fuckin’ perfect and I’m selfish bastard, so you know I’m gonna keep you if I can.”

Before he could figure out how she was going to take that news, she kissed him. It was hard and sexy and sweet and born of all the unique qualities that made up the woman he loved. As she drew back he whispered, “I love you too, sweetness.”

Opening his pants, she stroked his rod. He was half-mast and not coming up for her. Shoving her hands away, he jerked his head slightly to the side. “Sorry, sweetness, that’s never happened before.”

Before she could make too much of it, his mouth found hers and he used his fingers on her. Knowing just what to do to make her come hard, he did so as he worried about why he was not in top form. When she was a sweaty compliant mess in his lap, he drew her to down to rest on his chest.

“That happens sometimes, baby. Don’t get weird about it,” she reassured him.

“It doesn’t happen to me. I’ve always been the type of guy who could fuck my way through a funeral. Nothing gets in the way of me getting hard.”

Looking up at him, she sighed, “Maybe it’s me.”

“It ain’t you, sweetness. Don’t ever think that.”

“We shouldn’t be talking about it. You’ve been up for days, living on coffee and smokes. It’s the stress of our situation.”

“I’m sure it is,” Dark agreed.

Reaching her hand down into her pocket, Dark heard the crackling sound of a plastic wrapper being unfurled. He opened his mouth when she pressed a caramel to his lips. You’re a goddamn good woman, Eagle Eye.”

Giggling, she curled against his chest again.

Deep down inside he knew it wasn’t the stress of the situation. It was what the shrill bitch had said about them. Her words had struck at his manhood in a very real way, making him realize how incredibly selfish it was to try to hang onto someone so young and beautiful. Hell, ten years from now he’d be in a nursing home and where would that leave her?

Running her soft finger in a circle over a spot on his chest, she whispered, “I’m feeling the stress too, baby. If and when we make it out of this, I’m going to enjoy that month in bed with you. I don’t care if we make love or diddle ourselves stupid. As long as we’re together and alone, that’s all I care about.”

Wrapping her even tighter in his arms, he tucked her under his chin. He’d have to let her go. But until then, he was going to enjoy every single moment he could with her. Feeling a throbbing pain in his temple, he didn’t understand why he kept going back and forth about it in his mind. He was very conflicted and as always overthinking the situation with Ms. Margaret.