I scrubbed my hands down my face and glanced at the clock for at least the fifth time in the last hour. The day seemed to be dragging, and I hadn’t even made it to the afternoon yet. Mondays always sucked. After two blissful days at home, which wasn’t usually the case on a weekend, the last place I wanted to be was at work.

After a weekend filled with more sex than I’d had in years, every muscle in my body ached. It was worth every ounce of pain to fuck my wife like we did before we had the kids, the complete cockblockers that they usually were. I loved my children, don’t get me wrong. They were the light of my life and all that shit that Hallmark puts on the greeting cards. But damn it if they didn’t ruin more orgasms than I have fingers. I swear the little bastards—I use that term in the nicest way—came programmed with a “my parents are fucking, so I need to go interrupt” gene. Someday, they’d realize the agony they put me through when they had their own wives—and children cockblocking them.

Thomas made a grand appearance, showing up at the office two hours late and looking just as shitty as I felt. “We didn’t get to talk about it yesterday, but how did the talk with Izzy go?”

I couldn’t be completely honest with him. I wasn’t stupid. Being married to his sister did complicate things at times. The man would probably have my balls in a vise if he knew half the shit I pulled with her.

He knew about our kink because he knew that side of my life before I ever claimed his sister as my own, but it wasn’t something we freely discussed—and I wasn’t about to start doing it now. There were certain topics that were off-limits, and that was certainly one.

“It went really well.” I couldn’t look him in the eye as I lied through my teeth. “She’s on board.”

The ending went great, and the middle was amazing, but the start of the weekend didn’t go exactly as I’d planned. I thought Izzy would say yes to my simple request and that we’d have a kick-ass fuckfest all weekend, but she had to draw it out and dig her goddamn heels in, making it a little more difficult. Not that I minded. Sexually tormenting my wife was almost like a sport to me, and I loved every minute of it. Just thinking about the way she wiggled and pulled against the restraints while completely naked and open made me hard.

“Izzy said yes?”

I kept typing, pretending to be too engrossed in the message on my screen to look up. “Yep.”

“That’s great, man. When do you guys leave?”

When he moved on to something other than my weekend activities, I leaned back in my chair and finally looked him in the eyes. “In a few days. As soon as I can get her out the door. But you know how that goes.”

That was easier said than done. Izzy could easily be mistaken for a Kardashian with the amount of luggage she brought even for a weekend getaway. The woman was ready for everything. Heels, dresses, shorts, boots…you name it, it was in her suitcase. It was more like a minimum of three suitcases that were bursting at the seams with so much shit that she couldn’t possibly wear it all in a month even if she tried. And trust me, she has tried just to prove her point, but she’s failed.

“It’s hell on earth,” he groaned. “Does she know why you’re going to Miami?”

“She knows were going for a case, but doesn’t know all the details yet..”

“That’s probably for the best.” He rubbed the stubble on his chin and narrowed his gaze. “But you’re going to have to tell her at some point.”

I nodded in agreement, and my stomach turned at the thought of doing it with anyone else. We’d taken on a new case a month ago and had tracked down a lead which led us to Miami. I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone and visit my parents while checking out the validity of the tip we had received at the same time.

But I had to convince Izzy to go with me. While she loved spending time with my parents, she hated Miami. I think it’s because of the slick-tongued Latinas that lived near my parents. She didn’t like to vie for hard-ass of the year with other females. Where we lived, no one rivaled Izzy.

“I know, Thomas. I’ll tell her before we get there.”

“I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea, but it’s necessary that she get involved. She wouldn’t want you to do this case with anyone else.”

I would’ve left her home if I could, but the case required me to go to a BDSM club that was located only a few miles from my parents’ house. I could’ve walked in there alone, but that would’ve opened me up to a slew of questions I didn’t want to answer. Having my wife and submissive by my side made everything easier because I wouldn’t be able to pull it off without someone I completely trusted.

“Angel okay with the kids staying over?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

I was sure Thomas had his ways of getting what he wanted out of his wife just like I did, but I didn’t want to know the gory details.

“She’s fine, and Nick’s excited to have some company.”

We’d taken Nick, Thomas and Angel’s only kid, on plenty of weekends so they could get away and have some “private time.” The poor kid never stopped smiling when he was around his cousins, and I always thought Thomas would have another so his kid wouldn’t have to be alone.

“I can’t thank you enough. I know your parents would take them again, but I think they’ll have more fun playing with Nick and hanging with their favorite uncle.”

“Don’t butter me up. I’m taking the kids no matter what, so there’s no need to lie to my face.”

What I said was true. The kids loved every one of their uncles, but Thomas was their hands-down favorite. Maybe it was because he was a lot like me, and he and I had a special connection since we went through DEA training together and were thick as thieves.

Bear walked past the door and then backed up, glancing between Thomas and me. “Everything okay?”

“James is heading to Miami to follow that lead this weekend.” Thomas turned, craning his neck to glance at Bear. “I’m going to need you to step up to second-in-command.”

“I’ll be whatever you need.” Bear glided into the room, his chest a little more puffed out than usual, probably feeling pretty damn pleased about being asked to help take charge in my absence. “You sure you don’t want me to handle the case instead?”

Thomas shook his head and laughed. “We’re sure, man. Aunt Fran would fuckin’ kill us.”

Fran and Bear were a perfectly odd couple, if that made any sense. I never would’ve expected them to fall madly in love and become inseparable, but it happened. It shocked all of us, especially Morgan, Fran’s son, but I’d never seen the old bastard happier.

“She’s a cream puff,” Bear replied with a straight face. “I can handle her.”

“You’ll be handling your balls for a really long time if you mess with that woman,” I told him because Fran made Izzy look like a kitten.

“Right.” Bear laughed. “I’ll help Thomas hold down the fort while you’re gone. Morgan may be pissed, but…”

“He’ll get over it,” I told him. “He’s too busy working the case with Sam right now to handle day-to-day operations for me. You’ll be done with your current case this week, right?”

“I’m meeting with the client tomorrow, and then I’m free as a bird.”

Bear had become an invaluable member of our team. When Joe mentioned that we should hire him, I’d thought he had gone completely off his rocker. Bear didn’t have the cleanest background even though he’d been a family friend for many years. Now, I couldn’t imagine him not being part of the ALFA crew. He always had our backs, no matter what crazy shit we found ourselves wrapped up in, and he typically saved the day because he didn’t give a shit if he died as long as the rest of us got out safe.

“We’ll meet later and go over the caseload and catch you up on everything,” Thomas told him while I went back to checking my email.

“I’m your man,” Bear said. “I’m going to go fuck around in my office for a bit before the afternoon meeting.”

“Glad you keep yourself busy,” I mumbled behind the screen.

“I’ll pretend to check my email just like you,” he shot back as he walked toward the doorway.

That was a lie. I never watched porn at work. Who needed porn when I had the real thing, my biggest fantasy, at home waiting for me?

“Fuck off.” I waved my hand to the hallway, essentially dismissing him. “You sure you want him in charge?” I asked Thomas.

“He’ll be fine.”

“I picked him to take my place. Fucker better be. Now, let’s talk about the case and how we’re going to get this motherfucker.”

We’d been brought in on a case where the FBI had hit a dead end. While they had to follow the law, we could skirt the edge and sometimes dip a toe over without many repercussions.

Since Thomas and I had both worked at the DEA and Sam had been a member of the FBI, we had contacts we often used in cases where we hit a roadblock, and they did the same when they needed a law or two broken.

They’d been tracking Matías Perez for three years and had no luck finding him before he had a chance to move on to his next destination. He was a known human trafficker, racking up more than ten thousand sales of individuals that he and his team had kidnapped all over the world in the last ten years.

Let that number sink in a bit…they’ve taken an average of one thousand people a year, at least the ones who made it to the sales floor, or three people per day. Each one, depending on condition, fetched between five thousand and ten thousand dollars each.

Ninety percent of their victims were women, often sold into sexual slavery in a country that wasn’t their own, making the possibility of escape more difficult. Many times, they were sold to dingy brothels where they would be used and abused until their bodies gave out or they succumbed to disease. Then they’d be replaced by a new victim, and the cycle would repeat. Most women ended up in Asia, where the prostitution laws were lax or the government turned a blind eye because of payoffs and corruption.

Believe it or not, human trafficking is a huge problem and way more pervasive than most people think. Somewhere around four million people are trapped in sexual exploitation worldwide, but it’s a fact that not many people like to talk about, especially politicians. It’s messy and certainly not sexy or headline-grabbing like most garbage that’s debated on cable news shows.

Matías was last spotted in Miami at the very same club I used to go to before I joined the DEA, where I learned what it meant to be a sexual dominant. My roots were there, but with Matías involved, I knew I couldn’t let my guard down, even with the people I’d trusted before.

“How far are you willing to take this?” Thomas asked.

The club in Miami—Taboo—was our starting point, but I didn’t have high hopes that it’d be the end of the case for us. He was probably on the move and his trail might have already gone cold, but I’d follow any lead I could until I either had nowhere else to go or caught the motherfucker.

“The question really is, how far do you want me to take this? Your sister is going to need to be involved on some level.”

He touched his fingertips together and placed them against his lips. His eyes roamed my face, pondering my statement. “We’ll have to play it by ear. I don’t want her involved if we can avoid it, and especially if she doesn’t want to be.”

“You know your sister doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do, and I’d never let anything happen to her.”

Thomas cocked his head, lifting an eyebrow. “Best-laid plans, my friend. Look what happened with Rebel.” He had a point.

“Yeah,” I said, but I’d kill any asshole that tried to lay a hand on my wife. I’d broken bones for lesser offenses, and I’d have no problem snuffing out any scumbag that meant her any harm.

“See what you can find out in Miami, and then we’ll decide how we want to move forward after that.”

I nodded because I couldn’t plan much further ahead than that. Not with Izzy involved in what could very well end up being a complete shitshow. I had a feeling that the next week of my life would try not only my patience, but my sanity.