"Uh..." Would E want her brother to know they were sleeping together?

Damn, it wasn't like there were many secrets between the close-knit group of friends.

Still, he'd rather it be her choice.

Lucas looked over his shoulder to find her stretching languorously before blinking up at him. When she saw him watching her, she smiled. He covered the mouthpiece of the phone then asked, "You want to talk to Ryan quick?"

"Can I?" She sat up pretty fast, not seeming to mind her breasts being on display for him, despite his seeming inability to look away from the perfect spheres and the faint marks he'd left on her porcelain skin with his scruff the night before.

He'd have to be more careful with her from now on. Or not, since the sight of his possession did some crazy things to his insides. Good things.

Lucas lifted the phone back to his ear. "Put him on, Ty. She's here."

"Way to go, buddy," Tyler cheered.

"Er, thanks."

"What's that all about?" Ryan asked in the background.

Deciding it was time for him to get out of the mix, Lucas tossed the phone to Ellie, who snapped it up then scooted closer to him. She rested her cheek on his shoulder and released a contented sigh when he began to draw idle patterns on her back.

He couldn't get enough of touching her.

Tasting her.

Soon enough, fucking her.

Ellie angled the phone away from her mouth to steal a quick kiss. He couldn't help but deepen it, wishing he had been able to rouse her in an entirely different way. They might have gotten a little carried away.

Next thing Lucas knew, Ryan's voice was shouting through the speaker, "Ellie? Ellie, are you there? Are you okay? Sis!"

Snapping back to what she'd been doing, she grinned then turned her attention to her brother, damn the man. "Hey, Ry. I'm here. Just half-awake." As if on cue, she yawned.

Her brother's response was muted this time.

"Yeah, I slept through the whole night. Well, actually part of yesterday too." She sounded proud of herself.

Lucas allowed himself to share in that. He knew he'd pleased her beyond her wildest dreams. Her surprise when he'd finally sated her had bruised his heart.

All this time, he could have been granting her relief. If he hadn't been so scared of rejection or caught up in his own image issues, they'd have been a couple a long time ago. What a waste.

He didn't plan to make that mistake again.

If she was willing, he was going to have her. As much of her as she could give.

The siblings chatted for a while, mostly Ellie reassuring her brother that she was okay and that Lucas was taking good care of her.

"I love you too, Ryan. You want to talk to him?" she asked.

Lucas waved his hands in front of his chest. A lecture from her brother wasn't really in his lineup for the day. Shit, she was extending the phone to him anyway.

"Hey, Ryan." He was a grown man. A soldier. He could deal with a single cross-examination from his girlfriend's brother. If that's even what Ellie was. Probably-he should check that out with her. Though he hoped it was true, from the way she was staring at him with a soft, silly smile curving her naturally rouged lips.

"Lucas." The other guy didn't sound quite as jovial as usual, or as...meek. "Watch out for her, will you?"

"Of course." That was easy enough.

"And don't mess around with her feelings. Those bastards fucked with her body. They took everything she had in that respect, but if you break her heart-secret agent or not-I will figure out how to hurt you."

Had to respect a man who looked out for his family. Lucas wouldn't have done any less.

"Understood."

He tried to give Ellie as little as possible to go on from his side of the conversation, but her narrowed eyes said she knew the score. Not only that, she seemed pissed that her brother would interfere. Probably because she felt she could take care of herself.

Lucas knew she could.

But it never hurt to have allies. Hopefully, her brother would be one of his.

"Okay, good." Ryan seemed surprised that he'd gotten Lucas's agreement. Naturally submissive, Ryan didn't often take such a direct stance. "Well, then...you want to talk to some of the guys? They've got some stuff to run by you. I'm heading into the other room with the rest of the bystanders to let them do their official police stuff or my head will explode."

"Yeah, sure. Put them on." Lucas smiled at Ellie and she returned his grin with enough wattage to make the sun envious.

"Can you do speakerphone with that thing?" she wondered. "I'd like to hear what's going on too. Save you from repeating it later."

He nodded then hit the button, laying the phone on the rumpled covers in front of them.

Maybe when they'd finished this briefing, because that's certainly what it was, they could renegotiate the boundaries of their sexual arrangement. After yesterday, he thought she might have changed her mind about what she wanted to experience.

God knew he would bury himself inside her immediately if she was ready.

"Huh?" He started when Ellie nudged his knee with hers.

Her hands wandered to his leg and started the massaging she was so damn good at. He never should have told her that he was supposed to do it periodically throughout the day. Though it seemed less weird every time she did it.

Which was probably her intent. Damn her for being so smart. So perfect for him.

"Sorry, I'm here."

Lucas scrubbed his hand over his face. He had to get in the game. Where Ellie's safety was concerned, he couldn't fuck around. As tempting as it was to think of the past two days as a vacation from reality, the truth was that she was on the run.

He'd better get his shit together fast. Because if something happened to her on his watch, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

"Okay, so. Here's what we were able to dig up." Mason kicked off the meeting, putting his side on speaker too. "JRad found some online chatter that makes it sound like there could be a heist going down. But the scale seemed off."

"You mean because I won fifty thousand but they gave me two hundred, right?" she clarified.

"Oh, hey, Ellie," Mason said. "No, the other way around."

"Fuck," Lucas groaned.

Ellie bit her lip and glanced up at him. Though she didn't ask for details, he explained anyway, "E, he means that the job is a lot bigger than what you scored."

"Yep," Razor chimed in from the Men in Blue's side of things. They were probably gathered at one of the guys' houses. Their ladies too. "The cash you smuggled out for them-"

"Don't say it like I did it on purpose." She frowned. "I would never do something like that. Just because you're a cop doesn't mean you can talk to me like that."

"Ow!" Razor must have gotten slapped upside the head by one of the older guys. A common occurrence for the recent rookie. "Sorry, Ellie. I was just joking."

"Not funny," Lucas growled. Mason backed him up from the other end of the line.

"Anyway." Matt-one of Jambrea's men-got them refocused. "The cash you have seems like it was a test. For a bigger operation. Kind of like they were trying to show that whoever is looking to join in with the head honchos running the heist has the skills to get the job done."

"This is bad." Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why?" Ellie tipped her head.

"Because they're not going to let it go," Mason answered. "They can't afford to. It's not only about the cash. It's their reputation, which surprisingly means a lot to a criminal."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ellie threw up her hands.

Lucas thought she looked adorable, and it kind of turned him on when she cursed. The combination of her classy looks and trashy mouth did it for him. Besides, the motion did awesome things to her boobs.

But he was more concerned than ever now. "Do you know who they were targeting with their show?"

There were only a few organizations in this region that could pull off something like that. Unfortunately, they were also the best at evading the cops. They had plenty of experience. It was possible Lucas could use some of his government resources for additional support if it was someone who operated across state lines.

"Not exactly." Clint-Jambrea's other guy-spoke slowly enough to make Lucas wary.

"What's that mean?"

"We don't know who it is," JRad admitted. "We believe the local goons who tried to step up had instructions for a drop. If they made it there, they would have been considered for the real job."

Lucas felt something icy and sick go through his guts. "No. Fuck no!"

"It might be the only way to shut it down," Tyler said.

"You're talking in code again." Ellie chewed on one of her nails, which didn't have much to lose before she'd start bleeding.

"I'm pretty sure these assholes were going to be crazy enough to suggest that you and I take this pile of money to some badass motherfuckers and do some snooping around for them." Lucas clung to Ellie as if he could protect her from the entire world with his arms alone.

"It's one plan," Razor confirmed.

"A shitty one." Lucas wouldn't do it. No way would he put Ellie in danger. "Think of something else."

"Wait," Ellie interjected.

"E, no." Lucas tried to shush her with his fingers over her plump lips, but she nipped his hand. "Ow!"

Someone on the other end of the line chuckled.

"What good would it do for Lucas and me to hand over this money?" she asked.

Lucas closed his eyes, already knowing where they were headed.

"If we can set them up and bust the main heist, we could take down a lot of high-level guys operating in this part of the country," JRad explained. "It would be a huge win."

"How can we not do it if we have the opportunity to make a difference in the world?" Ellie spoke exclusively to Lucas. She stared into his eyes. "You built your whole career doing exactly this. Why would you ask me to be any less honorable than you have been?"

"It was my job. You didn't sign on for this." He took her hand in his and squeezed gently. "You're also not trained. Shit happens."

He lifted his leg as if it weren't obvious, laying directly between them. "Even for trained professionals, stuff can go bad quick. I'd never let you do this."

And that was the worst possible thing he could have said. Even Razor made an audible grunt from the other side of the line before mumbling something that sounded like "you blew it, dude".

"What I do with my life is not your decision to make, Lucas." Ellie dared him to tell her otherwise.

Even he wasn't that stupid. He could try it, and they'd be over before they'd really even got started.

"Look, I spent too long at the hands of evil people to turn a blind eye when I could do something to stop these guys. This isn't the only horrible thing they're going to do in their lives. I could be keeping someone else down the road from going through something like I did."

He wished she were wrong, but she wasn't.

"If I can help, I want to do it," she told him, and the Men in Blue heard.

"Thank you, Ellie," Mason said.

"So where's the handoff?" Lucas asked. If he was prepared enough, he could skew the odds far in their favor. He had equipment. He had friends. He had knowledge and experience. He hated that there was any risk at all, but he could minimize it.

"Well, that's the part we need some help with." JRad picked up the thread of conversation.

It reminded Lucas of his old team, the way they thought so much the same, like they were using a single hive mind. He figured most guys who spent so much time together, a lot of it with their lives entrusted to their partners, ended up the same way.

It made him miss his team. He'd distanced himself from them when he couldn't bear to see the pity and anguish in their stares anymore. But maybe it was time he started reconnecting, showing them that there was more to life than their war games.

Attuned to him already, Ellie noticed the change in his bearing and snuggled closer.

He hugged her tight. Maybe she could be his new partner in life.

"It seems like there's someone working this from inside the casino," Tyler said. "It's the only thing that makes sense. No one miscounts that kind of dough. So we think it was a test. They were only going to get the coordinates if they were able to snag the money."

"It's in the bag." Lucas groaned, then stared across the room to where it lay on top of his dresser.

If Ellie weren't next to him, he'd hustle over there to snag it in some combination of his hop-crawl-scramble method of getting around. He wasn't quite ready to put on that show for her, though, and his leg would take a minute to don.

"Dig around, we'll wait," Mason instructed.

Without him asking, Ellie crawled off the bed-flashing her perfect ass at him in the process-then retrieved the sack.