When He's Dirty (Walker Security Adrian’s Trilogy #1) - Lisa Renee Jones Page 0,2
over them. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. They’re family men now, and once a Walker becomes a family man, he backs out of the more dangerous jobs. They’ve had their big paydays. They’ve done their time. They stay home and safe. They keep their wives safe.
I’m putting them in danger just being here.
I can’t be here, not until this is over. Maybe not ever again.
Pushing to my feet, I head for the door and I don’t look back. Exiting the apartment, I wait until I’m in the elevator and punch in a text to Raf, my younger brother by six years, and the only family I have left: I’m hot right now. That means you are, too. Keep your security tight. I’ll call you later.
Thank fuck being an international pop star means he has security, and as a bonus, he’s not on tour right now. He replies instantly: Stay alive, damn it.
I’ve prepared him for this. He knows what’s going on. He knows a lot of things I wish he didn’t have to know.
The elevator dings and I waste no time exiting the building, stepping outside and cutting right, only to hear, “Adrian.”
I stop dead at Blake Walker’s voice, cursing under my breath. Blake is one of the three Walker brothers, the youngest, and the one who brought me into Walker. A world-class hacker, perhaps the best in the world, I suspect he knows more about me than even Adam, who introduced us. I rotate to find him leaning on the wall, booted feet crossed, his long dark hair now shoulder-length, and wild from the wicked wind that blew in an hour ago, with the promise of a hurricane. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” he demands, pushing off the wall.
“You know,” I say, because of course, he knows.
“I do know,” he says. “And I also know your ass should be hunting me down to help. But you weren’t, were you?”
“The farther I am from the team, the safer they are.”
He laughs. “Come on, man. We’re the guys who stand when everyone else falls. You know that. You’re one of us.”
“He’ll come after the people I care about. He’ll come after you and your wife.”
“You know my wife,” he says. “She’d love the chance to be the one to castrate him.” He narrows his intelligent eyes on me. Blake sees too much. All the fucking time. “He wants you to come to him. He’s waiting for you.”
“I know,” I say. “And I’m sure as fuck not going to disappoint him. I’m not waiting for someone else to die. Anyone and everyone linked to this case are in danger.”
“Agreed. We need to save them and get you on the stand, testifying against this dickhead.” The doors to the building open and Lucifer and Adam step outside and fuck me, they each take a spot on either side of me. “This is your team.” Blake hands me a leather bag from over his shoulder. “And this is a rundown of everyone attached to the case. I started hacking the minute the first body dropped.”
I don’t reach for the bag. I’m blown away by Blake staying this in tune with the case, but then, I am a danger to the team. He knew there was a risk.
“Do you know the irony of sending me to take down the King Devil with Adam and Lucifer?”
He grins. “Fuck yeah, I do. And I love it. Flights are grounded. I got you clearance. Lucifer is flying you out, off the radar, and he’ll be with you to get you out fast if needed. Adam is a master of disguises. You need him on this one.”
“You’re going to get them killed.”
“I’m going to keep your stubborn ass alive,” he counters. “You three are going to keep everyone else alive. Smith and Wes are going to keep your brother alive. They’re already at the airport. Make sure Raf knows they’re coming.”
“You sent Smith and Wes to protect my brother?”
“Fuck yes,” Blake says. “He might have good security, but he didn’t have us. Now, he does.”
He’s right. Raf needs protection and Walker is ten levels above anyone else. And I’m now torn in two directions. I don’t want to take Walker down with me, but they’re not going to let me go at this alone. But I also can’t walk away from this. Not after the two years I spent with the King Devil, as Waters called himself, sinning right alongside him. “I should have killed him.”