VAULT: A Madison Kate Novella Read online

  “Nah, I think I’ll keep him,” she replied, shooting Archer a heated look. “He does this thing with his tongue—“

  “Stop!” Seph exclaimed. “We know. Change the damn subject.”

  My girl laughed but obliged her friend and shifted the conversation to school—seeing as Seph was trying to maintain her classes via online learning while we were out of the country.

  Despite the casual chat between the women at the table, Kody, Arch, and I stayed alert and tense, prepared for anything. It wasn’t until we’d almost finished our mouthwatering, wood-fired pizzas that MK cajoled us into relaxing a bit.

  When Kody joined them on the next round of cocktails, Archer muttered something under his breath about doing a sweep of the perimeter and stalked away from the table.

  MK watched him go, then when he disappeared from sight, she shifted her gaze to me with concern etched across her face. “Is it just me,” she murmured, “or is he in a mood?”

  I winced. She hadn’t known Arch a fraction of the time Kody and I had, but she read his body signals almost better than both of us now. “Not just you. I think he’s taking it personally that he didn’t spot those explosive devices.”

  Her frown deepened. “Aren’t we all?”

  I flashed her a quick smile, then gave Kody a nod. “Go check on him; make sure he’s not harassing some innocent tourist who looked slightly suspicious.”

  Kody scoffed but clearly thought it was a possibility because he went to do as I’d asked without argument. The whole bomb threat situation had us all on edge, but it’d reinforced how serious our task was—not just keeping Seph safe on Hades’s orders but also protecting MK. She so frequently hung out with her bubbly friend that it’d be damn easy for her to get caught in the crossfire.

  I dropped my hand to her knee, pulling her slightly closer as my own protectiveness reared its head inside my mind.

  “You keep grabbing me like that, and I drag you into the bathroom here,” MK whispered with a flirty glance. Seph was engaged in conversation with Demi and Stacey, none of them paying attention to the two of us. Would they notice if we slipped away?

  Dammit. I just sent Kody away from the table.

  “I don’t know about that, Hellcat,” I murmured back, my fingers creeping up her thigh. Whoever the hell had invented the flirty little sundresses she’d been wearing since we arrived in Italy needed a goddamn high five. Talk about easy access. “These tablecloths are long enough...” My fingers danced higher, and her breath caught.

  Fuck, I loved that sound. That tiny, excited gasp that she made when she was turned on.

  “Max...” Okay, I changed my mind. I loved that sound more. The way she half sighed, half moaned my name... holy fuck, it got me hard.

  “Hellcat,” I replied, dragging my teeth over my lip as she slouched in her chair, practically begging me to take things further right there at the table across from Seph’s aunts. Shit, I didn’t need any convincing and gave zero fucks if they knew what we were doing. So I moved my hand higher and hooked a finger under the edge of her already damp panties.

  I hoped like hell we never left this honeymoon phase where we could hardly keep our hands off each other. It was my perfect definition of a happily ever after.

  A breathy gasp escaped her parted lips, and she instantly remembered we were in public. Dammit. Her thighs snapped closed, trapping my hand as she reached for her drink in an effort to regain her composure.

  “You two okay over there?” Stacey asked us with a knowing smile.

  “Fine!” MK replied in a slightly strangled voice. She’d trapped my hand, and I wasn’t wasting the opportunity. As she took a gulp of her drink, I pushed a finger inside her hot, tight cunt, and she spluttered, “Just... um, talking about... things. Stuff. Ignore us.”

  Stacey grinned, shaking her head. “Will do. Carry on.” She very deliberately shifted her chair so that she was facing her wife and gave us her shoulder.

  I took her at her command and added a second finger.

  MK squirmed and glared at me hard. She didn’t push me away, though. “Max, what are you—“ Her question broke off with a soft moan as my thumb found her clit beneath the table. “Shit.”

  “Shh,” I whispered with a laugh. “Act natural. Tell me about what’s going on with your company. You had an update from Monica last night, didn’t you?”

  Her eyes bugged out like she couldn’t believe I had the audacity to ask about business while fingering her cunt in a restaurant. But really, she couldn’t be that shocked. It sure as fuck wasn’t the first time we’d been too impatient to find total privacy.

  “Um, yeah,” she replied, and it sounded all kinds of sexy with an echo of a moan as my thumb danced across her swollen clit and my fingers stroked her tight pussy’s walls. “Yeah, she didn’t really have anything new to update me on. Except it sounded like—ah fuck—like, um, like...”

  I grinned when she trailed off, her gaze going unfocused as I pressed my thumb down hard on her clit. “Like what, Hellcat?”

  “Like I should teach you a fucking lesson by going to jump Archer’s bones right now,” she muttered back, but the way her hips rocked against my hand told a different story. Holy shit, I was addicted to this girl. She was utterly perfect in every way that mattered to me.

  I can’t wait to marry her.

  Dragging my tongue over my lip, I moved my fingers faster, watching her face intently, searching for the subtle cues that she was about to come.

  “Shit, Steele,” she hissed, her napkin balled in her fist on the tabletop. Then something across the restaurant seemed to catch her attention, and not in a good way. Her whole body stiffened, and her gaze sharpened.

  “What is it?” I demanded. In a flash my hand was out of her panties and on the butt of my gun as I whipped my face around to look for whatever had startled her.

  “Seph, get down!” MK yelled, launching herself out of her seat a split second before the waiter I’d just spotted threw a knife our way.

  Everything happened in slow motion. Hellcat shoved Seph, the thrown knife blurred past my face, then my girl gave a scream of pain that made me see red. Blood red.

  3

  Kody

  We’d seen Archer’s mood rapidly declining for the last week or so... but that swipe Demi had taken about MK divorcing him had tipped him dangerously close to the breaking point. He was taking our assigned task—protecting Seph—crazy serious. We all were. But we’d also had numerous hypothetical discussions around what would happen if it came to protecting MK over Seph. The bomb scare had made us reconsider things.

  Seph was great, no doubt. She was a nice girl—if sheltered and spoiled as hell—and had been a loyal friend to MK. But she wasn’t our soulmate. She was never going to be our number one priority, and the no-longer-hypothetical what-if of finding those explosives was pushing the issue.

  “We can’t keep doing this,” Archer snapped, pacing the cobblestones outside the restaurant. He was eyeing every person entering the restaurant with suspicion. “Sooner or later, Kate’s going to get hurt. Besides, don’t we have our own lives to get on with? How long are we supposed to play babysitter?”

  I shrugged. “As long as it fucking takes, bro. Or do you want to tell Hades that we can’t be bothered to protect her little sister anymore? Remember what happened last time someone threatened Seph’s safety?” Like I needed to bring that up. The Timberwolf massacre night, the Lockhart massacre, had been a pivotal point in all our lives. In most ways, Archer, Steele, and I had benefited greatly from that night. But we’d also seen firsthand what Hades would do to protect the ones she loved.

  Archer scowled at me, then exhaled heavily. “Fuck,” he groaned, rubbing his hand over his short beard. “Fair point. Then let’s find somewhere totally isolated. This is way too public.”

  “Agreed,” I replied, nodding. “Any one of these hundreds of strangers could be—“

  A familiar, feminine scream cut me off, followed by three gunshots. Chaos erupted from the restaurant, and my blood ran cold. Archer reacted a fraction faster than me, shoving panicked patrons aside as he raced back into the restaurant with me tight on his heels.

  The scene in front of us slammed home, confirming all our fears at once. Steele with his gun in hand, a waiter dead on the floor in a puddle of blood, and our girl—our fucking heart—soaked in blood and groaning in pain.

  “Kate!” Archer exclaimed, rushing toward her. She held a hand up sharply to stop him, though, scowling.

  “Get Seph to safety!” she snarled at him. “It’s just a fucking flesh wound.”

  Flesh wound. Funny girl. There was a knife sticking out of her goddamn shoulder.

  Archer seemed frozen in pained indecision, but Demi was already hauling Seph up from the floor and shoving the pale girl at him, providing the direction he needed.

  “I’ve got her,” I told him, jerking my head over my shoulder. He needed to get Seph to our car, and we needed to get the hell out of town.

  Archer’s face was pure thunder, but he wrapped his hand around Seph’s arm and dragged her out of the restaurant after him, gun in his other hand as he totally ignored her protests.

  “Babe,” I exclaimed, scooping MK up off the ground but being careful not to bump the knife. We could pull it out back at the house where we could patch her up properly, and it might serve as evidence if we needed it.

  “Kody, fucking hell, there’s nothing wrong with my legs,” she snarled, but I just shook my head as I carried her out. Steele exchanged a few words with Demi and Stacey, dropped a thick wad of money onto the table, then hurried to catch up with us.

  He said something about Stacey handling the police, but I wasn’t paying attention. My sole focus was on the way MK’s face was creased in pain a
nd the vibrant scarlet of her blood staining her tanned arm. Fuck. Fuck. If that bastard’d had better aim...

  It’d been too close. Too fucking close.

  “Kody,” she snapped, pinching my arm to get my attention. “I’m fine. You can put me down.”

  I was still racing toward where we’d left our cars and didn’t even slow at her suggestion, just shook my head. Words were too fucking hard with how much pure fear was running through me. She was bleeding. I’d sworn I’d never let her get hurt again, and here we were...

  “Let’s go,” Steele barked as we climbed into the van. Archer was behind the wheel already, and Seph was sitting in the passenger seat with wide, glassy eyes. She was in shock, no question about it, but the three of us couldn’t give two shits. She wasn’t the one with a knife sticking out of her flesh. She wasn’t the girl we’d burn the whole world down to protect, no matter how indebted to Hades we might be.

  Seph knew it, too. I’d never met someone who wanted to be protected less than Persephone Timber. Ignorance would do that to a person, though.

  “Demi and Stace?” Archer barked, and Steele shook his head.

  “They’ll meet us back at the house. Stacey needs to handle the cops and grease the right hands to clean up the scene, and Demi won’t leave her to do it alone.” He reached over both me and MK and gently fastened our seatbelt without bumping her arm.

  I wasn’t willing to let her go to sit on her own, so I gave him a small nod of thanks.

  Archer glanced in the mirror, waiting until we were belted in before hitting the gas and tearing out of our parking spot. It was only a ten-minute drive up to the villa we had rented in this sleepy village, but the way Archer drove meant we got back in about half of that. Every bump and corner had MK gritting her teeth in pain, though, and by the time we stopped, I wanted to deck Archer myself for reckless driving.

  “Give her to me,” Archer snapped, throwing the door open before we could even release our seat belts.

  “I’m not a dog,” she snapped. “And I’m not dead. Jesus fucking Christ, you need to go and cool off, D’Ath; I’m not in the mood for the alpha-male bullshit routine.”

  I reluctantly released her as she wriggled free of my lap, but Archer wasn’t budging when she tried to push past him. Instead, he swept her up in his arms like I’d just been holding her and stalked into the house while she hurled insults at him.

  “You guys,” a small voice jerked my attention away from Arch and MK. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

  Seph looked like she was on the verge of tears, her lower lip wobbling and her eyes all watery. Shit. Crying girls were not my thing at all.

  “Not your fault,” I muttered when Steele said fucking nothing. Thanks a lot, asshole. “Shit like that is what we’re here for. To keep you safe. MK takes that task just as seriously as the rest of us.”

  “Let’s get inside,” Steele mumbled. “We need to pack up and sort out a new safe house. Clearly this location is compromised.”

  Seph’s big eyes darted between the both of us, then she gave a small nod. “Okay. Sure. Is MK going to be okay, though?”

  She’d better be.

  “Yeah, it might just be a couple of stitches. Nothing major.” The words scorched my tongue. My girl shouldn’t need a couple of stitches. If anyone was jumping in front of flying weapons to save our charge, it should be one of us.

  That thought had me shooting a hard glare at Steele, but he wasn’t looking at me.

  “I guess I’ll go pack my stuff,” Seph whispered, then hurried into the house with her arms wrapped around herself.

  Steele stalked through the front door after her, not looking back at me, but there was a tension in his shoulders that made me hurry to catch up to him.

  “Hey,” I snapped, grabbing his arm as we entered the kitchen. Archer had placed MK down at the dining table and was pulling a medical kit out from the pantry. “What fucking gives, bro?”

  Steele shot me a furious—guilty—glare, then continued over to MK. She tilted her head back as he paused in front of her, a soft smile on her lips.

  “Don’t do that,” she said softly. “This wasn’t your fault.”

  Anger seared through my veins. “I’m starting to think it fucking was. How the fuck did this happen, Steele? Why didn’t you spot the threat?”

  Steele stiffened, and Archer slammed the medical kit down on the table unnecessarily hard.

  “Yeah, Steele,” he snarled, “where the fuck were you?”

  “Okay, that’s enough,” MK snapped. “I happened to spot the attacker first, so I shoved Seph out of the way, simple as that. Look, this isn’t even bad.” Reaching up, she gripped the knife and yanked it out, splattering Archer with her blood in the process.

  “Fuck, babe!” I shouted, jerking into motion and tugging my belt free. In about ten seconds flat, we had secured it as a tourniquet just above the wound.

  She gave me a sheepish smile and a small laugh. “Oops.”

  “This is my fault,” Steele groaned, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck and grimacing. “I was distracted; I didn’t even see the guy until Hellcat jumped on Seph.”

  Archer snapped. Before I could jump between them, his fist had slammed into Steele’s face, and Steele went crashing to the ground.

  “Enough!” MK shouted, sliding off the table and putting herself in front of Archer with a stubborn look on her face. “You hit him one more time and we’re gonna have some real problems, D’Ath. Take the medical shit, and go to the bedroom. Now!”

  Her tone brokered no negotiation, cracking through the room like thunder, and Archer stiffened like she’d hit him.

  “Archer D’Ath, if I have to repeat myself—“

  “I’m going!” he snarled, then sent Steele a hard glare before stomping his angry ass away with the medical kit tucked under his arm.

  When the bedroom door slammed behind him, MK shifted her gaze to me. “Do I need to put your ass in a time-out too, Kodiak Jones?”

  I grinned and tried really hard not to get hard as she fixed me with that intense glare. Fuck me, she was sexy when she was all in charge and shit. So I just licked my lips and spread my hands in surrender as Steele slouched over to the freezer to grab ice for his face.

  “Not unless that time-out includes spankings,” I replied. My heart wasn’t in the flirting, though, not while she was still drenched in her own blood and that tourniquet needed to be released sooner rather than later. “Go and let Arch patch you up, babe. He needs to care for you right now.”

  She eyed me suspiciously for another moment, then gave a short nod. Two steps saw her close the gap between us, then her soft hand cupped my cheek as she pulled me down to her level for a kiss.

  “Don’t bicker; it was no one’s fault except the bastard threatening Seph.” She punctuated her order with another kiss that left my lips warm and tingling when she moved over to Steele.

  He had a tea towel of ice against his cheek but lowered it when she rose up on her toes to kiss him too. His brow furrowed with a frown like he didn’t think he deserved her kiss, but he quickly melted into her touch... just like we all did. MK was our kryptonite.

  “We still have unfinished business,” she told him in a sultry voice that told me exactly how Steele had been so distracted he’d missed a knife-throwing waiter approaching their table. Motherfucker. “Don’t kill each other while I calm Arch down.”

  She gave me another hard look, but I just gave a small salute in response. I sure as shit couldn’t promise her something like that, not when we were trying to remain honest with one another.

  With a frustrated sigh, she grabbed a bottle of vodka from the freezer, then made her way down the hall to the bedroom where Archer was probably pacing a hole in the floor waiting for her.

  Steele and I didn’t move a muscle until we heard the door close softly behind her. Then I cocked a brow at him. “Distracted, huh?”

  He blew out a long breath, guilt and regret all over his face. “I let my guard down.”

  “No fucking shit,” I murmured. “We all did.” Because Archer and I should have been there as well, not talking about our feelings outside the restaurant. But still... Steele knew better.