He was not getting bossy on me again.
“Don’t tel me to be quiet. What’s going on?” I shouted.
“He’s a Fed,” Mace answered.
My breath, which had come back, decided to go on vacation again. My guess, Las Vegas.
My eyes slid to Eric.
“A Fed?” I breathed with the last remnants of breath I had.
I knew something was not right about him, he told me he worked construction.
Eric’s teeth were in a clench.
“That’s right,” he said between them, his eyes reluctantly leaving Mace and coming to me.
“You work for –” I started.
“Yeah,” Eric cut me off.
“He’s on assignment,” Mace shared.
A muscle in Eric’s jaw leaped.
“Assignment?” Now I was sounding stupid but there was no other way to be.
“Sidney Carter,” Eric bit off.
Oh my God. Eric was after Bad Guy Sid too.
Then it hit me, if Eric was after Sid, then he was with me because…
Effing hel .
I started to back up.
“Stel a.” Eric turned away from Mace and started toward me.
“Don’t fuckin’ get near her,” Mace warned.
Eric stopped and turned back to Mace. “Do we gotta take this outside?”
“Works for me,” Mace replied immediately.
“No!” I shouted and Juno woofed, sensing the degradation of the atmosphere and not pleased that Eric had decided against a more thorough welcome. Juno wasn’t used to being ignored. “You two aren’t taking anything outside. You’re going to tel me what’s going on.
Starting with you.” I nodded at Eric.
Eric turned back to me, took a step, caught my look, clenched his teeth again and stopped.
“I can’t say much,” he started then I reckon he got a load of my new look and went on, “Stel a, sweetheart, I’m sorry. I can’t say much.”
“Okay, just tel me what it has to do with me.” Eric glanced back at Mace then to me. “I’m guessin’ you know.”
“Lindsey,” I said.
“And Mason,” Eric went on.
What?
“Mace?” I asked.
Eric continued, “We got a guy on the inside. They knew Sid was feeling the heat and was gonna retaliate. We knew who the targets were. We knew you were one of them. We knew why and we knew about the operation the other night.” I went back a few more steps, too stunned by this news to let the heat of anger sweltering off Mace to register on my brain. The backs of my legs hit the edge of one of the platforms and I sat down with no grace whatsoever.
Eric started toward me again but, quick as lightning, Mace moved and got in his way.
Eric stopped and glared at him.
I looked around Mace to Eric. “You knew?”
“Fuck,” Eric muttered.
Then, not thinking (yes, again), I jumped up, stormed forward and rounded Mace, shouting, “I got shot!” Mace’s arm tagged me around the middle and pul ed me, hard, into his body.
“I know!” Eric shouted back, deciding to ignore Mace’s arm which, I thought, my mind crazily veering in wild directions, was wise.
“You didn’t do anything about it!” I kept shouting.
“You were supposed to be with me,” Eric reminded me.
He was kind of right, I was. He’d put the pressure on, big time, for me to spend the night with him that night but I told him no.
Mace’s hard body felt somehow harder after Eric spoke.
“This is what I wanna talk about,” Mace said.
“It’s none of your fuckin’ business,” Eric bit out.
“I’m of a different opinion,” Mace bit back.
“And why’s that?” Eric returned.
“Stel a and I are back together,” Mace informed him.
Again, not thinking, I twisted my head to look at Mace and cried, “We are not!”
“Stel a –” Mace started.
My eyes moved back to Eric. “I want to know why you let me get shot.”
“I didn’t let you get shot. I sat outside, I saw you leave. I fol owed you to Lindsey’s. I saw that Stark and Mason were there, not to mention the cops, and I expected Sid wouldn’t be crazy enough to make a move with that kind of coverage. That’s when I got a cal . Jet McAlister was supposed to be with India Savage and her gang. She wasn’t and Chavez had been cal ed out. I was sent to her house. The drive-by happened before I got there and you were shot while I was in transit.”
Wel , that made me feel a little bit better.
“Now,” Eric’s eyes narrowed on Mace, “you wanna take your hands off her?”
“No,” Mace answered instantly.
“I’m thinkin’ that’s not the right answer. She was yel ing at you earlier, I heard her through the door and she says you aren’t back together,” Eric returned.
“Yeah, she says that. Then again, I’m pretty sure it was Stel a I was fuckin’ this morning, it was me she asked to fuck her harder and it was me she was holdin’ onto while she purred into my throat after I made her come. That’s contradictory information from her and me but considerin’ I intend to be in her bed for the foreseeable future, I figure you understand where the fuck I’m comin’ from just about now,” Mace shared, his voice utterly lethal.