CHAPTER24
Colby
“Damn, Baby, this tastes amazing.”
I smiled over at Sig who was licking his fingers, catching all the juice from the meat I’d cooked over the fire. “Thanks.” I shot a grateful look over at Rafe. I’d never cooked over a campfire before, but he was a great teacher. At least, he was when his wandering hands and mouth weren’t distracting me from my tasks. I’d almost burnt one large chunk of meat because his hands had slipped into my pants so he could rub my pussy.
Now that we were all together—the idea of these tough, brutal men officially making me their girlfriend made me want to laugh—I had a feeling they were going to be touching me often. I didn’t really mind. They’d woken some inner hussy inside of me and it seemed like all I could think about was their bodies and what they could do to mine. At this point if they stopped touching me I might cry.
“It’s even better than how Rafe makes it,” Arsen agreed, giving Rafe a wide smile when the other man glared at him.
I laughed and shook my head. They liked to pick on each other as though they were actual brothers. It was nice seeing them so relaxed. Even though we had enemies nipping at our heels, my decision to stay seemed to have put them in a better state of mind. Which meant I hadn’t been fooling them before by trying to behave so I could escape.
“So what did you learn in Tikrit?” Sig asked.
Rafe shifted so he was sitting up straighter. “It’s Roj.”
The other two groaned.
“Who’s Roj?” I asked, looking around from one face to another.
They all shared a long look. Finally, Arsen spoke up. “Roj is one of the targets we're out here to eliminate.”
“He’s dangerous,” Sig added.
“He’s a coward,” Rafe muttered.
“Which is what makes him so dangerous,” Sig insisted. “He doesn’t give a shit who gets injured from his actions. He has a loyal following and enough money to pay for even more numbers.”
“They call him The Asad,” Arsen told me.
“The Lion.” I frowned. Something was nagging me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“He’s responsible for a lot of the upheaval that’s been happening around here for the last few years,” Rafe continued. “He got here about two and a half years ago and has been terrorizing the locals ever since. We think he was initially recruited by the Holy Order, but has since built his own following. He’s still funded by them, mostly because he draws attention away from them and they don’t care what territories he takes over. He’s the reason we got our contract, why we live out here like Nomads.”
“He threatens—and often kills—the locals, keeps them compliant so that they can’t organize any real resistance against him or the Holy Order. His preferred methods of ensuring compliance are bombs,” Sig added. They all watched me closely.
“Was he responsible for my team?” I asked, anger flaring up at the thought.
“Yes,” Rafe told me. He looked at the others before continuing. For the first time I saw fear, and regret on his face. “We think he was chasing us that night… It’s why we were there to pull you out.”
My breath caught in my chest. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. If they hadn’t been there my team might still be alive. Then again, they might not. Maybe Roj had been there for a completely different reason. I pushed all the emotions down so I could concentrate.
I could tell the guys were worried how I’d react to that news. I needed time to digest this before I started blaming. Part of me was ready to blame them. To scream out. If I hadn’t given myself over to them would I be angrier? Probably. If they had told me this before I had surrendered to them would I still have done so? I didn’t know. All I knew at this point was I was in this for the long haul and though I was upset about this news, I wasn’t sure how to handle it.
For now, I settled on an easy answer. “It’s not your fault, he was chasing you.”
“It sort of is, Pet. That's not true,” he said with a sigh. “It entirely is. We attacked him first. He’s slippery, though. We weren’t able to secure him. If we had…”
I shook my head. “We can name off all the ‘what ifs’ until we’re blue in the face. What happened, happened, and there isn’t anything we can do to change it. I’d like to get revenge, though.” How angry I might be at my men could wait. Roj was the one who pulled the trigger. Revenge on him was an easy decision.
All their brows shot up at the aggression in my tone. Arsen scratched his beard. “You want to help go after Roj?”
I nodded, eyes cutting over to Rafe. The final decision would be his. “I’ll help you guys. You saw what I’m capable of. You owe this much to me at the very least.” That last sentence stung. I could see them all react like they were stabbed. It was a bit harsh, but then again…maybe it was just true. “Besides, if I’m going to be living out here with you, it’ll be better if I join you in everything. Safer that way.” And I needed something meaningful to do with my time.
“It’ll be dangerous,” Sig warned.
“I don’t care. I can’t just sit back at camp while you guys go play the heroes. I need to do this.”