Page 112 of Last Man Standing

“I-I believe Mrs. Jameson remains locked up tight and safe, ma’am. We remain coup-free for now.”

“Good. Thank you.” And with that, I feel her give him her back and glance toward the paper targets whoever was in the range last set up for the next person.

Now that she’s in, I keep walking and shake my head, because I know Jaxen and Dayden aren’t the only ears listening to this call. “Paul?” I grunt savagely. “Arabella is safe and alive, yes?”

He chuckles, seemingly unbothered by being caught. “Yes, son. She’s right here with me.”

“Good. Leave the conversation. Mav?”

He barks out a goofy laugh. “She just says whatever is on her mind, huh? I’m not pleased the alarms woke me up, though. I only hit the bunk an hour ago, now I’m awake and catching the next installment of Scarlett and Sebastion Try Not To Kill Each Other.”

“Shut up. Hang up. And don’t even think about coming down here.”

“Aww man.” His quick steps come to a sharp stop. “I wanted to see if she could shoot.”

“No. Everyone else, we’re done here. Dayden, I’ll be with you in twenty seconds.”

He doesn’t answer beyond a grunt, since another ‘yes sir’ while he’s so near Scarlett will get him in trouble.

“Switch all the cameras off while she’s in there,” I order. “No exceptions.”

“Dammit, Bas! I wanted to watch you kiss her a little more.”

“Maverick fucking Jameson. I will have you running triples from now until you’re forty-five if you don’t get off this call. If you’re running triples, you’ll be too fuckin’ tired to hit on chicks, and we both know you need them the way the rest of us need oxygen to breathe.”

“You’ve changed, man.” He makes an entire show of grumbling and huffing. “Wasn’t so long ago you liked women, too.”

I move along the passageway quickly, but silently, and narrow my eyes. “I still like women.”

“Nah. You like woman. Singular. Just this particular one. She’s cute as hell, too.”

“Maverick!”

“You better watch your back,” he laughs. “Koda likes her, too. And he’s a wily little fucker.”

“Maverick!” Mom bites out. Because of course, she’s on this call, too. “You don’t call your brother that. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Jealousy, Ma.” He giggles like a fuckin’ schoolgirl. “I wanna like woman, too. Singular. Especially if she’s cute as a button, shoots a Glock like a pro, pisses my mother off simply by existing, and makes waking up after only an hour in the rack not seem all that bad, since looking at her feels wooshy in my belly.”

“For fuck’s sake,” I growl. “I’m done with this call.”

“I’m just saying!” He drops back into bed so the squeak of his springs fire to life. “Multiples can be fun and all, but my endgame is to find the one chick on the planet my mom would murder just cause she felt like it.”

“Mav,” Dad grumbles.

“Ah,” he clears his throat. “What I meant to say is that my endgame is to find the one woman I can’t live without. Cause, ya know, love and shit.”

Shaking my head, I drag the phone from my ear and kill our call, then just ten paces later, I come to a stop in front of a wildly blushing Dayden whose eyes stay way down and whose cheeks blaze bright red.

“Cameras off,” I repeat on a low growl. “No one else comes in until I tell you otherwise. Not even my mother. You understand?”

Fuck, Bas! Please don’t make me tell La Bruja no. “Yes, sir.”

“You can stay here on the door, since Andrews is already in your seat.”

He gulps and stares at my shoes. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” I move past him and into the massive room where each lane is reinforced with concrete pillars that not only support the fact that we’re underground, but they support the heavy-ass pool directly above our heads, too. Being surrounded by fifteen feet of dirt in every direction, and squeezed under two and a half million liters of warmed water makes it so no one above us will hear the boom of gunshots, not even if they had their ear pressed to the ground.