Chaos (Phoenix Undercover #2) Read online

  “How?” I mumbled as I looked back to Josh. Tears clouded my vision, distorting his face. I was suddenly angry that I couldn’t see him clearly, but before I could wipe away my own tears, Josh did it for me.

  “I’ll explain everything, I promise. Right now, I just want to hold you,” he whispered, his voice shaky. I could feel his breath on my face as his lips gently brushed over mine. “I just want to feel you in my arms for a while. I need to feel you close.”

  The moment his lips pressed against mine, I wrapped my hands securely around his neck. How could this be real?

  He pulled back to rest his forehead against mine. “I want to hear every detail, sweetheart.” I leaned back and looked at him, wondering what he could be talking about. “I’ve missed so much already, I want to know it all. I need to hear about the first time you heard our child’s heartbeat, the first time you saw our miracle on a sonogram. Baby, I want to know it all. And in time I will tell you everything, but I just need to feel like I haven’t missed out on the last three months of you and our child.”

  He looked so sad and lost. For the first time since my world had tipped on its side after he entered the apartment, I really, truly looked at him. He looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept peacefully in days. I noticed a scar above his eye that I know he didn’t have before, and my stomach instantly ached. What had he been through? What kind of pain had he suffered? It all broke my heart.

  Yes, I wanted to know it all, I needed to understand how this all happened, but I also knew what he meant about holding me close. I needed that too.

  Chapter 17

  Josh

  I knew she had a million questions, and I planned to answer each one, but I also needed to feel her. Our lives had been interrupted and we lost time where we should have been building our foundation. Right now I felt so lost, I just needed to know she felt what I was feeling too.

  The last time I saw Gabby, she was hurt and angry and never wanted to see me or Audrey again. That memory haunted me for the last three months, and I had to replace it with something more.

  “Tell me this is real,” she whispered as we lay in her bed and I held her close. “Please tell me I won’t wake up tomorrow and this will all be some sick dream.” Her body shook, and I knew she was still crying.

  I rolled to my side and pulled her against me so her face was only inches from mine. “I promise you this is real. I have fought against wanting to come to you every single day for the last three months. It was one of the hardest things I have ever been forced to do. I worried so much about you moving on before I could get back to you.”

  She shook her head and leaned in to place her lips against mine, giving me a gentle kiss. “Being without you left a hole deep inside me. I regretted letting you leave that night. I should have stopped you.”

  “Shh, I understood your anger.” I refused to let her feel guilty about the way that night played out. None of this was her fault. Had Leo not taken me that night, he would have eventually.

  “I’ve missed you every day, so much. I found out I was pregnant on the day of the funeral,” she whispered, and my stomach tensed. Knowing how sad she felt gutted me. Hell, I spent two hours listening to my father cry when I showed up at his house. He was so relieved, but when that relief turned to anger, it made my sister’s reaction look mild by comparison.

  “Technically, I shouldn’t have come back now, but I couldn’t stay away any longer. I needed to hold you, feel you. I need to be careful, but I can assure you I am never leaving you again.” She rubbed my jaw lightly, and I smiled. “I need to shave, I know.”

  She smiled up at me, and I pressed my lips to hers. I had spent so many days and nights wishing for this, and now she was here in my arms. In my entire life I had never once felt the pull I did when I was with Gabby. She was my world, and she made me feel whole. She filled me with that uncontrollable, consuming love that makes a person feel they may go mad if anyone threatened it.

  “I love you so much, Gabby. I’m so sorry for all the hurt you’ve gone through because of me.” Before she could answer, I kissed her once more, and she moaned against my lips. Desire built inside me. She drove me to the edge.

  I wasn’t sure how sex should work during pregnancy, but I was sure she would stop me if this was a no-go. I rolled her onto her back and brought my body to hover over hers but refrained from putting any pressure on her stomach. When she parted her legs and wrapped them around my waist, I knew this was okay.

  She wasted no time as she reached between us and began to undo my jeans. “I want you,” she whispered. “I know there’s a lot we need to talk about, a lot I want to know, but right now, I just need to feel you. I need to know that you’re real, that you are here with me.”

  “I want you too.” I pressed my hardness against her. My control was slipping. “I need to feel you beneath me, your legs wrapped tightly around me. I want to hear your moans and cries as I move inside you.”

  She had my pants undone and had already begun to push them downward with the assistance of her feet. I chuckled at her urgency. “How about tonight we reconnect and tomorrow we talk?”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” she said in a needy whisper. I pulled back and got up on my knees so I could help her undress. As she lifted her shirt up above her head and her stomach came into view, a strong sense of possession washed over me.

  My hands moved on their own accord and came to rest over the small bump that held our growing child. “Mine,” I whispered. I leaned over her and pressed my lips to her belly just above the top of her pants and closed my eyes, fighting against the emotions that were taking over. “I’m gonna be a father.” The idea of that was both terrifying and amazing. I had dreamed of one day having a family, and now it was happening. It just made the love I already felt for Gabby that much stronger.

  “Make love to me, Josh.”

  My gaze shifted from Gabby’s stomach to meet her eyes. They were glossy and held everything I needed to make me feel complete.

  I wasted no further time as I hooked my fingers in the waistband of her pants and began lowering them over her hips and down her legs, her pink silk panties following closely behind.

  After leaving a trail of kisses along her stomach, I paused to lightly flick her nipple with my tongue, making her whimper. I smiled against her breast. I had fucking missed the sound of her pleasure. I craved knowing I was making her feel desired and fulfilling her desire.

  On more than one occasion, I lay in that shitty apartment worrying that she had moved on. My mind played some sick games. Now that I was here with her in my arms once more, I no longer had to worry about that. She was mine, and I would never let go.

  I positioned my cock at her entrance and gently rubbed myself against her pussy. She was dripping with need. Her panting filled my ear as I looked down between us and slowly began to sink inside her.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  Rotating my hips, I slipped in farther and farther until I was completely sheathed by her tightness.

  This was home. I was finally whole.

  “I love you,” I said as I looked into her eyes. “You are my world, Gabby, my safe place.”

  “I love you too,” she said as she laced her fingers together behind my neck and pulled me close.

  We began to move together, our bodies seeking pleasure from one another. With each thrust of my hips, she matched me, lifting her own.

  “You are mine, all mine,” I groaned as I picked up speed. My head was spinning with the way her tight walls gripped me. As Gabby pulsated around my cock and my legs stiffened, I tried to refrain from coming.

  “I need to feel you, baby. I need you to come.” I pushed her, and she whimpered as I drove into her over and over as my pelvis ground against her sweet spot, and I knew it was only a matter of time.

  When her legs tightened around me and her pussy gripped my cock, I placed my mouth against hers to hide her cries. The feeling of her come running along my balls threw me over the
edge, and I slammed inside her as I filled her.

  We both tried to catch our breath as we rested our heads together.

  I hadn’t felt this relaxed in months.

  I collapsed at her side, making sure to keep my weight off her. I pulled her close and rested my palm outstretched over our child. Silence filled the room as I held her in my arms.

  “Are you happy?” she asked. “I mean about the baby?”

  She looked up at me, and I kissed her softly. “Yes, coming back to you makes me the happiest man alive, and our child is the best kind of bonus.”

  “Were you here? I mean in the city?” she asked, and I knew it was only a matter of time before we went back to the things I knew she needed to know.

  “Do you remember the guy I told you about, the one we were undercover investigating?” She nodded. “He’s the same guy Audrey was keeping tabs on.”

  She averted her eyes, and I knew she was thinking about what had happened between Audrey and me.

  I placed my finger under her chin and made her look back up at me. “Don’t think about that.” She forced a smile, and it made my stomach tense. “That same guy took me the night we left here. And if it wasn’t for the fact Trevor—you remember me telling you about Trevor, right?” She nodded and I continued. “He placed trackers on Mike, Greyson, and myself. Without them, our guys wouldn’t have found me. But when they did, I had already been beaten up pretty bad.”

  She flinched at my words, and her eyes filled with tears.

  “It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle,” I reassured her. “But the problem was the Bureau and the DEA used that as a way to play some big game. Between Frank and Sheppard, they thought it was the perfect chance to gain some leverage, but after three months with no end in sight, I fucking walked out. I couldn’t live like that anymore. I had to get back to you.”

  “So you never got the guys you were after?” I fucking hated the look of fear that washed over her.

  “No, sweetheart, but I’m gonna lay low. The guys are still working, and we have a few leads. I was just going crazy being trapped while everything went on without me.” She hooked her leg over mine and used it to pull me in closer. “I’ll just have to set up here instead. Do you mind?”

  She smiled and ran her fingertips over my jaw once more. I missed the feeling of her fingers on my face. I also really needed to shave.

  “I actually love that idea,” she whispered.

  Within seconds, she had me rolled onto my back and was lowering herself over my hardness. I placed my hands on her thighs and watched as she took control. Her hips moved as she took my cock over and over, and sweet moans fell from her lips each time she took me completely inside her. I was entranced by Gabby, fucking lost in the beauty of her riding me.

  ***

  I didn’t need an alarm to wake up, and I was used to getting up early. It was barely after five when I opened my eyes. Gabby was still sound asleep, her naked body still partially resting on mine. I lost track of how many times we lost ourselves in one another over the course of the last ten hours, but I could feel the aftereffects. My muscles ached, but I wanted more.

  I decided to climb out of bed and allow Gabby to sleep longer. She needed her rest. As I inched out from under her, she gripped my arm tightly. It was like she feared if she let go, I would disappear.

  “Baby, I’m not leaving. I’m just getting my phone,” I assured her, but she still didn’t let go. “I promise you, I’m really here. And I will be here.” I leaned over and kissed her forehead, and she slowly released her hold on me. When I was finally able to get up, I took a moment to just stand at the side of the bed and look at her. Her dark hair covering the light-colored sheets and her breast peeking out at the top only made her look even more beautiful.

  I let my eyes scan over her and come to rest on the small bump beneath the sheet. That little bump would only continue to grow, and I planned on being right next to her to see it all.

  I found my phone lying on the floor at the edge of the bed. I scooped it up and sat down on the edge of the bed to type out a message to Mike, Greyson, Audrey, and even Trevor.

  Me: Setting up at Gabby’s place. Get the equipment and let’s find this bastard.

  After tossing my phone back to the floor, I crawled back in bed and pulled Gabby back against me with her back resting against my chest. I ignored the ding of the texts coming through to me and closed my eyes, basking in the feeling of my woman being in my arms at last.

  Chapter 18

  Gabriella

  “Our apartment has turned into the FBI headquarters.” I looked up from my laptop to see Brook eyeing the group of men in our living room. She looked all starry-eyed, and it made me laugh. “How is a girl supposed to concentrate with all this yumminess?”

  It hadn’t escaped me that Greyson was also looking at Brook with starry eyes from time to time while offering her a megawatt Greyson smile. I was trying not to be concerned. Brook was a big girl. She had heard more than once how big of a man-whore Grey was, so if she willingly went there, it was on her.

  Grey, Mike, Trevor, and Audrey had all been camped out in my place for four days now, and at times things became tense. It was actually an extreme turn-on to see Josh at work. He was so take-charge and demanding. It didn’t take much to make me want him. After all, I just got him back, so I had some making up for lost time to do.

  “So, um, distract me,” Brook said as she continued to stare ahead. Her eyes were locked on Greyson’s ass, and all I could do was shake my head. She was a goner, I knew it now. Lord help him when he screwed her over.

  “And how would you suggest I do that? From the looks of it, nothing can pull you back from your current state.” I smiled when her head whipped around in my direction. “I’m wondering if we should all leave you and Greyson alone.”

  “Whatever.” Brook rolled her eyes and spun around to lean against the countertop with her back facing the living room. Now it was Greyson’s turn to check her out, and he was already taking the opportunity to do so.

  “How’s work going?” she asked, and I knew it was only to distract herself.

  “Do you honestly expect me to believe that you care about my job?” I asked with a knowing smile.

  “For your information, smartass, I do care. I do,” she insisted when I laughed. “Has that asshole ever tried to contact you or Margo again?”

  “Nope, she tried calling him a few times, but the number was wrong, or at least that’s what the woman that answered said. It’s all fine by me, though. I couldn’t care less. No amount of money was worth how uncomfortable he was making me.”

  “Who made you uncomfortable?” Josh asked as he stepped around the end of the counter and bent to place a kiss on the top of my head.

  “Oh, it’s nothing, just some creep I was showing penthouses to. He got a little too comfortable, which just made me a little nervous.” I grabbed my water bottle and lifted it to take a drink. When I placed the lid back, Josh was still staring at me. “What?”

  “How did he make you uncomfortable?” he asked, his tone a little more demanding this time.

  “Oh my God.” Here we go again. This time it was Josh interrogating me instead of Greyson. “He just kept asking me out, and things got weird.”

  “That wasn’t all. He showed up at her office all the time, called constantly, and let’s not forget how he made you throw up that day in your office. He had her so upset, she lost it.”

  I glared at my sister. Once again she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

  “Who the fuck is this asshole?” Josh now looked pissed, and I was trying to find a way I could later repay my very conversational sister. “Gabby?”

  “Do you seriously think having a name is going to change anything? Honestly, Josh, I haven’t heard from him in weeks. Margo insisted she would take over for me, and even she can’t reach him.”

  “Yes, Gabriella, I want his damn name.” I arched an eyebrow at him when he used my full name. Very rarely di
d he call me anything but Gabby or baby. “Name?” he repeated when I didn’t respond.

  “You are impossible, you know that?” He didn’t flinch, only continued to wait for the name. “His name is R.J.”

  He leaned in and placed his hands flat against the countertop. He was such an overpowering ass at times. “R.J.? You wanna give me more than that, Gabby?”

  “His name wasn’t R.J. He just wanted her to call him that,” Brook said.

  I glared at her, and she wrinkled her nose. “One morning you might wake up with your head shaved if you don’t find something else to do besides run your mouth.”

  “Gabby,” Josh practically growled this time, and it made me jump in surprise.

  “Fine, his name is Roman Kovalsky,” I said a little louder than I had intended, but I was so over this shit.

  The anger left Josh’s face immediately as his skin broke out in a light layer of sweat and his eyes widened as they shifted toward the living room. There, the three other men and Audrey were staring back at me with matching expressions.

  Greyson walked toward us, his eyes locked on mine. “What did you just say?” he asked as he stepped up next to Josh.

  My stomach tightened. Something told me this name meant something to all of them.

  “My client, the one I talked to you about on the phone, Josh wanted to know his name,” I replied.

  “Did you say his name was Roman?” Greyson was beginning to scare me.

  Josh snapped out of whatever crazy trance he was in and leaned in, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Baby, I need you to confirm that you said Roman Kovalsky.”

  I nodded. “What in the hell is going on?” I was getting irritated at being kept in the dark.

  Growling, Josh spun around and gripped his hair in his fist, pulling at the ends. Greyson tried to gain some control of the situation by placing his hand on his shoulder, but Josh grew angrier. “He was that fucking close, Grey. He was within inches of her.” Panic rushed through me as Josh placed his hands against the wall next to the refrigerator and hung his head. “Fuck!”