Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) (56 page)

She interrupted, “Like a pregnant woman who can claim she’s not in the mood for sex for the next eight months.”

They stopped.

“Oh, and this time, I’m dead serious.
I tease, but let’s see how you like servicing your own needs for the duration.”

They stared at her as she picked up her coffee and headed for the stairs. “In fact, I have a really big headache. I don’t think I can
sleep in the same bed as you two. I’ll take the spare room. How awkward for you both, sharing a bed without me. My, my won’t people talk now.”

Both men watched her go, their mouths hanging open.

“I think we screwed up, bro,” stated Callen.

“Yeah, I think you’re right.”

Elizabeth climbed the stairs and grinned wickedly, as they panicked. If the men wanted a war, it was going to be one hell of a fight, and she knew how to take them down.

Already, they were freaked out.

All she needed to do was sit back and let them terrorize themselves.

Yeah, let the war begin..
.

When would they learn?

             
                  *   *   *

Cyra rolled over and found herself lying against her husband. His hair was messed up and stood in playful peaks. Compulsively, she fixed it, only to wake him from sleep.

“Mmmmmm. Morning, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Last night was pretty incredible.”

She didn't disagree. “Yes it was,” she answered, leaving kisses across his lips.

“The strawberry undies were pretty tasty, but you were better.
Wherever you found that lingerie, buy more,” he whispered. “Fill our closet, so I can see you in it every night.”

She giggled and rested her head on his chest. As her fingers stroked his abs, Cyra enjoyed the scent and feel of the man she loved. “Want to tell me about why your boss gave them to you?”

Chris laughed and told her about the time she played Miss Kitty and the men at work were busting on her. “She planted them in her partner’s car, and his wife found them. Since then, they’ve been a private joke between us.”

She grinned. “Well, now they can be something fantastic between us,” she purred.

As her hands slid lower, the phone rang.

“Shit,” he muttered, glancing at the screen. “It’s my mother. We should
probably tell her the good news.”

Cyra couldn’t wait. The witch was about to get
a dose of reality. “Okay,” she grinned. This was going to be the best day of her life, next to marrying Chris. After dealing with the woman for four months, this was well worth every second of her having to be patient.

“Hi Mother,” he said, placing it on speaker.

“What are you doing, Orion?” she asked.

Cyra fought
hard to not giggle, as she teased him with her fingertips. When it took him a few seconds to focus and answer, it made her even more entertained.

“I’m actually in bed with my wife
, and we were just waking up.”

There wasn’t a peep
from the other end of the phone, and they knew why. She was trying to process the news that he dropped in her lap.

Oh, this was priceless.

Finally, Belladonna Leonard recovered and found her voice. “What did you just say to me?”

“I’m in bed with my wife. We’re celebrating our marriage.” Chris hated being mean
to her, but when his mother forced their hand, it wasn’t his problem anymore. She upped the game, and he was more than willing to play it.

“
Hi, Mom!” Cyra called, trying not to laugh.

“Orion, you better be
shitting me.”

Her voice said it all.

Chris fought hard not snicker. “No, I’m afraid not. You see, when you went behind our backs and tried to hijack our wedding, you crossed a line, Mother. While I may tolerate your quirks, I won’t swallow you screwing with Cyra. She’s now my wife and that means everything to me. Here’s your one warning. Back off and stop being so mean to her. If you love me, you’ll trust my judgment.”

“I can’t believe you did this. You’re my only child. Now
, I don’t get to see you have a wedding. You just stole my dream.”

He didn't care. “You wanted to see me have YOUR wedding
not ours, and that’s why this happened. Let’s place blame where it’s due, Belladonna.”

“Please tell me you had
HER
sign a prenup.”

Chris could feel Cyra tense beside him
at the mere mention of the words. This was her big worry, and he wasn’t about to let his wife stress something so insignificant. “We both signed a legal document. It’s called a marriage license, and that’s all we need. Now, if you don’t knock it off, you won’t be allowed to be part of our children’s lives.”

She gasped
, almost as if she had been physically struck. The words reverberated between them both.

“Or
be invited to their baptism and christenings,” Cyra added, and then hit the off button on the phone.

Chris roared with laughter. “That was pretty clever, Mrs. Leonard.”

She winked at him. “How about instead of talking about your appreciation, you show me?”

“We do have a little time before work,” he said, rolling with her
as he pushed his cell phone off the bed and to the floor.

“Then
, we better begin.”

Chris didn't need a second invitation.

             
                  *   *   *

Heading into town, they met up with Tyrell. He followed them to the meeting house and the appointment with Chief Runningwolf. The entire time they were in the car, Elizabeth sat in the passenger seat and stared out the window. If she looked at them, she was going to burst into laughter at any second.

Since she came downstairs, they were trying to get her to talk to them and smile. When they thought she was actually pissed, it made her want to giggle.

Elizabeth wasn’t angry in the least, but sometimes she needed to show the men what happened when they got a little too big for their britches and teamed up on her. It wasn’t like she minded that they were curious about her past. It was completely understandable. Had they just asked, she would have been more than willing to share any information with them.

Being sneaky was a big no-no in a marriage, and she had every intention of proving a point. Yeah, they dug into her past, and when she got home, she was going to do the same to them.

What goes around comes around.

Bracing
her arms across her chest, she fought for composure as Callen kept trying to get her to talk. He was asking her questions and being overtly silly.

When
that didn't work, Ethan took over and opted for the sure fire way to get through to his wife. “How do you want to handle this today?” he asked, hoping that discussing the job at hand might lighten the mood.

“I think we should start with Maxwell Steppapaw. If for some reason I piss off the chief, I don’t want to risk tanking both interviews.”

“That sounds good to me.”

Elizabeth replied, “Then that’s our plan.”

“Are you really mad at us?” Ethan asked, slipping it into the conversation, since he finally got her to talk. “We just don’t know a lot about your past, and when we find out a few things, we get a little carried away.”

She covered her face and allowed her body to shake.

Both men gasped, thinking that they had made her cry.

“Baby!”

“Angel!”

When she looked up, her eyes were indeed full of tears, but not from sadness. Elizabeth was laughing her ass off. “You two should know better. I don’t get mad at shit like that. I get even. I would watch both of your backs. You never know when I’m going to strike. Consider this your warning.”

Pulling into the parking area of the meeting lodge, the men relaxed.

Ethan knew that he should have trusted his gut instinct. His Elizabeth didn't play games like that.

“Why doesn’t that offer me any reassurance?” Whitefox asked, still shaken up.

“Cal, what can she really do to get even?”

She started laughing at his cockiness. “Oh, you dug into my ‘arrest’, and now I’m going to dig into yours.”

Blackhawk wasn’t buying it. “Those are juvenile records
, and they’re sealed on the Rez. You don’t have a snowball’s chance of pulling that off.”

She grinned wickedly. “I don’t
, but you forgot about my buddy Gabriel Rothschild. I bet he has friends, who have friends, who have friends, who could help a girl out.”

Callen sat there openmouthed, knowing what kind of details were in those records. “YOU wouldn’t
dare.” Some of them were embarrassing and frankly, nothing the mother of his children should be privy to.

She snorted. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like me at all. I
would never take a dare. I guess you’re safe.”

Now, both men simply closed their mouths, unwilling to dig the hole any deeper.

As she hopped out of the vehicle, she put her game face back on. It was interview time, and they needed something to kick start this assignment before it became stagnant.

At some point, she wanted to head home. Salem was a nice place to reminisce, but there was no place like home.
It was where her heart was, and she missed her kids and Wyler.

When Tyrell approached, she
patted him on the shoulder. “Let me lead this one. We don’t have a record for happy Native relations. Callen may have to intercede and buy us some wiggle room. He’s damn good at his job.

Tyrell followed and took off his hat in respect. “I’m ready,” he said, entering the building.

Once inside, they were greeted by two Native men. One was in his fifties and the other was half his age.

“Hello
. You must be the FBI,” the older man said, holding out his hand. “If you’ll come with us, we’ll use my office.”

“Thank you for seeing us,
Chief Runningwolf,” Callen said, addressing the man with the utmost respect.

As they followed, Elizabeth admired the brightly decorated walls and the artifacts that hung there. Whenever she saw
a building like this, it immediately reminded her of Timothy.

At one point, she used to get sad that he was gone, but time was indeed healing her heart. Now, she chose to cherish the times and memories that she had with him.

Inside, he offered them chairs. “Welcome to our meeting house, my brothers,” the older man said. “My name is Chief Runningwolf, and this is Max Steppapaw. He is part of our tribe. Jason Walters is no longer associated with us, since he has chosen to move on, but I did offer him the opportunity to meet with us today.”

Ethan spoke up. “We already spoke to him, Chief.”

“Yes, he mentioned that you had paid him a visit.”

Before the conversation progressed,
Callen made the introductions, and when he got to Elizabeth, he referred to her as their wife and partner. He found that there was a trick when dealing with Natives. If either, or both men, lay claim to her as theirs, she had a less difficult time assimilating into the conversation, despite her being an outsider. There was an unspoken law, despite the tribe you came from. You watched out for your fellow brother’s family.

“It is lovely to meet you, Mrs. Blackhawk,” the man said.

Elizabeth needed to take control right off the top. “Actually, Chief Runningwolf, it’s director.”

The man nodded
, not the least bit offended that she corrected him. “I beg your pardon. I wasn’t aware that you, too, were part of the FBI. I’m not afraid to tell you all that this has us completely perplexed. What is it that you needed to see us about?”

“We have some missing person cases, and we need to interview anyone that had altercations with the men in question,” she began. Pulling up her tablet, she faced it towards them to show Duke William’s driver’s license picture. “Do you recognize this man?”

Maxwell Steppapaw crossed his arms defensively. “Yeah, he’s the man who destroyed a whole year’s worth of crops, and then had the outsider intimidation force arrest me.”

Tyrell thought back and remembered Tony bringing him in. It was a tense moment
, and he understood why. “I’m sorry that you felt intimidated, sir,” he stated. “I’m the new acting sheriff, and I would like to offer you an apology.”

Elizabeth knew Tyrell would be perfect for the job. In fact, he was likely to do a better job than she had
ever done.

The chief spoke, “Thank you for that, Sheriff, but why are we rehashing something that happened many months ago?”

“Well,
he’s missing and presumed dead,” Callen stated.