Glenn Stormy My Guardian Angelo130221 0851

Special Operations 3

My Guardian Angelo

Going undercover to find the commander of his marine unit was
supposed to be the easy part. When his cover is blown, Lieutenant

Bill Harrison doesn’t know whether to hold on for the dangerous
ride or jump. With a drug lord determined to take them out, Bill
has to rely on his skills and the sexy guardian angel sent to save

him.

DEA Agent Angelo Martinez is pissed when he’s pulled off his

current assignment to go rescue some marine in trouble. Rescuing
Bill turns out to be tougher than any undercover mission Angelo

ever went on. Besides the fact that Bill is gorgeous, the man
makes Angel reconsider his lonely lifestyle. And that makes Bill

just as dangerous as the drug lord hunting them.

When rescue comes for both of them, Angelo knows he has to find
the strength to give up the only man that ever made him think

about giving up his undercover work. And Bill has to find the
strength to let Angelo go, hoping that his guardian angel will find

his way home.

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary
Length: 36,659 words

MY GUARDIAN ANGELO

Special Operations 3

Stormy Glenn

EROTIC ROMANCE

MANLOVE

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

MY GUARDIAN ANGELO
Copyright © 2013 by Stormy Glenn
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-582-2

First E-book Publication: February 2013

Cover design by Harris Channing
All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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Letter to Readers

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MY GUARDIAN ANGELO

Special Operations 3

STORMY GLENN

Chapter 1

“Hi, gorgeous. Sorry I’m late. My car had a flat.”
Lieutenant William Patrick Harrison almost forgot where he was

as he stared at the sexy man that suddenly straddled his lap and leaned
in to brush their lips together. If it wasn’t for the snicker he heard
from one of the men sitting across the table from him, he would have
dumped the cute little guy right on his ass and demanded to know
what in the hell was going on.

He had never seen him before in his life.
“No problem,” Bill replied instead, fully aware of the fact that his

life would come to a very quick end if the men he sat with ever
learned who he really was or why he was really there. They were not
the forgiving sort. They’d gut him just to watch him bleed out on the
floor.

The stunning man in his lap grinned widely, showing off a

brilliant set of straight, white teeth, and then leaned in to plant a
another kiss on Bill’s lips. Bill was stunned. He didn’t even kiss the
man back because he was trying to figure out who in the hell he was.

The cute little guy with short, brownish-black hair moved his lips

up Bill’s jaw, nibbling along the way before licking at his earlobe.
“Angelo Martinez. DEA,” the man murmured in a sub-vocal tone, his

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warm breath tickling Bill’s ear. “Your cover is blown. I’m here to get
you out.”

Bill stiffened, tightening his hands on the man’s hips. He tried to

think of some way to converse with the man without being caught any
more than he already was. Unfortunately, he could only think of one
thing that would get him a few minutes alone with him.

“It’s been a few days since I’ve seen my angel.” Bill winked

knowingly at the men at the table, hoping that they would think he
was going off to the bathroom to get laid or at least fabulously sucked
off. It was the only excuse he could think of to get away from these
men without actually getting up and hauling ass. “We’ll be right
back.”

He didn’t even take the time to let Angelo down on his feet. Bill

merely lifted the man up in his arms and started walking him through
the club to the bathroom in the back. He knew Angelo was going
along with his plan when he felt the man’s legs wrap around his waist
and a loud, delighted giggle filled the air as they walked away.

The second he reached the bathroom and the door closed behind

them, Bill lowered Angelo onto his feet then looked into each of the
stalls to ensure that they were alone. Once he was sure, Bill crossed
his arms over his chest and turned to look at the Drug Enforcement
Administration agent sent to rescue him.

If he could have hand chosen a man to gain his attention, the

gorgeous little guy standing in front of him would have been at the
top of his list. Angelo Martinez was stunning, from the top of his
wavy espresso-colored hair to the bottom of his little feet.

His body was a little more on the thin side than Bill would have

liked, but it seemed to be all slick muscles and darkly tanned skin.
There was an exotic tilt to Angelo’s dark-brown eyes that hinted to
ancestry other than Central American—maybe Egyptian?

“I’m listening.”

My Guardian Angelo

Angelo stepped up and ran a hand down Bill’s chest then subtly

nodded his head toward the corner of the room near the ceiling. “Oh,
baby, don’t be like that. I got here as soon as I could.”

Bill’s eyes narrowed. He glanced to the corner of the ceiling

where Angelo had gestured and saw a small black circle in the white
plaster. Bill knew what it was without even getting a closer look.

Damn.
They were being monitored. Bill didn’t know if it was just video

or if there was audio as well, but he was taking no chances. He
plastered a smile on his face and curved his hand around the side of
Angelo’s face.

“You know I don’t like it when you’re late and don’t call me,”

Bill commented, choosing his words carefully. “It’s a big bad world
out there, Angel. I worry about you.”

Angelo’s lips came out in a pretty damn good imitation of a pout.

“I know, baby.” The agent started plucking at the collar of Bill’s shirt.
“But I can make it up to you.”

Bill felt his eyes widen when Angelo pushed him back toward one

of the stalls, but that was nothing compared to how big they got when
the man dropped to his knees and reached for the buttons on Bill’s
jeans.

Was he insane?
Bill dipped his head down and purposely glared at the man,

silently asking what he had just thought. When Angelo just grinned
and shoved his hands aside, Bill knew he was right in his assessment.
He didn’t know this man. There was no way he was letting Angelo
anywhere near his dick, DEA agent or not.

Angelo rolled his eyes and continued trying to get Bill’s pants

undone. Bill tried to fight him, keeping his hands tucked carefully
around his cock. He didn’t care how hard this little wrestling match
was making him.

Bill froze when he heard the bathroom door open. It gave Angelo

the chance to get his pants open and pull out his dick. Bill stiffened

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and glanced down, opening his mouth to snap at Angelo when two
things happened at once.

A head appeared over the top of the bathroom stall, and Angelo

engulfed Bill’s straining erection down to the root. All Bill could do
was groan as his cock was suddenly surrounded by hot, smooth
wetness. Then Angelo swallowed around him, causing Bill to groan
even louder.

The man hanging over the bathroom stall chuckled. “He looks like

he has lips that could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch, Billy.”

Bill recognized the voyeuristic male as one of the assholes from

his table. That wasn’t good. It meant he couldn’t get out of having his
dick sucked until the man left, and with the way that Angelo was
moving his mouth, Bill didn’t think he would last that long.

Angelo’s mouth was like magic. The wet slurping sounds of

Angelo’s lips sliding up and down his erection, sucking hard, made
Bill’s cock hard as steel. He pumped his hips toward Angelo’s
swollen lips, unable to help himself.

From the little glint of anger he could see in Angelo’s eyes, Bill

was going to get punched in the face the second they were alone. The
little man was a fucking wet dream come true as far as sucking cock.

It just might be worth the abuse.
Angelo was lapping at Bill’s cock as though it was an especially

tasty treat. He swirled his tongue around the entire shaft before
pressing the tip into the slit of the flared head. Bill groaned and
pushed his cock to the back of Angelo’s throat, waiting for the man’s
reflexive swallow to squeeze the sensitive tip before retreating and
pushing into his hot mouth again.

Who the hell knew a random blow job by an undercover agent

could set his damn blood to racing? Bill had to curb the urge to grab
Angelo’s head and fuck the man’s mouth to completion.

He was pretty sure the agent would do more than punch him if

Bill tried.

My Guardian Angelo

Angelo knelt in front of Bill, gripping his hips like an anchor. His

eyes were lit up, going from angry to sensuous one second to the next.
They smoldered with lust, which surprised the shit out of Bill
considering the situation.

Still, the sight of Angelo’s desire as he sucked Bill’s cock—as

much as the sensations he was feeling—was enough to push Bill over
the edge. Arching his back, Bill gritted his teeth as waves of ecstasy
throbbed through him. He gripped a handful of Angelo’s hair and
came, filling the guy’s mouth with his release.

“Fuck, man,” Lou said from over the stall. “Can I give him a try?

I’d like to fuck his sweet little ass.”

Before his cock could even finish pulsing, Bill reached over and

grabbed Lou around the throat, tightening his fingers until the man’s
face began to turn red. “Angel is mine,” he bellowed with outrage. “If
anyone touches him, they will have to deal with me. Is that
understood?”

Lou’s head bobbed as he tried to loosen Bill’s hand. Bill snarled at

the man and pushed him away, turning his gaze back down to the man
that knelt at his feet. He hoped Lou got the idea and left. He had some
serious apologizing to do.

Bill stroked his finger over Angelo’s lips. The man had been

handsome before, but knowing that Angelo’s lips were swollen
because he had just sucked him off made Angelo downright stunning
in Bill’s eyes.

“That was nice, baby.” Bill felt the corner of his mouth curve up

when Angelo glared at him, his dark chocolate-brown eyes promising
retribution the moment they were alone. He just might like this DEA
agent after all. He had spirit. “Thank you.”

“Maybe we can go home and you can thank me personally.”
Bill arched an eyebrow. He was pretty sure that wasn’t an

invitation to have sex, but an ass beating. “I’d like that.”

Bill felt a little strange as he tucked his spent cock back into his

pants. He could hear Lou breathing heavily as he stood outside the

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bathroom stall. Bill knew they were not out of the woods yet. They
still had to get out of the building with their lives.

Once Bill’s cock was safely tucked back into his pants, he reached

down to help Angelo to his feet. Before he could open the door,
Angelo reached behind him and came back with a gun, handing it to
Bill.

Bill nodded, quietly checked the magazine, then tucked the gun in

the waistband of his pants, pulling his shirt down over it. Knowing he
would probably not get another chance, Bill wrapped his hand around
the nape of Angelo’s neck and pulled the man in for a deep, hungry
kiss.

Angelo seemed momentarily surprised by the action, and then he

leaned into the kiss and returned it with such fervor that it made Bill
wonder if they would ever make it out of that damn bathroom stall.

The only thing going through his mind was locating the nearest

flat surface and finding out if Angelo’s ass was as sweet as it felt
beneath his hands. The agent groaned and rubbed against Bill’s thigh.

As nice as the sound was, it suddenly reminded Bill of where they

were. And who was waiting for them outside the stall. Bill almost
groaned himself when he lifted his head and saw the desire swirling in
Angelo’s brown eyes.

He surprised himself when he stroked his knuckles over Angelo’s

cheek. He wasn’t one to usually give in to tender moments, but
somehow, it just seemed right. “I’ll take care of you just as soon as
we get home, Angel.”

Angelo cocked an eyebrow at Bill that clearly said he thought Bill

was the one that had lost his mind. It slowly faded as an eager serene
look came over the man’s face. Bill didn’t know what either look
meant, but they both made him nervous. He knew nothing about
Angelo Martinez other than the fact that the man had a mouth made of
pure magic.

Bill’s eyebrows skyrocketed when Angelo practically climbed up

him like a tree. Before he knew it, the man was totally wrapped

My Guardian Angelo

around him, Angelo’s legs around his waist and his arms locked
around Bill’s neck.

“I’d like that, sweet cheeks.”
“Sweet cheeks?” Bill mouthed. This was payback for the angel

comment. He just knew it.

“I’ve been waiting to feel your cock pound my ass for days,

pumpkin.”

Bill narrowed his eyes at Angelo. Oh, now the man was just being

ridiculous. Bill had never been called pumpkin in his life. An easy
smile played at the corners of Angelo’s lips as he shrugged.

Bill shook his head in disbelief and opened the stall door. He

instantly stopped and stared at Lou. “Did you enjoy the show?”

Lou grinned but kept back several feet from Bill, rubbing his

throat as if he was afraid Bill would grab him again. “It wasn’t bad.
Maybe you can put on another one later. I’m sure Miguel would enjoy
it.”

“Miguel can find his own angel to play with,” Bill stated,

attempting to keep the confrontational pitch out of his tone. He didn’t
want to piss Lou off too much because he knew the man was armed.
But he had to establish the fact that he wasn’t sharing right from the
beginning or who knew what would happen to Angelo. Bill had seen
more than one person being passed around between the men he was
watching. “This one is mine.”

“Miguel may not like that, Billy.” The sudden seriousness in

Lou’s voice caught Bill’s attention. He could tell that it caught
Angelo’s attention as well when the man stiffened in his arms.

“I don’t fucking care,” Bill replied furiously, forgetting his earlier

resolve not to piss Lou off. “I don’t share my angel with anyone.” Bill
didn’t even like the way Lou’s eyes roamed over Angelo like the man
in his arms was eye candy just waiting to be eaten.

“I’m not sure Miguel will care what you won’t share,” Lou replied

in an even tone. “He seems just like Miguel’s type.”

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“Type?” Bill asked in confusion. “What type?” He had seen

Miguel with all manner of men and women in the small amount of
time he had been undercover. The man didn’t seem to have one
particular type.

Lou chuckled as he eyed Angelo again, and it wasn’t a pretty

sound. It sent shivers of dread down Bill’s spine. “Breathing.”

My Guardian Angelo

Chapter 2

Angelo knew this was a bad idea from the start. He knew it when

he had received the encrypted phone call from his supervisor giving
him instructions to go rescue some undercover agent that had gotten
his ass in a sling.

And damn if the man wasn’t in one hell of a bind.
The situation was going downhill at an alarming rate. From what

he was hearing, he was about to be put on display or offered up as the
main course to a drug lord—not how he had intended to spend his
evening.

Although, the blow job had been interesting—not what Angelo

had been expecting, but interesting nonetheless. Bill had a fantastic
cock. It was nice and long and just thick enough to make Angelo
whimper with need under regular circumstances.

These were not regular circumstances.
He was in the middle of drug lord hell. The little bar where he had

been told he could find Lieutenant William Harrison was smack-dab
in the middle of a small town in Central America where Miguel
Fernandez ran his drug operation. There were more armed men in the
bar and on the streets than unarmed men.

Angelo’s only directive was to get the lieutenant and get the hell

out of town as fast they could, by any means possible. Angelo was
pretty sure his supervisors did not intend for him to suck the guy off
in a bathroom stall when they gave that order. He had done it because
he knew they were being monitored and needed a way to get the gun
into Bill’s hands.

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That was the reason he kept repeating in his head anyway.

Sucking Bill’s dick had nothing to do with the fact that the gorgeous
man tripped every single one of Angelo’s sexual triggers.

Seriously.
He had seen better-looking men in his time.
He just couldn’t exactly remember when.
And right now, that didn’t matter. Chatter going out over the wire

had been picked up by headquarters that someone had discovered the
lieutenant’s true identity. As far as anyone back at headquarters knew,
Miguel didn’t have that information yet, but it wouldn’t be long
before he did. If Bill was in the vicinity when that happened, he
would be breathing through holes he wasn’t born with.

Their time was extremely limited. Angelo needed to devise a plan

to get them both out of the bar and out of town without anyone
discovering that Bill was undercover or that they were running for
their lives.

He just couldn’t think of one at the moment.
“Billy,” Angelo whined as he lifted his face from Bill’s neck and

looked at the guy. “Can we go now? I’m horny.”

It was a good thing that Bill was only undercover for this one

single assignment. He’d never make it as a full-time agent. The
surprise on his face as his eyebrows shot up was priceless but
shouldn’t have been there if they were lovers.

“Uh, yeah, Angel,” Bill replied slowly as if he couldn’t quite

believe the role Angelo was playing. “I just need to get my jacket and
we can be on our way.”

“Nice!” Angelo dropped his arms and legs like he had been

holding onto a live wire. The only thing that kept him from crashing
to the ground was the two very strong muscular arms locked around
his waist.

The hands on his ass didn’t hurt either.
Angelo grabbed Bill’s hand when the man let go of him and

turned to look at the muscle-bound thug standing between them and

My Guardian Angelo

the door. Angelo waved his hand in a shooing gesture. “Do you
mind?” he asked, his voice clipped.

Lou stared for a moment then slowly backed out of the way.
Angelo wasted no time. He walked out of the bathroom, tugging

Bill along behind him. Angelo quickly scanned the room as he made a
beeline for the table where Bill had been sitting. He’d say he didn’t
see any threats but only because no one had drawn a gun yet.

The threats were everywhere, and he knew it.
“Eager little thing, isn’t he?”
Angelo groaned, recognizing the voice behind him from

surveillance tapes he had watched. Miguel Fernandez, the one man
Angelo had hoped to avoid. He and Bill were so far up shit creek, a
navy battleship wouldn’t be able to save them.

“It’s been a few days, Miguel,” Bill replied flawlessly. “I haven’t

been able to see my angel since the last time I went to the city. He’s
always a little eager after so much time away from me.”

“That’s true.” Lou snickered from behind them.
Angelo wanted to clobber the guy.
A tall man in a dark-brown suit stepped in front of Angelo,

blocking his escape route. Angelo pressed back against Bill, hoping
the man came up with a different plan because his ideas were all
getting blown to smithereens.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever met your boy toy, Billy.”
Angelo cringed back when the man reached a hand out toward

him. He wasn’t squeamish by any means, but he knew exactly how
much blood had been spilled by a simple wave of that hand. He didn’t
want it anywhere near him.

“This is my angel.”
“Hmmm.” Miguel smirked as he continued to reach out and stroke

the side of Angelo’s face. “Yes, I can see where you get that name
from. He’s stunning. I’ll bet he can take you to heaven every time,
can’t he?”

Angelo’s stomach began to clench.

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This wasn’t going to end well.
He could just tell.
“Do you share?”
“No,” Bill growled, and while Angelo was thrilled at Bill’s denial,

he didn’t think it was such a good idea to piss off the lethal drug lord.

“That’s disappointing, Billy. I was hoping to see what he can do.”

Angelo barley kept from biting down on the thumb Miguel rubbed
across his lips. “His looks promise so much entertainment.”

“We were just heading out, Miguel.”
“Oh?” Miguel raised his eyes from Angelo and looked beyond

him to Bill.

“Like I said, it’s been a few days. We want to spend a little time

together.”

“I would never stand in the way of two love birds spending time

together,” Miguel replied smoothly.

Oh shit.
“Allow me to offer you one of my suites for your pleasure.”
Damn.
“No, that’s okay,” Bill answered. Angelo didn’t think it would do

them any good, not with the calculating glint he could see in Miguel’s
eyes. “We’re just going to go back to my motel room.”

“I insist.”
Well hell.
Angelo’s shoulders slumped. There was no way out of here now.

He could already see several men moving in to stand behind Miguel.
If either he or Bill refused the man’s kind offer, they’d probably get
shot. Well, Bill would get shot. Angelo was pretty sure he knew what
would happen to him. The thought made him shiver slightly in
revulsion. He’d rather get shot.

There was nothing else they could do but accept.
Angelo plastered a sugary smile on his face, one he certainly

wasn’t feeling, and turned to look at Bill over his shoulder. “Do you
hear that, baby?” Pure excitement filled his voice, and he knew it.

My Guardian Angelo

This was not his first undercover assignment. He knew how to put on
a show for an audience. “He has a room all ready for us. We don’t
have to wait until we get back to your hotel room.”

“Yeah.” Bill’s grin was stiff, but it was there. “Great.”
Something cautioned Angelo not to say anything more as he and

Bill were escorted out of the bar and down the street to a large gated
building. Angelo knew from the number of guards at the fence that
this was Miguel’s home base.

Angelo kept his hand clasped with Bill’s as he scanned the area

for security measures. The tan brick fence surrounding the property
was at least six feet high. There would be no jumping it.

Besides the fence, Angelo counted no less than ten cameras

monitoring the inside and outside of the compound. He was pretty
sure there were more that he couldn’t see, probably inside the house
as well.

Guards with dogs and automatic weapons patrolled the grounds,

and there were a shitload of them. There was no way Angelo could
see to escape the compound without getting his ass shot off.

Angelo and Bill were led inside the house and up to the second

floor. Miguel stopped by one of the doors down a long hallway and
smiled as he opened the door. “You should be more than comfortable
here.”

“Thank you.” Angelo smiled widely and put a little bounce into

his step as he walked into the room. Considering who Miguel
Fernandez was, he was in no way surprised when he found the room
furnished like a palace.

The first room was a small sitting room complete with marble

fireplace and double glass doors leading out onto a balcony. A black
leather sofa sat directly in front of the fireplace and a fancy black-
and-chrome wet bar stood just off to the side of the room.

“Oh, Billy, look at this place,” Angelo said as he spun around in

an exuberant twirl. “It’s much nicer than your motel room.” Like he

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had a clue what Bill’s motel room looked like. He’d never been there.
He didn’t have any intention of ever being there.

“Yes, Angel,” Bill replied. “It’s very nice.”
Just opposite of the balcony doors was another set of double

doors. Angelo could see a large bed just beyond them. As beds went,
it didn’t look like a bad one. It was huge for one, and Angelo was
pretty sure the bedding on it was of the highest quality.

Miguel Fernandez did like the finer things in life.
The man in question stood near the door when Angelo glanced at

him. His expression held a note of mockery as if he knew something
that they did not. Angelo prayed that it wasn’t Bill’s identity.

“If there is anything you require, just pick up the phone.”

Miguel’s eyes briefly flickered to a painting on the wall before they
came back to Angelo and Bill. He nodded to them and walked out of
the room.

Angelo knew before he even looked that they were being

monitored. He could feel it in his bones. He would have to guard his
own actions as well as Bill’s. Before Bill could say a word, and
possibly give them away, Angelo threw himself into Bill’s arms as
dramatically as he could manage without tripping over his own two
feet.

He was just lucky that Bill caught him.
“I missed you, Billy.” Angelo started peppering Bill’s face with

kisses as he worked his way back to the man’s ear. “Camera in the
painting,” he murmured. “Probably more around the entire suite. I’d
guess both video and audio feeds so be careful. Watch what you say
and do.”

The slight nod of Bill’s head told Angelo that his message had

been received.

Angelo leaned back and grinned at Bill. “Take me to bed?” he

asked louder.

My Guardian Angelo

Angelo’s jaw clenched when he felt Bill’s hands grab onto his ass

and give each cheek a squeeze. He was going to murder the man once
they got away—if they got away.

“Did you miss my big cock pounding into your tight little ass,

Angel?”

Angelo frowned, his eyes level under drawn brows. Was Bill

freaking serious? Did people really talk to each other like that during
sex? If the assholes watching them bought the show Angelo and Bill
were putting on, he’d be shocked. It was like verbal porn.

“Oh, yes, Billy. I don’t know how I lived without it.”
Bill tucked his lips in. Angelo could tell from the amusement

dancing in the man’s dark-brown eyes that he was trying his hardest
not to laugh. Angelo smiled sweetly—and that should have been
Bill’s first clue that he was in trouble—and reached back to yank on
the short hairs at the nape of Bill’s neck.

Bill’s eyes watered, but that was the only sign he gave that the

small gesture hurt. Okay, so Bill could pretend when he needed to.
That was good. It might keep them alive. Still, his verbal skills needed
a lot of work.

Angelo shot him a twisted smile before wiggling until the man let

him down. Once his feet were on the floor, Angelo turned and raced
for the bedroom, stripping his clothes from his body as he ran.

They were supposed to be so hot for each other that they couldn’t

wait to get back to their motel room. If anyone was watching, that was
what they needed to see.

When Bill walked into the bedroom, Angelo grabbed him and

started pulling his clothes off. If he was going to be able to see this
gorgeous man naked, he wished they weren’t being watched. Angelo
stripped Bill down to his jeans then pushed him back onto the
mattress.

He hoped Bill got the idea and hid the gun that was tucked in his

pants before the camera saw it. Once Bill scooted up to the top of the

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bed and pushed his hands behind his head, Angelo knew the gun was
safely hidden beneath the pillows.

Angelo knew he had a feral grin on his face as he climbed up onto

the bed and straddled Bill’s waist. He hoped it scared the hell out of
the man. Angelo wasn’t sure how this scene was going to play out,
but somebody was getting punched in the face.

Angelo’s money was on Bill.
If the iron pipe pressing up between Angelo’s ass cheeks was

anything to go by, Bill was enjoying this show just a little too much.
Angelo briefly wondered if he could get away with smacking the man
right in the mouth but then dismissed the idea. He doubted that
Miguel would buy that they were a BDSM couple—and that Angelo
was the top.

Angelo knew why he had been picked for this assignment.

Besides the fact that he was gay and could play a man’s lover with the
best of them, he was also considered a twink. God, he hated that word.
It insured that no one ever took him seriously.

People saw what they wanted to see—a short, sexy guy that had

sensuality down to an art form, a swagger in his hips, and lips that
could suck a golf ball through a hundred feet of garden hose. They
didn’t see the lethal predator in Angelo’s deep-brown eyes until it was
too late. And by then, they were usually lying on the floor—bleeding.

Angel had been recruited for the DEA right out of college. He had

been trained by the best, and over the last twelve years he had slowly
worked his way up the ranks until he reached his current level of
expertise. He was now considered one of his unit’s best undercover
men.

He had every intention of things staying that way, and no stupid

jarhead that thought he could play with the big boys was going to
mess it up for him. If Lieutenant William Patrick Harrison wasn’t
careful, he’d be the one lying on the floor in a bloody mess.

Angelo would make sure of it.

My Guardian Angelo

Angelo moved forward to rest his hands on Bill’s chest, then did a

double take. Damn, the marines knew how to build a guy from the
ground up. There was nothing but miles of tan rippled skin for the eye
to see—or the tongue to lick.

Angelo always believed torture was good for the soul. He grinned

evilly at Bill then leaned down to swipe his tongue across a large
expanse of glorious muscles. Holy mother of god, even Bill’s skin
tasted good.

“Angel, baby, um…” Bill’s tone was breathless and a little bit

needy. “Fuck!”

In one motion, Bill rolled Angelo under him, his hands stretching

Angelo’s arms out above his head, pinning Angelo beneath him. He
brushed his lips back and forth across Angelo’s mouth.

“I believe I owe you a blow job, Angel,” Bill whispered as his

teeth nipped at Angelo’s chin. Bill easily kept Angelo’s wrists pinned
to the mattress, brushing more kisses over Angelo’s eyelids and down
his cheek, back to the corner of his mouth. “And I always pay my
debts.”

Angelo tried to keep his breath steady as he worked his way

through the implications of Bill’s words. His heart went wild, and
blood rushed hot through his veins when he saw the lust burning in
Bill’s dark eyes.

A groan rose up in Angelo’s throat as arousal caught him in a

vicious grip and shook him hard when Bill claimed his lips in a
magnificent kiss filled with passion and desire and need. Angelo felt
the explosion of heat from Bill’s mouth to his so great that it singed
Angelo’s lips. His body, of its own accord, melted into Bill’s.

Bill’s hands roamed over Angelo’s body freely, as if they truly

were lovers, softly caressing him, arousing him, driving him to a fever
pitch. Bill took his time, his hands and mouth leisurely mapping
Angelo’s body.

Bill seemed to have a small obsession with Angelo’s nipples. His

tongue licked over Angelo’s nipple roughly, rasping Angelo’s flesh.

Stormy Glenn

Angelo arched against Bill, needing more. When Bill kissed his
nipple, tugged on it, and teased it with his fingers, Angelo thought he
might be able to come from that alone.

“Billy,” Angelo moaned when Bill’s lips moved from his nipples

to his abdomen. He felt Bill’s tongue encircle his belly button. He
swirled his tongue, drawing patterns along Angelo’s sensitive skin.
Angelo giggled at the soft lick of Bill’s lips against him. “That
tickles.”

Angelo felt Bill grin against his skin. Then Bill’s mouth moved

further down. Angelo’s breath caught in his throat as he waited for
Bill’s mouth to touch his hard cock. He waited and waited, then
begged.

His whole being seemed to be filled with waiting.
“Billy, please,” Angelo pleaded as he humped his hips toward

Bill, an anxious whine falling from his lips. He gritted his teeth when
Bill just chuckled at him.

A moment later he felt Bill’s wet tongue lap against his pelvic

bone. Bill wanted to torture him. Angelo just knew it. He would drive
Angelo out of his ever-loving mind until he was a pile of goo.

Bill was well on his way to doing just that.
Angelo could almost feel the very air around him moving over his

sensitive skin. He felt flushed, hot, and needy. Angelo groaned. His
hands clenched in Bill’s dark-brown hair. He tried to direct Bill to his
aching cock. Bill just stuck out his tongue and licked Angelo’s balls
then took each one into his mouth and sucked them one by one.

“Billy!” Angelo growled in frustration. Fire raced through

Angelo’s body, melting him from the inside out

“Patience, Angel,” Bill replied. His extraordinary brown eyes

blazed and glowed as he glanced up and met Angel’s gaze. “You’ll
enjoy this. I promise.”

Angelo considered it, but he really, really wanted to feel Bill’s lips

wrapped around his cock. He knew it would take him right where he
needed to go. On the other hand, Bill seemed to have a wicked

My Guardian Angelo

imagination. Angelo knew that whatever Bill planned for him would
blow his mind. He just wasn’t sure he could wait that long. He already
felt way past needy.

“I…Billy, I…” Angelo stammered.
“Trust me, Angel,” Bill said as he stroked his fingers along the

sensitive skin of Angelo’s thighs.

Angelo closed his eyes. He took several deep breaths to hold back

the orgasm he could feel creeping up his body. His body trembled for
a moment then he let the air in his lungs slowly release.

“Okay,” he whispered.
Warm breath blew across his balls until they drew up close to his

body. Angelo started panting. He didn’t know what Bill would do
next, and it drove him crazy. His heartbeat throbbed in his ears as he
waited for Bill’s next move. He just wished the man would hurry the
hell up. Angelo was about to go out of his mind.

“Ahh,” Angelo cried out when Bill gave Angelo his wish. He

wrapped his lips around Angelo’s cock. Angelo’s body shook and
undulated against Bill’s larger form. Red-hot need rushed through his
body like a tidal wave and crashed together in his cock.

Angelo’s body stiffened as Bill’s mouth sank down on his cock.

Bill swallowed it until Angelo felt the man’s nose brush against his
short, curly hairs right before Bill began to move his mouth along
Angelo’s hard length. Angelo couldn’t believe the hotness he felt, the
exquisite pleasure.

He’d felt heaven, and he could die now.
When Bill’s fingers breeched his ass, Angelo started to moan. He

didn’t know whether to push up into Bill’s mouth or down onto Bill’s
fingers. Bill solved that problem for him by pressing his fingers into
Angelo’s ass at the same time he swallowed his cock.

It let Angelo concentrate on the incredible pleasure coursing

through his body. His balls drew up tight against his body, and he
knew it wouldn’t be long. Using his hand to push his hair back,

Stormy Glenn

Angelo watched Bill as the man moved his head back up and down
the hard length of Angelo’s cock. It was an alluring sight.

“Oh, Billy, gonna…” Angelo cried out as a heavy pressure built in

his balls. It moved up to the base of his cock then erupted out the top
as Angelo found his release. Angelo shouted as he came, flooding
Bill’s mouth and throat with hot, salty liquid. Bill sucked down every
last drop until Angelo melted into the mattress.

When Bill lifted his head, Angelo stared at him a little dazzled,

uncertain what to think or even how to think. Bill just stared down at
him with unwavering eyes, his face giving away nothing of what the
man was thinking.

“Billy?”

My Guardian Angelo

Chapter 3

Bill tried to pour all of his desire into the heated look that passed

between them. Neither of them broke the contact as Bill shoved his
jeans down off his legs. He pushed Angelo’s legs apart with his knees
and scooted between them. Bill kept his eyes locked with Angelo’s as
he hooked the man’s legs over his arms and pushed his cock deep into
Angelo’s ass.

Bill was frightened by his sudden need for a man he just met, a

need so deep that it was overpowering. His heart skidded to a halt and
then began to pound erratically when he saw Angelo peering intently
up at him, his pupils dark pools, mesmerizing and endless. The look
on Angelo’s face made Bill’s heart squeeze.

He could smell Angelo’s intoxicating scent, that faint masculine

smell that was all strong male and dangerous predator. Angelo’s legs
tightened around Bill’s hips, grinding against him. Bill was breathing
hard, his skin sensitive. The rasp of the Angelo’s fine hairs on his
body, caressing him, was nearly driving him mad.

Bill covered Angelo’s body with his own and thrust in and out of

his ass, long and slow, never moving too fast or too slow. A good,
hard fuck was great, fabulous even, but something told Bill he needed
to go slower this time. He needed to take more care with the gorgeous
man beneath him

“You feel so damn good, Angel.”
Everything about sex with Angelo felt good—damn good—the

way his chocolate-brown eyes sparkled with lust, the feel of his silky
skin, and the needy little sounds that fell from his plush lips. It was all
engineered to drive Bill crazy.

Stormy Glenn

Bill pumped his hips, slowly driving his cock in and out of

Angelo’s ass. Angelo’s hands gripped Bill’s back, his fingers
clenching and unclenching on his slick skin. His breathing quickened
and his moans grew in volume.

Bill pulled back until the tip of his cock was just about to slip out

of Angelo’s tight ring of muscles and then slammed forward, burying
his cock as deep as it would go. The headboard slammed against the
wall repeatedly as Bill began to move faster, pounding into Angelo’s
ass.

Wanting the angle to be just right, Bill grabbed Angelo’s hips and

lifted him up to meet his thrusts. He could feel the corded muscles in
his neck go tight as Angelo’s cries turned into one long, continuous
groan.

Snaking a hand between their bodies, Bill grabbed Angelo’s cock

and gripped it in a tight fist. Angelo held his breath as his body went
rigid. His ass clamped down onto Bill’s cock like a vise, and he thrust
up into Bill’s hand.

“Fuck, Billy!” Angelo grunted between gritted teeth. “Gonna…”
Angelo suddenly stiffened. Bill saw his hands clench, and then

Angelo cried out as he filled the space between their bodies. Bill’s
whole world centered on the silky muscles tightening around his cock
as Angelo climaxed. Bill shoved hard into Angelo’s ass as his body
started to tremble.

His hands tightened their grip on Angelo’s hips and he thrust

erratically as he shot his load deep inside Angelo, barely aware of
Angelo’s body trembling beneath him. Bill was pulsing, erupting,
dragging air into his lungs as the pleasure sweeping through him
seemed to never end.

He collapsed against Angelo. When Bill finally got his breathing

under control, he lifted his head and looked down at the man that had
just rocked his world. Angelo’s eyes were closed, his mouth slightly
parted, his face flushed with fading desire.

It was a good look on the man.

My Guardian Angelo

Angelo had just given him the most intense sexual experience of

his life, and he didn’t even know anything about the man. He couldn’t
even ask, not when they were under the watchful eyes of a monster.
But he could express his appreciation and show Angelo that what had
just happened between the two of them meant more than a mindless
fuck.

“Thank you, Angel,” Bill whispered reverently. His eyes clung to

Angelo’s face, analyzing his reaction. Angelo’s eyes opened slowly
and roamed over Bill’s face as if searching for something, but damned
if Bill knew what it was.

Bill held his breath when Angelo opened his mouth to speak,

waiting for his response. But before Angelo could say anything, the
bedroom doors crashed open. Bill rolled over to see what the hell was
going on only to be grabbed and dragged from the bed.

He could hear Angelo shouting, but the fists slamming into his

body kept him from finding out what was happening with the man. It
was all Bill could do to keep his head covered as he tried to fight off
the blows pounding into him.

Bill grunted when he was forced down onto the floor. Pain flared

in his shoulders as his arms were forced behind his back and
something was tied around his wrists and ankles. The man that held
him suddenly let him go and started to walk away, but not before one
of them kicked Bill in the ribs.

Bill panted through the pain as he turned his head, desperately

searching for Angelo. He caught a glimpse of Angelo’s naked
backside just as he was carried out of the room and the door slammed
shut behind him.

Bill growled as he gritted his teeth and yanked on the bonds

restraining his wrists and ankles. His fear for what might happen to
Angelo overrode his fear of his own danger. He knew his cover had
been blown and Miguel would find out at any moment, but what that
disgusting monster could do to Angelo in the meantime was worse
than anything he would do to Bill.

Stormy Glenn

Bill needed to get free. He needed to get to Angelo. And then the

two of them needed to get the hell out of there. Whatever information
Bill thought he might be able to get from Miguel and his goons on
Harley’s whereabouts paled in comparison to letting Miguel put his
grimy hands on Angelo.

Bill took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Nothing

good would come of him losing his temper. He needed to think. Bill
blew out his breath then felt around whatever was tied around his
wrists.

It didn’t take him more than a few seconds to figure out that he

was restrained with a plastic zip-tie. They were almost impossible to
break free from, but they could be cut. Bill rolled over onto his back
and scanned he room for something he could use to cut the ties. His
eyes landed on a fancy black-and-chrome wet bar in the sitting room.

A wet bar might mean a knife.
Now, he just had to figure out how to get there. Bill decided

rolling to his destination was his best choice. It didn’t exactly feel
good every time he rolled over his hands, and he had to stop several
times and change directions, but after about five minutes, he was at
the bottom of the wet bar.

Bill laid flat on his back and clenched his jaw. His stomach

muscles, still sore from having fists rammed into them, ached in
protest as he sat straight up. Bill wiggled around until his back was up
against the wet bar then used his legs to push himself up to his feet.

Once he was on his feet, Bill hopped around to the other side of

the bar. Under the countertop, he could see several drawers and a
shelf full of alcohol and glasses. Bill turned around and grabbed the
top drawer and pulled it open.

“Yes!” he hissed when he turned back around and saw a small

knife nestled in the drawer along with a corkscrew, zest shredder, and
can opener. He could say one thing about Miguel Fernandez—the
man did know how to outfit a guestroom.

The dumbass.

My Guardian Angelo

Bill dug around in the drawer until his fingers closed over the

handle of the knife. He grabbed it and flipped it upside down. Bill
closed his eyes and breathed in deep and let it out slowly, then opened
his eyes and began slicing the sharp blade over the plastic ties around
his wrists.

When the plastic ties suddenly gave way, Bill cried out, the knife

cutting into his hand. He quickly brought his hand around and sucked
the blood off his palm. It wasn’t bleeding heavily and wouldn’t even
need stitches, but damn, it stung.

Bill dropped down to the floor and quickly sliced through the hard

strip of plastic wrapped around his ankles. He grabbed both ties and
tossed them into the drawer before closing it. It wouldn’t hide them
forever, but it wouldn’t leave them out lying around for anyone
walking into the room to see either.

The longer he could hide, the better.
Bill kept the knife with him as he hurried back to the bedroom for

his clothes and the gun he had shoved under the pillow. He was just
glad that the room hadn’t been searched when Miguel and his goons
came in to get Angelo.

Bill dressed then tucked the gun into the waistband of his jeans.

He kept the knife in his hand as he grabbed Angelo’s clothes and
shoved them into a pillowcase then headed for the bedroom door.

Bill knew he was being monitored. Whoever was watching him

either didn’t care, hadn’t had time to report his sudden freedom, or
they weren’t doing their duty. Whatever the case may have been, Bill
knew he didn’t have long before people came looking for him.

He needed to find Angelo as soon as possible.
Bill listened at the door then slowly cracked it open when he

didn’t hear anything. When he saw the deserted hallway, he slid out
of the bedroom, locking the door from the inside, and started down
the empty corridor. He had absolutely no idea where to look for
Angelo or even where to start his search.

Stormy Glenn

He had been trying to get an invitation into Miguel’s compound

since the moment he met the man. He was positive that Miguel knew
the location of Lieutenant Harland Thomas, Bill’s unit commander
and the man Bill had been searching for over the last ten months, ever
since he disappeared during a mission that had gone horribly wrong.

It was the only reason he would have anything to do with a slime

ball like Miguel Fernandez. The guy was scum. He would sell his
mother for a dollar if he thought he could make a profit off of it.

Miguel was elbows deep in every illegal operation in Central

America. He ran drugs, prostitution rings, car theft rings, transported
illegal immigrants for forced labor, gun running, and there were even
rumors that he was involved in several bombings in Mexico City.

The man was just plain born bad. He had no conscience, which

was why Bill was so concerned with what might be happening with
Angelo at that very moment. He had seen the desire burning in
Miguel’s eyes when the man looked at Angelo, and he knew what it
meant.

Miguel took what he wanted, no matter what anyone else said.

Those that denied him ended up dead. Those that gave in usually
ended up dead as well, but not before they were tortured until they
prayed for the end to come.

And, apparently, Miguel wanted Angelo.
The first couple of rooms that Bill searched were empty. Bill

knew that his luck wouldn’t last forever. Eventually, he would find a
room that had someone in it. He was just praying that that someone
was Angelo.

The end of the corridor crossed with another one. It was at the

opposite end from the stairs where they had come up so he hoped that
meant he was getting closer to wherever Miguel had taken Angelo.

He quickly peeked around the corner then silently groaned when

he spotted a man leaning up against the wall near a door at the very
end of the hallway. If there was a guard, then he was definitely getting
closer to his goal.

My Guardian Angelo

Bill squatted down then peered around the corner again. The

guard looked bored. He didn’t even have his gun at the ready. He had
a book in his hand and was obviously engrossed in what he was
reading if the frown creasing his forehead was anything to go by.

A goon that could read.
Who knew?
Unfortunately, the way the man was leaning against the wall, he

would see Bill the second he came around the corner. Bill would have
to figure out some way to get the guard to come to him.

Bill leaned back against the wall and glanced back down the

hallway. There were a few really gaudy pictures hanging on the walls,
some potted plants, and a side table with a lamp and a vase of fresh
flowers.

That wasn’t much to work with.
Bill stood up and headed for one of the paintings. He carefully

pulled it off the wall then stepped back to the room he had just
cleared. Bill opened the door then tossed the painting at the vase of
flowers. As soon as the painting left his hand, Bill backed into the
room and stepped behind the door, leaving it open.

He heard a loud crash as the painting knocked the vase over,

breaking it. A moment later, he heard someone come down the
hallway. Bill just hoped it was the right someone. Bill waited, holding
his breath, anticipation sweeping through him like a drug.

The door creaked as it was pushed in just a little more. A flash of

color passed by the crack between the door and the frame. Bill
gripped the knife in his hand and waited for the guard to walk far
enough forward that he could close the door.

Once he did, Bill pushed the door closed and jumped the guy

before he could react or turn around. Bill covered the guard’s mouth
with one hand as he pulled the man’s head back. He sliced the knife
blade across the man’s throat with the other hand.

Stormy Glenn

Bill didn’t like killing, but there were some circumstances where

it was warranted, especially when dealing with scumbags. Being a
guard for a drug lord put the man firmly in the scumbag category.

When the guard’s body slumped, Bill dragged him over to the

closet and dumped him inside, shutting the door. Since Bill had killed
the guard from behind, he didn’t have blood on him other than his
hands and arms. That was easily washed off.

But there was a large bloodstain on the carpet. Bill grabbed the

floor rug and pulled it over to cover the stain then went to the
bathroom to wash the blood off. He needed to hide the signs of his
freedom as long as he possibly could. A dead guard and a man
walking around with blood on him wouldn’t help.

Once he was all cleaned up, Bill stepped back into the hallway

and closed the door behind him, locking it just as he had locked the
other room. He peeked around the corner again just to make sure
another guard hadn’t taken the first guard’s place.

Seeing that the coast was clear, Bill quickly walked down the

corridor to the lone door at the end. He pressed his ear against the
door and listened. When he didn’t hear anything from inside the
room, his heart began to sink.

Maybe this wasn’t the right room.
Knowing he had to search every room until he found Angelo, Bill

slowly turned the handle and pushed the door open. He scanned the
room in a single glance and then stepped inside.

The sudden click of a gun being cocked took Bill aback, but no

more than the feeling of cold metal coming to rest against his temple.
Bill felt a wave of cold sweep his skin. He was going to die and
before he had a chance to tell Angelo that he wanted to get to know
him better.

“For marine special forces, you sure do make a lot of noise.”
“Angelo,” Bill whispered on a broken breath of relief.
He turned his head to see Angelo standing beside the doorway, his

body pressed back against the wall—his very naked body. He took a

My Guardian Angelo

step toward Angelo, towering over the smaller man as he looked his
fill then reluctantly held out the pillowcase with Angelo’s clothes.

“I thought you might want these.” After handing the bag to

Angelo, Bill looked around the empty bedroom. “Where’s Miguel?”

Angelo snorted and gestured with his head to the far side of the

room as he dug into the pillowcase and pulled out his clothes.
“Behind the couch.”

“Behind the couch?” Bill had to pick his jaw up off the ground

when Angelo nodded with a lift of his chin and winked, flashing him
a mischievous smile. Despite their dire situation, it made Bill want to
smile. “And why is he behind the couch?”

“The asshole thought he could touch me without my permission. I

showed him how wrong he was.”

Bill frowned as he glanced at the brown leather sofa on the far

side of the room. It was pulled out a little ways from the wall but no
one would know it if they didn’t really look. Curious, Bill walked
across the room to look.

Sure enough, the infamous drug lord, Miguel Fernandez, was laid

out cold behind the couch—naked. He also had a bruise darkening his
left temple, dried blood on his fat lip, and several scratches down the
side of his face.

Bill had no real idea what had happened, but he could figure it out

from Miguel’s state of undress. Miguel had tried to take something
that didn’t belong to him, and he had unleashed a hellcat.

“Did you kill him?”
“No,” Angelo replied casually as he dressed, “but he’s going to

wish that I had when he wakes up.”

Bill cocked an eyebrow as he glanced at Angelo over his shoulder,

his curiosity exploding. “Oh?”

“You know those little plastic ties that they used to tie you up?”
Bill swallowed hard at the evil glint that sparkled in Angelo’s

eyes. He had the sudden feeling that Angelo Martinez was not a man
to piss off. “Yeah?”

Stormy Glenn

“I used one on his nuts.”
“Oh shit!” That was not only going to hurt like hell by the time

Miguel got the zip-tie cut off his nuts, it was going to leave one hell
of a mark. Bill’s balls ached in sympathy, but not too much. Miguel
deserved that and worse.

Angelo shrugged like it was no big deal. “He shouldn’t have

touched me.”

Bill had a sudden urge to cover his own nuts. Angelo must have

seen his reaction in his face because the man chuckled deeply,
sending Bill another wink.

“Don’t worry, soldier boy.” Angelo’s mouth twisted wryly. “If I

hadn’t wanted you to touch me, you wouldn’t have.”

Okay, then.
“Any idea how we’re going to get out of here?”
“Yep.”
Bill waited for Angelo to explain his plan, but the man just

finished dressing. After a long moment of silence, Bill rubbed the
back of his neck, wondering if he was about to have his head handed
to him.

“Uh, want to share with the rest of the class?”
“We’re going to drive out the front gate.”
Bill’s jaw dropped. He marched over to the window and parted

the curtain, curious if he and Angelo were talking about the same
gate. He waved his hand toward the window when he only saw one
gate leading out of the place. “That gate?”

“Yep.”
“And how exactly do you expect us to do this? Magic?” Bill

asked, his mind flooding with doubts about Angelo’s sanity. There
was no way that they could just drive out the front gate. They’d be
killed before they got ten feet.

“Are you saying you don’t trust me?” Angelo challenged.
Bill kept his features deliberately neutral as he tried to decide just

how to answer Angelo. Considering what had happened between

My Guardian Angelo

them in the short amount of time that they had known each other—
which was all of about three hours—one wrong word and he could be
in a lot of trouble.

“I am not saying I don’t trust you,” Bill replied delicately, “but I

only see one gate out there and it’s heavily guarded. Now, I know
DEA agents are good, but even that might take a miracle.”

“Behold, your miracle.” Angelo smirked as he held up a set of

keys.

“Keys?”
“Miguel offered to give me one of his cars if I gave up my ass

without a fight. Apparently, he has several downstairs in the garage.
He was kind enough to explain to me how special they are in the
hopes that I’d agree to his little bribe. For instance, they are all
bulletproof and have tinted windows.”

“Damn.” Bill chuckled despite the haughty look on Angelo’s face

that warned him to be very careful with his words. “Brains and a great
ass. You’re really the total package, aren’t you, baby?”

“You’re damn right, I am.”

Stormy Glenn

Chapter 4

After locking the bedroom door, Angelo led Bill back down the

hallway. Instead of turning down the way they had originally come,
he walked to the opposite end of the hallway from Miguel’s room.

“How did you know about these?” Bill whispered when they

reached a set of stairs going down.

“I ran in this direction when I tried to escape when Miguel was

dragging me off to his room. He caught me before I could get away,
but I spotted these stairs before he grabbed me. Since they only go
down, I figure they might lead us to the garage.”

It was as good a theory as any other.
And it was the only one that Angelo had at the moment. He’d

never admit it to Bill, but he was kind of winging it. He was pretty
damn sure that they wouldn’t make it two feet out of the garage—
assuming they even made it as far as the garage.

He just wasn’t willing to admit defeat. He never was. His mother

always told him it was a flaw in his character. He was too stubborn
for his own good. He refused to give up on anything until he had
worked it from every angle and come up with a solution.

That inability to give up had taken Angelo from the gritty, gang-

infested streets of Los Angeles to getting a college scholarship to
UCLA, and then to a coveted spot in the Drug Enforcement
Administration’s undercover unit.

It got him through many a night spent bent over a desk working

on homework, when he didn’t always understand the material due to
the language barrier, and past the prejudices he encountered due to his

My Guardian Angelo

Hispanic heritage. It had even gotten him over the death of his lover,
another DEA agent that had died in the line of duty.

Angelo could only hope that it helped get him out of Miguel

Fernandez’s fortress with his head still attached to his shoulders. At
the moment, it wasn’t looking too good.

Angelo crept quietly down the stairs. He could feel the warmth

from Bill’s body as the man followed closely behind him. Another
thing he wasn’t ready to admit—how much he wanted to feel that
warmth pressed up close against him again.

The blow job back at Miguel’s club had been more about staying

alive and less about sex. The blow job back in the guestroom could be
explained in the same manner. But what had followed after that
couldn’t be explained away quite so easily, and Angelo knew it. He
had nothing to explain why he had allowed the sexy marine to have
his ass.

Not one damn thing.
Well, there was the whole sexy thing, but Angelo had met a lot of

sexy men in his time. He had even met men that were sexier than
Bill—maybe. But he had always been able to resist them, to resist
temptation.

Why was Lieutenant William Patrick Harrison different? Sure, the

man had muscles to spare, and Angelo had always been a sucker for a
well-developed body. He just tended to steer clear of men that might
be detrimental to his career and Bill had trouble written all over him.

Over every last glorious inch of him.
Angelo groaned silently, desperately wanting a really big drink.

Sleeping with Bill was probably one of the dumbest moves he had
made since he foolishly gave his virginity to the quarterback of his
high school, only to be dumped the very next morning.

He just didn’t make mistakes like this. He was methodical,

someone that could think quickly on his feet and act even quicker. He
didn’t give in to his raging libido because he had a gorgeous man
panting after him.

Stormy Glenn

Angelo came to a slow stop when he reached the bottom of the

stairs. The staircase they had come down was narrow and steep.
Angelo was pretty sure it was meant to be a servant’s passageway. It
didn’t have the grand opulence of the marble staircase in the main
entrance of the house.

His biggest clue was the fact that it opened up right into a large

hallway. From the noise and smells coming from the left side of the
hallway, Angelo was pretty sure that direction led to the kitchen. He
went right, hoping it would lead him to the garage.

Angelo kept close to the wall as he moved down the hallway. He

had to give it to Bill. The man was well trained. He followed
Angelo’s every step, not making a sound. He didn’t even breath
heavy, and Angelo was well acquainted with what the man sounded
like when he breathed heavy.

He was pretty sure he’d never forget it. The sight of Bill in the

throes of passion, his face flushed and taut, his lip curled back, his
deep groans filling the air as he pounded into Angelo’s ass, would
forever be burned into Angelo’s memory.

Angelo started to think they might actually have a chance to

escape when they reached the three doors at the end of the hallway
and didn’t encounter any of the enemy. His breath caught in his throat
when the door in front of him suddenly opened and he found himself
looking down the barrel of a very lethal-looking gun.

“Hands in the air,” the soldier holding the gun snarled.
Before Angelo could lift his hands in the air or even contemplate

kissing his ass good-bye, Bill reached out and jammed his hand into
the soldier’s throat, crushing the man’s windpipe with a single blow.

Bill caught the soldier before he could hit the floor and alert

anyone else to their presence. “Find me someplace to hide this
asshole.”

Angelo reached for the closest door, opening it slowly. He was

relieved to find a small storage room. He held the door open while
Bill dragged the body inside then closed it behind them.

My Guardian Angelo

He smirked when they both squatted down and started searching

the dead soldier. Apparently, Bill wasn’t just another pretty face. He
had some brains behind those pretty brown eyes.

“Radio,” Bill said as he held the small black communications

device up, “two extra ammo clips, wallet, and fifty-three dollars in
cash.”

“I say take it all,” Angelo said as he checked the gun the soldier

had held on him then tucked it into the waistband of his pants. “You
never know what might be useful or not.”

“Right.” Bill slid the cash into his front pocket then tucked the

wallet into his back pocket. He held the ammo clips out to Angelo.
“You might need these.”

Angelo nodded as he took the clips and tucked them away in his

back pocket. “It wouldn’t hurt if we picked up some forty caliber
ammo somewhere along the way. The clip on the gun I handed you
only holds fifteen rounds.”

Bill chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Angelo grinned. He was starting to really like this guy. Bill didn’t

crumble under pressure, and he remained calm when the shit hit the
fan. He also seemed to make split-second decisions, one of which had
just saved his life.

“Thanks for…” Angelo nodded to the dead body on the floor

between them. It wasn’t often that he said thank you to someone. He
had a hard time doing it now, but the situation definitely warranted it.

“Yeah, well, I figure I owed you.” Bill pushed himself to his feet

and slowly scanned the small room they were in. There was a pensive
look of hesitation on his face. Angelo had no idea what it meant.
“You wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for me.”

Angelo snorted as he stood. “Yeah, I probably would be. I’ve

been working undercover for a lot of years. There’s always a chance
of my cover being blown. If it wasn’t this mission, it would have been
another.”

“Well, you do undercover very well.”

Stormy Glenn

The wink that Bill sent in his direction was more sensual than

amused. For the first time in more years than he could remember,
Angelo felt his face flush. He felt pretty sure that Bill wasn’t referring
to Angelo’s ability to pretend to be someone he wasn’t.

“Do they teach that back in undercover agent school?”
“Uh…no.” Angelo nervously rubbed the back of his neck,

uncomfortable with this whole conversation. From the soft glow of
lust burning in Bill’s brown eyes, Angelo had no doubt what the man
was referring to. “That was definitely not in the training manual.”

“Too bad.” The arousal in Bill’s eyes scorched Angelo’s skin as

the man looked him up and down. “You could teach the damn class.”

There was some delight in knowing Bill had been so pleased with

what had occurred between them, and as much as Angelo wanted to
wallow in that slight rub to his ego, he knew that they still had to
make it out of the compound alive.

“Maybe we can discuss the curriculum later?” Angelo asked,

trying to divert the conversation pretty much anywhere else.

“I’d love to.” Bill grinned and rocked back on his heels. “I’ve

been told I’m a very apt student.”

“Let’s go!” Angelo snarled, curling back his lip. He really didn’t

want to hear about Bill’s former lovers. And he didn’t have a clue
why the thought of Bill being with someone else bothered him. He
shouldn’t care that Bill seemed so easy with his body. It was none of
his damn business.

Before Angelo could turn away, Bill’s hand snaked out and

wrapped around his neck, drawing him closer. Bill’s lips slammed
down on Angelo’s with a kiss that was so scorching Angelo was
pretty sure sparks ignited between them.

Angelo groaned as he leaned into the kiss, his heart thundering in

his chest. Blood rushed through his system, flushing his body with a
hunger that Angelo wasn’t certain would ever be assuaged.

By the time Bill lifted his head, Angelo was panting heavily, his

head dazed and his body aching. He blinked rapidly, trying to rid his

My Guardian Angelo

vision of the spots dancing in front of his eyes. He licked his lips, his
eyes dropping to Bill’s mouth.

Did they teach kissing like a god in the marines?
“We need to go,” Angelo whispered after a moment, turning

toward the door. They needed to go, and Angelo needed to get his
mind out of the gutter and off the sexy lieutenant before he did
something he would really regret—like beg.

“I’m right behind you, Angel.”
Angelo’s head snapped around. He held a threatening finger up to

Bill. “My name is Angelo.”

“Right. I knew that”—Bill’s brilliant white teeth flashed as he

grinned—“Angel.”

“I’m not going to hurt him. I’m not going to hurt him,” was

Angelo’s mumbled mantra as he carefully opened the door and
peeked out into the hallway. When he found it empty, he slid out and
headed for the door the soldier had originally come through.

Thankfully, that door revealed their destination. Angelo never

thought he’d be so happy to see a bunch of fancy cars in his life. He
scanned the garage, looking at each vehicle for its potential as an
escape vehicle as he waited for Bill to get into the garage and close
the door.

Angelo dismissed the red convertible Cadillac. While it was nice

enough, the ragtop wouldn’t keep bullets out. The gold-colored
Escalade was also dismissed. It would stand out like a beacon.

“That one.”
Angelo glanced toward the end of the line of cars to the vehicle

Bill was pointing at. He grinned as he started making his way across
the garage. “Nice choice.”

The vehicle Bill had pointed out was an older model black Dodge

Ram 1500 Quad Cab with a lift kit, four-wheel drive, and a 395-HP
5.7L Hemi V8 engine. And if what Miguel had told him was right, the
damn thing was bulletproof.

Stormy Glenn

Angelo tossed the keys to Bill when they reached the truck. “You

drive, I’ll shoot.”

Bill cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t want to drive?” He asked it

like the thought was alien to him.

Angelo chuckled as he shook his head. “I’m a better shot than

you.”

“You do realize I’m a lieutenant in the Marine Special Forces,

right? I’m second-in-command of my unit. I was practically raised
with a gun in my hand, and I’ve been driving since I was twelve.”

“Good.” Angelo smirked, knowing he was about to piss off the

gorgeous man standing in front of him. “Then you should have no
problem driving this truck.”

Angelo had the satisfaction of watching Bill’s mouth drop open in

astonishment before he climbed into the passenger side of the cab. A
moment later, the driver’s side door opened, and Bill climbed in.

“One of these days, Angel…”
“What? You’re going to hit me?”
“No.” There was a steel edge of promise in Bill’s eyes when he

settled them on Angelo. “I’m going to paddle your ass.”

“You and what army?” Angelo snorted, refusing to admit how

much the idea intrigued him, or how hard his cock got at the thought
of Bill’s hand coming down on his ass. He’d rather have his teeth
pulled out with rusty pliers.

Bill’s wicked leer did not reassure him. “My army.”
Angelo swallowed nervously as he looked straight ahead. “Just

drive, soldier.”

“Sir, yes, sir.”
Angelo rolled his eyes as Bill started the truck. He let out an

exasperated sigh but couldn’t keep his lips from twitching as they
threatened to spread into a huge smile. Lieutenant Harrison really did
amuse him.

My Guardian Angelo

“Here,” Bill said as he pulled the gun out of the waistband of his

pants and set it on the seat between them. “You might need this more
than I do.”

Angelo nodded as he pulled out his own gun. He did a quick

ammo check then slid Bill’s gun under his leg so it wouldn’t slide
onto the floor. “Considering the windows on this damn thing are
tinted, I’m hoping we can get as far as the gate before we have to start
shooting. We have limited ammo, so the second you hear a shot, hit
the gas.”

“Got it.”
Angelo’s fingers tightened around the gun in his hand as Bill hit

the automatic door opener for the garage. The door rolled up so
slowly, Angelo felt like screaming in frustration. At this rate, they’d
be discovered before they even got out of the garage.

“Get ready,” Bill said as the door finished opening and he started

driving out of the garage.

Angelo’s nerve endings tingled as anticipation skated along his

skin. They were in the middle of enemy territory. Even if they made it
through the gate, they still had to get out of town, and their progress
wasn’t looking so good. Angelo could see several soldiers staring
intently at the truck as they drove past.

“Gate coming up.”
Angelo seriously wanted to roll his eyes at Bill’s comment. It

wasn’t like he couldn’t see the large iron gate looming ahead of them.
He didn’t know why Bill felt the need to point it out.

“Two hostiles at our nine o’clock, one at our three.”
Angelo glanced left and then right. Bill was right. Two heavily

armed soldiers stood off to their left and one stood off to their right.

“Left flank, on the roof.”
“Fuck.” A sandbox with a machine gun had been set up on the

roof of the gatehouse. “This damn thing might be bulletproof but even
I have doubts about it getting through a machine gun.”

“Let’s hope they don’t feel the need to use it.”

Stormy Glenn

Yeah, that wasn’t likely. The second they were spotted by the

guard at the gate, all hell would break loose. They were well and truly
fucked.

“Here we go,” Bill said as he pulled up to the guard house at the

gate and brought the truck to a stop. “Just play along, okay?”

Huh?
“Hey, man,” Bill said when he rolled the window down and the

guard stepped up. “How late do you all keep the gate open? Miguel
said we could crash here in one of his guestrooms but we need to grab
our stuff from the hotel.”

Angelo dropped the hand with the gun down to his side between

the seat and the door when the guard leaned into the truck. He curled
up slightly in his seat, giving the guard a wide grin and a sexy wink.

The guard grunted, his lip curling back as if he was disgusted by

Angelo’s display. Angelo tossed his hair back from his face with a
flip of his hand to hide his amusement. Guess not all of Miguel’s men
had his penchant for twinks.

A garbled and static-filled message suddenly came over the

guard’s radio. Angelo tensed and slid the safety off on his pistol with
his thumb. Angelo saw Bill’s foot hover over the gas pedal. He knew
Bill was ready to shoot through the gate if need be.

The guard waved them through as he stepped back from the truck

and reached for his radio. Angelo started to breathe a sigh of relief
until Bill leaned out the window.

The dumbass.
“Hey, wait,” Bill called out, “what time does the gate get locked?”
The guard waved his hand again, a slow snarl working its way

across his face. Angelo held his breath as the gate opened, and Bill
drove through it like they were taking a nice Sunday drive in the
country.

“You’d think he would have at least asked me why I was driving

Miguel’s truck.”

My Guardian Angelo

Angelo’s lips twitched as amusement took his fear away. He

pressed them together to keep from laughing, but it did him no good.
A full belly laugh exploded out of his mouth and filled the cab of the
truck.

“Not everyone has your brains, babe,” Angelo replied as he pulled

the guns out and laid them down on the seat next to him. He didn’t
realize he had used the word babe until he saw Bill grinning at him.
Angelo rolled his eyes. “Just drive.”

“Where to?”
“Well, we’re not going back to your hotel, that’s for sure. That

will be the first place they look for us.”

Bill’s lips pressed together as he shook his head. “We have to stop

there. I have some stuff to pick up.”

“You can replace your boxers, Bill.”
“It’s not my boxers, Angelo. I need to get my laptop and flash

drive. It has all of my notes on Miguel and Harley.”

“Harley?” Angelo’s eyes narrowed as jealously sliced into him

like a machete blade. “Who’s Harley?”

“Lieutenant Harland Thomas, the man I came here to find.”

Stormy Glenn

Chapter 5

Bill knew going back to his hotel room was a dumb move, but he

needed his notes. Every little bit of information he had gathered on
Miguel’s movements and his possible involvement in Harley’s
disappearance was in those notes.

He wasn’t leaving without them.
“That’s what you’re doing here?”
“Harley disappeared during a black ops mission about ten months

back. Because of the nature of the mission, the top brass refused to go
in after him or even acknowledge that he was being held captive.” A
muscle pulsed in Bill’s jaw as he ground his teeth together. “I won’t
leave him behind. If I have to look under every damn rock in Central
America until I find him, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“What does Miguel Fernandez have to do with your missing

lieutenant?”

“The mission went down in San Jose, which is inside Miguel’s

territory. If anyone has Harley, Miguel does.”

Angelo’s eyebrows shot up as shock rolled through him. “You

really believe Harley is alive after all of this time?”

Bill understood Angelo’s astonishment. Logic said that Harley

would have been killed almost instantly, if not within a few days of
his capture. Bill prayed that Harley was still alive. Any other outcome
just was too heartbreaking to accept.

“He’s alive,” Bill said with more conviction than he felt. “Harley

is a lot stronger than most people think. He would have found some
way to stay alive.”

My Guardian Angelo

“Miguel is not known for his mercy. If he had Harley, you’re

probably looking for a corpse.”

“Then I’ll keep looking until I find a fucking corpse!” Bill

snapped. “I won’t leave Harley here to rot in some hellhole, alive or
dead. If bringing his body back to his family is all I can do, then that’s
what I will do, but I’m not going to stop looking for him until I find
him.”

Angelo was silent for a moment, and then he sighed deeply. “I

guess we’d better head for your hotel room then.”

Bill was a little shocked that Angelo was so willing to go along

with him. They were practically asking Miguel to catch them if they
went to the hotel, and yet Bill couldn’t leave until he did.

He had spent months reaching and gathering information on

Miguel Fernandez and his drug operations—and that was before he
had gone undercover as a buyer. He probably knew more about the
man’s actions than the DEA did.

“You know, some of those files might help you out, too.”
“Oh?”
“I don’t know how the DEA does it, but”—Bill shrugged—“I did

my homework before I went undercover. I’ve gathered a lot of
information on Miguel and his little business. Whatever notes I have
are yours if you want them. I’m not sure what you’ll find in them, but
there might be something that can help you take Miguel down.”

“I suppose I can take a look at what you have.”
Bill smirked. He might look like a dumb jarhead, but Angelo

really had no idea how much work he had put into finding Harley. He
had been taught by the best to know everything about his enemy
before confronting them. He knew what he was doing even if his
cover had been blown.

“How did you know my cover had been blown?”
“I got an encrypted communication from my supervisor. I was

given orders to go in and get the marine who had his butt in a sling
out by any means necessary.”

Stormy Glenn

Bill’s body instantly tightened when he remembered exactly what

those means had been. Now was not the time or place to remember
how good Angelo’s sexy little body felt underneath his or how the
man’s ass squeezed his dick.

“Did they say how my cover was blown?”
“No.” Angelo shook his head. “Sorry.”
It bothered Bill that his cover had been blown and he didn’t know

how. He knew he wasn’t the best at pretending to be someone he
wasn’t, but he wasn’t horrible at it either. He had played the game
with Miguel and his goons for over a month. Until Angelo arrived, he
thought he had been doing pretty well.

It also meant that Bill didn’t know who he could trust.
He glanced at Angelo out of the corner of his eye. Could he trust

Angelo? He had no proof that Angelo was even who he said he was.
He had insanely just taken Angelo’s word that the man worked for the
DEA.

Fuck!
Why hadn’t he thought of that before now? A gorgeous body did

not mean that Angelo was on the up and up. For all Bill knew, Angelo
could be working for Miguel and lying through his teeth to get at the
information Bill had.

Bill knew he couldn’t allow his notes to fall into anybody else’s

hands. Not only did it have all of Miguel’s movements and the details
about his drug operations, it had the name of contacts Bill had made
to go undercover. If those names were discovered, people would die.

Bill needed a plan, and he needed one now.
“I’m going to pull up about a block from the hotel,” Bill said as

one began to form in his mind. “I need you to keep the truck running
while I go inside and get my stuff. If we have to make a quick
getaway, I need you to be ready.”

Bill glanced at the guns sitting on the seat between him and

Angelo. “And I’ll need one of those just in case.”

“I’m not sure separating is such a good idea, Bill.”

My Guardian Angelo

“Probably not.” Bill forced a nervous chuckle past his lips. “But

the less people see of you, the better. The people at the hotel know
me. I’ve been staying here several days. They don’t know you.”

Angelo snorted and looked out the window. “They won’t see me

if I don’t want them to see me.”

Somehow, it wouldn’t surprise Bill in the least if Angelo was

perfectly correct. If he didn’t want people to see him, they wouldn’t
see him. On the other hand, if he did want people to see him, no one
would ever forget him.

Bill knew he wouldn’t. It just made his chest ache knowing that he

might have to. If Angelo turned out to be one of Miguel’s people, not
only would Bill have to forget the man, he might have to kill him in
order to escape.

Bill just prayed that it didn’t come to that.
“We’re here,” Bill said as he pulled the truck to a stop around the

corner from the hotel he was staying in. He left the engine running as
he grabbed one of the guns and checked the clip before slipping it into
the waistband of his pants at the small of his back. “Keep the engine
running. I’ll be right back.”

Or not.
Going out the back of the hotel after grabbing his stuff was

looking pretty good. His stomach was clenching just thinking about
having to neutralize Angelo. Bill would do what he had to do to keep
his information safe. It was the biggest lead he had on Harley. But he
was loath to harm a hair on Angelo’s gorgeous little head.

Before Angelo could protest or stop him, Bill slid from the truck

and started walking toward the hotel. He tried to look casual as he
strolled down the sidewalk, but he was scanning every shadow and
doorway.

A few guys lingered around the doorway to a cantina across the

street from the hotel. Despite the fact that people always seemed to
linger there, Bill knew it would be the perfect spot to watch the hotel,
and he watched it carefully as he made his way inside the hotel.

Stormy Glenn

He nodded toward the clerk behind the counter, much as he had

every time he walked into the lobby. “Any messages for me?” he
asked as he walked up to the desk.

He knew his behavior had to be exactly as it was every time he

walked into the place or the clerk would become suspicious. Bill had
no doubt that the guy was in Miguel’s pocket. Everyone in town was.

“No, Señor Billy.” The clerk smiled broadly. “No messages this

time.”

“Thanks.” Bill slapped his hand down on the counter then headed

for the stairs. He paused at the bottom of the stairs and turned back to
the clerk. “Oh, I’m expecting a very important package from Mr.
Fernandez. Could you call up to my room when it arrives?”

“Si, Señor Billy. I will do this.”
“Thanks.” Bill turned and quickly bounded up the stairs. He

seriously doubted that he would receive a phone call if anyone came
looking for him, but at least they wouldn’t know that he knew his
cover had been blown. If confronted, that might give Bill just a few
extra seconds to escape or at least come up with a plan.

When Bill reached the second floor, he cautiously walked down

the hallway to his door. Being somewhat paranoid considering why he
was there, he had booby trapped his door before he left. There were
no explosives or anything, but the small stand of hairs he had placed
in the doorframe before he closed the doors would tell him if anyone
had entered his room.

Relief didn’t even begin to describe his emotions when he reached

his door and saw the dark-brown hairs sticking out of the doorframe.
Unless someone had entered his room through the window, no one
had gone inside.

Bill unlocked the door and went inside. He quickly closed the

door and locked it behind him then went over to the floorboards under
his dresser. Bill dropped down to his knees and leaned down to reach
under the dresser, prying at the loose wood with his fingers until it
lifted up.

My Guardian Angelo

He quickly grabbed the duffle bag he had stashed inside the hiding

spot. It contained his laptop, the flash stick, an encrypted cell phone, a
pistol with several boxes of ammo, a change of clothes, a three day
supply of food and water rations, and a roll of cash in case he needed
to escape quickly.

This situation certainly called for that.
Just as he started to sit up, Bill felt the cold press of a gun barrel

against the back of his head—again. He swallowed past the lump of
fear that suddenly appeared in his throat.

“Angel?”

* * * *

Angelo tapped his fingers restlessly against the steering wheel as

he waited for Bill to return. He couldn’t believe he had allowed Bill to
talk him into staying in the car when they were being hunted.
Separating at a time like this was a really dumb idea.

A light going on in a second-floor window of the hotel caught

Angelo’s attention. He watched it carefully, wondering if it was Bill’s
room. He realized only after Bill had taken off that he had absolutely
no idea which room was Bill’s.

Like a dumbass, he hadn’t asked.
Maybe sleeping with Bill was clouding his brain? He certainly

hadn’t been thinking like an undercover agent since the moment he
met the man. He was thinking like a man that had something to lose,
and that could get both him and Bill killed.

Angelo stiffened and narrowed his gaze when he saw the

silhouette of a man pass in front of the curtained window, followed
quickly by the outline of another man. It could have just been anyone,
but something deep down in Angel’s gut told him that one of those
shadows was Bill—and that Bill was in a shitload of trouble.

Angel put the truck in gear then drove it around to the back of the

hotel. He parked it by some trees just around the corner from the hotel

Stormy Glenn

then turned the engine off. Angelo grabbed his gun and slid from the
truck.

He made his way to the back of the hotel and searched for the

safest possible way to enter the building. Being seen wasn’t his best
option, so he would have to sneak inside the hotel. The employee
patio looked like his only choice. It was a small cement area with a
picnic table set under a wooden pagoda top.

Angelo tucked his gun into the back of his pants and jumped up to

grab the wooden beams with his hands. He swung his legs up and
over the beam then lifted his body up until he could climb up onto the
beam.

Angelo pushed himself to his feet then tiptoed across the beam

until he reached the side of the building. He groaned when he realized
he would have to jump to reach the balcony railing. Sometimes, it did
not pay to be short.

Angelo closed his eyes for a moment and drew in a fortifying

breath. When he opened his eyes, he didn’t give himself time to think
about the stupid-ass move he was about to make. He just jumped up
and prayed that he would be able to reach the black iron railing.

When his fingers closed around something hard and round,

Angelo thanked the powers that be and pulled himself up and over the
railing. Luckily, the balcony went all of the way around the hotel.

Angelo quickly made his way to the front of the hotel then

crouched down as close to the side of the building as he could get and
crept along until he reached the window he suspected was Bill’s.

One peek through the slit in the curtains and Angelo knew his gut

feeling had been right. Bill was kneeling on the floor with his hands
locked behind his head. A man in dark clothes stood over the top of
Bill, holding a gun to the marine’s head.

Angelo went through his options as quickly as he could, and only

one of them had a possibility of getting him and Bill out of the room
alive. Angelo wasn’t happy about it, but he knew there was no other
way.

My Guardian Angelo

Angelo crept back down the balcony until he reached a door on

one side of the building. He quickly scanned the area below the
balcony then opened the door. It wouldn’t help his plan at all if
someone saw him entering the building from the second-floor
balcony.

He hurried down the hallway to Bill’s door. After unbuttoning his

shirt until it hung open and doing the same to the top two buttons on
his jeans, he ruffled his hair then knocked on the door.

“Billy,” he said in his best slutty, pouty voice, “are you done yet?

I want to get back to Miguel’s.”

Complete silence met Angelo’s words.
“Billy!” Angelo whined. “I’m hungry.”
Angelo almost didn’t have time to school his features into a pout

when the door was suddenly yanked open and Bill stood there, his
face a mask of stone.

“I told you to wait in the truck, Angel.”
Angelo couldn’t see anything right away because the door to

Bill’s room opened into a small hallway-like entry. He suspected that
whoever was in Bill’s room with him was waiting just around the
corner inside the room.

Angelo smiled widely and stepped closer to mold his body to

Bill’s. “I know, but I’m hungry. You haven’t fed me yet, and I’m a
growing boy.” Angelo let a ridiculous giggle fall from his lips as he
started to push Bill back into the room. “I’ll make it worth your
while.”

Angelo almost smirked at the way Bill’s eyes widened when

Angelo purred out his words. If Bill didn’t understand that he was
playing a role by now, the man never would.

“Oh yeah? Just what did you have in mind, Angel?”
“Mmm.” Angelo purposely stepped in front of Bill and slid his

shirt down his arms, letting the thin fabric drop to the floor. He
stopped for a moment and pushed his ass back against Bill, wiggling

Stormy Glenn

against the man and hoping that Bill got the idea. “I have lots of
things in mind, sugar.”

Angelo almost breathed a sigh of relief when he felt Bill pull the

gun from the waistband of his pants. Now all they had to do was get
their intruder into the line of fire. Angelo kept himself between Bill
and the rest of the room as he walked forward.

He purposely let out a small gasp when he rounded the corner and

found a man he had never seen standing by the closet door. He was a
couple of inches shorter than Bill but just as large. His eyes didn’t
hold the same sensuous light that Bill’s held, and not even his tanned
skin was as attractive as Bill’s. He just wasn’t as cute.

But he was obviously deadly. Angelo could tell from the casual

manner in which he leaned against the wall. He might have looked
casual to anyone else, but Angelo could see the predator in the man’s
dark eyes, just lurking under the surface of his friendly smile.

“Oh, I didn’t know you had brought a friend, Billy.”
Angelo let sensuality light up his face as he scanned the man from

head to toe. To most everyone, it would seem like Angelo was just
checking the guy out. The growing smile on Angelo’s face would
back that thought up.

In reality, Angelo was assessing the man for his potential threat.

He instantly noted the slight bulge under the man’s dark jacket and
knew he was armed. A second bulge at the man’s ankle told Angelo
that the guy had a backup weapon. The man’s well-toned muscles told
Angelo that the man was extremely dangerous.

The sudden glint of lust burning in the man’s dark-brown eyes

told Angelo that the man was interested, and possibly buying
Angelo’s little game. Angelo planned to use that interest to the best of
his ability.

He put a little more sensuality into his movements as he reached

for the remaining buttons on his jeans, slowly peeling them open. He
didn’t miss the way that the man’s eyes dropped to watch or the way
he licked his lips.

My Guardian Angelo

Pervert.
“You should have told me that you had a friend, Billy. That was

very bad of you.”

“I wasn’t expecting company, Angel.”
“Oh?” Angelo asked as he swung around to look at Bill.
“He’s just passing through.” Bill’s eyes slid to the man standing

behind Angelo. “Right?”

Angelo’s eyes narrowed, an idea of something niggled at the back

of his mind but not enough that he could actually put his finger on it.
Something was off. “Does this mean we’re not going back to
Miguel’s?”

Bill’s eyes snapped back to Angelo. “No, we’re not going back to

Miguel’s, at least not right now. My friend and I have some business
to take care of first. If you want to go wait down in the truck, I will be
out in a few minutes.”

Huh?
Angelo knew that Bill was trying to get him out of the line of fire,

but he was acting all strange like. Whatever was going on, Angelo
wasn’t about to leave Bill when he was obviously in danger. He had
been given very clear orders, and he wasn’t going to ignore them.

Angelo walked over to the bed and flopped down on it, stretching

his legs out and leaning on his elbow. He wasn’t leaving Bill to face
an assailant on his own. “I’ll wait.”

The dark-haired man leaning casually against the wall chuckled

deeply, drawing Angelo’s attention. He held out a small round can to
Angelo.

“Pringle?”

Stormy Glenn

Chapter 6

Bill groaned and pulled his hand down his face. He had done

everything he could possibly think of to get Angelo out of the room,
barring physically tossing him out, and the man just refused to leave.

Either he was hoping to gather more information on Bill’s

movements or he was really who he said he was and felt the need to
assist Bill. Angelo had no way of knowing that Manny wasn’t the
enemy.

There was a small hidden part of Bill that was elated at Angelo’s

actions. The man was putting himself in harm’s way to keep Bill safe.
That spoke to something deep down inside of Bill that no one had
ever touched before.

Another part of Bill, the more suspicious and cautious part of him,

was screaming that Angelo was just playing him like he was trying to
play Manny.

Bill ground his teeth together to keep from growling when Angelo

stroked his hand down his naked chest, Manny’s eyes following the
gesture like a starving man. He reached down and grabbed Angelo’s
shirt off the floor and tossed it at the man.

“Get dressed, Angel.”
Simpering eyes turned toward him. “We’re not going to play?”
Bill ignored the pouty little lip that Angelo pushed out and turned

to glare at Manny as a deep belly laugh fell from the man’s lips. “No,
we are not going to play. My friend needs to get going, or he’s going
to miss his ride.”

My Guardian Angelo

Bill had been shocked when he discovered the man holding a gun

to his head was Manuel Lopez. Not so much that the guy had held a
gun to his head but more because the man was there in the first place.

How Manny had found him, Bill would never know. He knew that

Charlie’s special ops team was good, but Bill had worked very hide to
bury himself in his cover persona. Manny shouldn’t have been able to
find him so easily.

“Don’t you, Manny?” Bill asked when he caught Manny’s sensual

perusal of Angelo’s nearly naked body.

“Naw, I’m good.”
Bill almost rolled his eyes. He wanted Manny gone for two

reasons. One, he didn’t want to have to explain to Angelo who Manny
was, and he certainly didn’t want to have to explain to Manny why
the man better keep his hands off of Angelo.

But more importantly, he didn’t like the way that Manny was

watching Angelo, almost as if the guy wanted to eat Angelo alive—or
at least use some part of his mouth on Angelo’s body. Bill knew he
really didn’t have any claim on Angelo, especially if the man was
working for Miguel. But he’d be damned if he would sit there and
watch Manny and Angelo get it on.

Bill crossed his arms over his chest, carefully tucking the gun in

his arms, then narrowed his eyes at Angelo in what he hoped was a
threatening manner. “Get dressed, Angel.”

Angelo blinked up at Bill in surprise. His eyes widened for just a

moment before he rolled off the bed and stood. Bill was uncertain of
Angelo’s motives when the man brushed up against him, but when his
eyes dropped to the gun in Bill’s hand, the answer was pretty obvious.

Bill sighed regretfully, knowing there was no way he could get

out of what he was about to do, and knowing at the same time it was
going to take away any chance he had of ever getting Angelo back
into his bed.

He turned Angelo in his arms and pulled the man back against his

body. He was a little surprised that Angelo allowed the maneuver,

Stormy Glenn

especially when Bill wrapped an arm around Angelo’s chest to
restrain him.

Bill’s heart ached a little when he held the gun up in front of

Angelo and felt his body stiffen. “As sexy as you are, Angel, I can’t
accept only your word that you are who you say you are. If you do
work for the DEA, prove it.”

Please!
Angelo’s body continued to remain stiff even as he let out a

throaty laugh. “And just how do I do that, Bill? It’s not like I have my
credentials tattooed on my ass.” Angelo’s eyes were dark with anger
as he glanced over his shoulder. “And shouldn’t you have thought of
that before you reamed my ass—without a condom, I might add.”

Bill’s eyes rounded.
Crap!
He had forgotten to use a condom.
He never went without protection, not since he first tried sex when

he was a teenager. His Pops had drilled safe sex into the minds of Bill
and his brothers. The man seemed to have no problem with all three
of them being gay but he put his foot down when it came to protecting
themselves.

Saying I’m sorry just didn’t seem sufficient enough of an apology.

He had fucked up, big time. “I didn’t mean for that to happen,
Angelo. I can’t prove it at the moment, but I’m clean. I swear it.”

“And I’m just supposed to believe you because you say it’s true?”
Bill knew Angelo was pissed, and he also knew the man was

throwing his own words right back at him. He just didn’t know how
to solve both problems. Neither of them had proof of what they said.

“Manny?” Bill asked as he looked up at the guy, hoping he had an

answer.

Manny rolled his eyes and flipped out his phone, quickly dialing

it. Bill was pretty sure he knew who Manny was calling, and when the
man started talking, he knew he was right.

My Guardian Angelo

“Hey, Charlie, I need you to confirm the identity of an undercover

DEA agent named Angelo Martinez. According to him, the higher ups
called him in to go rescue Bill’s ass.” Manny nodded. “Yeah, I’ll
hold.”

“You told him who I was?” Angelo snarled in a quiet voice.
“I meant it when I said Manny was an old friend. He doesn’t work

for Miguel.”

There was a distinct glimmer of sadness in Angelo’s eyes when he

looked back at him that tore at Bill’s heart. “But you think I do.”

“I’m sorry, Angel.” Blood pulsed through Bill’s veins as he lifted

a hand and stroked it down the side of Angelo’s face. “I have to know
for sure.”

Angelo’s eyes fell away as he pushed himself out of Bill’s arms.

Bill let him go, knowing that Angelo couldn’t make it to the door or a
window before he would be caught. Still, Bill’s arms ached at the
loss.

“Fine,” Angelo snapped as he walked over to lean against the wall

by the bed. “Do what you have to do.”

Bill felt like Angelo’s words were the death knell of whatever

might have been growing between them. He wasn’t sure exactly what
that was, but he wouldn’t have been averse to exploring the feelings
he was developing for the gorgeous man.

“Considering the business you’re in, Angelo,” Bill said, “you

should understand my need to make sure you are who you say you
are.”

Angelo’s eyes were scathing and dark with anger as they raked

over Bill’s body. “It would have been nice if you had taken the time
to discover that before you fucked me.”

“Look!” Bill spun around and pushed his hand over the top of his

short cropped hair. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. It just…did.”

Angelo’s disgusted snort was the man’s only reply.
Bill felt an overwhelming need to pull Angelo over his lap and

paddle the man’s ass until it glowed. He knew he wasn’t being

Stormy Glenn

unreasonable in his need to know Angelo’s true identity, and Angelo
should understand that.

Yes, he probably should have tried to discover Angelo’s true

identity before he fucked him, but there just hadn’t been time. He
hadn’t purposely set out to fuck Angelo. It really had been a spur of
the moment thing. And it wasn’t that he regretted it because he didn’t.
He just wished it had been under different circumstances.

Bill grabbed his duffel bag and placed it on the end of the bed. He

unzipped it and began to pull out the items that he would need if he
had to take off in a hurry. He pulled on his gun holster then slid a
flannel shirt on over it. He grabbed his pistol, slapped in a magazine,
and put it in the holster.

“You have enough ammo, Manny?”
“I’m good.” Manny shrugged. “Almost out of Pringles, though.”
“One of these days you’ll have to tell me how you ended up being

addicted to Pringles.” The man was practically obsessed with them.
“If I had known you were coming, I would have packed some for
you.”

“John Henry was worried about you. And since John Henry was

worried…”

“Charlie sent you down here to check on me,” Bill finished,

knowing what Manny was going to say. It made sense. Charlie would
do anything for his lover, even send Manny down to make sure Bill
was okay.

“Yeah, pretty much.”
“How are things back home?”
“Wren finally got your baby brother.” Manny snickered.

“Tattooed his ass.”

Bill paused with his hand halfway into the duffle bag then glanced

up at Manny. “Wren tattooed Robby?”

“Yep.” Manny grinned. “Right across his ass.”
Bill’s jaw dropped. “Wren put a tramp stamp on my baby

brother?”

My Guardian Angelo

“He calls it a Wren stamp but yeah.”
“I’m gonna kill him,” Bill mumbled as he grabbed more items out

of his bag and set them on the bed. No one branded his baby brother,
not even a man that had been panting over Robby for more than six
months.

“You missed a lot, dude,” Manny said in a tone that was suddenly

all serious. “I wouldn’t go messing with Wren where Robby is
concerned. He’d just as soon shoot you than let you take Robby away
from him. I don’t know exactly what went on between them, but
Wren is crazy possessive. He’s even considering putting in his papers
so that he doesn’t have to be away from Robby.”

“Really?”
“Some serious shit went down since you’ve been gone.” Manny’s

eyes flickered to Angelo for a moment. “I don’t want to get into it
right now but suffice to say, Wren earned the right to keep your
brother.”

Bill grimaced, letting out a little huff. He wasn’t sure he liked the

idea of Wren and his little brother being an item. Wren wasn’t known
for his ability to sustain a long-term relationship. He changed lovers
on a weekly basis. Bill didn’t want that for Robby.

“Just so you know,” Manny continued, “Robby is right where he

wants to be.”

“Robby doesn’t always know what’s good for him.” Bill was

pretty sure that Wren wasn’t. Wren was an honorable man and one
Bill would take to watch his back any day. But the man was a warrior.
He didn’t have a gentle bone in his body.

“Maybe, but circumstances of late have forced him to grow up

fast. I’d say he knows exactly what he wants, and he won’t give Wren
up without a fight.”

Bill grunted.
“John Henry has given his approval.”
While that lessened Bill’s concern, it didn’t totally take it away.

“We’ll see.”

Stormy Glenn

“So has Pops.”
That brought Bill up short. He glanced up at Manny. “Pops gave

his approval?”

“Yep.”
That tidbit of information might change things. Pops would never

give his blessing if he didn’t feel confident that Wren was right for
Robby. John Henry wouldn’t either, but Pops’s word was kind of law
where the three brothers were concerned.

“Who’s Pops?” Angelo asked, reminding Bill that he and Manny

weren’t the only ones in the room.

“My grandfather,” Bill replied, knowing he was potentially giving

away information that could be used against him in the future—
assuming Angelo wasn’t telling the truth. “He raised me and my
brothers when our parents died.”

“How old were you when your parents died?”
“I was twelve. John Henry was ten, and Robby was just a

toddler.”

“I’m sorry, Bill.”
Angelo sounded so sincere that Bill sent him a small smile. “It

was a long time ago.”

“I’m still sorry. No kid should ever have to grow up without his

parents. My father died when I was a baby, but I always had my
mother and then later my stepfather.”

“We had Pops.”
Manny cleared his throat. “Angelo Esteban Luis Martinez, born

1980 in Los Angeles, California, to Maria and Esteban Martinez. One
half sister, Teresa Dominguez Castillo, married to Anthony Castillo.
They have two small children, a boy and a girl. After father’s death in
1981, mother moved back to Mexico where she met and married
Tomas Dominguez. They currently live in Mexico City, Mexico.”

Manny glanced down at his phone then up at Angelo again.

“Approximately five foot eight inches in height and one hundred and

My Guardian Angelo

fifty-five pounds, brown eyes, brown-black hair, an agent with the
Drug Enforcement Administration for the last twelve years.”

“Who in the hell do you know?” Angelo gasped, his face paling to

ashen white.

“Charlie,” Manny and Bill said at the same time.
“Who is Charlie?”
“Charles Kenneth Pennington III,” Bill said, finally feeling safe

giving Angelo information. “He’s Manny’s former unit commander.
He still has his hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. If the information
is out there, Charlie can get it.”

“Damn.”
Bill felt kind of grim as he stood up and planted his hands on his

hips. “I guess I owe you an apology, Angel. I hope you understand
why I had to check.”

“Have you fucked Charlie?”
“What?” Bill shouted, his eyebrows shooting up.
“Have you fucked Charlie?”
“Hell, no!”
“And yet you believe him over me.”
Bill glanced over at Manny, hoping he had an idea how to

convince Angelo that he was only doing what he needed to do to stay
alive. It wasn’t personal. Manny—the asshole—just shook his head
and popped another Pringle into his mouth.

“Angel.” Bill rubbed his hand over his face again as he turned

toward the DEA agent. Before he could get another word out,
Angelo’s fist slammed into his face. Bill grunted and stepped back,
surprised by the power behind the punch. “What did you do that for?”
he asked as he rubbed his aching jaw.

“For not using a condom.”
That was what Angelo was mad about?
“You didn’t use one either, Angel, and protection is a two-way

street. You could have told me to stop at any time.”

Stormy Glenn

“When exactly was I supposed to do that?” Angel snapped. “We

were being monitored. Hell, Miguel probably put the damn video of
us fucking on the Internet already.”

“Actually,” Manny said casually as he tucked his can of Pringles

into his jacket and pulled out his gun. “I’m pretty sure he’s too busy
trying to kill your dumb asses.” Manny headed for the door. He
opened it and peeked out into the hallway for a moment before
closing it once again. “Lock and load, boys. Company is coming.”

Bill grabbed everything he had pulled out of the duffle bag,

everything that wasn’t attached to his person that was, and shoved it
all back inside. He zipped the bag back up then slung it over his
shoulder.

“Here,” he said as he held the pistol out to Angelo that he had

pulled from the man’s pants when he came into the room. “You’re
going to need this.”

Angelo grabbed the gun and walked over to the window. He

stayed pressed against the wall as he peeked around the windowsill.
“The front is being watched, and I’d bet almost anything they have
guys in the back as well.”

“That leaves the sides, the roof, and the basement.” Bill twisted

his lips around as he quickly went through all of their options,
dismissing plan after plan that came to mind. All of them ended with
a very dismal outcome. “Ideas?”

“The truck is parked around the corner out back,” Angelo said. “If

we can get to that, we can try and get out of town.”

“I have a vehicle waiting three blocks west of here,” Manny said.

“It might be better than trying to get to the one out back. We just need
to get to it.”

“Can we go over the roofs?” Bill asked.
Bill saw a small glint of surprise in Manny’s face before the man

schooled his features. “Yeah, probably,” Manny replied.

My Guardian Angelo

“The balcony goes all of the way around the building,” Angelo

tossed in. “We might be able to reach the next roof over by way of the
balcony.”

Bill glanced at Manny. The man just shrugged. “It might work.”
“Okay, then let’s try the balcony.”
Bill followed Manny and Angelo to the door leading into the hotel

hallway. Manny cracked the door open and peeked out. Almost
immediately, he closed the door and locked it. “We’re not going that
way.”

“Shit.” Bill spun around and stepped back into the main room. His

eyes immediately fell on the large dresser he had hidden his duffel
bag under and an idea formed in his head. “Manny, help me with
this.”

Together, Bill and Manny moved the dresser over in front of the

door. It wouldn’t take long for Miguel and his men to break through,
but it might give them a few extra minutes to get away.

“Miguel has men watching the hotel from across the street,”

Angelo said as he opened the balcony doors. “Stay low to the
ground.”

Duh. Bill rolled his eyes as he followed Angelo out the door to the

balcony, keeping crouched down and pressed up close to the building.
He heard the door close behind him and knew Manny was following.

They reached the west side of the building without incident. Bill

knew their luck wouldn’t last long, but he hoped it would last just
long enough for them to reach Manny’s vehicle and maybe get out of
town.

They could wing it from there.
Bill’s mouth dropped, and his heart slammed into his chest as he

watched Angelo grab the edge of the railing and launch himself over
it. He thought for a moment that Angelo was going to plummet to the
cobblestone below and started to reach out to save him.

Instead, Angelo landed easily on the other side of the railing then

leapt toward the roof on the building next door. Bill’s heart stilled

Stormy Glenn

until he saw Angelo’s hands grab the ledge just under the roof tiles,
and then the guy climbed over the edge to the flat roof surface.

This was only the first roof, and already Bill’s heart was in his

throat. He was never going to make it through the other two roofs.

Bill tossed his duffel bag across to Angel then climbed over the

railing. He told himself not to look down, but he did it anyway. A
slight wave of dizziness swamped him. Bill swallowed hard then
looked across to Angelo. If he could do it, Bill could, too.

Bill let go of the railing and launched himself across the small

space between the two buildings. He scrambled to get a hold of
something to keep him from falling. Just as his fingers closed over
cold, hard brick, Bill felt someone grab his wrists. He glanced up to
see Angelo holding onto him.

Bill smiled gratefully and pulled himself up with Angelo’s help,

then crawled over the railing. He dropped down onto his butt and
drew a deep breath of fresh air into his lungs. He didn’t move until
Manny appeared, climbing over the railing just as he had.

God, he hated heights.
Bill stood up and grabbed the duffel bag he had tossed to Angelo.

He followed the two men to the far side of the roof, wishing there was
another way to get to Manny’s vehicle. He knew he was supposed to
be a big tough marine, but he figured if he was meant to be so far off
the ground, god would have given him wings.

Bill, Angelo, and Manny repeated the process until they landed on

the last roof. Bill glanced over the side and spotted a rusted brown
four-door sedan parked under a tree at the end of the alleyway beside
the building.

That was what they were supposed to escape in? Bill had serious

doubts that it would even start, let alone help them escape a crazy
drug lord. But it was better than trying to get out of town on foot. Just
not by much.

My Guardian Angelo

“Time to step it up, boys. They’re starting to search the

buildings,” Manny said as he hurried to the edge of the building and
shimmied over the side, dropping down to the ground below.

Bill ignored the queasy feeling in his stomach and jumped down

to the ground next to Manny. A moment later, Angelo joined them on
the ground. It didn’t take them more than a moment to get to the car
and climb inside.

It took a little longer to get out of town. The streets were buzzing

with activity. Bill knew that Miguel and his men were searching every
nook and cranny of the entire town, trying to find them. People were
being roused from their beds and questioned. Luckily, it seemed to
keep everyone busy long enough for them to reach the outskirts of the
small town.

Having a nondescript piece-of-shit car might have helped, too.
As soon as they were clear of town, Bill dug his laptop out of his

duffel bag and turned it on. He would be forever thankful that Charlie
had given him a top-of-the-line model with a satellite connection.

He typed in the access code then waited for Charlie’s face to

appear. Bill was in no way surprised when it did and he saw John
Henry standing right behind him. “I swear, the two of you are glued
together at the hip.”

“It’s good to see you in one piece, Bill,” Charlie said.
Bill smiled. “It’s good to be in one piece.”
“What’s your situation?”
Manny chuckled. “Totally FUBAR, Commander.”
“Fubar?” Angelo asked from the backseat.
“Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition,” Manny and Bill replied at

the same time.

Angelo’s lips twitched as if he was trying to suppress a laugh. “Is

that a marine term?”

“It’s a military term, Angel. It means things are really fucked up.”
“What can I do to assist you guys?” Charlie asked.

Stormy Glenn

Bill grabbed his flash stick and inserted it into his laptop. “I’m

sending you some files, Charlie. It’s all of the information I’ve
gathered on Miguel Fernandez and his drug operation. I need you to
take a look at it and see if you can find any leads on Harley. I’d also
like you to make a copy of everything and get it to Angelo Martinez.”

“Your DEA agent?”
Bill smiled as he glanced at the man leaning between the seats

next to him. “My guardian angel.”

My Guardian Angelo

Chapter 7

Angelo leaned his head back against the seat and watched Bill

from his vantage point behind Manny. He really didn’t know what to
think of the man. Angelo’s usual interaction with men in the military
wasn’t that good. Most of them had a chip on their shoulders and a
macho complex a mile wide.

Even being a trained undercover agent, he was still looked down

upon because of his smaller size. And that was usually before people
discovered he was gay. When that happened, it just brought the jokes
and insults to a whole new level. Angelo had heard more about his
sex life than he had ever really experienced. It seemed everyone had
something to say about it, whether they were involved or not.

It sucked, and not in the fun orgasmic kind of way.
And yet, neither Bill nor Manny had been the least bit

condescending when they spoke to him. Not only had they treated
him with respect—even while trying to confirm his identity—they
had taken into account his suggestions while they were trying to get
out of the hotel and away from the people hunting them.

Not once had they treated Angelo like he was less than them or

couldn’t physically do what they could, despite his smaller size. They
treated him like an equal. It was an odd feeling. Angelo almost felt
accepted by the two large marines.

Almost.
He was still a little pissed that Bill had fucked him without a

condom but not so much that he didn’t look forward to the next time
it happened. He just needed Bill to be aware of the fact that they had
not used protection and insure that they did next time. They might

Stormy Glenn

have forgotten the first time, but Angelo refused to forget a second
time.

Angelo knew he was safe because he was required to get regular

health exams. He also had to take drug tests and get tested for STDs
to be able to stay in the field. His supervisors wanted to insure that he
wasn’t sampling the product or getting involved with someone he
wasn’t supposed to be involved with. It was standard procedure for all
field agents.

Angelo could only hope that Bill was required to do the same

because of his work in the marines. That was why Angelo had
punched Bill. Not because of what had happened between them but
because Bill seemed so much more concerned with finding out who
he was rather than proving that he was clean.

Angelo frowned and leaned forward when a picture flashed across

Bill’s laptop screen. He began running through memories in his head,
positive that he had recently seen one of the faces on the screen.

“Who’s that?” he inquired as he pointed to the photograph of

several men dressed in combat fatigues all standing together in front
of a tan Hummer.

“Just a picture of my unit,” Bill replied absently.
“Can I see it?”
Bill glanced at Angelo, surprise raising his eyebrows. “Yeah,

sure.”

Angelo leaned in closer when Bill held the laptop up to him. He

instantly recognized Bill as the third man in the picture. He was pretty
sure he’d recognize Bill in a crowd of people. Angelo’s eyes
narrowed in on a man with short dark-brown hair and vivid blue eyes
standing just to the left of Bill.

“I’ve seen this man before.” The silence that suddenly filled the

small confines of the car made Angelo wish he had kept his mouth
shut.

My Guardian Angelo

“You’ve seen this man before?” Bill tapped his finger on the

screen right on top of the man Angelo was staring at. “This man right
here?”

“Yes.” Angelo shrugged nervously, not liking the intensity in

Bill’s eyes as the man stared at him. “Well, I think it was him. He was
a little thinner and a whole lot scruffier looking, but he had the same
deep-blue eyes. I don’t think you can miss them.”

“Where, Angelo?” The serious tone in Bill’s voice gave Angelo

pause. “Where have you seen him?”

“Better yet,” Manny added in, “when did you see him?”
Angelo thought back to when he thought he had seen the man. “I

was doing surveillance on one of Miguel’s wineries about three days
ago. We’ve suspected for some time that Miguel was running drugs
through the place, using the labels on the wine bottles to smuggle the
drugs into the city. We just can’t prove it. I was trying to get some
incriminating pictures that I could take to my superiors.”

“You saw this man three days ago?” The urgency in Bill’s voice

caught Angelo’s attention.

“Yeah.” He glanced up at Bill, worried about the desperation in

Bill’s tone. “He was with a bunch of other guys that went into one of
the warehouses at the winery.”

“Fuck!” Bill’s hand shook as he rubbed it over the top of his short

cropped hair.

“Who is he?” From the strained expression on Bill’s face, Angelo

was afraid he already knew that answer before Bill even opened his
mouth. A deep sense of dread began to crawl along Angelo’s skin.
“It’s your friend, isn’t it? Harley?”

“Yes.” Bill’s throat moved heavily as he swallowed. His mouth

dipped into a deep frown. “I had almost given up hope that he was
still alive.”

“Well, if this is the same guy, he was alive three days ago.”

Stormy Glenn

“Where?” Bill pulled the laptop back down onto his lap and

started tapping away ferociously at the keyboard. “If I showed you a
map, could you pinpoint where the winery is located?”

“Yes, but why?”
Bill didn’t even glance up from the screen as he replied. He just

continued to type away. “Because I need to go in and get him out.”

The dread Angelo had been feeling exploded into outright terror.

Bill had no idea of the hornets’ nest he was about to walk into if he
went in after his friend. “Bill, you do understand that if this is one of
Miguel’s distribution sites, it will be like trying to break into his
compound. It will be heavily armed.”

Bill shot Angelo a quick grin. “Luckily for me, I happen to know

a group of guys that can go in and get him out, no matter how heavily
armed the damn place is. I just need to know where it’s located.”

“If you show me a map, I’m pretty sure I can point out where the

winery is located.” Angelo thought that Bill was going to pull up a
map of the area, so he was a bit surprised when Charlie’s face
appeared on the screen instead.

“Charlie, Angelo says he might have seen Harley three days ago.

He can pinpoint the area on a map. Can you call the guys in and get
them here by this evening? Manny and I can have a working plan in
place by the time they get here.”

“Well”—Charlie’s voice echoed with curiosity—“it would help to

know where I’m sending them.”

“Uh…”
Angelo smirked when Bill glanced back at him. He glanced down

at the screen, addressing his comments to Charlie. “There’s a small
town called San Rafael about twenty miles west of the winery. Send
your men to a hotel there named Casa Castillo. We’ll book a couple
of rooms next to each other and wait for your men to arrive.”

Charlie glanced down and Angelo could only assume that he was

looking the town up on a map. “Okay, I see it. I’ll call the guys. I
think I can have them there in about ten hours if I call in a favor from

My Guardian Angelo

my grandfather and use one of his jets.” There was a stern look in
Charlie’s eyes when he looked back up. “Don’t go and do anything
stupid until the guys get there. One missing marine is more than
enough.”

“No problem, Charlie.” The beginning of a smile tipped Bill’s

lips. “We’ll wait until the guys get here before we do anything
stupid.”

“You do that.”
Angelo blinked when the screen suddenly went dark. Either

Charlie was pissed or he was used to Bill’s sarcastic responses. At
least, Angelo thought it was a sarcastic response. He could be wrong.
Bill could very well mean what he said. Angelo just prayed that Bill
was joking.

What did he actually know about Bill?
The man definitely had a sense of honor where his friends were

concerned. His refusal to give up on his unit commander even after
ten months was something to be respected. Not many people would
continue to look for a missing friend for a few weeks, let alone
several months. They would have given up long before now.

Bill also seemed to have friends that he could call into a

dangerous situation on the spur of the moment. That alone told
Angelo that his friends cared about Bill and respected him enough to
put their lives in danger for him.

And then there was the way Bill had behaved toward him. He

didn’t treat Angelo like he was some delicate little twink who
couldn’t fight his own battles. He listened to Angelo’s ideas, let him
make his own decisions, and didn’t even make a single protest when
they were in a dangerous situation.

He treated Angelo like an equal.
To top it all off, Bill fucked like he was created for that purpose

alone. He was tender in his gestures and made sure that Angelo
enjoyed himself, even if they were being monitored. That didn’t even
begin to address what the man could do with his mouth.

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Still, that didn’t mean that Angelo knew anything about Bill

beyond what he had learned from the file he had been sent and the last
few hours spent in his company. So, why did the guy call to him so
much? Angelo just couldn’t figure it out.

He had never been this intrigued by a man before, not even the

lover that had died in the line of duty. He had mourned his dead lover
and then moved on, pushing the memory of the man’s death to the
back of his mind.

He didn’t think Bill would be that easy to forget.
“Okay, Angel,” Bill said as he turned, “tell us where we’re

going.”

* * * *

Angel groaned as he fell face-first onto the hotel mattress. He was

so tired that his eyeballs burned. He wasn’t sure exactly how long it
had been since he had gotten any sleep, but he was pretty sure he had
moved from counting hours to counting days.

Being exhausted didn’t even begin to describe how tired he was. It

took more energy than he had to even think. He just wanted to curl up
and sleep for the next hundred years. Someone could wake him when
the next century came along.

Knock, knock.
Angelo growled as he popped one eye open and glared at the hotel

room door. Seriously? Someone was at the door? Did they honestly
expect him to answer it? Angelo wasn’t even sure he had the power to
get up, let alone open the door.

Knock, knock.
Angelo rolled off the bed and stalked across the room. He was

about to tear the door open and give whoever was on the other side a
piece of his mind when he thought better of it and peeked through the
peephole.

My Guardian Angelo

Angelo frowned, not quite sure he was seeing what it looked like

he was seeing. He hooked the chain into place then opened the door
half a crack, holding his gun securely in his hand in case he had to kill
whoever was standing outside his room.

“Bill?”
Angelo rolled his eyes and closed the door, slipping the chain off.

He opened the door and turned away, walking back across the room.
He set his gun on the nightstand and started to crawl up onto the bed
when Bill stepped in front of him, his laptop held out for Angelo to
see.

“What?” Angelo knew he must be more tired than he thought

because all he could see on the screen was an official-looking
document of some sort, and his eyes were too tired to focus on the
actual words. “What am I looking at, Bill?”

“I had Charlie get my test results out of my room and scan them

onto the computer.” Bill pointed to the screen, a happy little grin on
his face. “See, I’m clean.”

“Yippee for you.” Angelo started to turn toward the bed when a

small brown paper bag appeared in front of his face. He jumped back,
startled. “What’s this?” he asked as he took the bag and started to
open it.

“I bought condoms.”
“Condoms?” he asked with a significant lifting of his brows.

Angelo was keenly aware of Bill’s scrutiny as he opened the bag and
peered inside. Good god! Bill had bought condoms all right—three
boxes of the damn things. He gave Bill a deadpan look. “You bought
condoms?”

Giddy excitement bounced in Bill’s eyes. “Yes.”
“Well, aren’t you a good little Boy Scout.”
Angelo had no idea what Bill thought he was going to do with

three boxes of condoms, but if it didn’t involve checking the back of
his eyelids for pinholes, he wasn’t interested. Angelo pushed the bag

Stormy Glenn

back into Bill’s hand and dropped back down onto the bed, burying
his face in the pillow.

He felt the bed dip and the next moment, a hand stroked over the

top of his head. It was a tender gesture and not one Angelo was used
to. He sighed deeply, knowing he would have to talk to Bill before he
got any shut-eye.

Angelo rolled over and stared up at the man. “What do you want,

Bill?”

There was a rueful smile curving Bill’s lips when he replied. “Oh,

Angel, there are so many answers to that question.”

“I’m tired, Bill.”
“Then sleep, Angel.” The warmth of Bill’s smile echoed in his

voice. “I’ll keep you safe.”

Angelo had no idea what that meant, but a few moments later, he

found himself undressed and tucked under the blankets with Bill
pressed up against his back, the heat of the man’s body seeping into
Angelo, relaxing him.

“Bill—”
“Shh.” Bill’s fingers trailed down Angelo’s side before settling on

his hip. “Just sleep, baby. I will watch over you.”

Despite his misgivings about the situation, Angelo found his

heavy eyes fluttering even as he struggled to keep them open. He gave
one last small groan of protest then faded off, the feeling of being
surrounded and protected warring with his need to be in control and
aware of his surroundings for just a second.

And then he was asleep.

My Guardian Angelo

Chapter 8

Bill kept his touch featherlight as he licked a line up the hard shaft

in front of him. His eyes flickered from Angelo’s cock to the man’s
face and back again as he waited for Angelo to wake up. He ached for
Angelo to wake up.

He plain out just ached for Angelo. The sexy little man pushed

every single one of Bill’s buttons and then some. Bill couldn’t
remember ever being attracted to someone as much as he was
attracted to Angelo.

Not only was the guy gorgeous to look at, he had a mind of his

own and the ability to back it up. Bill wasn’t a small guy by any
stretch of the imagination. Because of that, he usually ended up the
more powerful one in whatever relationship he was in, even if it was
simply a one-night stand.

Until he met Angelo, Bill had never realized how much that

bothered him. Watching Angelo handle himself in a dangerous
situation changed all of that. Bill suddenly knew what he wanted out
of life, and it was spread out like a buffet right in front of him.

He wanted a man that could stand beside him instead of behind

him. He wanted someone that would go toe-to-toe with him, to argue
and fight and make up afterward. He wanted someone that wouldn’t
kowtow to his every command.

He wanted Angelo.
He just needed to convince Angelo of how good they could be

together because Bill was pretty damn sure they would be spectacular.
He had seen the love between John Henry and Charlie, and he knew

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that was what he wanted—that all-consuming need for another person
and the knowledge that his heart beat for only one person.

Yeah, he was a romantic sap. He wanted the fairy tale. And he

wanted it with Angelo. He wasn’t stupid enough to think that he was
in love with Angelo, but he was getting there at an alarming rate. The
man could demand that he squeal like a pig during sex, and Bill
would readily do it, and if that didn’t say he was falling for Angelo,
Bill didn’t know what did.

Bill swiped his tongue across the small slit at the top of Angelo’s

cock then down around the mushroom-shaped head. He grinned
wickedly when he heard the first small moan fall from Angelo’s lips
and the man’s legs dropped open.

He kept his eyes locked on Angelo’s face as he climbed up onto

his hands and knees and leaned down to swallow Angelo’s hard
erection until his nose was buried in soft curly hairs. Angelo moaned
louder, his legs quivering. They closed up around Bill’s head for a
moment then slid open again as Angelo thrust up into Bill’s mouth.

Bill took all the man had to give, swallowing his entire length

down and silently begging for more. His own cock ached and dripped
with arousal. Bill hurt so much he briefly considered palming his cock
and taking care of his need himself, but he really wanted another go at
Angelo’s tight ass. There was nothing like those hot silken muscles
wrapping around him, massaging him.

Bill kept his lips locked around Angelo’s cock as he searched the

mattress for the lube he had dropped earlier in preparation for fucking
Angelo. He sighed in relief when his fingers closed around the cold
tube.

Bill quickly popped the cap open then poured a liberal amount out

onto his fingers. He dropped the tube then slid his fingers down the
crack of Angelo’s ass. Small pulsing muscles fluttered against his
fingers as if begging for them.

Bill slid Angelo’s cock back down his throat as he pushed a finger

knuckle-deep into Angelo’s tight hole. The hot silken muscles that

My Guardian Angelo

clamped around his finger were almost enough to make Bill come
right there on the spot, especially knowing that in mere moments
those muscles would be doing the very same thing to his cock.

Bill pushed his finger in and out, wiggling it around until he felt

the small ring of muscles start to loosen, then he slid another one in.
Angelo’s groans started to come in earnest, growing louder and higher
pitched with each passing second.

His hips hitched, driving his cock further down Bill’s throat. Bill

gagged for a moment before pulling back just a little and relaxing his
throat muscles enough to allow him to take more of Angelo’s cock
into his mouth.

Just as Bill pushed a third finger into Angelo’s ass, the man cried

out and erupted down Bill’s throat. Bill swallowed hard, trying to take
it all. He continued to thrust his fingers in and out of Angelo’s tight
heat, keeping the man hard. He had plans for that gorgeous cock.

“Bill?” Angelo’s heavy whisper alerted Bill that his lover was

now fully awake.

Bill lifted his head just enough to wink up at Angelo then went

back to sucking and licking at the man’s more-than-impressive dick.
Whoever said great things didn’t come in small packages had never
met Angelo. The man was impressively hung.

Bill was really hoping to feel that bad boy pound into him one of

these days. But right now, he needed to do the pounding. If he didn’t
get his cock inside of Angelo’s ass soon, he was pretty damn sure he
would have permanent damage.

Bill leaned back on his legs and grabbed for one of the condoms

he had brought with him. His fingers shook as he tore the package
open and then rolled the condom down his aching shaft.

Bill grabbed Angelo’s legs and hooked them over his arms as he

scooted forward and pressed the head of his cock against Angelo’s
tight entrance. Holding onto every bit of control he had learned after
years in the marines, Bill glanced up at Angelo and waited for his
acceptance.

Stormy Glenn

They might have gotten into a few tight spots since meeting and

had no choice then, but Bill refused to take what wasn’t freely given
to him, no matter how much he wanted the man. Angelo had to give
his consent that he wanted this as much as Bill did.

“Angelo?” Bill whispered on a husky, half-breath of air. The other

half was held inside his lungs as he held his breath and prayed with
everything in him that Angelo would give him the go ahead.

When Angel nodded, Bill thrust forward until his entire length

was buried in the man’s ass. His head dropped back as the most
intense feeling of peace he had ever felt filled him. He just knew this
was where he was meant to be. Not in some hotel in Central America
but in the arms of the gorgeous man beneath him.

“Fuck me, Bill.”
Bill groaned as his eyes snapped to Angelo. He started moving,

slowly at first then with more vigor as pleasure built inside of him,
overwhelming him. Had anyone ever felt so good, so right? Bill didn’t
think so.

And he was determined to keep this man for as long as he possibly

could. He just needed to convince Angelo that they were right for
each other. Considering how contrary the man was, that might be
harder than Bill thought.

Bill pulled out, nearly all the way, and then even more slowly

pushed back in. He felt Angelo’s fingernails dig into his arms, the
man groaning as he arched up to meet Bill’s thrusts. They both
groaned as Bill’s hips moved back and forth. Bill picked up the pace,
and his thrusting became more intense. Every time he drove his cock
into Angelo’s tight ass, Angelo let out a little whimper.

“Harder, Bill, fuck me harder!”
Bill shuddered at the needy demand, and his movements

quickened. He slammed into Angelo, the bed shaking beneath them.
Their bodies loudly slapped together, the sound echoing through the
room.

“Yes,” Angelo moaned.

My Guardian Angelo

His breathing quickened, and his whimpers grew in pitch and

volume. His head slammed back against the mattress as he arched his
back up. He clamped his ass muscles down around Bill’s thrusting
cock. His body stiffened, and his pleasure splashed between their
bodies.

Bill could feel every spurt of hot seed shooting against his skin,

taking his intense arousal even higher as Angelo cried out his release.
Bill’s thrusts became erratic at the erotic sound. He couldn’t ever
remember hearing anything more breathtaking than Angelo taking his
pleasure.

“Oh fuck, Angel!”
He threw his head back and, with a mighty roar, thrust one final

time as hard as he could. His body shuddered and convulsed as he
shot into Angelo. Bill’s body jerked a couple of times as he gave a
few final, weak thrusts. Bill tried to lift up, to keep his entire weight
off of Angelo, but the man’s arms slid around him, pulling him closer.

Bill’s body quivered and shuddered, his cock still buried deep

inside Angelo. He lay on top of Angelo, trying to catch his breath.
When he finally got his body under control, he lifted his head and
looked down at his lover. Angelo’s eyes were closed, his mouth
slightly parted, his damp hair stuck to the side of his face.

He really did look like an angel—a very debauched angel.
Bill leaned in close, his lips hovering above Angelo’s.
“No, Bill.”
Bill blinked and leaned back. “No, what?”
Angelo’s eyes opened slowly and looked up at him. “It can’t

happen.”

Bill’s heart climbed right up into his throat at the guarded look in

Angelo’s eyes. “What can’t happen?”

“You and me,” Angelo replied. “It can’t happen.”
“It just did,” Bill insisted, refusing to give up on the idea of the

two of them being together.

Stormy Glenn

“No, sex just happened. What you’re wanting, what I can see in

your eyes, it can’t happen.”

Bill stared down at Angelo for a moment before he pulled away,

rolling to one side of the bed. “Why not?” Yes, he sounded like a
petulant child, but Angelo was asking something of him he didn’t
know if he could do—give the man up. “We’d be good together.”

Bill was positive of it.
“Bill,” Angelo said as he rolled to his side. “How can you say we

would be good together? You don’t even know me.”

“I know the important things,” Bill insisted even though he could

feel his hopes and dreams of the two of them together slipping away.
“I know you’re a good man, one that I respect. You keep calm in a
crisis, you fight for what you believe in, and you’re not afraid to get
your hands dirty. Despite how cute you are, you don’t ask for anyone
to take it easy on you.”

The gorgeous man’s eyebrows went up. “You can tell all of that

after less than forty-eight hours together?”

“You tend to learn things a little faster about the person you’re

running with when your life is in danger.”

Angelo sighed, his eyes sliding closed. “And that’s why nothing

can ever happen between us.” There was a world of regret shining in
Angelo’s eyes when he opened them again and pinned them on Bill.
“This thing between us, it’s not real, Bill.”

“You’re saying what I feel is brought on by the danger we’re in?”
“Yes.”
“Bullshit!”
“Bill—”
“I know what I am feeling, Angelo, and it has nothing to do with

the danger we’re in.” Bill drew in a deep breath. It stuttered as he
exhaled, his heart ripping in two. “Why can’t we see where this would
take us?”

“Because!” Angelo snapped. He sat up, pushing his hand through

his sweat-dampened hair. “Because,” he spoke quieter, almost as if he

My Guardian Angelo

didn’t want to speak the words coming out of his mouth, “you’re
going to head home and I’m going to stay here. Long-distance
relationships don’t work, Bill.”

“We could make it work.”
“How, Bill? I work undercover.” Angelo’s hand waved aimlessly

in the air. “Are you going to be happy not hearing from me for weeks,
maybe months, on end? I’ve been undercover in my current
assignment for more than six months. Can you honestly tell me that
you wouldn’t get pissed if you didn’t hear from me for six months?”

Bill’s shoulders slumped, the fight draining right out of him. He

knew he would be pissed if he didn’t hear from Angelo for six
months. He’d also be going out of his mind, worrying that Angelo
was in danger, afraid his cover had been blown, and driving himself
crazy wondering what he was doing while undercover.

“No,” Bill finally admitted as he plucked at the blanket with his

finger. Angelo was right. Bill couldn’t think of a single argument that
would sway the man to his way of thinking.

A soft sigh and Angelo’s hand pushing at his chest brought Bill to

a stop. “I’m sorry, Bill,” Angelo whispered into his ear. “I wish things
could be different. I think we would have been good together, too.”

Bill smiled sadly at the quick kiss brushed over his hair. Angelo

scooted closer and wrapped his arms around Bill’s waist, resting his
head on Bill’s wide chest. Bill took another deep breath to calm his
nerves before lowering his head, pressing their mouths together in a
gentle kiss.

Bill’s heart ached so much he wondered if it would ever be the

same again. He reached out with one hand and cradled Angelo’s
cheek with it as he gazed down into the man’s deep-brown eyes. “We
would have been fantastic together, Angel.”

* * * *

Stormy Glenn

Bill had a hard time keeping his eyes off of Angelo as they sat

around the hotel room with Charlie’s unit and planned their mission to
the winery. As much as he understood the man’s argument, his heart
still ached for what could be. Giving Angelo up felt like he was
giving everything up.

It was wrong, and Bill knew it. He just didn’t know how to change

it. Angel was adamant that nothing permanent could happen between
them. Bill was positive that they could work something out. He just
needed to figure out what that was.

He wasn’t giving up. Angelo was too special for that. He’d come

up with a plan. He was a marine. They never gave up. He wasn’t
about to start when the most important mission in his life might mean
keeping the man.

“Bill,” Manny said, catching Bill’s attention. “Are you listening?”
“Yeah, I’m listening.” Bill felt his face flush as he leaned forward,

trying to take his mind off of the mission with Angelo and put it back
on the mission with Harley. One thing at a time, he told himself. First,
they needed to rescue Harley, and then Bill could begin his campaign
to win his Angel.

“Okay,” Manny said, “Charlie was able to get some blueprints for

the winery, but I don’t know how good they are. The Central
American governments are not real big on filing building permits.
Things could have changed. So, while we have the basic layout, we’re
kind of going in blind.”

“Nothing we haven’t done before,” Haus said.
The corner of Bill’s mouth turned up at Haus’s reply. He gazed at

each of the men that had come just because he called. They hadn’t
asked any questions, hadn’t demanded anything in return. They had
just come to help him out because he asked it.

“I want to thank you all for coming,” Bill said. “Even if we don’t

find Harley, it means a lot to me that you were all willing to drop
everything and come just because I asked you to.”

Doc and Reece just nodded at Bill.

My Guardian Angelo

Manny grinned.
Haus rolled his eyes as if the thought of not coming was

ridiculous.

“I don’t know about the rest of these yahoos.” Wren chuckled.

“But I had to come, Bill. Your brother refused to put out if I didn’t.”

Bill’s eyes narrowed. He shook his finger at Wren. “I don’t want

to hear about how you’re corrupting my baby brother.”

“Me?” Wren’s eyebrows shot up. “Have you met your brother?”
“Okay,” Manny said as he started to roll the map up. “Let’s get

loaded up and head out. The plan is to hit the winery at dawn, just as
the sun is starting to come up. From what we’ve been able to tell from
the intel Angelo gave us, that’s just about when they start to do guard
shifts. If we’re lucky, we’ll catch them with their pants down.”

Bill nodded and got to his feet. He grabbed the tactical gear that

the team had brought with them for him and started pulling it on. It
wasn’t exactly stuff that would have been taken into an undercover
assignment, so he had left it at home.

“What’s with the hottie?” Haus asked as he stepped up close to

Bill.

“He’s mine,” Bill said as he turned to look at Angelo, who stood

on the other side of the room, pulling on the extra gear Bill had
requested for him. He wasn’t about to let Angelo go into a firefight
unprotected. “He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Oh yeah?” Haus chuckled.
“He’s our next mission.”

* * * *

“How do things look up there?” Bill asked Wren over the

communicator in his ear. He knew Wren was on the top floor of a
neighboring building, looking down the scope of his sniper rifle.

“Move on my command,” Wren responded.

Stormy Glenn

Bill watched as a silent shot took out one of the soldiers guarding

the door of the building they believed Harley was being held in. A
second later, the other guard fell. Both shots were taken so fast,
neither guard was aware of what had happened before it was over.

“Move,” Wren said.
Bill ran toward the warehouse structure at the back of the

property, moving low and quick. As soon as he reached the building
he plastered his back to the wall next to the door. He gave the
surrounding area a quick, trained glance then signaled for the next
man to move.

Angelo quickly ran across the open span of ground and pressed

back against the wall right next to Bill. Haus, Doc, and Reece
appeared moments later.

“Stack up,” Bill ordered. The military team stood nearly on top of

each other, about an inch off the wall. Bill held up a fist, then pointed
to the lock on the warehouse door.

Knowing the practiced signal well, Haus ran up with lock cutters,

cut the lock, and dropped the cutters to the side. He pulled at the door
violently while Bill and the rest of the team ran into the building.
Haus filed in after the last man piled in.

Bill fired two rounds into the first man he saw then ducked behind

a large crate. The rest of the team took cover beside him. Bill knew
that more soldiers would soon be rushing to the sound of his assault
rifle.

The game had begun.
According to Charlie, this was the cold storage area of the winery.

The door on the other side of the crates should be a hallway where the
large wine barrels were located.

And Harley.
Charlie had also pointed out that the area was heavily guarded and

equipped. From Angelo’s surveillance report, roughly twelve armed
men were in the building, four more guarding the entrances. Well,
two since Wren happened.

My Guardian Angelo

Bill took in his surroundings. The cold storage room was what one

would expect. There were large crates stacked everywhere—a
nightmare for seeing if there was anyone else tucked away. The cool,
ventilated air caressed Bill’s skin. The slightest smell of grapes filled
the room.

“Fan out!” Bill commanded. He needed this room to be cleared in

order to breach the hallway door. Doc and Reece immediately started
moving in opposite directions, never taking their eyes away from the
length of their rifles.

“Clear!” Reece shouted.
“Clear!” Doc’s call soon followed.
Bill moved directly down the center of the room, heading for the

door on the opposite side of the room, which he knew from Charlie
led to a hallway. The team reconvened at the door to the hallway.

As soon as everybody stacked back up, the door burst in while

two more thugs ran through. Although Bill wasn’t fond of shooting
someone in their back, it was currently a necessary evil.

Pop! Pop!
Bill’s rifle hit its marks. Both men went down in unison.
“Move!” Bill ordered as he ran through the door. Bill shot straight

through at an angle, coming to a stop on his knee, facing down the
hallway. Angelo hooked around the doorframe and came to a knee
facing the opposite direction.

Manny went straight across the hall, slipping a small camera

under the door. Checking the small screen in his hand, he relayed the
relevant information to Bill. “Five men. One by the barrels to the left.
Two off to the right watching the door. Miguel and Lou are talking to
someone.” Manny let a small gasp escape from his normally stoic
face. “I see Harley. He’s in a chair in the middle of the room. He’s
hurt real bad, Bill.”

“Fuck!” whispered Bill, mostly to himself. “I’m going to kill

every last one of those bastards that touched Harley.”

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“The door is—” Manny was cut off by a series of shots coming

from Angelo. Manny dropped and aimed his rifle toward the stairs at
the end of the hallway Angelo was watching. Haus and Doc followed
suit. When they saw the Angelo had dropped a man on the stairs,
Manny finished his statement. “—locked.”

“Haus, door. Reece, flashbang,” Bill snapped. Angelo and Bill

threw themselves against the wall connected to the winery door. Doc
and Reece did the same. Haus rigged a small, concentrated explosive
between the handle and doorframe.

“Clear,” Haus called out as he squatted down near the wall and

covered his head.

Bill held up three fingers.
Reece pulled the pin.
Bill dropped his ring finger.
Doc tensed and brought up his weapon.
Bill dropped his middle finger.
Haus flipped off the safety on the explosive’s trigger.
Bill’s hand became a fist.
Haus dropped his thumb on the button to the C4.
The door blew open. Not a second later, Reece rolled a flashbang

into the room. The entire team looked away. A loud bang and a bright
light later, the team rushed the room, alternating left and right until
everybody was in, rifles blazing.

The two men guarding the door were the least lucky. Two shots to

the chest each. Manny dropped the man next to the barrels. Bill shot
Miguel while Angelo fired at Lou. Bill grimaced when he saw that his
shot only winged the drug lord. He would have preferred killing him.

“Doc, get Harley,” Bill said as he scanned the room for more

survivors when the smoke finally settled. “Check him for injuries.”

Doc was already there, kneeling down next to Harley. “He needs a

hospital, Bill. Now! He has bad chemical burns on his feet. Knife
wounds to his chest. Burnt skin and puncture wounds on his hands

My Guardian Angelo

and legs. I believe he’s been shocked multiple times. There is no way
he’s walking out of here.”

Bill heard a gravelly laugh and glanced across the room to see

Lou standing there, his hands locked behind his head.

“What’re you laughing at, Lou?” Angelo asked in the coldest tone

Bill had ever heard from the man.

“Harley will die,” Lou replied. “I quite enjoyed our time together,

though. His screams have become my favorite pastime—music that
couldn’t top even the smoothest of jazz. Frank Sinatra has nothing on
Harley’s slow, painful screams.”

The grin on Lou’s face made Bill shudder. The man was truly

sick. He started to tell Angelo to shut the man up when he saw Lou
pull something from behind his back. Bill couldn’t contain his rage as
he pulled out his pistol and triple tapped Lou.

Two shots to the chest, one in the face.
No one said a word as Lou’s lifeless body dropped to the floor, a

small silver gun rolling from his hand.

“Where is Miguel?” Reece exclaimed.
Bill glanced around the room then swore up a blue streak. In all of

the commotion, they had failed to realize that Miguel only received a
shoulder wound, and had slipped out unnoticed. The asshole had
gotten away.

“Bastard!” Bill was beyond pissed. Now was not the time for a

pursuit. Harley needed help. Bill went for his communicator. “Wren,
how does our escape look?”

“Miguel gathered up everyone that wasn’t harmed and left in a

black SUV. I took out another guard, but Miguel got away.”

“Then we’re clear,” Bill said to his team. “Let’s call in

reinforcements and get Harley to the hospital!”

Stormy Glenn

Chapter 9

Angelo’s heart felt like a lead weight in his chest as he watched

Harley being loaded onto a military rescue helicopter. Doc jumped
onboard with him, and the helicopter lifted off into the air.

Their rescue mission had been successful to a point. Harley had

been found and was even now on his way to a military base where he
would be stabilized then flown to the States for more intense medical
treatment and then debriefing. Angelo knew that Harley would
receive the best care possible. Bill wouldn’t allow anything else.

The rest of the mission had been halfway successful. They had put

a major dent in Miguel’s drug operations and taken out his right-hand
man along with several of his soldiers. The drugs that had been seized
inside the winery were worth millions—millions that Miguel would
no longer have access to. That was a victory in itself.

But Miguel had gotten away.
That made the mission incomplete. After seeing what had been

done to Harley, Angelo swore to himself that he would track Miguel
down and eliminate him if it was the last thing he did. The man was a
monster.

Angelo’s heart climbed into his throat when a second military

helicopter landed and the rest of Bill’s team climbed onboard. He
knew without even looking behind him that Bill was headed for that
helicopter. Bill’s part in the mission had ended. Angelo’s part was just
beginning.

“It’s time for me to go, Angel.”
Angelo swallowed back the protest that instantly came to his lips.

He didn’t want to say good-bye to Bill. He wanted to demand that the

My Guardian Angelo

marine stay with him and never leave. And yet, he couldn’t. His own
words beat against his brain, making his head ache.

The last two days had been filled with danger, intrigue, and the

most heart-stopping moments of his entire life. Angelo wouldn’t trade
them for anything. The memories of those stolen moments with Bill
would live inside of him for the rest of his life.

Angelo just wished they could have more.
He turned slowly to see Bill standing a few feet away from him, a

sad smile on his handsome face. Bill looked unyielding as he took a
step toward Angelo, wrapped his hand around the nape of Angelo’s
neck, and pulled him closer.

Angelo’s heart skidded to a halt and then began to pound

frantically when Bill lowered his head and took possession of his
mouth, kissing him slowly and tenderly at first, then harder and more
passionately.

Angelo melted into Bill’s arms. He felt the explosion of heat from

Bill’s mouth to his. He kissed him back, nipping at Bill’s lips with his
teeth. He could feel Bill’s response in every movement of his body.

As their kisses became deeper and more frantic, Angelo felt Bill’s

hand fist in his hair. Bill claimed his lips with a hunger that belied his
outward calm. It was a magnificent kiss filled with passion and desire,
love and reverence.

Angelo felt it all of the way down to his toes.
When Bill finally lifted his head, Angelo stared at him a little

dazed, uncertain what to think or even how to think. He had to fight
himself as much as Bill in this shatteringly important decision. He had
to stay here and finish what he started, no matter how much he
wanted to go with Bill.

“I’m not letting you go.” Bill’s fingers grazed Angelo’s cheek.

“I’ll be back for you.”

Angelo tried to answer, but he could only gasp for breath, his eyes

wide with need and want and indecision. He knew Bill meant exactly
what he was saying. Bill had his own brand of honor, and no one—

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not even Angelo—was going to deter him when he got something
stuck in his head.

“Good-bye, Angel.”
As he watched Bill walk away from him and climb into the

helicopter, Angelo clenched his fists to keep from reaching out for the
man that he was pretty damn sure held a part of him no man had ever
had.

Angelo watched the helicopter until it flew out of sight, and in the

deepest, most secret part of his soul, he cried. Bill was gone, and
Angelo didn’t know if he would ever see him again. Despite Bill’s
promised words, Angelo knew he might not be back. Things changed
when the danger was gone. Feelings changed.

Bill might not want him anymore once he got home and had time

to rethink things. Angelo could just hope that he was wrong, that
whatever bond had started forming between them stayed strong, and
that Bill came back.

In the meantime…Angelo glanced around at the yard of the

winery, the police that ran here and there, and the men that were being
loaded up in either coroner’s cars or in the back of police vehicles. In
the meantime, he had a job to do.

Angelo needed a phone, and he had no idea where his was. He

needed to give a report to his superiors. He headed for the chief of
police, a man he really did not like. Angelo had done his research on
the man, and he didn’t seem to do a lot about the overwhelming drug
problem in his territory.

Considering that the man was the police chief for the entire

province, Angelo felt that he could have done a better job tracking
Miguel Fernandez down or at least helped to keep the drug lord’s crap
off the streets.

“Chief, I need access to a phone,” Angelo said when he reached

the man. “I have to make a report to my superiors.”

From the strange look that the chief gave him, Angelo knew his

time working undercover in this area was over. The chief knew his

My Guardian Angelo

face now. Well, he knew Angelo’s face from before, but Angelo had
been playing the part of a party bunny. Now, the chief actually knew
that Angelo had been playing a part.

That did not give Angelo the warm fuzzies.
“There’s a phone back at headquarters you can use,” the chief

said. He waved his hand toward an old, faded sedan. “I’ll give you a
ride. My men can finish cleaning up here.”

Angelo had no argument to that because he knew he needed to

check in with his superiors and let them know what was going on. He
would have preferred to stick around the scene and supervise.

He had questions for any of the thugs that had survived,

specifically the location of Miguel Fernandez. He knew that they had
information on Miguel’s other compounds as well as how the drugs
were getting into the states.

Angelo wouldn’t be satisfied until he brought the man down.

Miguel Fernandez wasn’t just a peddler of a drug that robbed people
of their lives. He was a man that inflicted the most damage he
possibly could on people that couldn’t defend themselves.

Angelo had been witness to some of the drug lord’s dirty deeds.

He had seen the aftermath of others. If Miguel was allowed to
continue his reign of terror, there was no telling how many lives he
would destroy.

Against his better judgment, Angelo settled in the chief’s car and

waited for the man to join him. When he didn’t immediately climb
into the car, Angelo turned to look for the man. He frowned when he
spotted the chief standing several feet away from the vehicle, talking
rapidly with another man.

Angelo wasn’t sure who the man was because he wasn’t wearing a

uniform, but the chief certainly seemed afraid of him. He was
gesturing wildly, and even once, he glanced over at Angelo. There
was fear in the older man’s eyes when their eyes locked.

The chief quickly looked away and spoke to the stranger again.

After a moment, he walked over and climbed into the car. Angelo

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kept his eyes on the stranger as they pulled away, not liking the way
the man watched them leave.

“Who was that?” Angelo asked, trying to sound casual when he

was anything but. His nerves were firing up, adrenaline making his
heart pound faster. There was something seriously wrong with this
picture, but damned if Angelo could figure out what it was.

“Oh, no one important,” the chief said. “He is just a farmer.”
Angelo looked at the chief in utter disbelief. If that man was a

farmer, I’ll eat my shoes. “He seemed really upset,” Angelo said
instead of what he was really thinking. “Is there a problem?”

“Well, yes, all of that gunfire and the explosions upset his cows.

He was making a complaint.”

That sounded reasonable enough except that man looked nothing

like a farmer. He was dressed much like many of the men in the area
dressed—jeans and T-shirts. But there was something off about him.
Angelo just couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Angelo glanced over his shoulder one last time. The man was still

watching the car. Only now, he was talking on his cell phone. That
was it. That was what was wrong. The man might be dressed like one
of the locals, but his clothes were too new and too city-like. Angelo
bet if he checked, they would have designer labels as well.

The man was no more a farmer than Angelo was—which meant

that Angelo was in a shitload of trouble. The gun Bill had given him
had been confiscated by the authorities after the firefight. He had no
other weapons on him except his wits, and that moment, he was
feeling decidedly unarmed.

“How far to the station?”
“Oh, not far,” the chief replied as he started tapping his fingers on

the steering wheel in a nervous gesture. “We should be there in a few
minutes.”

Bullshit! Angelo almost growled. The station was at least fifteen

miles from the winery through back country roads.

My Guardian Angelo

Angelo turned around in his seat and casually scanned the interior

of the vehicle, looking for anything that he could use as a weapon.
Nothing immediately came to him. For a police chief in Central
America, the chief was surprisingly clean and organized.

Maybe he had OCD.
When the car rounded a corner and the chief pulled onto another

road, Angelo’s heart began to beat a little faster in his chest. The chief
might now be aware of the fact that Angelo was an agent of the DEA,
but he had no idea that Angelo knew this entire area like the back of
his hand.

Angelo always made it a practice to learn everything he could

about every area he went into undercover. He liked knowing what to
expect and how to get the hell out if the shit hit the fan.

This situation certainly qualified.
The chief had just turned them onto a road that would take them in

the opposite direction than the police station. Unfortunately, it headed
them in the exact direction of Miguel Fernandez’s main compound.

That meant that the chief was just as dirty as Miguel, maybe even

more so as he was elected by the people in the area to keep them safe.
Instead, he was lining his pockets off the hard work and blood of the
very people he was supposed to be protecting.

And Angelo would be damned if he would just quietly allow

himself to be turned over to Miguel, especially not after the way the
man had looked at him before he and Bill had been able to escape.
Miguel would ensure that Angelo begged for death before he died.

“Do you have any water in here?” Angelo said as he turned and

started looking over the seat to the back. Thank god there was no seat
belt law. “Or maybe a snack bar? I’m starving. I don’t think I’ve eaten
anything since yesterday.”

Angelo lopped the upper half of his body over the top of the seat

like he was trying to search for food or water. “Oh, hey, I think I
found something.” Angelo scooted over the seat just as fast as he
could, thankful for once that he was smaller than a lot of people. He

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could hear the chief swearing from the front seat as he landed and
then righted himself and dropped to the floor behind the driver seat.

Bracing himself for what was to come, Angelo wrapped his arm

around the chief’s neck. His stomach clenched when the car swerved
and the chief tried to dislodge his arm.

“Stop the fucking car!” Angelo bellowed as he tightened his arm

around the chief’s neck.

Granted, it was erratically, but the chief kept driving. Angelo

tightened his arm even further. When that didn’t work, he leaned over
the seat and tried to grab the gun out of the chief’s holster.

The car swerved again. Angel glanced up just in time to see them

headed for a thicket of trees and brush. He dropped down behind the
seat as fast as he could, curled himself into a ball, and tried to go
limp.

The next few seconds dragged on far longer than they should

have. Angelo heard the chief cry out just before his entire body was
jarred by the sudden stopping of the vehicle. Angelo’s ears nearly
bled at the horrendous sound of metal crunching, glass shattering, and
the chief’s screams.

And then there was silence. It was eerie and almost anticlimactic.

Angelo’s chest heaved, his lungs begging for air as he sat curled on
the floorboards of the backseat. Angelo drew in a deep breath then
slowly climbed up onto his knees until he could look over the front
seat.

“Oh damn.”
The chief hadn’t fared as well as Angelo had. The man had gone

right through the front windshield and into the tree, the same tree that
the front of the car was currently wrapped around. And he wasn’t
moving.

Angelo tried the backdoor, but it was jammed. The window glass

had shattered when the car hit the tree, so he slid his sleeve down over
his fist and cleared out the remaining glass then carefully climbed out
of the car through the empty frame.

My Guardian Angelo

He cautiously walked toward the front of the car, not sure if the

chief was playing dead or if he was really dead. One look at the man’s
bleeding face and vacant eyes answered that question for Angelo. He
gagged as he quickly turned away, swallowing several times to keep
himself from throwing up.

The chief of police would not be getting up from this one.
Angelo turned back around and started searching through the

chief’s pockets. He wasn’t the least bit surprised when he found a cell
phone—or the roll of cash. He didn’t bother counting it, just shoved
the cash into his pocket and grabbed the man’s gun.

Angelo flipped the phone open and dialed the one number he

knew by heart. He held the phone up to his ear as he started walking
through the woods, hoping to get as far away from the main road as
he could. When they didn’t show up wherever the chief had been
taking them, Miguel would send someone to investigate. Angelo
didn’t plan on being there when that happened.

“Mama, this is Angelo,” he said as soon as he heard the woman’s

voice on the phone. “I need your help.”

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Chapter 10

Bill was chomping at the bit. It had been nearly a week, and he

hadn’t heard from Angelo yet. He knew that Angelo had a lot of
things to take care of, but he had been so sure that he would hear from
the guy—even if it was just a note or something.

Now, he was at a loss. He didn’t know what to do. His gut told

him to go find Angelo. His head said to give the guy some time, that
Angelo would come to him. His heart said that leaving was the
stupidest damn thing he ever could have done.

“Thinking about your guardian angel?”
Bill turned to see his brother standing in the doorway. He sent

Robby a weak smile and nodded. “He should have called me by now
or sent a note or something.”

Concern darkened Robby’s eyes. “Do you think he’s in trouble?”
“With Angelo, one never knows.” Bill smirked and turned to look

out one of the two windows he had been staring out of for the last few
hours. “He thrives on challenge. I actually think he enjoys going
undercover just because of the danger.”

“An adrenaline junky?”
“No.” Bill frowned as he tried to put Angelo into words when

there were none. “He likes getting the bad guys, righting wrongs. If he
could put every bad guy on the planet behind bars, he would, even if
it cost him his life.”

“Sounds like you.”
Bill chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it does.”

My Guardian Angelo

101

“You know, I remember when I was younger. It was right after

you went away for basic training. I was so mad at you for leaving. I
felt like you were abandoning me just like Mom and Dad did.”

“No!” Bill spun around. “I would never—”
“And then Pops came to talk to me,” Robby continued as if Bill

had never spoken a word. “He took me to facility a couple of towns
over that had been set up for veterans. He made me sit down and talk
to them, to listen to their stories. At first, I didn’t understand why
Pops would want me to listen to the horrible stories these men had to
tell about war, especially since you had just joined the service.”

Bill leaned back against the window frame, crossing his arms over

his chest. “Did he explain it to you?”

“No.” Robby laughed. “He took me on a trip to the Holocaust

Memorial in Washington D.C. and then to Arlington Cemetery. He
showed me pictures of what those old men had described, and then he
showed me the graves of the men that hadn’t come home.”

Robby clasped his hands behind his back as he walked over to

stare out the other window. “He introduced me to people that had
been saved from those atrocities, people that had gone on to live full,
rich lives. He introduced me to their children and their grandchildren,
people that would never have even been born if it wasn’t for soldiers
like the men in that veterans’ facility.”

Bill swallowed hard as tears clogged his throat. “And what did

you learn from all of that?”

Robby’s lips curved up as he glanced at Bill. “That there are just

some things worth fighting for, some things worth giving up your life
for so that others might have theirs.”

“Yeah.” There wasn’t much else that Bill could say. Robby had

hit it on the head. He did what he did because he had to, because there
were too many people out there in the world that couldn’t fight for
themselves, so Bill fought for them.

“If your Angelo is anything like you, then I imagine that’s what

he’s doing. It’s not that he doesn’t want to contact you but rather that

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he can’t at the moment.” Robby reached over and settled his hand on
Bill’s shoulder. “Don’t give up on him, Bill. Give him something to
fight for, something to come home to, to let him know why he’s
fighting.”

Bill sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m just afraid he

won’t come home, Robby. I, of all people, understand why he has to
do the things he does. I’m just afraid that one of these times, he won’t
make it out and I’ll never have the chance to tell him how much he
means to me.”

“He knows.”
Bill dropped his hand and lifted his head to stare at his brother.

“How can you know that?”

Robby gave Bill the same little smirk he always gave him when

he knew something Bill didn’t. Growing up, he had driven Bill nuts.
“He knows the same way that I know you love me even when you
don’t say it.”

Bill gulped. “You do know, right?”
“Yeah, Bill. I know.” Robby’s grin grew wider. “I love you, too.”
Bill squirmed a little under his brother’s intense stare. He had

never been real good with emotional scenes, and certainly not with
emotional words, but he really did love his brothers. And he was
pretty damn sure he loved Angelo, too.

“I wish I was better at this type of thing, Robby. I just—”
“It’s okay, Bill. You might not be real good at saying the words,

but you’re pretty damn good at showing them. I’ve never doubted that
you or John Henry loved me. Both of you have always taken care of
me and made sure that I was safe, that I had everything I wanted out
of life.”

Robby laughed suddenly as he stepped away. “Hell, you two were

the reason I became a deputy. I don’t want to join the service and see
the world, but I’m pretty damn happy protecting my little corner of
it.”

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103

Bill grinned despite the turmoil rolling through him. “Three

generations of marines and my baby brother is the one that decides to
buck the system. Who woulda thunk it?”

“I didn’t exactly buck the system, Bill. I just went about it a

different route.” No sooner had the words come out of Robby’s mouth
than Wren appeared in the doorway. Robby arched an eyebrow at
Bill. “Instead of becoming a marine, I gave one a home.”

Bill couldn’t argue with Robby’s logic as he watched the worry

fade from Wren’s face the second he spotted Robby standing casually
in the room, not a hair on him out of place. Wren was across the room
with Robby wrapped in his arms before Bill could blink. Every ounce
of tension faded from Wren when Robby leaned into him.

“Hey, Wren.” Bill nodded to the large man, mesmerized by the

sight of his little baby brother bringing such serenity to a man like
Wren.

Bill had worked out in the field with Wren on many missions. He

knew what the man was capable of. Not only was Wren a crack shot,
but he had taken out more bad guys than Bill had even conceived of.

Bill knew that killing that many people, even because it needed to

be done, left a black mark on a person’s soul. The man wrapped
around Robby seemed to be at peace with himself, and the world.

“Bill is worried because he hasn’t heard from Angelo,” Robby

said.

Wren looked up. “At all?”
“No,” Bill replied. “I thought I would have heard something by

now.”

“Have you talked to Charlie?”
Bill frowned, unsure where Wren was going with his question.

“No, why would I talk to Charlie about Angelo?”

“Charlie can contact Angelo’s superiors and find out where

Angelo is.”

Bill’s eyebrows shot up. “He can do that?”
Wren chuckled. “There isn’t much Charlie can’t do.”

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Bill pushed away from the window frame and walked out of the

room without another word to either Wren or Robby. If Charlie could
find out where Angelo was, Bill needed to talk to the man like
yesterday.

He headed straight for the kitchen, knowing that Charlie was

usually in there cooking or cleaning or doing some sort of art project
with Kenny at the breakfast table. When he found the kitchen empty,
Bill headed for the study. When he found that empty as well, Bill
started to hate how big Charlie’s house was. It could take an hour to
search the entire place—all three floors.

Bill started to head toward the living room when he heard voices

coming from the front porch. He paused and cocked his head, then
grinned when he heard Charlie’s rich timbre. “Gotcha.”

Bill hurried in the direction of the voices, slowing when he saw

Charlie standing in the entry with his daughter in his arms, talking to
an older Hispanic couple. His heart ached like it was going to stop
beating all together when he locked gazes with the same brown-
colored eyes that he had been dreaming about for the last week.

“Ch–Charlie?”
Charlie’s face was pale and pinched when he swung around. “Bill,

this is Mr. and Mrs. Dom—”

Bill’s heart stopped all together. “Dominguez. You’re Angelo’s

parents.”

The woman nodded. Her anguished eyes begged Bill for hope.

“You are Bill?”

Bill nodded. “I am.”
“Madre de Dios.” The woman crossed herself then rushed over to

Bill, grabbing his hands in hers. “My Angelo, he called several days
ago. He says he’s in trouble, and he wants us to find you and tell you.
He says you can go get him now. He’s ready to come home.”

* * * *

My Guardian Angelo

105

Bill crouched down by the side of the building, his eyes quickly

scanning the area in front of him. He knew that the men behind him
would scan the area behind him and beside him. His job was to clear
the way ahead of them so that they could move up toward the large
compound at the end of the street.

Once he knew his immediate front was clear, Bill waved his hand

then moved forward to the next spot, which happened to be behind an
old burnt-out car. As long as he stayed down, he wouldn’t be spotted
by the soldiers manning the guard tower down the road.

It was hard for Bill to keep to the plan Charlie had come up with

and not rush the compound, especially knowing that Angelo was
inside. It had taken them three days to locate Angelo, and another
three to get their plan into place.

If the intel they had gathered was correct, Angelo had been

Miguel’s prisoner for almost two weeks. Anything could have
happened to him in that time. He had seen the way that Miguel looked
at Angelo. He knew what the drug lord wanted from the agent. Every
horrible scenario that Bill could possibly think of had filtered through
his mind until Bill thought he was going to go crazy.

By the time their plan was in place and they were gearing up to

head out on the rescue mission, Bill was so stressed out that he felt
like he was going to shatter into a million pieces at any moment.

Bill crept to the front of the burnt-out vehicle and peeked over the

rusted hood. From his vantage point, he had a clear view of the gated
compound at the end of the street. He vividly remembered that the
gate sat in the middle of the large tan brick fence surrounding the
property. It was at least six feet high.

Besides the fence, there were at least ten cameras monitoring the

inside and outside of the compound. A sandbox with a machine gun
had been set up on the roof of the gatehouse, and guards with dogs
and automatic weapons patrolled the grounds.

Getting back into the compound was going to be a lot harder than

getting out of it had been. Not only were they trying to break in but by

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now, Miguel had probably upped his security measures in response to
the attack on his winery property. If he was smart, he’d be
anticipating an attack.

But then again, anyone stupid enough to take on Angelo Martinez

a second time was dumb enough to think they might be safe in their
little world. Bill held onto that hope as he scooted along the edge of
the burnt-out car and made his way to the next vantage point.

The closer he got to the compound gate, the more tension began to

build up in his muscles until they were bowstring tight. Bill nearly
jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. He
jerked around, raising his gun, ready to pull the trigger until he saw
Manny squatting down behind him.

Bill lowered his gun, blew out a deep breath, and rubbed his hand

down his face. “Are you out of your fucking mind?” he whispered. “I
could have killed you.”

Manny’s usual easy grin tilted his lips. “Naw, man, ain’t nothin

gonna happen to me. I have a shipment of Pringles coming in at the
end of the week, and god wouldn’t let me die before it gets here.”

Bill blinked, baffled by Manny’s obsession with Pringles.

Everyone was baffled by Manny’s obsession with Pringles, and the
man refused to discuss it. But just as sure as Bill knew the sun was
coming up in the morning, he knew that Manny would have a can of
Pringles stashed somewhere on his person.

“What do you want, Manny?”
Manny nodded to the other side of the street. “Wren radioed that

there’s a side gate into the compound about fifty yards up on the left-
hand side. He said it only has two guards. We can get in that way.”

“Why didn’t I hear him?” Bill reached for the communication

device in his ear. He rolled his eyes when he pulled it out and found
the device turned off. “I swear to god…” Bill turned the damn thing
on and put it back in his ear. “Where’s this gate, Wren?”

“About damn time you got online, Bill,” Wren replied. “I’ve been

yelling for you for the last five minutes.”

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107

“Just tell me where the gate is, Wren.”
Wren’s deep chuckle came across the line. “Stay to the left side of

the street. The gate is hidden behind some bushes about fifty yards
from your current location. Two guards are patrolling the inside of the
fence just inside. Once you’re in place, I’ll take them out.”

“Got it.” Bill turned back to look down the street. Two armed

guards walked back and forth in front of the gate. Bill could see two
more patrolling just inside the gate. If they headed directly down the
street, they were sure to be seen.

He hit the button on his com-unit. “Wren, we need an alternate

route to the gate. Visibility is too open this way.” The guards would
see them before they got halfway down the street.

“Okay, give me a minute.”
That minute felt like it took forever. Bill was ready to say to hell

with it and rush the gate by the time Wren came back on the line.

“Go back the way you came to the tan building ten yards behind

you. If you follow the building around to the left side, there’s an
alleyway that leads up to the far edge of the compound gate. You’ll be
out in the open from the edge of the building to the fence.”

Bill grimaced. That wasn’t good. “Any other way?”
“Sorry, man,” Wren replied. “That pretty much looks like the only

route unless you want to go in the front gate. There are soldiers
patrolling the other streets.”

“Okay.” Bill gestured toward the building behind them with his

head. “We go that way.”

Manny turned and worked his way back the way they had come,

Bill following behind him. They met up with the rest of the team at
the corner of the tan building. Bill quickly laid out the new plan then
took the lead, moving quietly along the edge of the building until he
came to the alleyway.

He flattened himself against the wall then leaned around the

corner to look down the alley. It was dark but not so much so that he
couldn’t see clear to the other end. Trash cans, some boxes, and

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garbage lined both sides of the alley. A single porch light flickered at
the end of the narrow passage.

Bill slid around the corner. Keeping low and close to the side of

the building, he made his way down toward the far end. He kept his
gun up, scanning the area in front of him repeatedly as he moved.

When he reached the far end of the alley, Bill reached up and

turned the lightbulb in the porch light until it went out then ducked
down into a crouching position and waited for the rest of his team.

Manny took up position against the building on the other side of

the alley. Haus, Doc, and Reece stacked up behind them. Bill
searched the open area between the alley and the tall fence several
yards in front of him. He could see guards down the way, patrolling.
And he knew that there was a guard manning a machine gun on the
top of the guard tower.

“We’re in place, Wren,” Bill whispered into his com-unit. “Let us

know when we can move.”

“Copy.”
The waiting was excruciating. Bill pulled on every bit of his

training to stay in place until Wren told him he could move. He knew
that he had to do this by the book or he would lose any chance he had
of getting to Angelo and saving him.

But he still wanted to rush the place.
He didn’t.
“Okay,” Wren finally said, “you’re going to move one at a time,

thirty-second intervals.”

Bill glanced at the other members of his team to make sure they

had heard Wren. When they all nodded, he tensed and waited.

“Move.”
Bill stayed low as he shot across the open ground to the edge of

the large tan fence. The second he reached the fence, he dropped
down to a crouching position again and pressed himself up against the
cold, hard stone barrier.

My Guardian Angelo

109

Thirty seconds later, Manny joined him, then Haus, Doc, and

Reece. Once they were all against the fence, Bill moved past his team
members and took the lead once again, carefully making his way
along the stone wall to the gate Wren had found for them.

The gate was a small door made out of black wrought iron. And it

was locked. Just beyond the gate, Bill could see two armed men
patrolling. He knew they would have to be as quiet as possible or they
would be heard.

He waved Haus forward and moved back, allowing the man to

work. Bill smirked silently when Haus pulled out a small set of tools
and stuck two of them in the lock. There hadn’t been a door invented
that Haus couldn’t pick or blow up.

When the gate unlocked, Haus held it closed until everyone got

into position. Bill took the spot right next to the gate, planning to be
the first one inside the second Wren took the two guards out and Haus
opened the door.

“Now,” Bill whispered almost silently into the com-unit.
Two quiet thuds filled the air, and the guards dropped to the

ground. Haus yanked the iron gate open. Bill hurried through it,
reaching for the first dead guard. He pulled him back into the bushes
as Manny did the same for the other dead guard.

Once the guards were hidden, Bill squatted down next to the fence

and scanned the interior grounds of Miguel’s compound. The house
itself was set back from the gate. A large fountain sat right in the
middle of a circular driveway.

The house had all of the design features of a typical upper-scale

house for the area. It was made of tan stucco and had large open
archways leading to a porch that went around to the back of the
house.

Bill knew from previous surveillance that there was a huge patio

in the back with an in-ground pool, hot tub, and canopy-covered
eating area. There were also three separate double glass doors leading
into the house from the back patio.

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Stormy Glenn

Bill had hoped to use one of them to get inside the house, but after

seeing the number of guards on the second floor balcony, he knew he
would have to change those plans. They needed a second route into
the house.

The garage.
Bill grinned. Someone had left the damn garage open. And that

was a route into the house he knew well. Bill motioned to the team
then started forward, moving along the edge of the fence until he
reached a position on the side of the house, close to the open garage.

He waited until the guards were looking the other way then darted

across the grass and into the garage. Bill instantly dropped down and
scanned the garage for any signs of movement. When he didn’t see
any, he gave the all clear to the rest of his team then made his way
over to the door leading into the house.

When the rest of the guys reached him, Bill looked at Reece and

pointed to the black truck parked on the far side. “That black truck is
bulletproof. See if you can find the keys or get it running. If we have
to make a quick getaway, we can take that.” Bill chuckled almost
silently, but he couldn’t contain his amusement. “That’s the truck
Angelo and I used the last time we escaped out of here.”

Reece grinned and moved off toward the truck.
An afterthought hit Bill. “Reece,” he spoke quietly into the com-

unit. “Check it for explosives and tracking devices. If Miguel is
expecting us, he might think we’d go for the truck again to escape.”

Reece nodded and continued moving toward the truck, but Bill

could see that his motions were more cautious. Bill turned toward the
door that led into the house. Like when they had breached the winery,
Manny went to the door and slipped a small camera under the bottom
edge. Checking the small screen in his hand, he relayed the relevant
information to Bill.

“Clear.”
Bill nodded. He held up a fist, then pointed to the door. Haus

turned the knob and pulled the door open. Bill and the rest of the team

My Guardian Angelo

111

ran into the house, crouching down with their weapons aimed toward
the kitchen. Haus filed in after the last man piled in.

“Fan out!” Bill commanded. Doc and Manny immediately started

moving down the hallway, never taking their eyes away from the
length of their rifles as they checked the two rooms on either side of
the garage entrance.

Once he had been given the all clear signal, Bill moved directly

down the center of the hallway and headed for the staircase that led to
the second floor—and hopefully, Angelo. He kept his eyes on the far
side of the hallway, knowing it led to the kitchen and that anyone
could come out at any moment.

When he reached the stairs, Bill crouched down and kept his gun

trained on the kitchen entrance as Haus, Doc, and Manny moved up
the stairs. The second they were past him, Bill turned and hurried up
after them.

“Miguel’s quarters are at the far end of the hallway,” Bill

murmured, hoping everyone could hear him when he was talking so
low. “There should be at least one guard somewhere on the second
floor. Miguel’s room is halfway down the corridor.”

Assuming Miguel hadn’t changed rooms, and Bill doubted that he

had. Miguel was just egotistical enough to believe that he was safe in
his little stucco tower.

Bill slid past his men when they reached the top floor. He pointed

to a door in the middle of the corridor. “That’s Miguel’s room,” he
said just before he started moving silently down the hallway.

When Bill stopped beside the door, Haus passed him and took up

a position on the far end of the hallway. A quick glance over his
shoulder assured Bill that Manny was in position at the top of the
stairs. That left him and Doc to breach the room.

And Bill really hoped he didn’t need Doc’s assistance for more

than an extra gun.

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Bill checked the door handle. It tuned easily in his hand. He raised

two fingers in the air between him and Doc and moved them back and
forth. Doc nodded and hurried over to Manny’s position.

A moment later, Manny took Doc’s spot then squatted down and

slipped the small camera under the bottom edge. Manny shook his
head as he pulled it free. He held up one finger then laid it
horizontally.

One body, lying down.
Damn!
Bill held up his hand then lifted three fingers into the air. One by

one, he pulled them down. When the last finger went down, Manny
yanked the door open. Bill rushed into the room and off to one side,
quickly scanning the room before Manny even got inside.

“Clear,” Bill whispered.
A moment later, Doc and Haus rushed inside the room and shut

the door behind them. They started searching the room, looking for
possible escape routes and threats. Bill’s heart was in his throat as he
cautiously approached the prone body lying on the bed. Tears came to
his eyes when he stepped closer and his worst fears came to life.

It was Angelo.
Or at least, he was pretty sure it was Angelo.
The naked man on the bed had been beaten so badly that his face

was one massive swollen bruise. A quick scan of Angelo’s body told
Bill the rest of his beautiful angel was pretty much in the same shape.
Scratches, cuts, and bruises marred almost every inch of Angelo’s
skin. What wasn’t bruised was covered in dried blood.

Bill felt a slow burning rage fill him when he saw the metal

manacle secured around Angelo’s ankle. The skin beneath it was red
and raw, bleeding. Angelo had obviously fought to get free with
everything in him.

Bill started to step toward Angelo when he heard the smallest

whisper of sound behind him. He froze, hoping that his team hadn’t
followed him into the bedroom.

My Guardian Angelo

113

“He said you would come for him.” A low menacing chuckle

filled the air. “I almost didn’t believe him.”

Miguel.
Bill clenched his fists, desperately wanting to drive them into the

man behind him over and over again until even his mother wouldn’t
be able to recognize him. “You do know that I’m going to kill you for
what you did to my angel, right?” Bill asked as he slowly turned to
look at Miguel.

Miguel laughed as he glanced beyond Bill to the body curled up

on the bed. “He’s not so much of an angel anymore.”

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Chapter 11

Angelo thought he was hallucinating when he heard Bill’s voice.

He had dreamed of the man so many times since Miguel had grabbed
him off the streets that he no longer believed what he saw or heard.
He didn’t know how much was real and how much was his
imagination.

But he knew he hadn’t imagined the three heavily armed men

crouched just outside the double doors leading into Miguel’s
bedroom. They had never played a part in any of his fantasies.

When one of the men held his finger up to his mouth—the

universal sign for silence—Angelo gave a small nod, the only thing
he had the strength to do. His body had been beaten so much, so hard,
and for so long that Angelo barely felt the pain anymore.

“Drop the gun, Bill,” Miguel ordered, waving the gun in his hand

at Bill. “It is Bill, isn’t it? Or are you an undercover agent of the DEA
like our Angelo? My man Lou said he thought he recognized you
from a photo Harley had in his wallet. I just wasn’t sure it was you.
But it was, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Bill said as he lowered his gun to the floor.
“You’re a marine just like Harley,” Miguel mused. “Oh my. I

always did like a man in uniform. Are you as delicious as Angelo? He
was very good.”

Angelo’s eyes flickered to Miguel then to what he could see of

Bill’s back. Bill. He was here. He had come for Angelo just like he
said he would. If Angelo could have jumped and kissed the guy, he
would have.

“But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

My Guardian Angelo

115

Angelo tried to inhale as slowly as he could when he saw Bill’s

back stiffen. Inhaling sharply hurt too damn much. Angelo was pretty
sure that at least two of his ribs were fractured if not broken.

Miguel had truly enjoyed working Angelo over. The man had

been pissed that not only had Angelo turned him down and tied his
nuts up, but escaped. He had wanted his revenge and had gotten it by
beating Angelo to a pulp.

Angelo just wished he had the energy to tell Bill that that was all

Miguel had done. A small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth,
making him wince when it pulled at the cut on his lips.

But he had reason to smile.
Miguel had been especially pissed when he beat Angelo because

the plastic ties Angelo used to tie the guy’s nuts up had rendered him
useless in the bedroom. No matter how many times Miguel had tried
to make his dick hard so that he could assault Angelo, he remained
limp.

And Angelo had laughed his ass off every damn time until

Miguel’s enraged punches knocked him out. But it had been worth
every hellish moment just to watch the man lose control and know he
had caused it. Miguel wouldn’t be raping anyone for a very long time.

“Angelo was so very…uh…accommodating,” Miguel continued.

Angelo’s skin crawled with disgust at the lust he could hear in
Miguel’s voice. The man was sick. “Let’s see how accommodating
you can be, soldier.” Miguel waved his gun at Bill. “Strip.”

“No,” Bill said simply.
“No?” Angelo grinned when he heard the surprise in Miguel’s

voice. He seriously doubted the man expected that reply. “I have the
gun.”

“I have more guns.”
Angelo didn’t know if it was his injuries that made everything

after that seem like it was happening in slow motion, but he watched
with a sense of shock as Miguel turned to see the three armed men
standing in the doorway.

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Miguel let out an outraged roar and turned the gun back on Bill

just as the three men pulled their triggers and Bill dove over the top of
Angelo. After the three soft pops, there was single thud and then there
was nothing. Not a sound filled the air except rapid breathing.

“Angel?” Bill whispered as he rolled to the side and stared down

at him. His hand hovered over the side of Angelo’s face but never
quite made contact.

Angelo felt tears burn his eyes as he tried to smile at Bill. “Hey.”
“I said I’d be back for you.”
“I was kind of hoping for a little different setting.”
“Yeah, well.” Angelo could see tears in Bill’s eyes as he grinned.

“You know us marines. We plan for everything.”

“Does that mean you’ve figured a way out of here? ’Cause I’d

really like to go home.”

“How do you feel about a house full of marines?”
Angel knew Bill was talking about the house he shared with his

friends. “Sounds perfect.” At this point, Angelo would take a
Dumpster as long as it meant getting out of Miguel’s compound.
“How?”

“Doc?” Bill asked as he glanced up.
Angelo smiled when Doc’s smiling face came into view. “Hey,

Doc.”

“Hi, Angelo,” Doc replied as he started checking Angelo over.

Angelo breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the shackles around his
ankles fall away.

“Can you tell me anything about your injuries, Angelo?” Doc

asked.

“Fractured or broken ribs, at least two, maybe more. Definitely a

concussion.” Angelo’s head was still ringing from the last time
Miguel pummeled him. The guy really seemed to get off on seeing the
bruising on Angelo’s face. “Some cuts on my arms and legs from a
straight-edge razor and burns on my chest.”

My Guardian Angelo

117

Doc nodded then looked Angelo straight in the face. “Anything

else?”

Angelo knew what the marine medic was asking, and he was glad

he could answer no. “He couldn’t get it up.” A small burst of laughter
blew between Angelo’s lips. “Bastard was still injured from the ties I
used on his nuts that last time.”

Doc’s eyebrows shot up. “You tied up his nuts?”
“He shouldn’t have touched me without my permission.”
“Right.” Doc went back to checking Angelo over, applying salve

and bandages where he could. He grabbed a syringe and a small bottle
of medication in a clear container. “Remind me not to piss you off.”

“Is that going to knock me out, Doc?” Angelo asked as he

watched the man load the syringe.

“It won’t knock you out, but it’s going to make you not care what

comes next.”

Angelo swallowed hard. “What comes next?”
“We have to move you, Angelo.”
“Damn, I knew you were going to say that.” He also knew that it

was going to hurt like hell. “How fast does it take effect?”

“About two minutes.”
“Then let me talk to Bill first.” Angelo had something to say to

the man and he wanted to do it before he was doped up on
medication.

“Bill,” Doc called out as he stepped back, “Angelo wants you.”
Bill’s face appeared over the top of Angelo a moment later. “What

do you need, Angel?”

“You’re taking me home, right?”
“Yeah, Angel, I’m taking you home.”
“To your home?”
Bill’s forehead crinkled as he frowned. “Is that what you want,

Angel?”

“Didn’t you get the message from my mother?”

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Bill’s frowned deepened as if he couldn’t quite connect the dots

Angelo was putting in front of him. “Yes, your mother came to see
me. That’s how we knew you were in trouble.”

“I meant it when I said I was ready to come home.” Angelo

swallowed hard, praying he wasn’t stepping out onto a limb that was
about to go crashing to the ground. “Your home…if the offer is still
open.”

Bill stared intently down at Angelo for the longest time, and then

a wide, joyous grin began to spread across his face. “It is, Angel.”

Angelo closed his eyes when Bill leaned down and placed the

gentlest of kisses across his lips. When Bill leaned back, Angelo
opened his eyes and smiled up at the man, knowing his message had
gotten across to Bill by the emotions shining brightly in his dark-
brown eyes.

“Okay, Doc,” Angelo said without looking away from Bill.

“Shoot me up.”

Angel felt a small prick in his arm and then a few minutes later,

the room began to spin. By the time he was wrapped up in a blanket
and lifted into Bill’s arms, Angelo could only smile and lean into the
man’s broad chest.

“You smell good,” Angelo whispered as he sniffed at the man.
“And you’re stoned.” Bill chuckled.
“Okay.” Angelo just didn’t care at that point. He didn’t hurt and

he was being held by Bill. His world was just about perfect.

“Time to be quiet, Angel. We need to sneak back out of this

hellhole.”

“Boom,” Angelo snickered.
“Uh…” Bill frowned and glanced up to somewhere else. “Boom?”
“Cabinet by the bar.” Angelo swung his arm wide. “Big boom.”
“Holy Fuck! He’s not kidding, Bill,” Manny said a moment later.

“There are enough explosives in here to flatten the entire compound.”

My Guardian Angelo

119

“Big boom,” Angelo laughed because the idea of blowing up

Miguel’s compound, preferably with Miguel in it, was absolutely
hysterical. “Drive away.”

“Damn, Angel.” Bill brushed his lips across Angelo’s forehead. “I

love you.”

“Yep, yep.” Angelo widened his eyes when he looked up at Bill

and the man’s face faded in and out. Wow, he felt loopy. “Love, love
Angel,” Angelo said in a sing-song voice as he patted the side of
Bill’s face.

“Oh man, you are so stoned.” Bill chuckled. “You’re going to hate

yourself when this stuff wears off.”

“Hey, guys,” Haus said, “this asshole is still alive.”
Bill’s lip curled back as he growled. “Bring him.”
Things kind of went by in a blur after that. Angelo did remember

being jostled as Bill carried him out of the room and down a flight of
stairs. He remembered seeing Reece when they reached the garage.
Then there was a loud boom and they made a mad dash through the
compound in one of Miguel’s vehicles.

Angelo blinked when his view of the sky changed from the roof of

the vehicle to the night sky and then the ceiling of a helicopter. Bill
held Angelo tucked to his chest the entire flight.

When they landed, Angelo saw several faces bent over him, faces

he didn’t know. The only thing that kept him from jumping back in
fear was the feeling of Bill’s hand wrapped around his. Bill still held
his hand even when the lights started to fade.

* * * *

Angelo opened his eyes slowly, the bright light in the room

making him wince. He blinked several times until he could handle
having his eyes open without pain blasting through his head.

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Stormy Glenn

Before he moved a single muscle, Angelo took in his

surroundings. The walls were white, the ceiling was white. He could
hear the continuous beep of a machine off in the background.

The obvious answer was that he was in some sort of hospital.
Okay, now to take stock of the physical stuff. Angelo wiggled his

toes then lifted each leg. Everything seemed to be in general working
order. He lifted one arm and wiggled his fingers. Those worked.

He started to lift the other arm and wiggle his fingers but couldn’t.

For a moment, Angelo’s heart beat a little faster in his chest, and then
he realized that whatever had a hold of him was warm and soft.

Not a shackle then.
Angelo glanced down to see a head resting on an arm next to him

on the bed. He smiled, recognizing that beautiful dark-brown hair
anywhere. Angelo squeezed the hand that held him.

Bill’s head jerked up. “What? Huh?” Bill blinked rapidly until his

eyes settled on Angelo. “Angel,” he exclaimed as he jumped to his
feet and hovered over the top of Angelo. “How do you feel? Are you
in any pain? I’ll get the doctor.”

“Bill,” Angelo whispered huskily when the man turned away and

started for the door.

“Yeah, baby?” Bill said as he turned back.
Angelo licked his dry lips and whispered the words he never

thought he’d have the chance to say. “I love you.”

My Guardian Angelo

121

Chapter 12

Bill smiled at the nurses as he carried a bouquet of flowers and

bundle of get well soon balloons down the hospital corridor toward
Angelo’s room.

After Angelo had been deemed stable enough to be moved,

Charlie had used his clout to get Angelo transferred to a hospital just a
few miles from the mansion. Bill was anxious to see Angelo. His man
had been in the hospital for a month, and it was time to take him
home.

Bill just wasn’t sure if Angelo truly wanted to go to the home he

shared with John Henry and the others or somewhere else. Despite
what the man said back at Miguel’s compound, Bill didn’t know if
Angelo really meant it. Angelo had been in a lot of pain and was
probably very grateful that he had been rescued. That did not mean he
wanted to spend the rest of his life with Bill.

The not knowing was driving Bill out of his mind. He hadn’t said

anything to Angelo because he didn’t want to pressure the guy.
Angelo was under enough stress from every other direction. Bill
didn’t want to add to it.

Not only was Angelo recovering from the trauma from his torture

at the hands of Miguel—which included several broken bones and
surgery for internal bleeding—but he had been interrogated over and
over again about his part in bringing the drug lord down.

Unfortunately, Miguel had lived through his wounds. After being

extradited to the United States, Miguel was currently being held in a
military hospital under guard while he recovered. Once he was well
again, he was going to face charges for numerous murders,

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intimidation, racketeering, dealing drugs, the kidnapping and torture
of a DEA agent, and whatever else the government prosecutor could
come up with.

He was pretty much set to go away for life, even if he cut a deal.

Bill would have preferred a firing squad or at least ten minutes alone
in a room with the man. Only one of them would have walked out of
the room, and it wouldn’t have been Miguel.

Bill paused outside of Angelo’s hospital room when he heard

voices from inside. He was nervous. He could admit that even if just
to himself. Walking into Angelo’s room and discovering if the man
really meant what he said was more daunting than trying to get into a
drug lord’s compound.

Bill’s stomach was in so many knots he thought he might throw

up.

“I’m a marine, damn it,” he whispered to himself. “We don’t run

from danger. We run toward it.” Bill blew out a deep breath and
plastered a smile on his face. He pushed the door open and walked
inside.

“Hey,” Bill said when he found the room filled with people. “I

thought I was coming to bust you out of this place. I didn’t know you
were throwing a party.”

He walked over to Angelo’s bedside. He quickly leaned in to

brush their lips together before handing Angelo the flowers and
balloons he had brought for him. Bill felt a flush fill his face when
Angelo took the items, his eyebrow shooting up in surprise.

“Flowers?”
“There’s something for you in the flowers.”
“Oh?” Angelo brought the large bouquet of flowers to his nose,

taking a sniff. He shot Bill a bewildered look before searching
through the long stems. Bill grinned when Angelo inhaled and looked
back up at him again.

Bill shrugged. “It matched your eyes.”

My Guardian Angelo

123

Angelo chuckled as he pulled the small palm-sized handgun out of

the flowers. “You do have the best taste in flowers.”

It was a small .22 pistol with a wooden grip the same brown color

as Angelo’s eyes. It wouldn’t keep Angelo from being attacked again,
but it might make someone think twice or at least give Angelo a
fighting chance to get away.

“You bought my Angelo a gun?”
Uh-oh. Bill swallowed hard as he turned to face Angelo’s mother.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“This is the type of present you bring him when he’s been in the

hospital?”

Bill yanked the flowers out of Angelo’s hands and held them out

to the woman. “I brought him flowers.”

“But a gun?”
Angelo rolled his eyes. “Mama, that’s enough.”
“Angelo, it’s a gun,” the woman said she turned toward her son.

“What sort of present is that? What does that say about you that this
man would bring you a gun?”

Angelo grinned as he looked up at Bill. “It says Bill loves me.”
Bill handed the flowers back.
“Bill is trying to make sure that I don’t get hurt again, Mama.”

Angelo never looked away from Bill as he spoke. “He’s giving me
something that might save my life.”

“I thought you were giving all of that spy stuff up,” Maria

Dominguez replied.

“I am.”
Bill’s jaw dropped as his eyes snapped back and forth between

Angelo and his mother. “You are?” His heart started pounding faster
in his chest. “You’re giving up being a DEA agent?”

“Yep.” Angelo set the flowers on the portable table to the side of

his bed then folded his hands together in his lap. “As of this morning
when my supervisor came by, I am officially retired from the Drug
Enforcement Agency.”

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Bill would be lying through his teeth if he said that he wasn’t

thrilled about that. He hated the idea of Angelo going back
undercover, not just because it would take the man away from him for
months on end but because of the danger to Angelo.

Almost losing Angelo once was more than enough.
“So, what are your plans then?” Bill asked hesitantly, wishing

they were alone and not standing in front of Angelo’s entire family.
He had no idea what Angelo had told them about their relationship, or
even if he had told them anything.

Bill had spent the better part of the last month practically living at

Angelo’s bedside, so he knew they suspected something. He just
didn’t know if they understood that he had every intention of taking
Angelo home with him.

“Well, I start work next week, so I think you should take me back

to your place and help me get my stuff settled in my new home.”

“Work?” Bill gulped and trepidation filled him. Would this new

job of Angelo’s take the man away from him? “You got a job?”

Angelo grabbed a piece of brown fabric pushed down beside him

and held it up to his chest. Bill’s jaw dropped when he recognized the
brown shirt. It looked just like the ones John Henry and Robby wore
for work.

“Yep.” Angelo grinned. “Angelo Martinez, deputy sheriff.”
Bill chuckled as leaned in to kiss Angelo, all of the worry and

uncertainty he had built up in his head and heart fading away. “I guess
that makes sense. You make a pretty damn good guardian angel.”

THE END

WWW.STORMYGLENN.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stormy believes the only thing sexier than a man in cowboy boots

is two or three men in cowboy boots. She also believes in love at first
sight, soul Mates, true love, and happy endings.

You can usually find her cuddled in bed with a book in her hand

and a puppy in her lap, or on her laptop, creating the next sexy man
for one of her stories. Stormy welcomes comments from readers.

For all titles by Stormy Glenn, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/stormy-glenn

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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