Fearless: Complicated Creatures Part Three by Alexi Lawless Read Free Book Online Page A

scared you, Bear.”
    He closed his red-rimmed eyes. “You scared the shit outta Jack.”
    “He was here?” she asked, confused. She was pretty groggy from the pain meds, but she had no recollection of Jack being there.
    Carey nodded, a flash of something crossing his face. Guilt? Remorse?
    Sam squeezed his hand. “What is it?”
    “Nothing that can’t wait. Jack isn’t here anymore, but he left something for you. And Wes is outside.”
    She blinked. “ Seriously?”
    Carey just chuckled tiredly, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Other than Jack and Wes, you got any other crazy ex-boyfriends who won’t take no for an answer?”
    “You know what’s so ironic?” Sam mumbled. “Time was when I was young, I would have done nearly anything for the love of a good man.”
    “Guess you’re extra-lucky then ’cause you’ve got the love of several good men, and they’re all standing outside waiting to see you,” he responded with a smile.
    A knock sounded, and Carey glanced up at the doorway, his mouth turning down as he stood, his stance protective.
    “I tried to stop him, but he says he knows Sam—” she heard Rush say, his voice unusually strident and accusatory as a tall guy stopped by her bedside, peering down at her with eyes of jet black.
    Samantha blinked as her pupils dilated and focused. She could have sworn he looked just like Alejandro de Soto… no , couldn’t be.
    “I’m on some good shit,” she slurred, certain she was hallucinating. “You look just like an asshole I was in the Corp with.” And once-enemy from her days as a cadet. He was older now and more chiseled, his handsome face lined with character. He could sand the paint off a barn with his five o’clock shadow, and he had the kind of deep tan that looked like he’d been steeped in the sun.
    “You look like shit, Wyatt,” Alejandro’s apparition told her as he leaned against the railing. “Must be slacking off if you let an old bastard like Nazar get the jump on you.”
    “Don’t talk to Sam like that,” Carey snapped, protective. “Who the hell are you?”
    “Friend of hers from way back,” Alejo replied, not bothering to look at him.
    Carey cocked his head. “She called you an asshole.”
    “That’s because he is an asshole,” Wes interrupted, moving closer to the bed. He edged Alejo out of the way, taking his place as he leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. “Welcome back, darlin’,” he murmured, his voice tender. “You sure know how to scare the hell out of a guy.”
    “Wes?” Sam managed to get out. “All my ghosts are together in one room,” she rasped, trying to wrap her head around everything. Never in her life did she think she’d see Wes and Alejandro standing side-by-side again after all these years.
    “You better tell us who you are right now,” Carey told Alejandro, bristling.
    He looked at Carey calmly. “My name’s Alejandro de Soto. I’m with the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment out of Fort Bragg, but I’ve been stationed in the Middle East for the past few years.”
    “Delta Force,” Carey said, putting two and two together. “But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
    “And we don’t give a good goddamn who you are or what Army outfit you’re with,” Talon said, stepping in. “You need to get your ass back to the sandbox. No one asked you here.”
    “Yeah?” Alejo smirked, the sardonic twist of his lips and the insolent way he looked Rush and Talon over making them bristle with tension and pent-up hostility. “Make me.”
    Talon and Rush moved forward at the same time, and Carey stuck a broad arm out, blocking them.
    “De Soto?” Carey cocked his head in askance. “You’re Rox’s older brother?”
    “Is Roxy okay?” Sam struggled to sit up, but pain sliced through her.
    “She’s fine,” Alejo assured her, pressing her back. “Roxy sent me, Sam. She asked me to protect you.”
    “From who?” Wes asked, his hand tightening around