Pierce

Chapter Twenty Six

Natalie~

Natalie was curled up in Pierce's lap as he and his teammates laughed hysterically at one another. It was amazing how despite the gravity of the situation that surrounded them, these men were still able to have fun and joke with one another as if they didn't have a care in the world. It wasn't that they didn't care, but they were so confident in their abilities and so used to dangerous situations that it really was just another day at the office for them.

A few minutes later Lexi and Declan appeared and she heard Caleb and Pierce both let out audible sighs of relief.

Caleb stood and went to her at the door.

"You coming over here to give me shit?" Lexi sassed playfully.

"Well I was coming to give you a hug, but I can multitask." he returned with a half smile as he wrapped her up and gave her a quick squeeze.

As Caleb pulled away, he pretended to look into her ear to check to see if her brain was still intact.

"Don't worry Lex, your brains still in there." he laughed as she playfully smacked him across his muscular shoulder.

Hunter stood to give Lexi a quick hug as well.

"Hunter, are the kids that I tutor at the academy in any danger?" she asked as he pulled away.

"We don't have any reason to think that, but I went ahead and contacted local PD and let them know about a possible threat. They will get with the director and make sure everyone there is safe."

"Thank you." Lexi replied with a smile.

"Hey, Doll." Pierce said, extending his arm back and giving Lexi's arm a light squeeze a she passed behind them.

She loved the way the team cared for Lexi and it only made her love them all that much more.

Natalie's eyes roamed the pictures that were spread out on the table as the men talked. One in particular stood out to her and held her gaze. It looked like it was a picture taken off of a phone of two thugs throwing up some kind of ridiculous hand sign while holding a bottle of expensive liquor, but that's not what caught her attention. The upholstery and aesthetics of the club they were standing in were beautiful and she recognized them immediately. She had frequented that club with the owner of Luxe to gather ideas and insight from other successful club owners before their grand opening. That club in particular was her favorite and gave them so much inspiration.

"That's an amazing club." Natalie said to Pierce as she motioned with her head down at the picture.

Pierce's brows drew together and he picked up the picture off of the table so she could have a better look.

"This club? You know it?" he asked in a serious even tone.

"Yeah, Rob and I have been there a handful of times before we opened Luxe to get some pointers and to bounce some ideas off of other successful owners."

"Where is it?" Pierce asked.

"Miami."

Pierce's eyes shot to Hunter who came around the table and braced his weight on the back of the chair that she and Pierce were sitting in. At that point the entire mood of the room shifted. All of the laughter was now gone and every man was suddenly all business, as if her words had flipped a switch in every single one of them.

"Who's phone did we pull this off of?"

Slater thumbed through the files and answered quickly.

"Pulled from Nunez and sent from Salazar." Slater confirmed.

Hunter narrowed his eyes at the picture as he studied it before he sucked in a hard breath.