TCW had been successful in training recruits quickly. However, that had happened with a slower acquisition rate. They’d had more time to bring them up to speed with weapons and tactics. They’d also had the task of brainwashing their minds to believe in what they were doing. If that hadn’t been enough to turn their recruits, they’d found the one thing that could hold over their heads to make them do what they were tasked to do or suffer the consequences.
PJ had only been with TCW for a little more than eight months, having been abducted and then coerced into complying with their demands or people she cared about would be killed.
She’d learned the only way out was to bring down Augustus, and thus, the entire organization. Until that happened, her loved ones were at risk.
Going to the police would accomplish nothing. TCW had become good at changing locations quickly. Augustus kept his true identity so secret he could be walking among any population. No one would recognize him as one of the most dangerous men in the northwest.
Until she discovered the man’s identity, PJ was forced to live in the compound and do what she was ordered to do.
She rose before the other recruits, pulled on her boots, swept her hair up into a ponytail and headed for the isolation building where Judge remained locked up. He’d need use of the latrine by now, and they had a lot to accomplish for the day.
When she unlocked the door and opened it, she looked inside and didn’t see Judge in the light shining through the overhead fiberglass panel. She stepped in, frowning.
A hand reached out, grabbed her wrist and yanked it up behind her, pressing it between her shoulder blades.
“Gotcha,” a voice whispered in her ear.
“Are you sure?” she asked, her tone low and deadly.
A moment later, she jabbed her elbow into his gut, stomped on his instep and broke free. Then she turned and swept out her leg, knocking his feet out from under him. Then she threw herself onto him.
At the last second, he rolled onto his back.
She landed on his chest instead of his back, her face inches from his.
He smiled as his hands rested on her hips to steady her. “I wasn’t going to hurt you. I just wanted you to know I’m not completely green. If I’d wanted to, I could’ve immobilized you rather than twisting your arm up behind your back.”
She glared down at him. “Don’t. Ever. Do that again.”
He chuckled. “I admit, I’m impressed. You’re quick.” Judge leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “I can be quicker.”
She tried to roll away, but his hands kept her anchored to him. “Let go of me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said and released her hips.
PJ rolled off him and scrambled to her feet.
He rose to stand in front of her. The smile tugging at the corners of his mouth made her heart beat erratically.
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him through narrowed eyes. “Let’s get a few things clear from the start.”
He nodded, his eyes twinkling. “I’m listening.”
Her insides fluttered like confused butterflies as she glared at him. “We’re not playing games.”
“Okay,” he said. “No games.” He twisted his lips, seeming to fight a smile pulling at his mouth.
Her frown deepened. “And kissing is strictly forbidden.”
He didn’t bother to hold back now. The smile spread across his face. “Duly noted. I won’t kiss you. Unless you initiate it.”
“Then we won’t have a problem.”
“How so?”
“I have no intention of initiating anything with you.” She lifted her chin. “You’re a recruit. I’m your trainer. And one of the rules in this compound is absolutely no PDA. Infractions are punishable by public flogging.”
He grinned. “Does that mean you’ll spank me in public?”
Heat rose up her neck and blossomed in her cheeks. “No. Goliath is responsible for all public floggings.”
Judge’s eyebrows rose. “Let me guess. Goliath is one big motherfucker.”
PJ nodded. “Trust me. You don’t want a flogging by Goliath.”
Judge ran his tongue across his lips. “I don’t know. Another kiss might make be worth it.”
Again, the butterflies battered her insides, stirring up a ruckus. Even her lips had the nerve to tingle at the thought of another kiss from her new recruit.
“Don’t.” She held up her hand. “It’s not going to happen.”
“Never say never, sweetheart.”
“It’s PJ to you.” She shook her head. “I knew this was going to be a mistake,” she muttered.
“Some of the biggest mistakes make the best love stories,” he persisted. When she refused to rise to the bait, he sighed. “Okay, I promise to be good.”
If the promise hadn’t come with a wink, PJ might have believed him.
Alas, there was that wink accompanying his words, making her disbelieve anything he had to say.
“Am I making you uncomfortable?” he asked.
“No, of course not. For that matter, I’ll be making you uncomfortable today.” She tilted her head toward the door. “Ready?”
Judge waved a hand. “Lead the way.”
After a visit to the latrines and a brief washup, they stopped in the mess hall for a quick breakfast provided by the recruits on kitchen patrol duty.
PJ sat with him, separate from the others. Until she knew more about him, she didn’t want him to have much contact with the others.
As she sat across the table, she studied him surreptitiously from beneath her lashes.
“You’re from Idaho?” she asked between bites of soggy scrambled eggs.
He nodded.
“What part?”
“Just north of Coeur d’Alene.”
“Did you grow up there?” she asked.
He nodded, not giving anything away in his deadpan expression.
“I’ve heard it’s nice there,” she commented, eating another bite of her eggs.
“It is.”
“What did you do there?”
“Not much,” he said. “The usual part-time jobs as a teenager until I struck out on my own.”
“How’d you make a living?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Doing whatever it took.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Like?”
“Mostly in the security business.”
“Is that where you attained skills with weapons?”
He met her gaze, a smile teasing the corners of his lips. “For an organization that wants to leave a person’s past behind them and only live in the present and future, you’re asking a lot of questions about my past.”
“Point taken. However, I need to know where to begin training you. Are you only skilled in certain weapons? Do you have any tactical training? Are you skilled with knives, archery or hand-to-hand combat?”
“All the above, except archery,” he said. “Though I used to shoot with bows and arrows when I was a teen, I’m very rusty.”
She nodded. “Good to know. And you appear to be in fairly good shape.”
He raised both eyebrows. “You noticed?”
“Hard not to notice when you’re up in someone’s business.”