Cross & Crown by Abigail Roux

blue dumpsterand would force them to veer toward the entrance to a side alley, and that was where Kelly headed.
    He was almost too late. As soon as Nick and JD neared the alley, Nick shoved JD to the side and pulled his gun, obviously seeing something coming out of the corner of his eye.
    Kelly moved with lightning speed, hitting the big man from the side and wrapping him up as they fell. He rolled with him, then let him loose, sending him into an uncontrolled tumble as Kelly hopped to his feet. Before Julian Cross could right himself, Kelly was on him again. He kicked at his chest, and Julian blocked the blow, but he wasn’t fast enough to block the next one when Kelly came up with a roundhouse kick that caught him in the side of the head and sent him sprawling.
    Julian was on his hands and knees, pushing himself to his feet, and Kelly went at him again. Julian was at least four inches taller than he was, but Kelly didn’t care. Size had never fazed him before. He aimed high this time, landing a few blows around the ribs and kidneys, missing a few as Julian blocked them. Then Kelly went in for the kill, leaping at Julian with a kick to the chest that should’ve leveled him. Julian brought up both hands, though, catching Kelly’s foot. Kelly went with the momentum, kicking off the ground and using Julian’s hold on him for leverage. He caught Julian under the chin as he flipped himself backward, and he landed in a crouch several feet from his opponent.
    He was breathing hard, body tense in expectation of Julian getting up again. He heard Nick’s footsteps behind him and he stood slowly. Nick patted him on the shoulder as they both stood over Julian, who was holding his face and lying on his back, cursing in an Irish accent.
    “That’s a lot more fun to watch when it’s not me you’re doing it to,” Nick told Kelly, his voice warm with pride and possibly a little lust.
    Kelly smirked at him.
    Nick grabbed Julian by his elbow and hefted him off the ground, then jerked his arms behind him and shoved him against the wall of the nearest building. He patted him down from head to toe, taking special care around his wrists. Kelly wound up holding an armful of weaponry and other… implements. Then Nick slapped a pair of handcuffs on Julian and hissed in his ear. “Welcome to Boston.”

elly sat in the backseat with Julian, watching him like a hawk. Nick could see them in his rearview mirror as he guided the car toward the marina. Any other collar, and he’d have taken him right back inside to the precinct, but Nick had dealt with Julian Cross before. He wasn’t the type you paraded into a police department without expecting trouble—and probably the CIA—to follow close behind.
    “I thought you were some sort of camp counselor,” Julian finally said to Kelly. “Work with troubled kids and all that.”
    Kelly pursed his lips. “Yeah. It’s called Camp Asskicker. I’ll give you a ‘you tried’ badge next time I see you.”
    Julian snorted and actually smiled before meeting Nick’s eyes in the mirror. “The handcuffs aren’t really necessary, Detective.”
    “Humor me,” Nick said. “You’re lucky you’re not in a cell. Why are you in Boston? Who’s your mark?”
    “I don’t have a mark. I’m retired, didn’t Grady tell you?”
    “Seeing is believing, babe. And I’ve seen you at not one but two crime scenes in the past two days. So I’ll ask you again, why are you in Boston?”
    Julian sighed, and his eyes darted to JD. “I’d rather speak in private, if it’s all the same to you.”
    “Fine,” Nick growled.
    They pulled into the marina parking lot and Nick swiped his security card to open the gates. He could feel the tension pouring off everyone in the car, including himself. It was days like this he sort of wished he’d pulled anchor on his yacht and just sailed into the Atlantic when he’d gotten home.
    They got several double takes and glares from Nick’s neighbors as he led Julian,