Pierce

Chapter Forty Six

Pierce ~

It was 8:00am and Pierce entered his apartment quietly with the weight of the world comfortably off of his shoulders after a shower and full debriefing at Knight. Hunter called Wyatt once the teams had cleared the scene, handing over the bodies of the men who had been haunting the DEAs for years. Wyatt was less than thrilled that Bravo and Delta had gone dark, but he was grateful for the assist at the end of the day and chalked it up as an overall win for all parties involved.

The apartment was quiet and still as he entered with only the low voices from the tv filling the air as he walked over and placed the half gallon of milk in the fridge.

Axel sat on the couch watching tv next to Grayson, who was sound asleep with his arms folded across his chest, but Natalie and the girls were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey brother, heard you guys wrecked shop down there." Axel said, standing to greet him with a firm slap on the back.

"Yeah, easy work." Pierce confirmed with his eyes still scanning the apartment for any sign of Natalie.

"The girls stayed up all night. Fell asleep on the couches about an hour ago. Grayson and I put Lex and Claire in the guest bedroom and Natalie in your bed."

"I appreciate it man."

Axel leaned over the back of the couch and shook Graysons shoulder.

"Rise and shine."

Grayson groaned and stretched, cracking his neck back and forth before he stood, giving a chin lift to Declan and Nate who had appeared in the doorway.

Both men swivelled their heads, looking for Lexi and Claire. It was almost comical how utterly infatuated they all were. A year ago Declan and Pierce would have been three beers in, going over the highlight reel of their latest mission and making plans to pick up as many women as possible to blow off some steam, but now look at them. Completely whipped and loving every damn second of it.

"Where are the girls?" Declan asked.

"Sleeping, I put Lex and Claire in the guest room. They've only been out for about an hour, but they are out." Grayson chuckled.

Declan didn't respond or hesitate, taking long strides toward the guest bedroom down the hall to retrieve his woman with Nate right behind him to do the same.

Axel folded his arms across his broad chest and smirked at the antics of his teammates.

"Normally I'd give y'all shit for being so damn pussy whipped, but I get it. Those women are pretty special."

Pierce smiled at Axel's admission, knowing he wouldn't have said it if he didn't mean it.

"And Natalie? Good Lord man, that woman loves you something fierce." Axel added.

"Yeah well the feeling is mutual. It's crazy, six months ago if you would have asked me about falling in love, I would have laughed in your face. I used to think love was back-breaking work that yielded little to no payout - something I wasn't interested in at all, but now...I'm a believer man. Loving Natalie is the easiest thing I've ever done."

"I'm happy for you brother. That's the sappiest shit I've ever heard, but I'm happy for you." Axel chuckled.

"We'll get out of your hair Hollywood. Still on for the beach party later today?" Grayson asked.

"Yeah, to my knowledge - beach, bonfire, and beer. We've got a couple coolers, but if you want anything stronger than beer you're gonna have to bring it yourself." Pierce confirmed.