“Exactly. I thought Fitz was different.”

  “Fitz is different, you fucking douche-nozzle.”

  “Would you stop cursing at me?”

  “No, because you’re a dick who can’t see how good he has it. Fitz loves you, you moron.”

  “Do it again and I’m going to kick your ass.”

  “We both know who’d kick whose ass.”

  “Wait, what do you mean he loves me?”

  Joker tapped the side of his head. “For someone who’s so fucking smart, you’re an idiot sometimes. Fitz loves you, and because he loves you, what happened yesterday was even more terrifying. Jack, you two haven’t been together long enough for him to know all of you. He knows you were Special Forces, but he’s never seen that part of you, and the first time he does see it, it’s you beating the shit out of some guy who attacked him in his living room, a guy who was probably let in by the guy who drugged him and tried to kill him in a car accident.”

  Jack shook his head. “He pretty much ended things.”

  “Right, because someone who’s clearly done with you spends the night missing you, leaving you voicemails about how sorry they are, how they messed up, to please call. Does Fitz strike you as the type of guy to do that with someone he isn’t crazy about? Those other assholes deserved the shit Chip left in their shoes. Fitz? No shit in his shoes.”

  “Your dog is as messed up as you are.”

  Sacha’s smirk took some of the edge off his words. “Yeah, well. We’re all a little fucked, but who needs normal?”

  “Fitz,” Jack muttered, walking to the back of the Jeep. “He wants a normal, quiet life.” He lifted his gaze to Joker’s. “And there is nothing normal or quiet about us.”

  Joker sighed. “I’m pretty sure when he said quiet, he meant a life without homicidal maniacs trying to kill him, not your loud-ass shouting at football, Red singing to his fuck-awful disco, Ace laughing at his own stupid puns, or Lucky’s voice in general. He’s been perfectly happy around us since he and Laz restored their friendship. Talk to him.”

  Since when had Sacha—a man who broke out in hives at the mention of the word monogamy—become the voice of reason where romantic relationships were concerned?

  Jack made a noncommittal sound and grabbed his toolbox from the back of the Jeep. They’d had breakfast, because Jack needed a big greasy breakfast to soak up some of the alcohol he’d stupidly consumed last night with Joker in his apartment. That was after Jack woke up drenched in sweat with a hairy dog butt in his face, thanks to Chip plastering himself to Jack’s side. He’d tried to get up and got whacked in the face with Chip’s tail for his effort. A shower and full stomach later, he felt somewhat human. They’d picked up the supplies from King’s garage, where Jack had stored them. King took one look at him, sighed, shook his head, and then walked back into the house.

  Jack straightened. “I just realized King was wearing Batmobile slippers.”

  “What? No. They were black and—shit, he was! Fuck, and I didn’t get a picture.” Joker removed his phone from his pocket. “I’m going to ask Leo to send me a picture.”

  “He gave me that look.”

  “What look? King has a lot of looks. Was it the ‘you two exhaust me’ look? That’s the one I’m most familiar with.”

  “No. The ‘you’re an idiot’ look.”

  Joker shrugged. “He ain’t wrong.”

  “Why are we best friends again?”

  Joker snickered as they started hauling equipment and tools to the side of Fitz’s house. The wind had grown significantly stronger as the tropical storm moved in. The storm had picked up speed overnight and was due to make landfall a lot sooner than expected. Thankfully, it hadn’t reached hurricane category, but the rain and wind could still cause significant damage, especially to homes on the east coast of Florida, where it was predicted to sweep through.

  If Fitz was still asleep, the drilling would wake him up, but there was no way around it. His house hadn’t come equipped with shutters, so they had to drill into the wall to install tracks and bolts for the shutters. They’d finished the tracks and were starting on the shutters when Fitz appeared.

  “Jack?”

  Jack stilled at the softly spoken word. The hurt from last night flared up again, and he kept his gaze on the aluminum shutter in front of him. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to disturb you. We’ll be done soon.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Putting your shutters up. We did the glass doors at the back first, then installed all the tracks on the windows. We’re just bolting the shutters to the wall now.”

  Fitz stepped up beside him, and Jack made the mistake of glancing at him. Fuck, he was beautiful, even with the dark circles around his red-rimmed eyes. His hair was a mess, but it only made him look gorgeously disheveled. He wore one of his loose cashmere sweaters in a pretty green that matched his eyes, one shoulder exposed where the sweater’s wide collar had slipped down.

  “I can see that. What I want to know is why you’re putting shutters up.”

  “Because I said I was going to.”

  “Can we talk?” Fitz put a hand on his arm, and Jack clenched his jaw.

  “Not right now. I want to finish this before it starts raining.” The sky was dark, the clouds moving fast.

  “After?”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Jack said, hating how rough his voice sounded. He finished tightening the bolt and turned to Fitz. Sacha had moved away to give them some privacy. “You really hurt me last night, Fitz. I can deal with all those assholes out there who think the worst of me, but I can’t take it from you. I can’t… be with you knowing you’re scared of me.”

  “I’m not scared of you. I’m so sorry about what I said. It was out of anger and stress, and I regret every word. I want to try. I want to learn the best way to help you when you need it. I want all of you. Please, can we at least talk about it?”

  “Okay. Let me finish this first. We’ve also got sandbags in the Jeep to put out. Saint will be here in a few with supplies.”

  “Supplies?”

  “Extra water, batteries, a backup generator. Just in case.” Okay, maybe a little more than a few extras. Jack wanted to make sure Fitz had everything to be comfortable in his house.

  Saint showed up half an hour later with everything from several cases of water, to batteries, nonperishable foods, and the generator. Fitz made them all pulled pork sandwiches and fries for lunch. It was amazing, and exactly what Jack needed to feel like himself again. Almost. When they were done with lunch, Fitz asked Jack if they could talk in private. Jack had been about to say he needed to finish securing the house, but Joker insisted he and Saint would take care of it, so Jack followed Fitz into the bedroom.

  “You didn’t have to do all this,” Fitz said gently from where he sat at the end of the bed. He looked so soft and beautiful. And miserable. Exactly how Jack felt.

  “I wanted to,” Jack said, taking a seat next to him. He hated this feeling, the awkwardness between them, being away from Fitz. “Whatever happens between us, you’ll always be family, Fitz. You can always count on us.”

  “Jack,” Fitz said softly, turning to cup his cheek, his lashes wet from tears. “I’m so sorry I hurt you. I got scared, not of you but everything going on, and…” He stood and slowly paced the floor. “King isn’t the only one with terrible timing.”

  “Huh?”

  Fitz stopped in front of Jack, and Jack couldn’t help himself. He took Fitz’s hands in his and pulled Fitz in between his knees.

  “I know relationships are hard work, and I know I can be a bit of a diva sometimes, and I won’t always understand your job and what you do, and I’ll worry, but—”

  “Whoa, easy, sweetheart. Breathe.”

  Fitz breathed in deep, then let it out slowly. “What I’m trying to say is that I want to make this work because I—”

  “Jack!” The door slammed open, and Jack quickly got to his feet, his arm going around Fitz on instinct at the alarm in Sacha’s voice.

  “What’s going on?”

  “It’s Maury. He said something happened to Sil.”

  “Shit. Where’s Maury?”

  Joker held his cell phone out, and Jack quickly took it.

  “Maury?”

  “I tried calling you, but it kept going to voicemail.”

  Jack checked his phone and cursed under his breath. “Yeah, sorry. I forgot to charge it last night. Battery’s dead.” He handed his phone to Joker, who left to get it charged. They always carried chargers with them. King was going to chew his ass if he found out Jack had let his phone die. “Maury, what’s going on?” The panic in Maury’s voice sent a chill through Jack.

  “Oh my God. Something’s happened to Sil.” Maury sucked in a sharp breath. “This is my fault. I should have known he’d gotten into something he shouldn’t have, but I didn’t want to believe it. I mean, it’s Sil.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “He called me, and fuck, he sounded so terrified. He said he was so sorry, that he’d gotten in over his head and should have told me. He begged me not to tell you, but Jesus, if you’d heard him? He was sobbing. How could I not call you? I don’t know what to do! I can’t fix this with a computer.”

  Jack understood Maury’s panic. His team had been trained in basic self-defense, but it wasn’t their job to get involved in anything dangerous. They were cybersecurity. Any action they saw tended to be from behind a screen.

  “Okay, calm down. Where are you?”

  “On my way to work. He’s in the parking lot waiting for me.”

  Shit. HQ was minimally staffed, with them only taking emergency calls due to the storm. “Okay, park around the corner near the dress boutique, and I’ll come meet you. We’ll go see him together.”

  “Okay.”

  Jack hung up and gave Joker his phone. “Sil’s in trouble. He’s gotten himself mixed up in something, and by the sounds of it, it’s bad. He’s waiting for Maury in the parking lot at work. I’m going to meet Maury and go with him.”

  “I’m going with you.”

  “I want you to stay here with Fitz.”

  “Jack?” Fitz stepped up beside him, worry written all over his beautiful face.

  “Fitz, Sil is in trouble. He called Maury, but with everything that’s happened, I don’t want Maury going in there alone. Joker is going to stay with you.”

  “No,” Joker said, shaking his head. “Saint is here. He can stay with Fitz.”

  “After what happened last night, I won’t take that chance. Saint is perfectly capable, but if we’re dealing with the same person, and I know you’re thinking the same thing I am, then Saint is going to need backup. If they’re trying to get me away from Fitz, I want you here. Call Lucky and Mason. They’re the closest. Have them meet me by the dress boutique around the corner from work.”

  “Fine.” Joker tapped Jack’s cheek. “You be careful. Take my Jeep. And charge your fucking phone on the way there, dumbass.”

  “I love you too.” Jack ruffled his hair, grinning at the warning glare he got. He turned to Fitz and kissed him, a quick but passionate kiss that told him they weren’t over. “I’ll be back soon, and we’ll talk. I want to make this work too, Fitz.”

  “Be careful, Jack. Please.”

  There was so much Jack wanted to say, but he didn’t have the time to get into it, so he hurried out of the house. The rain had already started, and he managed to get the hard top secured onto the Jeep in record time. Checking his phone was plugged in, he drove through the pelting rain toward HQ. Talk about shitty timing. The rain and wind were only going to get worse, meaning all kinds of debris flying all over the place, including trees and palm leaves falling onto electrical lines. The roads were about to get a whole lot more dangerous, and drivers in Florida were bad enough at the best of times. When it rained or stormed, the level of irresponsibility spiked.

  Traffic on A1A was as bad as expected, with folks running around getting last-minute supplies. For the most part, there were two kinds of people in Florida. The kind who were ready the moment June hit, who still had supplies from the previous year as well as basic staples they always had in stock, and those who waited until the last minute and had to deal with empty shelves, long lines, and shortages. Jack never understood. It wasn’t like hurricane season snuck up on people. It was the same time every year without fail. He spotted Maury standing beneath the boutique’s shop awning around the corner from HQ, and thanks to the storm, there was actually parking.

  Jack grabbed his phone, shoved it into his pocket, and reached into the glove compartment to remove the small gun safe tucked away inside. Using his thumbprint followed by his security ID, the box opened, and he took the Glock secured inside. Checking the clip, he made sure the safety was on, then shoved it into the waistband of his jeans. He grabbed the black Four Kings Security windbreaker Joker had left on the back seat and jumped out of the Jeep. He ran over to Maury, his T-shirt and jeans getting soaked in the short sprint.

  “Hey, Maury.” Jack slipped into the windbreaker just as his phone buzzed. He quickly checked the message. “Lucky and Mason are on their way.”

  Maury stared at him, eyes wide. “You think we’re in danger?”

  “I think it’s very possible.”

  The wind howled, the rain coming in sideways, and thunder exploded in the sky. Jack scanned the area to make sure it was clear before removing the gun from his waistband. He held it down between him and Maury on his left. Another boom, except this time it wasn’t thunder.

  “Oh my God, that was a gunshot.”

  “Fuck. I can’t wait for the guys. Stay here. Call the police and tell them what’s going on. Tell them I’m on the scene, and I’m armed.” The Kings were heavily involved in the community and had a close working relationship with the local police. Not long after they’d opened Four Kings Security, the police quickly learned it was in everyone’s best interest to play nice, especially as they’d accidentally arrested more than one Kings employee while they were on the job. The chief of police got to know Ward Kingston really well that day.

  Jack hurried toward the parking lot of HQ, Glock in hand. He slowed as he reached the entrance. The parking area was open on top, with high walls on three sides from the surrounding buildings that made up HQ and its neighboring shops. The surveillance truck parked inside provided enough cover for someone looking for a good hiding place.

  Carefully, Jack peered around the wall and spotted a figure writhing and groaning on the ground. Shit. Sil. In a running crouch, Jack hurried behind a car, using the large black company SUV for cover as he made his way to Sil.

  “Sil,” Jack said quietly, checking him over for a gunshot wound.

  Sil tried to push at Jack. “Trap.”

  Standing and spinning, something hit Jack in the face and blinded him, his eyes burning. He lifted his gun and tried to focus on the sounds around him, to feel where his attacker was, but a jolt of fire shot through him, and he hit the ground hard, jaw clenched tight, muscles rigid as the electric current coursed through him. With a hoarse cry, he tried to push through the paralyzing pain, only to have his nose and mouth covered from behind.

  “You brought this on yourself.”

  He knew that voice.

  It was the last thought he had before everything went black.

  Cold. Wet. Pain.

  Jack groaned, his head lolling forward as he stirred. Why did everything hurt? Fuck, his eyes burned. He slowly pried his eyes open one at a time, his vision blurry. Blinking a few times helped, but everything was still hazy. He went to rub his eyes and found he couldn’t move his arms.

  “What the hell?” he mumbled, trying to look down at himself. Why were his legs warmer than the rest of him? Oh, he was thigh-deep in water. Was he barefoot? Wait, that wasn’t right.

  “Hi, Jack.”

  At the softly spoken words, Jack lifted his head, his brows drawn together as he tried to make sense of what was going on. A hand touched his cheek, and he flinched.

  “Hey, it’s just me.”

  “Fitz?” No, not Fitz.

  A sharp smack to his cheek snapped him awake, and he stared into the big brown eyes of the man whose face was inches from his. No, most definitely not Fitz.

  “Emmett?”

  “Oh, so you do remember me?”

  “What? Of course, I do.” Fuck. They were under the St. John’s County Pier, and he’d been tied to one of the pilings with heavy rope. The wind had picked up, ocean water crashing violently against the pier, the tide steadily rising. “Emmett, what the hell are you doing?” A groan met his ears, and his head shot up. To his right, Sil and Maury were secured to the piling together. All this time…

  “Where’s Meg?” Jack asked, his heart in his throat. If this had something to do with him and his team, shouldn’t Meg have been here?

  Emmett put a hand to his chest. “I would never hurt Meg. She’s safe at home with her cats. I actually like her. She never ignored me.”

  “We never ignored you, Emmett.”

  “Bullshit!” Emmett shouted over the noise of the wind and crashing waves smacking into the thick pilings around them. At least the pier provided some cover over their heads. Emmett removed his glasses and tossed them into the water behind him, his dark hair plastered to his face and his button-down shirt soaked through. “I tried to get close to you. Tried to make you see me, but you never did. Then a position opened in your precious ‘Justice League,’ and you picked him?” Emmett thrust a finger toward Sil, who was out cold. “That snot-nosed little shit? You think he’s better than me?”

  “Emmett, please. Let’s—”

  “But I figure, hey, no big deal. I had plenty of time to impress you.” He stopped in front of Jack and smiled at him. “I spent months watching you, Jack. I figured, if I wanted to impress you, I needed to really get to know you, intimately, and you know what I found out?”