“Wanna talk about why you keep looking at your lady like she might disappear?”

  My brow furrows, but I stay silent.

  “It was quick, but I saw it.”

  I take a deep breath. “Heavy conversation for the first time I take my boy out to eat.”

  “Nothing about this whole situation isn’t heavy.”

  Bess comes back, bringing my water. She places one on the table in front of Zac a little harder than she did mine, splashing water over the edge and down on to the table. Zac just smiles sweetly at her, grabbing a napkin to clean the spill. When she leaves, he looks back at me, and one dark-blond brow goes up silently, encouraging me to talk.

  I don’t know why, but I open my mouth and begin to talk. Telling him about Ray, Olivia, and Riley without reservation. He lets me speak, focused completely on me and what I have to say with rapt attention. Bess comes back and places our food down, a big-ass steak and potatoes for both of us. And still, I talk. Seems like once the floodgates opened, there was no way I would be able to stop.

  “When you go big, you really go all out, don’t you?” He rumbles out a small laugh and takes a big bite of his food. “You need to tell her, you know that … so why haven’t you?”

  “Million-dollar question, isn’t it?”

  “Not really.” He takes another bite and washes it down with a big pull of his water. “See how she looks at you and it’s just how my mom looks at my dad. She’ll be mad, maybe even big mad, but a woman doesn’t look at you like that and not forgive you. Cheat on her, that’s a different story—but they’re born with forgiving hearts for the people they love. Keep the days ticking by without telling her and it’ll only be harder.”

  His words, simple and no-nonsense, hit their mark.

  “You’re one hell of a man, my boy,” I softly say, and I feel ten feet tall when I see my praise made him happy.

  “Damn right I am.”

  We both get busy eating more of our food, swapping out simple conversation back and forth as we get to know each other. My mind continues to wander back to Liv. He’s right, something I already knew and have known for some time now. The longer I let this go, the harder it’ll hurt her, and I just can’t have that.

  Fuck me, she’s going to be pissed.

  “Nobody” by Keith Sweat ft Athena Cage

  I look terrible.

  My eye, the whole left eye and the area around it down to my cheekbone are colorful.

  The colors of my bruise have started to change into a deep black. It makes it look like I took all the blacks, blues, and purples of my eye makeup and went to town.

  To be honest, I look like I ran smack dab into a wall going about sixty. That’s putting it lightly.

  With a sigh, I pick up my foundation and pray for a miracle. The way I see it, I might as well get to work on trying to camouflage this hot mess express the best I can. Not because it bothers me but because it bothers Zeke. I don’t want him seeing it and thinking negatively about his brother. It wasn’t intentional. He knows that, but that doesn’t mean the alpha male in him is soothed by that knowledge.

  It doesn’t take me long to make some progress in hiding the bruise. Axel’s wife, Izzy, had given me some tips on how to hide it. I didn’t have the heart to ask, but something tells me she had way too much talent and a clear practiced hand at concealing. I also have a feeling that she learned it out of necessity.

  I sit back in my chair at the vanity and look at my handiwork.

  Well, not too bad.

  It’s clearly still there, given that my eye is swollen, but it doesn’t look nearly as bad as it did.

  It had been a long day, waiting for Zeke to come back to the hotel after his lunch with Zac. I had gone out with the ladies earlier, but now the only thing left was tidying the room up and packing. Tomorrow was our last day, and I didn’t want to waste what time we had to spend with his family by having to pack.

  My phone rings as I place my suitcase on the bed, and I can’t help but smile huge when I see Ella’s name come across the screen.

  “Hey, gi—”

  “Livi,” Ella cries softly.

  “What is it?” I ask, instantly alert at her tone.

  “There’s been an … accident.” She pauses, and I swear my whole world falls at my feet while I wait for her to continue. “Riley is fine. We’re at the hospital getting her checked out. Just a little bump on her head.”

  “What kind of accident?” I wheeze, eyes shooting up the hotel door when it bursts open and an out-of-breath Zeke comes rushing in. His wild eyes search until he sees me standing next to the bed. He rushes over. “What accident?” I ask again, my voice low and panicked.

  “I don’t even know what happened, Liv. We were standing outside of the shop one second, and the next, I had two big bodies on top of Riley and me.” She takes a breath, and thank God, I braced. “Someone was shooting at us, Liv. God, I’m so sorry.”

  “You’re okay?” I question, body numb.

  “Just a little scratch. Riley hit her head when Hunt and Evan …” She trails off. “They saved us, Liv.”

  “Are they okay?”

  Zeke nods, and for the first time, I notice the phone pressed against his too pale face.

  “Yes. We’re all okay.”

  “You promise she’s okay?”

  “God, Liv. She’s so brave. She’s fine, just the bump. She’s more worried about her, and I quote, ‘giant’s friends.’”

  I close my eyes and drop my head to rest against his strong chest. I can feel the wild beat of his heart.

  “I’ll call the airlines now and get the next flight out. You really are okay?”

  I can hear it in her voice. She’s not okay. Hell, I’m not okay.

  “I will be, Liv. I will be.”

  I lift my head to wipe my eyes, seeing the makeup that was left behind on Zeke’s black shirt. I just stare at it.

  “Who did this, El?”

  She’s quiet, and I pull the phone away to see if we’re still connected, only to have it pulled from my hand. I watch with my jaw slack at Zeke places the phone to his ear.

  “I’ll make sure she’s on the next flight out. Just got a call from Saint. I’ll fill her in.”

  He hangs up, then tosses my phone on the bed and reaches out.

  I step back. I don’t know why, but I need answers, and I feel like I’m about to come out of my skin. My girl is hurt, my friend is hurt, and I’m hundreds of miles away. The urge to run to her is so strong, I feel like I’m going to puke.

  “Baby,” Zeke softly says, reaching out again.

  I hold up my hand.

  “Tell me why you have that look on your face,” I whisper. He looks worried, of course, but he also looks … terrified.

  “Let me hold you,” he responds.

  “No. Tell me.” I back up again and stop when I feel the bed at the back of my legs. “Tell me what has you looking scared.”

  “Liv,” he utters with a hint of desperation to his voice.

  “This is it, isn’t it?”

  He stops advancing, dropping his arms to his side and his gaze to the floor.

  “This is the why to you sticking close to us, isn’t it?”

  “It’s not the only why, baby, but yes … it’s part of it.”

  Rage like I have never felt ignites, and the feel of it rushing through my veins steals my breath. I feel weak with it. I want to scream. I want to fling my arms around and hit anything in my way. I want to cry with the fear that wars with my rage, making me anxious with the need to rush back home and see for myself that Riley is okay.

  “I’m going to call the airline and get the flight switched.” His words do nothing to ease the way I’m feeling right now. If anything, I just want to lash out even more.

  Don’t let your anger lead without thought.

  Words long since forgotten come rushing to the forefront of my mind. Words that I used to say to my sister when her temper would fire, and she’d be ready to fight a battle she had no chance at winning. It doesn’t douse all the rage, but it makes it so I can take a little bit bigger of a breath.

  “She could have died.” The words are out of my mouth before I have a chance to stop them. Seeing them hit their mark only makes me feel worse. Regardless of the reasons, I know he wouldn’t have done anything to intentionally hurt her. He cares about Riley just as much as I do. “I didn’t say that to hurt you, Zeke. It’s the truth. She could have died, and you were the only one who knew there was something—someone—out there who could hurt us. I asked you when we first started why you were there so many times, and not once did you tell me something was out there that could hurt her.”

  “I wasn’t the only one,” he whispers so softly I almost didn’t hear him.

  But I did.

  “What do you mean, you weren’t the only one?”

  “That’s why Evan and Hunt were there.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I’ll tell you everything, baby. Let me call the airlines and get this sorted first so we can get back to our girl.”

  Our girl.

  My God. Like a cold shower, his words slam into me and shock the anger right out of my body. I can see it clear as day in his beautiful blue eyes that he’s just as upset as I am. Because he loves her like I do. Like she is his own.

  I just don’t know if I can trust him anymore.

  The thought alone is like ripping out my own heart.

  My fight with him can wait. My girl needs me.

  No, I think … my girl needs us both.

  After one last look toward Zeke, I see his pained eyes on me and nod. With one last wipe to the tears streaming down my face, I turn to pack.

  “Here, Right Now” by Joshua Radin

  I shift in my seat, trying to find some space where there is none to be found.

  Everywhere I try to shift, a large body blocks my movements.

  “Sorry,” the large, unfamiliar body to my left grumbles.

  I shift to my right as the arm around my shoulders flexes and pulls me even closer.

  Zeke.

  He knows I’m upset with him. Hell, I haven’t so much as spoken one word to him since he informed me we were leaving in an hour and, I quote, “would have company.” Had I been in the right frame of mind, I would have questioned how he had sorted everything so quickly and had us leaving in an hour. Having flown into the airport only once was all I needed to know that Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is a hot damn mess, and no one gets anywhere in just an hour.

  Imagine my shock when we were picked up by Asher, Beck, and Maddox. All of them coming to our hotel door with silent and stoic expressions. They pulled Zeke aside, talked to him in hushed words, and then announced it was time to go.

  I didn’t ask any questions.

  If it gets me to my girl, I would do anything.

  When we get down to the lobby, the three men move to surround me. One Cooper brother on each side, with Beck trailing us. It’s been bothering me since, seeing them move into a protective stance the moment we were in public. I didn’t ask. I kept my silence and prayed that Ella wasn’t underselling how Riley was.

  “We’re here,” Asher says from the front. I look up and catch his gaze in the rearview mirror. Eyes so similar to his brother’s.

  The doors start opening, and the men start filing out. Zeke grabs my hand, and I let him help me climb down from the SUV.

  “Where are we?”

  “Private airport. Seems a few talents were picked up over the years. Maddox is flying us up.”

  I glance over at the dark eyes of the large silent man. Man, he’s intimidating. How sweet little Emmy can handle all that silent brooding, I don’t understand. In the limited interactions I’ve had with him, he’s hardly spoken.

  “Just leave your bags there, sir. I’ll get it all loaded up for you, and you guys can head up into the cabin.”

  Zeke and the guys place our luggage on the cart the man indicated and walk up the plane’s stairs. Without a choice, I follow their lead. I don’t pay much attention to the very opulent surroundings. Instead, I take the first seat I pass and settle in to look out the window. My thoughts are too turbulent for me to do much more. Beck and Asher pass by me, taking seats farther back in the cabin but close enough that I can hear their low conversation about football. Maddox goes to the front, and I see him take the pilot seat. A man I don’t know next to him.

  Zeke sits down next to me. “It’s not a long flight, but the car ride was long enough for the silence, Liv. Please talk to me.”

  “Who is up there with Maddox?”

  I see him turn his head from the corner of my eye. “Helps out on long flights. Maddox brought him in case we need any help while in Boston.”

  “What kind of help, Zeke?” I turn, looking him in those beautiful eyes, and feel my heart speed up. “Are we in danger?”

  For a man who was so good at hiding what he was thinking for so long, he’s doing a crap job of it now. The expression on his face is nothing short of wrecked, and I hate seeing it there. No matter what I’m feeling now, I love this man. I know deep in the pit of my heart that he would never do anything to intentionally hurt us. It’s just taking me for one hell of a ride that he felt he had to hide something from me. Regardless of the reason, I wish he would have trusted me enough to give it to me.

  “I’ll never let anything happen to you or Riley.”

  “But something did happen, Zeke. Something did.”

  He closes his eyes and leans his head back against the seat. His chest moves rapidly, jaw clenching and those dimples popping. As upset as I am with him, he still steals my breath away. I don’t understand why he couldn’t talk to me and tell me what was going on instead of building something with me on a foundation of omissions.

  He’s beating himself up harder than I am. My thoughts give me pause when I was about to speak.

  I look at him.

  Really look at him.

  He looks terrible. Handsome as always but terrible. His eyes have been dull all day. The brightness in his clear-blue eyes, the brilliance that had stolen my breath the first time I saw him without his green contacts, hasn’t come out from beneath the clouds once. He’s holding himself so tense I’m not sure how he’s able to keep from crushing the bones in the hand he’s holding. Not once since we got news on Riley and I found out he had been keeping something from me has he looked like himself.

  He looks … scared. And dammit, if that doesn’t just break my heart.

  “Looks like we have a straggler,” Beck says from a few seats back.

  I look out the window, and my eyes widen when I see the black Jeep speeding at an alarming rate toward the plane. I can’t tell who it is, the windows are too dark, but whoever it is seems to be trying to get our attention if the horn, arm out the window, and flashing lights are anything to go by.

  “Time to take off,” Maddox calls from the cockpit. “Get his ass in here quickly.” I see his arm reach out, and the door shuts a moment later. I guess that’s all the warnings we get. No need to come over the speaker for someone as commanding as him.

  Chatter continues, and Asher, having just walked past us from the bar area with water bottles, turns back and heads to the door. He tosses two water bottles in his arms over to his brother and lets out a little laugh when it lands in his lap. The other two—assuming for him and Beck—go to the small counter next to the door before he opens the hatch.

  I had been so focused on what Asher was doing, I missed the airport employee moving the stairs back to the side of the plane.

  “Party is here,” the youthful Cooper voice of Zac announces. He dips his head and enters the cabin. He winks at me, giving me a smile almost as heart-stopping as Zeke’s. Almost. “Couldn’t let all the old men out of the state without a babysitter. Shiner’s looking good.”

  “Sit down, boy,” Asher groans, shaking his head with a smile. When he passes his brother, he leans down and looks him in the eye. “All you, baby brother. Same tact that you have in serious situations, too.” A small laugh vibrates his chest. Asher looks over at me and gives me a small smile. Thankfully, he doesn’t apologize again for the shiner Zac just mentioned. I know he feels bad enough.

  “Jesus,” Zeke breathes, reaching out to give his son a manly handshake.

  “I can’t wait to meet your girl,” Zac tells me, honesty dripping from his words. “Pops says she’s incredible.”

  Pops?

  Oh … my God. He’s talking about Zeke. I sneak a glance at him and see him staring at his son with shocked wonderment.

  “She…” I clear my throat. “She is.”

  “Well, what do you say we get going so I can meet my soon-to-be little sister.”

  Eyes round, this time I don’t sneak a glance, I gawk with my mouth wide open.

  Zac, ever his pop’s son, reaches out, and with one finger under my jaw, he closes my mouth. “Don’t look so shocked.” He leans in, over Zeke, and whispers in my ear, “Bet he’s already got the ring, too.” He grunts out the last word and stands while rubbing his stomach and smiling down at Zeke. He looks at me one more time with a wink before moving to sit behind us.

  “Shit,” Zeke breathes.

  We’d been in the air for about an hour into our three-hour flight when I couldn’t take it any longer. The turbulent thoughts pinging around in my head were violent enough to make me sick to my stomach. Maddox was flying this plane so smoothly, I couldn’t even blame the sea of turmoil in my gut on the flight. Even the air around me seemed to be humming with an undercurrent of troubled energy. The men, for their credit, didn’t outwardly show that anything was amiss. They kept their conversations light: sports, meat, and who was paying next time they go play golf.

  Zeke hadn’t left my side.

  Nor has he spoken once.

  Not to the men.

  Not to his son.

  And not to me.

  He had rested his head back about a half hour ago. Something, I should note, I watched from the curtain of my hair.

  So I had hit my last nerve.

  The proverbial straw snapping the camel’s back in half.