Zy closed his eyes. “When do you think you’ll make it here?”

  “Oh, I’m going to head into town so I can get out of this rolling torture chamber by tomorrow night.”

  “I’ll see you then. And I’ll try to have some answers.”

  The following morning dawned bleak. The sun rose in the sky, but without Hallie, Tessa didn’t care. She just wanted to curl into a ball and cry. She certainly didn’t want to put on clothes, pretend to smile, and spend all day in the office, where Zy would undoubtedly grill her some more.

  But she didn’t dare stay home. Her daughter’s abductor might want more information from the office. What would happen to Hallie if she wasn’t there to pass it on?

  Woodenly, she rose and went through her usual morning motions—shower, makeup, clothes. She couldn’t stomach tea or food, so she grabbed a bottle of water, then climbed into her little sedan, trying not to look at the empty car seat in the rearview mirror that wrenched her heart.

  Despite every muscle seeming to weigh a thousand pounds, she made it to the office on time. When she opened the door, she saw exactly what she’d been dreading.

  Zy was waiting for her.

  “Morning,” she murmured.

  It hurt to look at him and know she was lying to him with every breath.

  He came closer, gently cupping her shoulder. “You feeling any better this morning, baby?”

  Normally, she loved when he called her baby. When he whispered the endearment in a slow caress, he made her feel special. When he growled it low and rough, he made her feel sexy. When he murmured it in that deep, tender tone, he nearly made her cry.

  Tessa swallowed against the stupid urge to blurt everything. It might not help, but it definitely could cost Hallie her life. She couldn’t risk it. “No. Thank you, but I need to sit.”

  She shook off his touch and walked to her chair, her laptop in its sleeve as she clutched it against her chest like a shield. When she sat, she could feel his eyes on her, along with the million questions he itched to ask.

  Please don’t.

  But she didn’t get that option. The bosses were all gone, and he was in charge. Whatever Zy said went.

  “Do you need something?” she asked him in her most professional voice.

  “Not right now, no. But I’d like to talk to you at lunch.”

  That’s the time of day the kidnappers had contacted her yesterday. She couldn’t be gone if they wanted something. “I’m busy.”

  Zy’s eyes could be warm blue velvet when they touched her with care. With her answer, they turned as cold as the Arctic Ocean. “It wasn’t a question and it’s not a date. Be in the conference room at noon.”

  “Anything I need to be aware of this morning? Are Valeria and her son all right?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  Tessa shouldn’t be surprised. She’d been evasive and dismissive to Zy for twenty-four hours. She’d dodged him, his texts, his calls, and his affection. What else could she possibly expect? She’d do almost anything to make talking to him easy again, to have their camaraderie be as breezy as it had been before.

  Almost anything…except sacrifice Hallie.

  “She’s a mother worried about her safety and her child. I relate to her.”

  “She’s someone we’ve been hired to protect, and that’s all you need to know.”

  As Zy turned away, Tessa reared back. He wasn’t merely upset or angry; it was as if he’d turned off his human valve—at least around her. Across the office, he exchanged a fist bump and a joke with One-Mile. He got someone on the phone a few minutes later and seemed to have a perfectly cordial chat.

  The second he hung up, he looked at her as if he could look through her.

  Tessa jerked her gaze away and went back to clandestinely checking her phone. Still nothing new. She was getting antsy. When would she hear from the asshole who had taken her daughter? What if Hallie wasn’t okay?

  God, she couldn’t think that or she’d lose her mind.

  She did her best to pretend to work for the next few hours, copying, filing, answering a few calls, all of which she sent back to Zy.

  Finally, at a few minutes before noon, he approached, stopping beside her. “Change of plans. Come with me.”

  Alarm zipped through Tessa. “Where are we going?”

  “Not your problem, but I can’t do this alone.”

  “All right.” She didn’t have a choice. If the kidnapper contacted her, she’d just have to hope he understood. “Where are we going?”

  “The baby store.”

  Tessa’s heart stopped. She couldn’t have heard him right. Certainly he didn’t mean they’d be going someplace where she’d bought lots of Hallie’s favorite things and brought her along a million times, cooing how much she loved to shop with her favorite little girl. It would be torture. “The baby store?”

  “Yeah, wherever you buy Hallie’s stuff. Valeria needs a few things. I have a list. I don’t know what half this shit means.”

  “All right.”

  It pained her to grab her phone and tuck the device away, then follow Zy outside.

  He held out his palm. “Keys?”

  “I’ll drive. It’s my car.”

  “And it’s company business, so what I say goes. Keys,” Zy insisted.

  With a sigh, she handed them over. He helped her into the passenger’s seat, hovering so close she could feel his body heat at her back and his warm breath caress her neck. She shivered as she sat and watched him come around to the side of the car before slipping into the driver’s seat.

  He shoved the key in the ignition. “We’re alone now. Are you going to talk to me?”

  “About what?” She blinked at him wide-eyed, pretending confusion. But she was quaking with terror. She was terrible at keeping secrets, especially from people she loved. Not telling Zy what was going on in her life was damn near killing her.

  “Whatever’s crawled up your ass in the last twenty-four hours—”

  “I-I had a headache, and I still don’t feel good.”

  Zy raised a brow at her.

  He clearly didn’t believe her. “And you don’t want to tell me what I’ve done that made you push me away?”

  “It’s not like that.” But that must be what it felt like to him.

  And his acidic smile said so.

  “You still don’t want to talk? Fine. Let’s just get this done.” He tore out of the parking lot and shot down the road.

  The silence between them felt oppressive.

  “Zy…” she ventured, then set a hand on his taut arm. Tessa remembered that arm around her, his hands skimming her body as his lips worked up her neck to cover her own before he sank deep and gave her scream-worthy pleasure.

  “What?”

  She didn’t want to upset him and she didn’t want to lose him. Maybe it was time to take a different approach…

  “Please try to understand. It’s not you. There’s…something going on.”

  “I figured. Tell me what. We’ll fix it.”

  Tessa shook her head. “This is something I have to work out. I know you want to help me, but—”

  “Hell yeah, I do. I love you. It’s in my DNA to help you.”

  Of course. He was a problem solver and a doer, but… “I have to do this alone.”

  Zy sighed as he rolled to a stoplight and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why?”

  “It’s…” She tried to think of an excuse he’d believe. “It’s in my head. I’ve just been through a lot and…I want to be really sure I’m ready.”

  “You said you were the night we made love. What made you change your mind?”

  Good question. If Hallie hadn’t been taken and she didn’t have to worry about her daughter’s abductor watching her, Tessa would be in Zy’s arms, eager for the moment they could be alone again.

  But that wasn’t her reality.

  So she grasped at the first answer she could think of. “What happened between us that night was huge. It scared me. I’ve never felt anything like that.”

  That wasn’t really a lie. Zy had knocked her off her feet and swept into her heart. The whole night had dazzled her senses so much it actually boggled her mind. The thought that she might lose him for good worried her. But she was terrified for Hallie.

  “So what are you saying? You need more time to adjust?”

  “Yes. A few days.” She hoped the abductor would be done with her and release Hallie by then. “I just need to get my head screwed on straight.”

  Zy took her words in but didn’t speak. Tessa wished he’d say something.

  Instead, he bolted across the intersection as the light turned green. Three silent minutes later, they reached the store. She would kill to know what he was thinking.

  He parked the car and yanked the keys from the ignition—and she felt his frustration rise between them.

  Tessa couldn’t help herself. She slipped her hand in his and willed him to look her way. “Zy, I care about you and—”

  “Do you?”

  “Yes.” That he might believe otherwise had tears stinging her eyes. “Please give me a little time. Everything now…it’s a lot to wrap my head around.”

  “And you’ve got another responsibility to think about.” He sighed. “I know.”

  But he didn’t seem happy.

  Before she could say anything else, he launched himself out of the car and headed toward the baby store, locking the sedan with her fob when he turned to ensure she was out and following.

  Normally, he’d get her door, help her up, be the gentleman. His sudden distance told her he was disheartened and exasperated. How was she going to repair it when she couldn’t tell him the truth?

  Inside the store, he pulled up a list from a text message. She tried not to remember the countless times she and Hallie had been here. She tried not to lose her mind missing and worrying about her daughter so horribly it was a physical ache.

  She failed miserably.

  Fifteen minutes later, Tessa was hanging by a thread. They had acquired all of the things Valeria asked for. Zy was quiet as they checked out. He was silent as he carried the bags. He was pensive as he loaded the trunk, slid into the driver’s seat, and started the car.

  He backed out of the spot so quickly it was almost reckless, but his moves were so controlled she’d swear he was a stunt driver.

  “So you’re not moving in with me anytime soon, I take it?” he demanded.

  Tessa really wanted to. She’d tried to be cautious and measured when he’d first asked, but she already knew he was the perfect man for her and would be an amazing father for Hallie. He’d give her more children. He’d provide safety. He’d give her love.

  But with Hallie missing, she couldn’t say any of that. If he realized her daughter had been taken, he would fuck being circumspect and move heaven and earth—burning down the world if he must—to get Hallie back. Not only would her daughter be gone forever, but she might lose him, too.

  “No.” She clutched her hands in her lap, staring at her interlocked fingers so she didn’t have to see the hurt on his face. Tessa didn’t have to pretend to cry; the tears were right there when she realized that Zy would stop investing his heart in someone who wouldn’t commit. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  He nodded, not saying another word until they pulled up in front of the office, then he stopped and let her out at the door. “Then we don’t have anything to talk about until you make up your mind. Go inside. I’ll bring your car back before five.”

  Tessa bit her lip. Her intention to reassure him had blown up spectacularly in her face, and she couldn’t do anything to keep him from drifting away, maybe for good. “Please don’t be angry.”

  But that was a losing battle, and she knew it.

  He huffed. “Too late.”

  The next day seemed like a rinse and repeat of the previous day, complete with a too-busy schedule and Tessa’s standoffish bullshit.

  About two o’clock, a stranger had strolled in. One-Mile had introduced him as Matt, one of his oldest friends. Apparently, they’d spent summers together in Wyoming growing up. Who knew? Certainly not Zy. Hell, he’d had no idea the sniper had any friends at all. Then came the kicker. Apparently, Matt had worked some cold missing-persons cases back home in the past and he had a particular set of skills, whatever that meant. At this point, Zy didn’t care. If the bosses had hired him to help find Kimber’s trail, that meant they weren’t making progress.

  Fuck.

  By the time he pulled up at Trees’s place, Zy was over the day. He turned off the layers of security around the joint, one by one, then let himself inside, carting the groceries and other supplies his buddy had requested. Then Zy turned on the lights, pumped up the heater, and lit a couple of scented candles to air out the musty smell.

  Go fucking search the whole place before I get home…

  Zy really didn’t want to. After another day of wondering whether he and Tessa would even make it until the end of the week, he didn’t fucking feel like tearing apart his best friend’s house. But since they ran the risk of being out of a job in the next eleven days, he owed it to them all to run down every possibility, even the ones he felt sure would be a dead end. At least he could tell the bosses he’d really, truly turned over every stone.

  You haven’t searched Tessa at all. Hell, you’ve flatly refused to even consider her a suspect.

  Yeah, and that changed tomorrow.

  An hour and a half later, Zy had been through every room in Trees’s place, along with his prep bunker. The fucker was so orderly. Everything the big guy stored was aligned, wrapped, dated, and secured. Nothing was ever out of place.

  Zy snorted. He was lucky if he remembered to turn on his dishwasher once a month.

  In the kitchen, he grabbed a bottle of water, leaned against the counter, and—he couldn’t help himself—texted Tessa.

  Can I come over later tonight? We should talk.

  Please don’t. I’m still not ready.

  Will you ever be or do you just want me to go the fuck away?

  Zy…

  But that was the only answer he got.

  Son of a bitch.

  He sighed, tempted to swap out his water for that unopened bottle of vodka he’d seen on Trees’s pantry shelf, but he’d never been the guy who drank away his girlfriend problems. He’d never even felt a twinge of distress over a woman before. He’d always snickered at those pussy-whipped saps. But he got it now, and he felt sorry for every poor, brokenhearted bastard he’d ever derided in the past.

  He was one of them now.

  Since yesterday afternoon, he’d been too preoccupied to eat. Sleep? Fuck no. That wasn’t happening. He merely punched his pillow and tried to figure out what was troubling Tessa…and if she might actually be their mole. Splice in a memory of her body beneath him, filled with his cock and crying out in orgasm, and Zy wasn’t sure whether pounding his fist into a punching bag or around his nagging-hard dick would clear his head and improve his mood.

  In his pocket, his phone buzzed. He pulled it free, disappointed to see the message was from Trees, not Tessa.

  There in ten. Everything ready?

  Yep.

  Thank god. I need to be more than a foot away from this woman.

  Or he would fuck her. Zy read the subtext loud and clear. Hell, he’d lived it for months with Tessa, until her shit had hit their fan.

  What the fuck was he supposed to do with an engagement ring she seemingly didn’t want?

  Another problem for later.

  He stepped outside to pace the porch—and avoid the vodka bottle—when the big RV pulled into the yard and disappeared around the back of the house, killing the lights.

  Of course Trees wouldn’t want it visible from the road. Tessa had jacked up his thoughts so much, he hadn’t even considered the obvious.

  Feeling like an idiot, he jogged around the place and met Trees just as he was stepping from the RV with a long-suffering sigh and a stretch. “Hey. So fucking glad that’s over.”

  “I’m glad for you, man. Good to have you back.”

  Trees peered at him with the light from the RV’s interior. “You look like shit.”

  “Well, stress, lack of sleep, and your girlfriend looking for the politest way possible to tell you to fuck off will do that.”

  “No shit?”

  He nodded. “It’s been one of the worst weeks ever.”

  “Sorry, man.” Trees clapped his arm, then glanced over his shoulder. When he looked back, his face darkened. “Did you bring everything I asked for?”

  “Yeah. I had a little trouble. It took a couple of stores to find the clothes you asked for, but it worked out.”

  Trees breathed a sigh of relief. “I owe you.”

  Zy heard a rustling inside the RV, then his buddy stepped aside and offered his hand, palm up.

  Small fingers laid across his meaty ones as a waif of a woman came down the steps. She was exactly what Zy remembered…yet she wasn’t.

  Coffee-colored hair hung in waves to her back. A choker with a black bow emphasized the daintiness of her neck. Its tails brushed the swells of lush breasts her tiny black tank couldn’t possibly hope to contain. Her denim shorts stretched tight across the flare of womanly hips and were so small they ought to be illegal. She wore no shoes, just a muted toe polish that nearly blended in with her skin. And when Zy looked up at her again, she studied him with old eyes in a face that looked way too young for such knowledge.

  “Hi, Laila.” He stuck out his hand. “You may not remember me. I’m Zy.”

  She looked down at his hand, dragging in a breath—for courage?—and shook it. “Hello. Is Señor Walker coming?”

  Trees leaned in, looking less than pleased. “She likes him.”

  “I trust him,” Laila corrected.

  And she didn’t trust Trees. That wasn’t a good sign.

  Then she stepped off the RV and brushed past them, curling her arms around her tiny middle to ward off the winter evening chill.

  “See what I’ve been dealing with?” he grumbled as she headed toward the house, wincing as she tiptoed over dead branches and crisp fallen leaves with her bare feet.