“No. I learned a while ago that when people show you who they really are, you should pay attention. Let’s just say she opened my eyes with a crowbar.”

  Logan winced. “I know you don’t trust her, but my baby sister’s life is hanging in the balance. We have to try.”

  “You do.” Trees and his attitude backed down. Laila had stabbed him in the back, but he’d recover…eventually. The Edgingtons and Deke Trenton had a hole in their lives that would never be filled if they didn’t recover Kimber alive. She had children who needed her, and she’d done nothing to deserve death at these monsters’ hands. “Just…watch your six.”

  “That’s your job tonight.” Logan hesitated. “No idea where Laila is now?”

  With Victor Ramos, probably celebrating the moment that asshole had shot him and he’d conked his fucking head on the pavement. “No. Don’t you? You’ve talked to her.”

  “Not me. She reached out to Valeria, but Laila refused to even tell her sister where she’d gone. Valeria said she sounded rattled. She was crying. That’s why I thought”—he shrugged—“I don’t know, that maybe the video she’d sent was fabricated so you’d keep your distance.”

  There was a time he would have thought that, too. Now he knew better. “Nope.”

  Logan must have realized that was a closed subject since he changed it. “We’re less than ten away from the meet point. You need anything?”

  Like a pep talk? Fuck that. “No. I’ll gear up when everyone else does.”

  “All right. The colonel is supposed to call with—”

  The phone rang, interrupting whatever Logan had been about to say. He lunged for it, putting it on speaker. “Talk to me, Dad.”

  The team’s former owner sighed tiredly. “We poked around as much as we dared. We don’t know if Kimber is there, but the place is as quiet as it’s going to get. We need to go in now. If this security is their version of a skeleton crew, it’s heavy duty. It’s obvious the Mexican army is rubbing elbows with DEA to protect the cartel.”

  Trees couldn’t say he was surprised. He’d seen plenty of evidence over the years that both were corrupt to the core.

  “Money talks,” Logan drawled.

  “Sadly, it does,” the elder Edgington agreed. “But I suspect security will get even more serious after sunrise, so it’s now or never.”

  “South and west still the best ways in?” Logan asked.

  “Yeah. There’s only a handful of guards by the stables, all armed to the teeth, of course. But something’s…off. As far as Hunter and Ghost could tell, there were no horses in the stables, so why bother guarding them?”

  “Maybe that’s where Montilla is stashing drugs or counting money,” Logan surmised.

  “Or holding hostages,” Trees added.

  “I’m wondering that,” Caleb Edgington said. “Deke and I got a brief peek inside the main house. It’s ostentatious as hell and over the top, like Hugh Hefner and Liberace decorated the place together. Booze was flowing, and there were naked women everywhere.”

  “So Montilla is there partying?” Logan surmised.

  “I caught a glimpse of the son of a bitch, yeah. And since he has others in the house, I doubt he’d keep Kimber where anyone might find her.”

  “Why not? No one will double-cross him, unless they want to die,” Logan pointed out.

  “For the right cash incentive, people will risk anything.” The colonel smiled tightly. “He knows that.”

  “True.” Logan turned to Trees. “Maybe you’re right about what Montilla is really stashing in the stables.”

  “How far are you from the meet point?” Caleb asked.

  “About three. The others there waiting?”

  “Yeah. Listen, Hunter is talking to Kata now. I think you ought to—”

  “I was already planning to call Tara. I’ll see you soon.”

  The Edgington brothers were both notoriously devoted to their gorgeous, gutsy wives. But missions like this would rattle even the strongest women, despite the fact they’d dealt with their husbands being Navy SEALs once upon a time.

  “Tell her you love her.” The colonel hesitated. “I’m worried about this.”

  Since Laila had provided the intel, Trees was, too. If she was playing for Victor Ramos’s team, it stood to reason that her lover—fuck, that term made him grind his teeth—wanted them all dead. If Ramos pulled that off, he’d have a nearly open path to Valeria and the means to pull Montilla’s strings.

  Caleb said goodbye, and Logan immediately dialed his wife. Trees heard a sleepy female voice answer. “Hello?”

  “Cherry,” Logan murmured.

  Trees tuned out their intimate conversation, giving his boss what privacy he could, but the tones of their devotion still seeped into his ears…then stabbed his wounded heart. He’d never have that since he’d been dumb enough to fall for Laila. Yeah, she’d done something shitty, but even knowing that, he couldn’t seem to wrest the organ in his chest back from her cold grip.

  God, he was a stupid bastard.

  He was getting hardcore on his mental flagellation when Logan braked in front of what looked like an abandoned barn in the middle of nowhere.

  “I gotta go. I’ll call when I can. I love you and the girls, Cherry.” Logan clenched his jaw, then hung up.

  The doors in front of them opened, then his boss drove in and parked beside a pair of other vehicles. Trees hopped out, fighting off the queasiness again. Wordlessly, he and Logan began to gear up.

  The colonel took over. “We’re going in with two teams. I’ll lead Joaquin, Walker, Trevor, Matt, and you, Ghost.”

  Trees wasn’t surprised when Ghost merely nodded, then looked toward the doors with burning eyes, like he was itching to get into the fight.

  “Hunter will lead Deke, Logan, Zy, and Trees.” The elder Edgington singled him out. “If you’re sure you’re up for this.”

  He wasn’t a pussy, and there was no fucking way he would sit around while the others, with so much more to lose, risked their lives so he could mope like one. “Locked and loaded, sir.”

  The colonel didn’t look convinced but carried on, which told Trees how desperate they were. Caleb communicated their plan of attack, places of interest, timeframes, and the extraction point. “Anyone who doesn’t reach that helipad by oh-five-hundred…”

  Would be left behind. They all understood the risk. They had no permission nor coordination with the government. They hadn’t talked to the right people, and they hadn’t greased the right palms. If Montilla called for help, Trees had no illusions about what would happen. Every operative caught would be arrested, and Mexican prison wouldn’t be kind—if they even lived long enough to see it.

  After a thumbs-up all around, they split into teams, then left the barn, trekking through the desert on foot in different directions so they could approach the massive estate from different sides.

  Zy fell in beside him as they hiked toward the hacienda. He looked concerned. “You okay?”

  “My head doesn’t hurt much anymore.” Trees did his best to smile.

  “Glad to hear it, but that wasn’t what I was asking. Talk to me about Laila.”

  “What is there to say? She fucked me over.”

  “Trees—”

  “Here. You look at this video and tell me what you see.” He handed his best friend his phone.

  Zy watched it grimly. “I know what it looks like, but—”

  “You in Logan’s camp? You think she sent me this to protect me? Even if she did, news flash: she fucked him. Last night. Willingly. I took apart that video in the car. I don’t have all my software on my phone, but I’ve got enough to tell when it was filmed.” Sure, it was spliced at the beginning and the end, but she’d probably sent him the best parts and discarded the rest.

  When the clip was finished, Zy sighed. “I’m not buying it.”

  “What part? Where she’s spreading her legs for Victor Ramos? Despite the sheet over them, I think it’s pretty obvious what they’re doing.”

  “I know what it looks like, but you’re…tangled up in her, man. I’m not denying that she filmed him on top of her. But I doubt she did it for her pleasure. Or even for his. My impression of Laila was that she would do or say whatever she needs to keep her loved ones safe. If she didn’t care about you, why would she bother to warn you away? If you didn’t matter to her, why wouldn’t she just let Victor take you out?”

  Trees scowled. “Because she doesn’t want me to kill Victor.”

  “I doubt that’s what she was thinking after she’d watched the son of a bitch shoot you hours earlier.”

  Zy had a point. Trees mentally weighed it, but he just couldn’t get past the fact she’d intentionally gone for his emotional jugular. “It doesn’t matter now. We’re here for Kimber.”

  “But you’re going to go after Laila as soon as this is over. I know you.”

  Damn straight. “It’s my mission. The bosses want her back. They want to know what she knows. I’m sure her sister wants her safe, too.”

  “Don’t bullshit me. You want her back for you. For revenge.” Zy dropped his voice. “I know somewhere deep down you think you’re not good enough for love or some crap like that.”

  Trees sent his best friend a sharp glare. “I never said that.”

  “Not in so many words, but I know you think it when you talk about your family. I’m telling you, that’s not reality, buddy.”

  Zy didn’t understand his childhood. “That has nothing to do with Laila.”

  “I think it does. Before you go all V is for Vendetta on her ass, make her explain.”

  “The way you did when you had Tessa in my bunker?” Zy had been fucking furious at her seeming betrayal when he’d gotten her alone and naked…and there hadn’t been much talking.

  “Different circumstances.”

  “You’re right. Tessa loves you. Laila doesn’t give a shit about me. But I won’t let her lie. I fell for that shit once. You know the old saying. If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck…”

  Zy shook his head. “She’s not a duck; she’s a wounded sparrow. But I’m obviously not going to change your mind. Just…think about it.”

  Trees sighed. “I haven’t been able to focus on much else.”

  “You better get your head on right for this mission. It’s going to be dangerous as hell. I hear we’re outnumbered five-to-one—at least.”

  Fuck. Zy was right. If Trees didn’t want to end up dead, he’d better fucking focus. “Yeah.”

  “How did Tessa take you leaving suddenly?”

  “She’s all right. Nervous. Hallie cried, and that didn’t make anything easier. But my girls are tough.”

  They were. Tessa had been through a lot while protecting her infant daughter. They would be okay. And Trees would do his best to make sure Zy stayed okay.

  It occurred to him that nearly everyone present had a reason to stay frosty and come home alive—a wife, kids, siblings, parents—people who loved them.

  Trees would go home alone.

  Fuck that, he would find Laila, track her sexy ass down, and make her pay—in his dungeon, in his bed, under his cock. If she wanted to fuck for her survival, he would happily oblige her. After he killed Victor Ramos.

  It wasn’t much longer before the silhouette of the hacienda came into view. Dawn was a couple of hours away. Night had swallowed up the other team a while ago. Hunter, Deke, and Logan had all trekked ahead of them, heads together, strategizing. Zy jogged to catch up. Trees followed suit.

  Hunter turned to them. “The stables are just inside the edge of the property, about three hundred yards ahead. There are five rows of six stables each.”

  “Who the hell keeps thirty horses?” Zy asked.

  “The bigger question is, why would anyone have thirty stables but zero horses?” Hunter drawled. “When we get there, we’ll fan out. Zy, you’ll come with me on the north side. Logan will take Deke and Trees and wind to the south. Both teams will work their way to the middle. It’s heavily fortified, gentlemen. Stay low and stay aware. They aren’t fucking around.”

  “Neither are we,” Logan added darkly.

  “Let’s go get my kitten,” Deke growled, his voice gravelly and harsh.

  Trees sipped some water out of the pack he’d strapped on in the barn. “Let’s do it.”

  Before Hunter and Zy broke off, they all slipped comm devices in their ears and checked them. Then Trees bumped fists with his best friend, hoping like hell they all came out of this in one piece.

  The night was silent as they crept to the stables. The wind whipped up, masking the sounds of their footsteps. They clung to shadows. Since disturbances and loud noises would bring every thug running, the team understood that guns were a last resort. Still, Trees had his handy as he watched Logan and Deke’s six while they approached the first line of stables.

  For a “retired” guy, Logan was a stealthy motherfucker, taking down the first guard, slumped against the wall, eyes closed. Deke took down his partner, enjoying a smoke out back. After they dragged the bodies into an empty stable, ripped out their comm devices, then zip-tied their hands and taped shut their mouths, they secured the door.

  Why did stables where no one kept horses come equipped with doors that locked and windows with bars, like a prison?

  The question swirled in his head as they scoured the rest of the stables in that row, avoiding the obvious panning of security cameras above. As one swung back to the interior of the estate, toward the pool in the distance, they filed through the darkness to the next row.

  The first guard saw them coming. Before he could alert his cohorts, Logan tossed a blade at the suit, hitting him right in the heart. He fell to the ground, his mouth still open with an unspoken syllable. Deke carried his corpse into the nearest stall and kicked him into the corner, out of sight.

  In the back of Trees’s head, he heard a ticking clock. They’d been at this less than two minutes, and all was still quiet…but how long before someone called out to a guard who no longer answered? How long before they came to investigate and all hell broke loose?

  Another guard stepped out of the john, yanking up his zipper, then stretching like he didn’t have a care in the world. Trees crept behind him and twisted his neck. He fell back into Trees’s grip with a gasp, deader than dead. Since the can was closest, he shuttled the asshole back on the toilet and locked the door.

  When he emerged, he waited behind the door until the security camera turned to scan the opposite direction. Logan and Deke were taking down a pair of thugs. Deke all but carved out a guy’s throat, then tossed him in a stable. Logan dragged another guard in next and pointed a gun under his chin. When he gave a head bob and pointed to the guy’s comm, Trees quickly divested the thug of his equipment in silence and squashed the earpiece beneath his heel.

  “Where is the American woman your boss is keeping hostage?” Logan demanded.

  “No habla.”

  “He’s useless,” Logan snapped Trees’s way. “Cut out his tongue.”

  Trees withdrew his knife. “On it.”

  “Wait! She is in the next row, middle stall.”

  Really? So it was possible lying Laila had actually given them the truth? Maybe she’d done something good. After all, there had been no ambush awaiting them. And it looked as if her intel was panning out…

  Logan smiled acidly. “Damn, you learned English fast.”

  “Fuck you,” the man spit.

  “Right back at you,” Logan snarled, then slit the guy’s throat.

  Trees had known the colonel was a badass. That’s why so many guys had come to EM Security, to learn from a legend. Edgington had sworn his sons were the real deal, but he’d never seen them in action. Trees had to admit, he was fucking impressed. Yeah, they’d been assholes at times…but maybe with good reason. Besides, the job wasn’t about their people skills.

  Logan pressed on his comm and relayed Kimber’s possible location to his dad, then nodded to Trees. “Let’s go.”

  Deke was already barreling in that direction.

  The younger Edgington caught up and snagged his brother-in-law by the arm. “Don’t get stupid.”

  He meant Deke couldn’t afford to be impatient. Trees agreed.

  Jaw clenched like he was working hard to hold his shit together, Kimber’s husband nodded. “I know.”

  But the waiting that came with caution was killing him.

  “We’re a team,” Logan reminded in a low-voiced growl. “We succeed together or we die together.”

  Deke obviously didn’t like it since he looked like he wanted to rip off Logan’s face, but he nodded.

  No one spoke then. They crept closer to Kimber.

  Ahead, Trees caught sight of a skirmish in the shadows. Hunter gutted one guard while Ghost had pinned another against the building and muttered something in the hired gun’s ear. The guy pissed himself, and Ghost finished him off with a sharp tug of his blade from belly to throat. After a few additional clashes and more dodging the mechanically panning cameras, Deke and Logan reached the middle stall.

  It was locked. And there was a man inside.

  Every single operative fell silent. If they remained out here, it wouldn’t be long before another random patrol came or the camera swung back and captured them. If they alerted the guard inside the stall, he’d call for reinforcements. They had to make a decision now and it had to be quick.

  Fuck.

  Trees turned to Hunter in question. This was his sister and his show.

  The elder Edgington cursed silently, then crouched in front of the stable and scratched on the wood.

  “Do not move,” the inside man said in thickly accented English as he approached the door.

  From the shadows, Trees caught on, watching the guard close in until he pressed his scowling face against the bars covering the window to look outside. At Trees’s nod, Hunter jumped up, thrusting his hand inside the stall, thunking the guard’s head against the solid metal bars, and knocking him out cold.

  “Kimber?” Hunter whispered.

  “Oh, my god. I’m here,” her voice trembled.

  So Laila hadn’t lied about Kimber’s location. It stood to reason she hadn’t lied to him about her feelings, either.