“Are all her clothes that…brief?” Because even in the semi-dark, it was impossible to miss the fact that half her ass hung out of her too-short shorts.

  Trees rubbed at his eyes. “That’s her modest outfit.”

  Holy shit. No wonder Trees’s dick was in a twist.

  “Well, I brought her sweatpants and oversized T-shirts, just like you asked.”

  “Thank god. Maybe that will cool things off between us.”

  Maybe, but Zy wasn’t holding his breath. Everything about Laila’s appearance had Trees’s type written all over her.

  “Sorry, buddy.”

  Trees groaned. “Can’t you come stay with her for a few days? Maybe by then I can jack off enough to get some of the blood back to my brain.”

  “Nope. Whatever you do with your meat, keep that shit to yourself. But a word of advice? Don’t fuck the client.”

  “Technically, she isn’t the client.”

  True, but that was a problem in itself. “Valeria doesn’t like the way you look at Laila.”

  “Which is a really good reason for Kane and me to switch assignments. He can watch Laila, and I’ll keep an eye on Valeria and her baby. Problem solved.”

  Except the bosses would never go for that. He was half expecting to be summoned tonight to provide an update. They’d lose their shit if they found out that Trees—someone they considered a potential mole—was alone with Valeria, whose safe houses had been disclosed and breached multiple times in the past few months.

  “No can do. What else do you need here?”

  “You in a hurry?”

  “Not so much me, but I’m assuming the sooner you let her into your place, the sooner she can cover up everything tempting you.”

  “Good point.” He headed for the house. “Anything new?”

  Some, and Trees wouldn’t like it. “Let’s go inside.”

  His pal opened the back door, letting Laila inside and showing her to the guest room on the opposite end of the house from the master. With a quiet nod that belied her seemingly loud, fuck-me-now outfit, she disappeared.

  Trees stomped into the kitchen and plucked a beer from the fridge. “Thank you for picking these up for me.”

  Before he could open the bottle, Zy stopped him. “It’s not cold.”

  “I don’t even fucking care. That woman…”

  Was driving him to drink—literally. “You can’t imbibe on the job.”

  Trees gave a long-suffering sigh and put the beer back in the fridge. “Fuck.”

  “Is she mouthy and difficult?”

  “No. She barely speaks, and I swear sometimes I’d do just about anything to know what’s running through her head. The problem is, I want to fuck her.”

  Yeah. Zy understood that perfectly. He’d lived through the excruciating months of wanting the woman he couldn’t have. “Sorry.”

  “I’ll deal. What do you want to tell me?”

  “Some friend of Walker’s has temporarily joined the team to help with Kimber’s recovery. Name’s Matt. You probably won’t see much of him. I met him. He seems okay.”

  “Even though he’s a friend of Walker’s?”

  “Trust me. I was as shocked as you.”

  Trees shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I like that news? It’s fine by me. Hell, whatever they need to do to bring Kimber back…”

  “Keep that in mind because what I say next might make you blow a gasket.” Zy let out a breath. “The bosses are thinking about using Laila as bait to help get Kimber back. Pretend to set up a hostage swap and—”

  “No. Fuck no! Over my dead body. Absolutely not happening. End of conversation.”

  “It’s not my favorite plan, either, but I think they’re running out of options and getting desperate. Kimber is a wife and a mother with two small children who need her, and Laila is—”

  “Expendable? That’s fucking bullshit! She’s a human being and she’s”—he shook his head—“fragile.”

  “I know.”

  “You don’t know! She’s been bullied, abused, and raped since she was fourteen by the very people who want their hands on her now. You’ll have to kill me before I let anyone dangle her in front of a bunch of cutthroats. I’m dead fucking serious.”

  “Is there any chance such a plan will allow for the capture of those who wish to hurt my sister?”

  At the sound of Laila’s voice on the far end of the kitchen, Zy froze. Beside him, Trees scowled and cursed. Then they looked at one another. Zy telegraphed to his buddy that she was his woman and, therefore, his responsibility. Trees’s expression told him in return that since Zy was the acting boss, he wanted no part of this office bullshit.

  Zy shook his head. Sure, why not heap more shit on my shoulders this week? You wouldn’t be the first…

  “It’s possible,” he finally answered. “But it’s risky.”

  Laila scoffed. “Even breathing around these people is risky—and certainly not a guarantee. My sister has endured too much, and she has her son to consider. I will do it.”

  “You will not,” Trees exploded, towering over her with bared teeth and menace.

  In the shadow of his thunder, she stood unblinking and uncowering. “You cannot stop me. You brought me here safely, and for that I thank you. But I owe you nothing beyond my appreciation.”

  “I didn’t ask you for anything. But I would consider it a personal fucking favor if you would please give a shit about your safety.”

  She cocked her head, her big eyes looking so sad. “Unfortunately, Emilo never gave us that choice. And I am certain his father, Geraldo, who is probably running his organization again now that he is gone, will be even less interested in such things.”

  That was the elder Montilla’s reputation, from what Zy had heard.

  “Fuck,” Trees muttered.

  “If the Edgingtons or Muñoz ask me to help set a trap for Geraldo and his goons, I will say yes. My mind is made up.”

  And Trees wasn’t about to stop fighting to change that. “Laila, you’ll be bait. Chum. Something my bosses will skewer on a hook and use to reel these bastards in. And if they lose you?” He shrugged. “Oh, well. Not their problem. Do you understand that?”

  “Yes. But do you understand I will have no future if I refuse?”

  With that, Laila turned away, then paused and looked back at Zy. “I cannot pay you for the clothes on my bed. Please return them.”

  “It’s not a problem. You left your house in a hurry and you weren’t dressed for our winter.”

  “I will not accept your charity.”

  Then she was gone.

  Before he even spoke, Trees looked ready to lose his shit. “See what I mean? She’s going to drive me crazy.”

  Clearly, and Zy didn’t envy his pal.

  He’d always thought Trees would fall for some pliable female who was a little twisted and conspiracy-theorist, too. They’d have a few kids, prepare for a doomsday that hopefully never came, and enjoy the shit out of a life they lived as off the grid as possible. In his mind, she’d be loving and boisterous, filling in Trees’s large conversational gaps. She’d cede to him about important things and make his life hell the rest of the time. And she would love sex.

  Zy didn’t think Laila was any of those things, but it didn’t matter. Trees was already in deep shit.

  “Take a breath. One day at a time, okay? You’ll get through this.”

  Trees nodded like he didn’t quite believe him and didn’t want to argue. “Let’s talk about something else. What’s up with you and Tessa?”

  “I don’t want to bore you. I don’t understand it enough to explain, anyway.”

  “She’s pushing back?”

  “She’s pushing me away.”

  Trees scowled. “I would have sworn that woman loves you.”

  “I thought so, too, but she’s never said that in so many words. And now she’s barely answering my texts. Something is…weird. Something is wrong.”

  “Well, that’s definitely not right.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I pushed for too much too fast. I told her at Christmas that I love her. About three minutes after we got the all-clear to have more than a working relationship, I asked her to move in with me. She says she needs time to think. But it doesn’t feel like she’s thinking; it feels like she’s just putting daylight between us.”

  Trees frowned. “So what if you’ve moved fast this week? I don’t think you rushing her is the issue. After all, you two have been eye-fucking and exclusive for months. You wanting to start a life with her didn’t come out of left field. It’s something else.”

  “Yeah. I was at her place a little bit ago. She actually begged me to leave.” The panic in her voice had ripped at his guts. “And she’s been lying to me. Sure, about little things like her headache. But still, lying.”

  “Any chance there’s someone else?”

  Zy pondered, then shook his head. “No. I think it’s me.”

  And he was worried they were one bad conversation from being over.

  “Or…she’s guilty and she has something to hide.”

  “I don’t see it.”

  “Because you don’t want to. Keep pursuing her, man. You’ll never be happy if you just walk away from her. But while you’re doing that…look into her. Take her seriously as a suspect. Do your fucking job.”

  As much as Zy hated it, Trees was right. Now that he thought about it, Tessa hadn’t just sounded panicked; she’d sounded guilty. “I don’t have a choice. I guess that’s priority one.”

  And fuck waiting for the right moment. He was starting the next instant he saw her.

  The following morning, Tessa pulled into the parking lot after another horribly sleepless night of wondering how Hallie was or even if her baby girl was alive. She tried not to think the worst…but her thoughts refused to center around anything else.

  This had been the absolute worst forty-eight hours of her life. She’d give anything to have her daughter back—even tell the kidnappers every single secret EM Security Management kept. She just needed them to contact her with a demand.

  As she pulled up to the office building, she found the small lot surrounded by police cars with flashing lights. Officers held the perimeter. A pair of suits prowled the vicinity, looking grim.

  Something had gone horribly wrong. Tessa’s heart jumped in her throat.

  As she tried to turn in, a uniformed cop stopped her. “This area is closed, ma’am. It’s a crime scene.”

  Now that she was closer and could see beyond the police vehicles, she saw yellow tape cordoning off the area around the stairs to the front door. Zy was there, racing down and around the tape when he saw her.

  “She works here,” he said to the guy.

  The officer nodded, then waved her around the area and into a spot near the adjacent building, just beside the alley.

  Her pulse raced, heart beating against her ribs as she climbed from the car.

  Zy met her halfway.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, staring between the busy parking lot and his bleak expression.

  “A jogger came down the sidewalk about five thirty this morning and saw a trio of dead bodies piled at our door. None have been ID’d yet.”

  Fear gripped Tessa’s belly. Dead bodies? Oh, god. Had her kidnappers decided the baby was expendable? “Anyone you recognize?”

  She heard her voice shaking. Zy did, too, and cupped her shoulder in a gesture meant to calm and comfort. Apology twisted his expression.

  No. No, it couldn’t be. Don’t let anyone have hurt my precious baby girl.

  She dropped everything in her grip and clutched his arms. “Zy…is it anyone we know?”

  He cupped her face and shook his head. “No, baby. No one we know. Three men, all late twenties or early thirties. But I was here shortly after the bosses arrived. I saw them before the coroner came. It was”—he swallowed—“bad. They were tortured.”

  Her relief that Hallie wasn’t among the bodies was quickly stamped out by the terrible thought that whoever had killed the men might hurt her daughter next if she talked. “Oh, god.”

  “Don’t cry, baby.” He comforted her with his embrace. “Don’t cry.”

  “How can I not? They dumped the bodies here, at our office.” And Tessa couldn’t help but worry that was a message meant for her, to show her what could befall Hallie if she didn’t keep her mouth shut.

  “I know, and once the coroner is able to identify the victims, maybe that will tell us why.”

  “It’s not random.”

  “It’s not.” He sighed. “Walker and Matt, the temporary guy, are inside avoiding all this shit. Let’s go.”

  “Were you waiting for me?”

  “Yeah.” He retrieved her things, slipped an arm around her, and walked her toward the door, trying to block her view of the crime scene with his big body. But it was no use. Tessa craned her head to look behind him—and saw far more than she’d bargained for. Missing eyes, missing fingers, missing genitals.

  Tessa jerked her stare away. Her stomach bucked. She clapped a hand over her mouth to hold in both a scream and the urge to be sick. She couldn’t imagine that happening to her baby or she would lose her mind.

  Zy cursed and hustled her inside, shutting the door behind him before plastering her against the surface with his body, palm over her head as he leaned in. “Why did you look?”

  “I couldn’t…” stop myself. She’d had to make sure none of those bodies belonged to Hallie. She had to know what message her kidnappers were trying to convey.

  It made her sick.

  Yes, Hallie was seemingly alive—for the moment. And Tessa hadn’t known any of those men. Still, she felt the urge to sob. Once, they’d been someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s friend. Maybe even someone’s father. They’d had the worst possible deaths imaginable. Her heart hurt for them and all they’d endured. But terror for Hallie, for what could happen to her baby if she broke down and screwed up, gripped her throat.

  Blinking up at Zy, she tried to keep herself together. She wished things were different and that she could tell him everything. Today proved that was impossible.

  “Couldn’t what? Talk to me.”

  Tessa shook her head. “It was just shocking.”

  Zy didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure that’s it? Nothing else upsetting you? You haven’t been yourself lately.”

  Of course she hadn’t. But she swallowed her scream. It wasn’t his fault that someone had taken her precious baby and ripped her heart from her chest.

  She had to get it together and force her anxiety down a notch. All this worry for Hallie would do absolutely nothing to save her. She had to focus on things that would.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I was hoping today would be better.” When she’d woken up without Hallie again, she’d known it wouldn’t. “But seeing the bodies…”

  Zy sighed and brought her closer, caressing her back. For a brief moment, she propped her head on his solid chest and buried her face in his neck, inhaling him and trying to suck in his strength. “I should have called and told you not to come.”

  “I needed to.” If this had anything to do with Hallie’s kidnapper, he’d probably be calling soon. “But thanks.”

  Tessa trembled as she forced herself to pull away and head to her desk. By the time she tucked away her purse and her lunch, she looked up to see Zy watching her with a frown. With concern, yes. But today, she saw something else.

  She didn’t really want to look at that expression too hard. She was afraid of what that meant for her, for them.

  Then One-Mile stepped up to her desk, a rugged cowboy type beside him, hat in hand. “Hey, Tessa. This is my buddy Matt. He’s going to do some temporary work for the bosses. He needs one of the spare computers.”

  She wondered what kind of work and why. Normally, she’d care enough to ask. But she heard her phone vibrate and all but dove for her purse. Sure enough, there was her private caller again.

  Second ring. God, she needed to answer this. It was so hard to breathe and smile at Walker’s friend when she felt so frantic. “Hi. Nice to meet you. Let me take this call, then I’ll be right with you. It’s daycare…”

  Matt nodded, then slid his hat back over his wavy brown hair. “Of course. Thank you, ma’am.”

  Third ring.

  As he walked off, she looked up to see Zy heading to the back of the office. “I’ll be in the conference room.”

  Then he was gone, and she was alone…sort of. But going out front to answer the call was out of the question. She needed to answer now.

  Fourth ring.

  “Hello?” she gasped out.

  “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to answer. That would have been very unfortunate.” The stranger from the parking lot again.

  “I’m in the office. It’s a busy place. How is my daughter?”

  He laughed. “Un-uh. You know the drill. Information first, then your reward.”

  “Forgive me for being jumpy about the three mutilated bodies in front of our office this morning.”

  The man paused as if he hadn’t expected that. “Tell me about them.”

  He didn’t know?

  “The police and the coroner are here. I-I didn’t get a good look. They were all young men. All…” very horribly dead.

  “I’ll call you back.”

  “Wait—”

  But it was too late. He was gone.

  Tessa closed her eyes. Why had she assumed he knew about the corpses and opened her big mouth? She’d much preferred the smug, didn’t-have-a-care-in-the-world kidnapper to the panicked, out-of-control one. Now that she’d stupidly rattled him, would he take it out on Hallie?

  Her hands shook as she tried to go about her morning like nothing was out of the ordinary. She hooked up her laptop to her monitor and opened her company email. Joaquin had sent her a list of things to do today—people to email, copies to make, clients to bill. None of that would take too long or require her to think too much, thank goodness. She could barely spare any thoughts for anyone but Hallie.

  As she sent him an email promising to take care of all of the items quickly, her phone began to buzz again. Tessa lunged for it and answered immediately.