“Laila?”

  Trees. She could barely make him out—big and shirtless in the doorway—but she felt his stare all over her as his deep voice wrapped around her, warming her even as she shivered. “Yes.”

  “You okay? I heard you cry out.”

  From across the house? “You did?”

  “Yeah. I couldn’t get comfortable in my bed, so I’ve been on the sofa with Barney. I had to bring him in since it was so cold.” He ambled into the nearly dark room.

  It sparked terrible memories, nightmares of past assaults where her only warning had been the sound of footsteps in the dark. She scrambled back against the headboard, breaths sawing nervously, as he approached.

  He held up his hands as if to show he was nonthreatening. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m only here to uncuff you.”

  Laila dragged in a breath and tried to relax, but his very large presence made her jumpy—and unbearably aware of him. She wanted to believe he’d only come to help, but the lesson that unscrupulous men had no compunction about taking what they wanted for their pleasure wasn’t something she could simply unlearn. Granted, Trees had never done that. With her, he had been a man of his word…yet according to Walker, he’d probably sold her out.

  But had he? Everything in her heart screamed he wouldn’t.

  Laila no longer knew if down was up or left was right. But she had to let him close, at least long enough for him to uncuff her. Nature was calling.

  “All right.” She held out her wrist.

  Trees closed the distance between them and took her hand gently, then extracted the key from the pocket of his sweatpants and released her.

  She held her free wrist against her chest, twisting and testing it as she stared. He looked tired. “Have you slept?”

  Why did she care? Why should it matter?

  He shrugged. “About two hours. There’s a lot happening and”—he sighed—“I couldn’t sleep without you.”

  His words warmed her. Despite her exhaustion, she’d also found it difficult to relax without his big body beside her. But that was foolish. He’d taken her captive, used her for sex when she’d foolishly invited him, and maybe even sold her out. Logic told her that she must stop thinking that him making some nice gestures meant he was a nice man.

  Still, he’d brought her candles and swapped out her cuff. Why, unless he cared? Or was she sounding like someone with Stockholm Syndrome? Laila wasn’t sure what to think anymore.

  “Excuse me.” She rose, escaping to the bathroom.

  He said nothing, merely watched her until she closed the door between them. After she flushed and washed her hands, Laila crept back into the bedroom. Return to the bed, next to him…or stay five feet away where he could undress her with his eyes? But it was a silly question. It was too cold and she felt far too awkward to stand here half-naked.

  Cautiously, she slid into the bed, tucking her legs under the covers and sitting against the headboard. “You barely slept. Go back to bed.”

  “I can’t. It took most of the night, but I can prove I’m not the mole who put you and your family at risk.”

  She hadn’t expected that. “How?”

  “I have a paper trail. And this morning, we intend to catch the bastard.”

  A concern she didn’t want to feel seized her. “Will it be dangerous?”

  “I’m sure.” He cupped her cheek. “Are you worried about me, little one?”

  “No.” But did being deceitful make her better than any of the people who had hurt her? “Well, some.”

  “What happens to you if something happens to me? I’m sure you’re worried about that.” He frowned. “You haven’t figured out yet that I’m taking care of you. I’ll keep doing it as long as you let me.”

  “You are paid—”

  “Fuck that. This is personal. Maybe I wasn’t clear last night. Whatever this is between you and me? It’s not done. I feel it. I’m falling. And I don’t think I’m the only one.”

  Her heart stopped. Was he saying he was in love with her? How could that both thrill and terrify her at once?

  “Trees, I—”

  “Look at me and tell me you don’t feel something when we’re this close. I know you’re afraid, but the way you’re looking at me…I’d swear you feel it, too. Your eyes say you want me to kiss you.”

  Some foolish part of her did. It was wrong. Getting closer to Trees would only complicate everything, but he was so comfortingly warm. She had once feared his size, but she knew how he used every part of himself to give pleasure. And she would be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about the night he had kissed her over and over as he took her body.

  “Trees…” Her objection came out breathy.

  His eyes darkened. He leaned closer. She held her breath as her heart lurched, crashing against her ribs. Without thought, her lids slid shut. Her lips parted. She tried to resist, told herself to pull away. But when his mouth covered hers, the passion only he could make her feel robbed her thoughts and melted her resistance.

  Trees grabbed her, folding her against the hot, hard ridges of his body. Laila whimpered into his kiss. Her arms found their way around his neck. Without conscious thought, she opened her lips to him. He surged inside, taking every inch she ceded, then demanded more with another branding kiss.

  Her head swam. Tingles spread through her body. Dios, Trees could make her want him…whether she wanted to or not. He still hadn’t proven he wasn’t the enemy, yet it only took him moments to make her a slave to his touch. He had only to kiss her, and she wanted to turn over every part of herself to him—free will and all.

  Laila tried to push him away, but his lips trailed down her neck, his beard sensitizing her skin, before he found her shoulder. The way he pressed his mouth to her skin felt like worship. And when his hand found its way under her hem, drifted up her waist, then settled her breast in his cradling palm, she gasped. Her thoughts spun away.

  “Little one,” he murmured so close to her ear. “I need you.”

  His words were a balm to their strain and strife. When he was touching her and whispering sweet words, she couldn’t remember why she shouldn’t let him. All she knew were his kisses, the build of pleasure, and the ache for the ecstasy her body had craved since the first orgasm he’d given her.

  It was wrong. It was weak.

  And she still wanted it.

  His lips seized hers again. Instantly, she opened to him, like an addict seeking a fix, as he thumbed his way around the nipple straining for his touch. She moaned and pressed herself into his hand.

  “Do you want more?” he asked against her lips.

  Laila didn’t want to admit that she did. He knew, right? He must. She slanted her mouth over his again in answer, nudging past his lips to the masculine spice inside that made her both hazy with desire yet sharp with need.

  Trees edged away. “Answer me. I need the words.”

  Of course he was going to make her say it. It wasn’t enough that he had inexplicable power over her body. Over her emotions. No, he wanted her to verbally bend her will to him as a show of trust. She couldn’t do that before he produced proof that he wasn’t the mole. Even then, was it really smart to give him so much dominion over her body? Should she really let him create and stir this need for his touch?

  Laila tore away from him, panting hard. “Red.”

  Trees froze, then gritted his teeth. But he withdrew his hand, pulled away, and stood, putting distance between them.

  Instantly, she felt cold.

  “Why did you use your safe word?” he demanded. “How were you physically or mentally in pain?”

  The way he asked that, it didn’t sound as if being overwhelmed by her own fears counted.

  He scowled. “Are you testing me again?”

  “I was scared.”

  He sighed, and his voice softened. “I won’t hurt you. I’ll only ever make you feel good.”

  She knew that…but at what price, her soul? Every time he kissed her, he threatened to steal it. “Before anything, I must see your proof. Show me you did not endanger my family.”

  She should have demanded that all along.

  His eyes narrowed. “Is that really why you stopped me?”

  No, and he was too smart not to realize it.

  Laila looked away. “I need to know.”

  “All right. I promised you proof. Come to the kitchen.”

  He was angry. No, that wasn’t true. He hadn’t raised his voice, accused, or threatened. He hadn’t behaved as if he was furious. Like before, he was disappointed.

  She was, too. She hated to lie. But the truth gave him too much power…

  Wordlessly, she followed him to the kitchen to find laptops strewn across the table, along with several phones and pads of paper.

  He tapped his finger on the trackpad of one computer. It came to life. “Your mole is our receptionist’s ex-boyfriend. He was breaking into her laptop in the middle of the night and sending off our company secrets, probably for money.”

  Trees explained the scheme, backing up his theory with emails and dates that matched perfectly. Laila couldn’t refute what he’d shown her. It was a huge relief to know Trees had not betrayed her. She almost felt guilty for entertaining the possibility, but it was easier to believe he was like the others than to hope the trust they had been forging was real.

  “Thank you.”

  “You believe me?”

  “Yes.” I’m sorry.

  He sighed in relief. “Thank fuck. Now I need coffee.”

  She felt horrible. Trees had given up sleep to prove his innocence to her, and she had pushed him away. Sure, she had more space and air now…but since he’d given it to her, she hadn’t been able to truly breathe.

  The things she felt for him were terrifying. For the first time, a man was far more than an adversary she should hate. She didn’t know how to handle that.

  “I’ll get it.” She bustled to the coffeemaker, poured out the old pot, then started a fresh one.

  With a sigh, Trees sidled up behind her and leaned in, hands braced on the counter on either side of her, caging her in. She felt his hot breath on her neck, the warmth of his body against hers, which still ached from his touch. She trembled.

  How could she be afraid of desire so sweet? But how could she surrender herself to something potent enough to enslave her?

  Laila turned and stared into his solemn eyes. Against her, she felt his erection. Her body answered with a pang and a cramping of her womb.

  “Talk to me, Laila…”

  “I have nothing to say.” Not until she’d worked these feelings out in her head. She wasn’t making any sense.

  “That’s bullshit. What happened—”

  “Will not happen again.” It shouldn’t, anyway. Trees was so dangerous to her peace of mind and her heart. Where he was concerned, she was weak…

  She ducked under his arm to escape, then stopped short when she caught sight of Zy and a beautiful blonde watching them from the edge of the kitchen. Why were they here? When had they arrived?

  “Hello,” she said, horribly aware she was barely covered.

  The pretty woman gave her a kind smile without any judgment at all. “Hi, Laila. I’m Tessa.”

  The receptionist whose ex-boyfriend had betrayed them? Laila shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. Excuse me.”

  She all but ran past Zy and the gorgeous blonde, dashing down the hallway for her clothes. As she left the room, she heard the murmurings of their conversation.

  “What did you do?” Zy asked.

  “Zip it.” Trees sounded mad.

  “Dude…”

  “Don’t ‘dude’ me. You’re no saint, either.”

  What did Trees mean by that?

  “Fine,” Zy snapped back. “I need your help locating Tessa’s ex. We have to find him ASAP.”

  Yes. And hopefully, they would make him pay for what he had done.

  As Laila brushed her teeth and dressed, she tried to clear her head. But it was still filled with Trees and all the danger swirling around them. Hopefully, coffee would help.

  When she returned to the kitchen, Trees, now fully dressed, turned to her with a groan. “This outfit again?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest self-consciously, covering what she could of her pale pink tank and her Florida-appropriate shorts. “Nothing else is clean.”

  “I can bring you some things,” Tessa offered.

  “No, thank you.”

  “I already tried,” Zy said.

  “She’s too proud,” Trees groused.

  Laila glared his way. “You know I refuse to owe anyone for anything.”

  Trees rubbed at his head as if it was aching. “Can’t you consider some different clothes a favor, just this once?”

  “I did not ask for this favor.”

  Trees sighed. “I’m asking you as a favor to me.”

  “No.”

  Trees shook his head. “You are a stubborn, stubborn woman.”

  “I have had to be.”

  To her surprise, Tessa laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “How about as a favor to me, Laila? My baby is missing, time is running out, and Trees can help me. But he needs to concentrate.”

  Her child? Laila’s heart froze. She worried about her family’s safety, yes. But Tessa was dealing with her beloved little one actually being taken. “I am so sorry. I will help in any way I can.”

  Tessa looked relieved. “Would you be willing to put on a coat or wrap yourself in a blanket for a bit?”

  She didn’t think twice. “Of course.”

  “Thank god,” Trees muttered as he grabbed her hand. “I’ll find you something. Come with me.”

  Trees led her to his bedroom. It brought back memories of being in his bed, under his body. She glanced into his bathroom and couldn’t get the steamy memory of him self-pleasuring out of her head.

  He handed her a big green sweatshirt from one of his dresser drawers. “Here, put this on.”

  Laila pulled the garment over her head, not surprised it swallowed her from her neck to her knees.

  Then he returned to the kitchen. She followed, rolling up the too-long sleeves as he sucked down a mug of black coffee, then got down to the business of locating Tessa’s ex.

  With no other way to help them, Laila started making breakfast.

  As Trees was pounding away on his laptop, Zy’s phone buzzed. He scowled. “Why is One-Mile calling me on a Saturday morning?”

  Laila perked up. He was smart, shrewd, and seemingly honorable. Hopefully, he was calling to help.

  Trees peered at his screen. “I hope all hell isn’t breaking loose.”

  “Hey, Walker…” Zy answered.

  Trees listened, then sidled close to murmur in her ear, “He’s calling about the guy who took Tessa’s daughter. The stranger threatened Tessa earlier this week.”

  Did Walker know something? Or had they found the little girl? But what about Tessa’s traitorous ex-boyfriend?

  “Does he know this guy’s name? Or where to find him?” Zy paused. “Keep going.” Another pause. “Yeah. And?” This lull was even longer. Then Zy motioned to Trees for a pen. Tessa lunged for one on the far side of the table, then Zy scribbled a name. Johnson. “Thanks. I’ll run with it.”

  “The man from the parking lot is named Johnson?” Tessa demanded once the call ended.

  “Apparently. One-Mile has been researching. He showed the guy’s picture from our security footage around a police precinct this morning and got a hit. Someone arrested him a few months back for petty possession and remembered the belligerent SOB.”

  Hope lit Tessa’s face. “That’s great! If we can find him…he has Hallie and—”

  “Not necessarily. But if not, we’ll see what light he can shed as soon as I hunt him down. It would be fucking helpful if we had a first name.”

  Laila’s heart went out to the woman.

  “Where’s his picture?” Trees asked, settling behind his computer again. “Along with a last name, I might be able to get something while the scan to find your ex-douche is working in the background, Tessa.”

  “Scan?” The other woman sounded confused.

  “Yeah, it just takes a while to ping all the cell towers in the state.”

  “You can do that?”

  Trees grimaced. “Well, I’m not supposed to, but…”

  Tessa frowned. “How did you get Cash’s number?”

  He held up her phone. “I was doing a deep dive on this, so it wasn’t hard to find.”

  “Look at Tuesday afternoon’s security footage of the EM parking lot,” Zy insisted.

  “On it.” With a few clicks, a new screen popped up. Video scrolled in rapid time across his monitor.

  Laila turned back to the scrambled eggs before they burned and flipped the bacon in the frying pan.

  “That’s him,” Tessa gasped. “The man who stopped me in the parking lot. The man who calls when he has a demand in exchange for Hallie’s safety.”

  “And if she’s not with him, he probably knows where she is,” Zy surmised.

  Trees nodded. “Now if I just had a fucking first name… He never mentioned it?”

  Laila plated the eggs and forked bacon from the pan, then turned to deliver the food to the table. She glanced at the face on Trees’s screen and nearly dropped everything. “Hector.”

  Tessa grabbed the plates from her numb hands. “Mr. Johnson’s first name?”

  “I do not know his name here, but in Mexico, in Emilo’s compound, he was called Hector.” The other hated Ramos brother. “He was greatly feared and fiercely loyal to my brother-in-law. He is not a man to cross.”

  Trees scowled and rose to take Laila in his grasp. “That’s who hurt you?”

  “Yes. Many times.”

  Trees’s face turned molten with fury, then hardened with resolve. “He’ll find out I’m not a man to cross, either. I’ll make him pay.”

  Laila turned to him in horror. “You cannot.”

  “Oh, I absolutely can.”

  He pulled up a search engine unlike anything she’d ever seen and typed in Hector Johnson. Moments later, an address popped up. “Gotcha, you son of a bitch. He’s in Lafayette.”