Damn straight, but Trees wouldn’t give Hunter more shit now. It was counterproductive. But there would be a reckoning later, he was sure. “Go home and get some sleep. I’ll interrogate Laila about what she knows. You do the same with Valeria. We’ll circle back in a few hours and see what we’ve come up with.”

  “To be honest, you don’t know what we know. Dad, Logan, Joaquin, Deke, and I have all been working on this for”— he choked—“God, it’s been the longest fucking week of my life.”

  Forever in terms of keeping a hostage. He could only speculate that Geraldo hadn’t killed Kimber yet because, if he did, he’d never see Valeria or her son again.

  “So clue me in. But you don’t know what I’m capable of, either.”

  Through the line, Trees heard Hunter start his car engine and pull away. “Fair enough. And I’m sorry we thought you were our mole. We should have just come to you.”

  “Yep. We could have worked together sooner.”

  “Once I’m home, I’ll send you a zip file of everything we’ve collected so far. Unfortunately, it’s not much. Some drug lords lead a really flashy life—parties, bars, whores, jet-setting. Geraldo Montilla…not so much.”

  “Still, he’s got a weakness, a tell, a bad habit—something. We’ll find it and exploit it.”

  “Yeah,” Hunter sighed tiredly. “I’ll call you in a few hours.”

  The line went dead.

  Trees set Laila’s phone aside. “You get all that?”

  “I think so.”

  “If I uncuff you, will you stay put?”

  “What will you do if I am able to think of anything helpful?”

  “We’ll plan around it, find some way to trap him so we end up sparing his life in exchange for Kimber. But we’ll do it in some way that doesn’t put you, your sister, or your nephew in danger. Can you agree to that?”

  Laila looked reluctant to give up. She wanted to help her family and ensure their safety right now. He understood her urge to be actively involved. But he gave her a minute to think his proposal through.

  “Yes.”

  He heaved a sigh of relief. “Good. Do you want to go back to bed for a while or—”

  “No. I-I do not know how you and I will find that monster’s weakness, but I want to start now.”

  Trees figured she’d say that. “All right. Tell me the first time you remember hearing about the man. The first time you met him. Any detail you can recall. Even the smallest, seemingly insignificant piece of information might be helpful.”

  She did. The memories of a fourteen-year-old girl about a man three times her age weren’t particularly sharp. Or maybe that was because it had been nearly seven years ago. His facial hair, his style of dress, his entourage… Not really helpful. But they kept talking as Trees read through the files Hunter sent.

  His boss was right; they didn’t have much to work with. So he kept asking Laila questions—through sunrise, through breakfast, through the slow crawl of the sun up the kitchen window until somewhere in the afternoon when the sun began its descent through the living room window on the opposite side of the house. Together, they made a late lunch, touched base with her sister to talk through other memories. They netted almost nothing.

  It was hard to find a clue when no one was even sure what the fuck they were looking for. But Trees didn’t give up, despite feeling wiped out. Neither did Laila.

  Finally, after a shower and some hot popcorn around ten that night, he tapped away on his keyboard, scouring search engines far more powerful than Google and coming up with a lot of scary chatter about Montilla’s past violence, when Laila sighed. “The last time I remember Geraldo coming to visit Emilo was shortly after your team rescued my sister. He railed at his son for being so stupid and careless, then he asked me questions. But I knew nothing. Even I had been shocked to wake up the morning after Valeria’s disappearance to find her gone. He barraged me with questions for hours, until he got frustrated and left. The last time I saw him, I looked out the window as he drove away in his flashy classic sports car. I remember thinking that I hoped never to see him again.”

  Trees’s head popped up. “Classic sports car. Tell me everything you can remember about it.”

  She did.

  His heart started revving. They might be getting somewhere… He tapped furiously on his keys, looking through bills of sale, pictures, auctions, and car shows before he finally found an image that brought it all together for him. A little more cross-checking later, and he pounded his fist on the table. “Motherfucking bingo. I got you, you son of a bitch.”

  “Are you sure?” Laila sounded afraid to hope.

  “Oh, yeah.” He reached for his phone and dialed Hunter. “Are you ready for some good news? Because I know exactly where Montilla is going to be in two days. All we need is a plan.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  February 4

  Trees stood by the front door at oh-dark-thirty in head-to-toe camo, a backpack hanging from his left shoulder, and frowned. “I should be back in twelve hours. Are you sure you don’t want to spend the day in my panic room?”

  Laila shook her head. “I will be fine.”

  Since Trees had drafted the plan to corner and grab Montilla with Hunter and the rest of his bosses, Deke and the colonel had blessed the scheme. Together, they’d put all the pieces in place. The mission required each and every available man, and everyone had a role. Time had been precisely accounted for to ensure Geraldo would have no escape.

  Trees was locked and loaded and ready to go…but he worried about Laila.

  “And you won’t run?”

  “No. Since you can save my sister and theirs without me, I have no reason to leave.”

  “By the time your head hits the pillow tonight, you and your family should be safe.” Hopefully Kimber would be, too.

  But Laila had been quiet, almost withdrawn, since they’d firmed up these plans. Why?

  “I have an uneasy feeling.”

  She was worried. About him? Maybe that was a stretch. Since giving him the information about Montilla, she had kept to herself. Trees hadn’t pushed or pried, but he’d love to know what the hell she was thinking. He’d also love to touch her again. That would have to wait until the danger passed. But then she would be leaving his house and his life—unless he gave her a reason to stay.

  “All right. You have plenty of food here. Barney will keep you company. You know how to work the TV, and you’ve got internet. Call your sister all you want. I’ll arm every alarm and turn on all the cameras in the house. If the house alarm trips, the police will come, but since I’m out in the country, they’re about twenty minutes away. Do you want me to show you how to access the panic room, just in case?”

  She shook her head. “It is not necessary.”

  Probably not. She had two possible threats. He and the team would have Geraldo Montilla in their sights. Victor Ramos had no idea where to find her. She should be safe. He just hated leaving anything to chance.

  “All right.”

  “Will you call me when it is done?”

  Her request probably had more to do with wanting to make sure that her family was out of danger than her worry for him, but hey, a guy could dream. “Sure.”

  “Thank you.”

  They stood face to face near the front door, staring at each other in the awkward silence. Finally, Trees couldn’t take it anymore. He lifted Laila against him.

  She gasped and wrapped her arms around his neck, blinking up at him. “What are you doing?”

  “Telling you I love you, Laila. I know it’s one-sided. I don’t expect you to say anything. I just—” He stopped making an ass of himself by vomiting up his feelings and settled for what connected them. He swooped down and kissed her, a hard press of his lips on hers, trying desperately to memorize the feel of her while giving her something to think about in his absence. But if she was going to reject him, he didn’t want to hear it, so he wrenched away, set her on her feet, and slammed out the door. A last look back at her through the living room window, stunned and red-cheeked, didn’t give him a single clue about her reaction.

  Did she love him, too? Even a little?

  He alarmed the whole house from the app on his phone. Once it was secure, he turned the engine of his truck over and drove off, not looking back.

  Before sunrise, he was at the hangar where the team planned to assemble. After a last-minute equipment check, they boarded the charter plane and took off. As the sun began to rise, they reviewed the plan collectively. In three hours, they would land at the private airstrip in Florida, less than thirty minutes from the event. By noon, Montilla would arrive for the private, high-dollar-stakes classic car race held annually. By then, Trees and the team would be in place.

  Finding out the Tierra Caliente’s leader would be there had been a lucky fucking break.

  After he’d managed to jog Laila’s memory about Montilla’s love of classic cars, he’d scoured the internet for recent high-dollar sales. He’d found a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sold at auction for nearly fifty million dollars to an anonymous buyer. In Mexico. Because fewer than thirty of the classic cars were produced that model year, they now sold for record prices.

  From there, Trees had worked backward, on the theory that someone who spent that much money on a car would want to show it off. Sure enough, he’d found a press release announcing that a professional driver by the name of Dantel Resendez had registered for the race in Florida, driving exactly the same rare vehicle. After that, he managed to dig up a picture of Resendez with Montilla, toasting in front of the red vintage sports car. Then he’d hacked the event organizer’s files to find the VIPs attending this week’s event. Montilla was on the list.

  Bingo.

  The Edgingtons, Deke, and Muñoz had come up with the tactical plan. It wasn’t going to be easy. Montilla traveled with an entourage. But they had tried to account for every possibility and cover every angle. Now Trees could only hope they didn’t encounter any unexpected curve balls.

  “Hey,” Zy approached him with a slap on the back. “How are you doing?”

  Nervous as fuck to get back to Laila. Driving away from her this morning had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. There was so much unspoken between them, and he was dying to know what she’d thought about his declaration of love. He was really fucking worried he’d put his foot in his mouth. “Good. Congrats to you and Tessa on your engagement, man. I, um…heard it through the grapevine.”

  Zy pulled at the back of his neck. “Yeah, sorry I didn’t call. We were…busy.”

  Trees bet they rarely got out of bed. After being artificially kept apart for nearly a year, then nearly splintered in two by Hector Ramos and his crew, they deserved happiness. “Hallie good?”

  “Great. She’s bounced back for the most part. The doctors don’t think she’ll remember much, and we’ll get her some therapy when she gets older if she needs it.”

  “For sure. So, when’s the big day?”

  “We’re working that out, but soon. Definitely soon. You’ll be my best man, yeah?”

  “Absofuckinglutely.” Trees only hoped Zy got to perform the same service for him someday, but he wasn’t optimistic.

  “Great. Thanks. So…how goes it with Laila?”

  Trees shrugged. He was hesitant to open this can of worms. “One step forward, two steps back. But—”

  Suddenly, his phone blared. He knew that sound—and his heart stopped.

  He yanked the device from his pocket, suddenly aware of the chatter around him falling silent and every eye on him. He swiped, opened the screen, and waited for the cameras to connect to his device. Thank god for Wi-Fi on the plane.

  But it was the longest thirty seconds of his life.

  Finally, he got visuals, and his heart seized up in his chest. Someone unauthorized was on his property.

  He watched the sleek black truck with the plates obscured by a gray plastic cover rumble down the dirt road. Through the cloud of dust, he saw one driver in the cab, his face too hard to discern.

  Zy looked over his shoulder, his face grave. “Who the hell is on your property?”

  “I don’t know.”

  His fingers shaking so hard he fumbled, he quickly dialed Laila. He had to warn her. One ring, two, three… Voicemail.

  Trees fought for his next breath and tried like fuck to tamp down his panic. He called her again. No answer.

  “Hey, everyone,” Hunter shouted to the operatives on the plane, his voice grave. “Just got an update from the event organizer. The Ferrari pulled out of the race. Montilla is no longer on the VIP guest list.”

  Shit. So where was the bastard now? Was that who had driven onto his property? He and the team had been trying to surprise the drug lord and take him hostage…but had the wily old bastard played them instead?

  The camera from his porch picked up the black truck rolling to a stop. The driver jumped out, pulled a ski mask over his face before Trees got a good luck at him, then fired a shot through the front window, shattering the glass. The house alarm started blaring.

  Laila was alone with someone armed and ready to kill.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  Switching his view to the inside cameras, he looked for any sign of Laila. There. She dashed from her bedroom, heading down the hall to the kitchen.

  Trees’s terrified heart threatened to pound out of his chest. Before he could figure out where Laila had fled, the intruder held up his middle finger to the living room camera, then shot it point-blank.

  From the kitchen camera, he watched with surreal terror, like he was watching a horror movie, when the intruder stomped deeper into the house.

  Suddenly, all the power went out. His redundant battery kicked on twenty seconds later. By the time the cameras reconnected, there was no sign of Laila, and the asshole stomped through his house, systematically shooting down every one of his cameras.

  His screen turned black.

  He was thirty thousand feet in the air and probably two hundred miles from home. If he didn’t find some way to help Laila, she was as good as dead.

  “No. No. No. No. No! Fuck! I have to get home—now!”

  Ready for Trees and Laila’s epic conclusion?

  Read on…

  ABOUT WICKED AND FOREVER

  * * *

  He’ll make her his again…even if he has to seduce her.

  * * *

  When the woman he loves is taken, Forest “Trees” Scott abandons a mission to save her from the enemy. Fearing the worst, he moves heaven and earth to find her—until he realizes Laila Torres left him of her own free will for the man who used her for six years. He’s stunned and wrecked. She played him—and he fell for it. One thing he’s not doing? Giving up. He’ll find her and he’ll make her pay…in his bed.

  * * *

  Laila is devastated by her tormentor’s return, but when he threatens the bodyguard she’s so foolishly fallen for, she risks everything—including her life—to protect Trees. As a mere pawn in a deadly game played by factions of a cartel, she and Trees have no future unless she can somehow destroy them. But she doesn’t count on Trees hunting her down, stripping her soul bare, and insisting in the sexiest way possible that she belongs to him and always will.

  * * *

  But danger awaits around every corner, and secrets abound. As Trees and Laila fight for their future, their enemies close in. Will they let go of their hurts and trust in their love before it’s too late?

  Chapter One

  February 4

  Lafayette, Louisiana

  For Laila Torres, the day started out troubling. It ended in hell.

  As dawn rose, her bodyguard and lover, Forest “Trees” Scott, prepared to join the rest of EM Security on a mission with one objective: to rescue his bosses’ sister, who was being held captive by dangerous kingpin Geraldo Montilla. As he headed for the door, Trees lifted her against his tall, hard-muscled body and held her close. Reflexively, she wrapped her arms around his neck, her heart beating fast.

  Last night, they had fought. Trees’s bosses had proposed she act as bait to lure the narcotics king out of hiding and into a trap. She’d said yes. After all, her sister and her nephew—the only family she had—would never be safe until Montilla was gone. When Trees had refused to let her go, she’d tried to escape. He’d quickly caught her and dragged her back to his house. Then they had skipped sleep and spent the rest of the night electronically hunting their enemy. With the information he’d gleaned, Trees had devised a plan for him and his fellow operatives to nab the kingpin, one that didn’t require her to be involved in Montilla’s takedown at all.

  Now, as he left to put himself in danger so she would be safe, she felt the desperation in his touch. It matched her own as she clung to him. “What are you doing?”

  “Telling you I love you, Laila.”

  She froze. That shouldn’t be possible. Yet…how many things had he done to help her, soothe her, and save her? Trees had always been fair and patient, kind yet gruff, but intensely protective. Would he have tried so hard if she didn’t mean something to him?

  Laila wasn’t sure and didn’t know what to say…but her first reaction was resounding joy. Her heart filled with it and threatened to overflow.

  But could she give the words back to him? Had she searched her soul enough to be certain of her feelings?

  “I know it’s one-sided. I don’t expect you to say anything. I just—” He shook his head, let out a curse, then seized her lips in a hard press as if he was determined to imprint himself on her. And he stole her breath.

  Just as suddenly, he wrenched away, set her on her feet, and slammed out the door, leaving her gaping and already regretting the things she’d left unsaid.

  With a final glance back at her through the living room window, he punched a few buttons on his phone. She heard the house alarms engage—his way of keeping her safe during the twelve hours he would be gone.