Gus kissed her cheek and then reached out to shake Gemma White’s hand. “Special Agent, thank you. Any assignment you want. You tell me and I’ll force Roman to make it happen.”

  Roman’s head shook. “You’re going to kill me one of these days, Gus.” He turned to Dax. “Your sister is a menace. I have absolutely zero idea why I don’t fire her ten goddamn times a day.”

  Connor looked at Dax and smiled. “I’m sure you’re just lazy, Roman. That’s the only explanation.”

  How had he not seen it? There was a crackling energy between Roman and Gus. He probably hadn’t acknowledged it because he hadn’t wanted to know one of his best friends had fallen for his sister. Did Roman know she’d slept with Mad a few years back?

  Probably. Gus didn’t hide her past. She didn’t apologize and she had no reason to. She was a force of nature. If Roman couldn’t see how amazing his sister was, then Roman didn’t deserve her.

  And that was his great loss.

  Roman put a hand on his arm. “Come on, buddy. I’ve got some ridiculously good Scotch waiting for us. I think we all could use it. Zack brought a date to the ball tonight. A very pretty lawyer.”

  Shit. When they’d realized how dangerous his situation could be, Zack had decided to pull away from Liz. The White House Press Secretary had been the woman in his life for years, but he’d never made a move. Liz had been his wife in every way except the bedroom. Dax was fairly certain Zack was in love with the woman, and dating someone else was a sacrifice.

  “A total bimbo law whore,” Gus hissed. “You tell Zack he can bite my ass and he’s lucky, and I mean lucky, that he got Liz to sign that contract or he would be looking at a complete turnover in the press office because he sucks. He’s the president of sucking.” Gus grabbed Holland’s hand. “Come on, girls. We’re not drinking with the boys this evening. Liz is really excited to see you again, Holland.”

  Holland gave Dax a glance before she followed after his sister.

  “Well, we know which side Gus is on,” Connor said acerbically as he waved good-bye to his wife.

  Roman frowned as he watched the women move down the hall. “The wives won’t tell Gus about why Zack is suddenly dating someone he doesn’t love, right? Because Gus can’t keep a secret to save her life.”

  Gus could keep a secret. She’d done it for years but he plainly saw that she was still in love with Roman. But Dax knew Roman was right in one way. She wouldn’t keep any secret about Zack’s feelings for Liz. Under her shark exterior, she was a romantic. “Holland won’t tell.”

  “Neither will Lara,” Connor said. “They both know what this game is. If Zack wants it quiet, they’ll stay quiet.”

  Roman was watching the women as they moved down the hall. “Good, because she is a pain in my ass. If she understood what was really going on, I wouldn’t be able to stop her.”

  Dax couldn’t help but note that Roman watched Gus until she turned and disappeared. Then his friend shook it off.

  “Come on. Zack will join us when he can. I want to know everything you found out,” Roman said. “I’m going to London in a few weeks. Zack has a summit with the prime minister. I’ll contact the hospital and start looking into Constance’s death. I also have some contacts there with Interpol who can brief me on the Krylov syndicate.”

  “Good,” Dax said. “I think I might back you up.”

  Roman slid him a long look as they started down the hall. “Really? Because I thought you would be busy with your new girlfriend. I snuck a peek at Gemma White’s reports once I realized what Gus had done. Have I mentioned what trouble your sister can cause? Gemma was one of our best agents. I thought we lost her over pay.”

  His sister was a schemer. She’d also watched over Holland when he’d been too stupid to. “I don’t think she’s my girlfriend. She told me she would walk away at the end of this.”

  They headed past uniformed guards and into the president’s personal apartments.

  “You should really make sure she doesn’t do that,” Zack said as they entered. He had a crystal decanter in his hand and he poured out what looked like a couple of fingers of Scotch.

  Gabe Bond, who had been sitting on the sofa, stood and crossed the space between them. “Dax, I’m so glad you’re alive. I thought you were going to get eaten by a reptile.”

  Such a city boy. “Yeah, the gators aren’t so bad.”

  Gabe shook his head. “I was talking about the cops in New Orleans.”

  Funny, some of them had turned out pretty good. They’d taken Chad into custody and promised a full investigation. He believed them. They would get to the bottom of what had gone wrong with their department. Unfortunately, even the good guys sometimes went bad. “We survived. I wish we’d taken Beau Kirk alive, though.”

  Zack passed him a glass. “All that matters is you’re safe, Dax. Let Roman and me take it from here.”

  Connor snorted. “Hell, no. I promised Lara a London honeymoon.”

  “Already bought my tickets,” Gabe agreed. “Everly is very interested in seeing the local sights.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” It wasn’t like he would have anything better to do. “After all, who’s going to chauffeur all you taken men around?”

  “Don’t mind him,” Connor said, going for the Scotch. “He’s being a horrible pessimist. I thought that was my job. Twenty years’ worth of being the dude who can’t see a silver lining and I end up as the Suzy Sunshine of our duo.”

  Dax flipped his best friend off. “Screw you, Sparks. I can handle my own love life.”

  Zack slipped his tuxedo jacket off. “It sounds like you can’t. Dax, you’ve been crazy about that girl since Joy introduced you to her. You can’t let her go.”

  “I don’t know that I have a choice.” He’d thought about this the whole way from Louisiana to D.C. “Do I even have the right to bring her into our collective nightmare? You’re not bringing Liz in. I heard you had a date tonight.”

  Zack’s jaw tightened. “Yes. I’ll have another in a few days. I have an entire ‘romantic’ calendar planned. All anyone will be able to talk about is the playboy president, and they’ll forget the rumors that I was ever in love with my press secretary. Holland is a trained agent. Liz has no idea how to handle this. She would get hurt. She would do what she always does, throw herself into solving the problem. And she would end up dead. Holland knows what she’s doing. So do Everly and Lara. We’re keeping the truth from Liz and Augustine.”

  Roman started to pace. “I don’t even like to think about what would happen with Gus. She plots behind all our backs. She would try to take over.”

  Dax didn’t miss the way Zack bit back a smile.

  “We all know Gus would immediately inform Liz and then unionize the women against us,” Zack said with a shake of his head. “We’ll keep this quiet. As far as Liz and Gus know, Roman and I are going to London for meetings and they don’t need to attend. Connor, if you wouldn’t mind being pressed into security duty, I would appreciate you looking out for Roman.”

  “I don’t need anyone to look out for me,” Roman complained. “I’m perfectly good at protecting myself.”

  Gabe laughed. “Yeah, buddy. You don’t even know which way to point the gun. Let’s be democratic. All for Connor being in charge of security say aye. Aye.”

  They’d instituted democratic voting over crazy shit at Creighton, often when they ganged up on one another—especially when it was in the best interests of the ganged-up-on party.

  Roman rolled his eyes as the rest of the group issued their ayes. “You know I miss the shit out of Mad because at least I could count on him to dissent.”

  Mad often dissented just for kicks. Dax missed him, too. “We’ve got your back, one way or another. I spent too much time today with a man who didn’t understand the meaning of friendship.”

  Peter Morgan was alive and talking. So was Chad, though it appeared he didn’t know as much as Beau Kirk had. He’d simply done what his superior demanded.

  One thing was certain. They had a whole name—Boris Kuilikov. And a bit of direction about who he was and what might be his game.

  Zack walked up and put a hand on his arm. “I do understand. You have no idea what it means to have you four around me. I know Mad would be here if he could. The five of you . . . well, you made my life bearable then. You do the same now. My brothers. So understand when I tell you, don’t let that woman go.”

  Gabe joined them. “You’ve been in love with her forever. You made a mistake. Don’t make another one.”

  “But we get invited to this wedding, damn it,” Roman insisted.

  Connor stepped in. “She loves you, too. There’s no doubt in my mind. But you fucked up when you pulled that shit in Vegas. Have you apologized?”

  Did Connor think he was a moron? “Of course. I said it was a mistake.”

  “It was more than a mistake,” Connor said. “Look, I get this shit from my wife, but Lara is actually very good at figuring emotional stuff out. You’ve been circling this woman for what? Ten years?”

  “Just about,” he allowed.

  “And she’s been circling you. You took something from her. While she was sacrificing for you, you married someone who didn’t matter to you,” Connor pointed out. “Holland will always be a second wife. That’s meaningful for women. A lot of them believe that the first wife is the true love. You need to make her believe she’s not second.”

  “How do I do that?” She’d never been second for him.

  Connor sighed. “No idea, man. But I do know you can’t do it if you’re on separate continents. Fix this or go back to New Orleans and you don’t leave until she agrees that you’re an idiot and she was always the one for you.”

  “Women like to think they’re the one.” Gabe tipped his glass up and took a swallow of Scotch. “In my case, it was true.”

  “Me, too,” Connor agreed.

  “First wives aren’t always the only woman you ever love,” Zack murmured.

  “Yeah, well sometimes a man wants to believe he’s the only one, too.” Roman held out his glass.

  Did Holland think that marriage didn’t matter to him because he’d done it stupidly once? Had he made her believe it didn’t have to be forever because he’d once treated the institution with so little respect?

  He’d apologized, but had he explained why he wanted to marry her? Or had he left it as an abstract concept—an idea that simply made sense because she was female and he enjoyed having sex with her? Because they were so familiar?

  He could clear up all of those misconceptions very quickly.

  “What bedroom did you put her in?” Dax asked.

  Zack looked up from pouring Roman’s drink and smiled.

  * * *

  Holland opened the door to the bedroom she’d been assigned to with a long sigh. Her one piece of luggage would have been moved in and she assumed her closet would have the necessary items. She’d spent the last twenty-four hours cleaning up the mess her uncle had left in New Orleans. She hadn’t had time to do more than throw an overnight bag together. On the flight over, she’d called and explained what she needed. The White House was thorough. Gus made sure of it. As far as she could tell, everyone was terrified of Gus, with the exception of her friends.

  Liz Matthews had put on a good face, but it had been obvious she was on the brink of tears all evening. Gus had explained that Liz and the president had been very close until recently. So close there’d been speculation about an affair. Liz had basically been the stand-in for Zack’s first lady. But earlier this evening, the commander in chief had shown up with a bimbo on his arm. It didn’t seem to matter to Gus that said bimbo had a law degree from Harvard. She was slutastic and every woman in the room agreed.

  God, Holland had missed colorful Gus and her straightforward honesty.

  She was going to miss Dax forever.

  Back in the bedroom she’d been assigned, Holland closed the door behind her and turned the lock. Habit. Almost nowhere in the U.S. was more secure, but she probably wouldn’t sleep if she couldn’t lock the door. Hell, her own uncle had turned out to be a damn mob plant. Who the hell could she trust?

  She didn’t bother turning on the light. She didn’t need to see how empty her room was. She didn’t need to wonder where Dax was. He was likely still drinking with his friends since they had the freaking White House as their man cave. Most likely, it wouldn’t be long before Dax found another willing woman, like pretty, sweet, and laughs-at-everyone’s-jokes Courtney. He would find a woman who would cower prettily behind him when the bad guys showed up and let him be the man. Despite what he’d said, he would move on.

  And Holland would think about him every day for the rest of her life.

  Was she making a horrible mistake by insisting they go their separate ways now? Maybe the wine was talking for her. Or the tequila shots, since Gus had brought out the big guns. Either way, the liquor was making her sentimental, but she wondered if she shouldn’t sneak into Dax’s room for one last night.

  If you’re leaving, then go. You’ve already decided to be a coward and let some other chick have him, so stop being such a wishy-washy bitch. Let the man of your dreams have his silly little never-shot-a-criminal-before woman.

  Or you could claim his ass and defend him against all invaders cute and cuddly and with fake breasts.

  Holland groaned. She might be an idiot, but she had to talk to him. She hoped they could find a way to work this out.

  She stroked on some lip gloss because she was fairly certain she looked horrible. She groped the wall, looking for a light switch and hoping to find a mirror to prove herself wrong. Her fingers latched on to their prize and she flipped it up.

  And she nearly screamed.

  “Don’t shoot me,” Dax said from the bed in front of her.

  She stopped and caught her breath because under the sheet covering his lower half, she didn’t think he was wearing a stitch of clothing. He’d covered the bed in rose petals.

  “What are you doing here?” she breathed.

  His sexy smile caught her off guard. “Waiting on you.”

  And he looked so good. Yummy and male and ridiculously hot. “Why are you here?”

  He pushed the sheet aside and proved he wasn’t, in fact, wearing anything. He stood, his body looking like nothing less than sheer perfection. “Holland, I’m not letting you walk away.”

  He could say whatever he liked, but he’d let her go once before. Less than twenty-four hours later, he’d married someone else. He’d never apologized for what he’d truly done to hurt her. Yes, he’d said he was sorry for getting drunk, but that didn’t heal the heart of her pain.

  “So you want a few more weeks in bed? It won’t matter.”

  He remained near the bed, giving her space. “Because I married Courtney?”

  “It’s not just that.”

  “You’re right. I was making it too simple. I took something from us that should have been sacred and tossed it in the trash. I love you, Holland. You should have been my only wife. ’Til death do us part and long after because I’ll love you until I die. Hell, I’ll love you as long as this soul exists. That’s why we should get married. And why it will mean everything. I never wanted to marry Courtney. I wanted to prove that I could . . . forget you, I suppose. But I couldn’t. No other woman in the world is like you. So you can walk away, but I’ll be right behind you, praying that you change your mind, because I can’t be whole without you.”

  Tears welled in her eyes hard and fast. She knew she should stop this conversation or she’d soon be sobbing, but she couldn’t. They had to talk this out. “Even years later, I couldn’t marry anyone else.”

  He crossed the room to her and cupped her shoulders. “I know, sweetheart. You were faithful in a way I wasn’t, and all I can do is beg your forgiveness and promise that our marriage will be forever. I’ll put my heart and soul into us. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted. I’m leaving the Navy. I’ll live wherever you want. I’ll be patient if you can’t forgive me yet, but don’t shut me out.”

  Her tears flowed freely. She hadn’t really mourned three years ago, she realized. She’d shoved her pain down and tried to act as if his marriage didn’t matter. Even after pictures of Dax and Courtney had appeared in magazines, she’d shrugged and shoved her hurt deep down.

  “You gave her my ring.” She’d hated that.

  He stopped and shook his head. “No. I did not. Holland, sweetheart, why would you think that?”

  “You had it in your pocket when you left that day.”

  He dragged her into his arms, his warm skin surrounding her. “And it stayed there. Even when I was drunk off my ass, I was smart enough to stop at a jeweler and buy her ring because the family ring was meant for you, not anyone else. Look at the nightstand.”

  She glanced over his shoulder and there sat a red velvet box. Her ring. “You brought it.”

  “Yes,” he whispered into her ear. “I’ll carry it around until you say yes and let me slide it on your finger, which is where it has always belonged.”

  She breathed him in and made her choice. She couldn’t make any other choice. He was the love of her life.

  “Make love to me, Dax.”

  “I will never refuse that command. Holland, are you on the pill? Because if you aren’t, I’m going to have to sneak out and scrounge up some condoms from god knows where.”

  She had to laugh at the idea of Dax running to the Secret Service to ask for condoms. It would be a very Perfect Gentlemen thing to do. Her body heated at the thought of not wearing any protection beyond her four-times-a-year shot. “We’re covered. I also had a checkup and I’m perfectly clean.”

  She let her hands roam over his skin. There was something sexy about him being naked while she was clothed. He was here for her pleasure. Her comfort and protection, too, but tonight was definitely going to be about pleasure.

  “I haven’t had sex with anyone else in a year,” he admitted. “I’m clean. Can I take you, sweetheart? Nothing between us. I’ll be faithful to you. For the rest of my life. I don’t want another woman. Only you.”