Then he clutched her hands, terrified he’d see condemnation or disgust in her eyes. Instead, she rose and threw herself against him, pressing her cheek to his chest and wrapping her arms around him as if she meant to heal every one of his hurts with her love and devotion.

  One-Mile couldn’t hold back. He enveloped her, relief flooding him until he nearly went weak-kneed—and he lost all sense of composure. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this woman, but he’d wake up every day and do his best to be worthy of her.

  “Pretty girl, don’t cry, especially for me.” He stroked her head. “Your tears hurt too much.”

  “Oh, Pierce… I can’t believe how horribly you’ve suffered.”

  “It was all a long time ago… It’s okay.”

  “It’s not. You’ve suffered ever since I’ve met you. I’m so, so sorry,” she sobbed. “I wish I could take it all away and make it better. I wish—”

  “You do, baby. You have from the very moment you let me into your life.” He kissed the top of her head and looked over her, at Jasper.

  Compassion softened the man’s kind face. Acceptance filled his eyes that brimmed with tears. “You survived hell, and the fact you did whatever it took to save someone smaller and weaker tells me a lot about who you are. God forgives all. I can’t do any less. You have my blessing…son.” The man swallowed thickly and stuck out his hand. “Take care of her.”

  One-Mile’s chest twisted as he shook it. “Yes, sir. Thank you. I will.”

  The preacher might never like him, but the man understood that he would love Brea every moment of every day because no other woman would ever have any part of his heart. Jasper knew he would protect her and their children to his dying breath.

  For now, that was enough.

  Brea raised her head from his chest and looked up at him with big golden eyes full of love. “I want to make the rest of your life so happy.”

  “Yeah?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little box he’d stashed there. Then he opened it to reveal the simple, winking solitaire. “You could do that by marrying me. Still want to?”

  He’d never imagined he would ever do something as traditional as get down on one knee to propose, but for Brea he’d go to any lengths to prove how much he loved her.

  “Yes.” She nodded furiously as more tears fell. “Yes!”

  With his heart soaring, he slid the ring on her finger, brushed the moisture from her cheeks, and pressed a resounding kiss on her lips. “Thank God. I can’t wait. Can we get married on Saturday?”

  She laughed. “No, but we will soon. Because I can’t wait, either. There’s nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “You are my life. I love you, pretty girl.”

  Monday, January 26

  Feeling like he might crawl out of his skin, Zyron paced the reception area of EM Security Management. Thank fuck he was finally home. The last two weeks he’d spent in Speck-on-a-Map, Texas, had been fourteen days too many. The good news: Their mission there was over. Cutter’s wedding to Shealyn West had gone off mostly without a hitch and the creepy-as-fuck cult down the road had been shut down in a hail of yeehaw and gunfire. The bad news: His wholly dependable fellow operator, Josiah Grant, had fallen for Shealyn’s sister, Maggie, gotten the girl, and decided to stay behind. Now the organization had a new guy to break in, the fucking small-town deputy from Maggie’s hometown. Zy snorted. In a team full of SEALs, Green Berets, and other elite warriors, he didn’t see this Rosco P. Coltrane working out. Yeah, Kane Preston had some military experience and he’d seemed all right, but c’mon… At least the hazing would be fun. But the worst news: He was going through withdrawals because he hadn’t seen his sweet confection of female, Tessa Lawrence, since leaving on assignment.

  Now it was Monday morning, and she was late.

  Was something wrong?

  Logan Edgington approached him, black coffee in hand. “You have a desk.”

  He did—way in the back and around the corner where he couldn’t see Tess walk through the front door. Logan knew it. But Zy didn’t dare admit that aloud. EM Security Management had a strict nonfraternization clause. No dating or physical relationships with co-workers. Violating the policy was grounds for job termination. The whole thing would have been funny as fuck since the company was mostly straight-as-an-arrow males…except that it had screwed him from doing more than stare at Tessa and stroking his dick raw to filthy, dirty thoughts of her.

  And Logan knew that, too.

  “Waiting to say hey to the new guy,” Zy lied.

  Logan shot him a dubious stare over the rim of his mug. “Sure, you are. Lucky for you, Kane is already here, finishing up some paperwork with Joaquin. I’ll take you right to him since you’re so eager to shake his hand.”

  Bastard. His boss was calling his bluff. “What the fuck do you want?”

  “A sit-down. Conference room. Five minutes. Come with less attitude. We’ve got a mission for you.”

  He’d just gotten back, goddamn it. Yeah, yeah… This was his life, and he’d signed up for this job. He was often gone for weeks at a time with almost no advance warning. But his gut was twitching about Tess. Before he’d gone, something had upset her. She’d freaked out and clammed up. Stopped talking. Started avoiding him. He wanted answers.

  But he’d have to get them later.

  Zy didn’t bother to swallow down his sarcasm. “Can’t wait.”

  “Don’t worry. You’re going to love this mission,” Logan assured with an evil grin. “Right before you hate it.”

  Then the son of a bitch disappeared.

  What the fuck did that mean? He didn’t have time to figure it out before the door behind him opened.

  Zy turned. And there she was, his gorgeous bundle of blonde, all big green eyes, lush mouth, and tits for days. He’d missed her Southern sass and bless-your-hearts. Jesus, the sight of her after two miserable weeks away had his breath catching and his body pinging.

  Yeah, he had it bad for Tess…and every fucking person on this team knew it.

  She dumped her keys in her little pink clutch and looked up. She stopped mid-stride when their gazes locked. Her breath caught on a soft gasp. The heavens fucking parted; he felt it.

  Why did he have to be fixated on the one woman he couldn’t have?

  She sent him a breathless smile. “You’re back!”

  Zy wanted to touch her so damn bad—and he didn’t dare. Not only would he get fired but he’d been assured he would never work in this “town” again, as the saying went.

  He’d wanted Tess for ten agonizing months. Seeing her almost every day and never having her felt like ten years of torture…and a decade of foreplay.

  “Got back last night,” he managed to say past the knot in his throat. “You okay?”

  Another smile, this one less genuine. “Fine.”

  “Baby okay?”

  Adoration softened her eyes. “She’s fine. Walking everywhere now. I can hardly keep up.”

  “What about—”

  “Let’s go, Garrett,” Hunter Edgington called out as he made his way to the conference room. “Shit’s hitting the fan and time’s wasting.”

  Zy gritted his teeth. “Got to go. Lunch later?”

  Her smile disappeared. Her gaze fell. “You know we shouldn’t. After what happened last time—”

  “Nothing happened.” Absolutely fucking nothing—no matter how badly he’d wished otherwise.

  “Okay, almost happened,” she whispered. “You’re splitting hairs.”

  “I’m being factual.”

  But she was right. He’d been close to saying fuck it all and kissing her senseless until she’d lost her clothes.

  Tessa sent him a pleading expression. “This job pays better than everything else. I need it.”

  As a single mom with an undependable ex, she probably did. And if he hadn’t burned a million bridges and come here to start over, he might not have needed this job so badly, too.

  Fuck.

  “I know. I just want to talk to you. I won’t…” Touch you, try to seduce you, tell you all the lascivious ways I’m dying to make you scream. He cleared his throat. “I’ll be a gentleman. Please. I just missed your voice.”

  Didn’t he sound pathetic?

  She sighed like she couldn’t refuse him. Fuck, he wished that was true.

  “A-all right.”

  “I’ll come around about noon.”

  Tessa smiled at him again, this one so real and pure he wanted to lose himself in it. “Looking forward to it.”

  “Now, Garrett,” Joaquin Muñoz growled as he stuck his head around the corner.

  “For fuck’s sake…”

  “Go,” she encouraged. “Whatever it is seems important.”

  It did, and that didn’t bode well for a peaceful Monday.

  “If something comes up, I’ll let you know,” Zy promised, then stomped down the hall, hung a left, and barreled into the conference room, trying not to snarl. “I’m here. What’s up?”

  None of his bosses spoke. After the rush and hurry, now they were all silent?

  Whatever. Zy studied the new guy. Around six foot and built broad with an obvious hard-on for bodybuilding, he had piercing dark eyes, a black mustache, and a watchful mien.

  “You met Kane Preston?” Hunter offered.

  “Briefly.” While all the shit had been going down with the creepy cult, the deputy had been cleaning up the absent sheriff’s mess.

  “Josiah highly recommended him, said he’d done an excellent job the last couple of years in Comfort.”

  Kane stuck out his hand. “But I was looking to make a change. Some folks call me Scout. But as long as you don’t call me motherfucker, I’ll probably answer.”

  Zy clapped his hand in the other guy’s. “I’m Chase Garrett. Most people around here just call me Zyron.”

  “Good to see you.”

  “Got everything you need now?” Joaquin asked the former deputy.

  “I do,” Kane replied. “I’ll go make myself useful.”

  “Perfect,” Logan said to the guy’s wide, retreating back. The minute he’d gone, his boss turned an annoyed gaze his way. “Shut the door. We need to talk.”

  Sighing, Zy did, then took his seat in the nearest chair, across the table from Logan. “What’s up?”

  “We need to get to the bottom of some shit. Up until now, the only people who knew the location of Valeria Montilla’s new safe house were the three of us and One-Mile. At least until last night.”

  Zy froze. Valeria and her sister, Laila, had been through hell. Valeria’s husband, Emilo, was finally dead, but his thugs and that criminal bunch from his splinter offshoot of the cartel had wreaked absolute destruction on those women’s lives.

  “What happened?”

  “Someone broke into their new digs in Orlando. Valeria was at a concert, thankfully. But Laila stayed behind to babysit her nephew. She and Baby Jorge barely escaped with their lives. We have to relocate them now.”

  “You need me to go?” He hated to pack another fucking suitcase, but to save them from being snuffed and slaughtered, he gladly would—no questions asked.

  “No. We’re sending Kane and Trees today to bring them back here.”

  Hunter jumped in. “A couple months ago, we started working on a plan to relocate Valeria and her family nearby, then shit happened…”

  Over the last few months? Yeah, had it ever.

  “And you’ve got everything in place now?” Zy asked.

  He nodded. “We’ll be watching their new safe house ourselves. But we worry it’s for nothing until you figure out who our fucking mole is. If it’s not Trees, we need you to prove it now.”

  He tried to keep a leash on his temper. “I know you all have a boner to blame him, but he isn’t guilty.”

  Hunter sent him a cutting glare. “Forgive me if we’re not willing to just take your word about your bestie.”

  “I’ve spent two fucking months digging. I’ve seen zero evidence he’s leaked even a drop of urine out of this place, much less critical secrets. Seriously, I took him with me to Comfort so we could isolate him, just like you insisted. We slept in the same bunkhouse. I dug through his phone. Unless he was shitting or showering, I watched him. He’s done nothing, and I don’t know what you want as proof that he’s innocent.”

  The trio fell silent and exchanged glances.

  Hunter raised a brow. “Here’s what we know. It’s not the three of us. It’s not One-Mile. It’s not you, Cutter, or Josiah. That leaves Trees.”

  “Or…” Logan cut in before Zy could push back, “Tessa.”

  It was all he could do not to punch the asshole. “No. Fuck no. She’s the goddamn receptionist. She doesn’t have access to those secrets.”

  “We didn’t think so either. But now we’re rethinking.”

  “This is bullshit.”

  “Shut up and listen,” Joaquin growled. “We’ve eliminated every other possibility. It’s either your bestie or your girl.”

  “She’s not my girl,” he objected automatically.

  Logan rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. We all know you’re one bad decision away from breaking your contract…unless you already have and there’s something you want to tell us?”

  “I haven’t touched her.”

  The three of them exchanged another glance, then seemed to come to some silent conclusion he wasn’t privy to.

  “Then here’s the deal: You’ve got two weeks to figure out which one of them is guilty or we’re letting them both go.”

  “What?”

  Hunter picked up where his brother left off. “We made it easier for you by sending Trees out of town for a week. Invent a reason you need to stay at his place while he’s gone. Search it from top to bottom. If he’s got dirt, you need to hand it the fuck over.”

  “He doesn’t.” Zy knew he kept repeating that, but Trees wouldn’t stab him—or anyone else—in the back like that.

  “Now you get to find out for sure…at the same time you investigate Tessa.”

  Were they insane? “How? You sending her out of town, too?”

  “Nope.” Logan reached behind him and plucked a file folder off his credenza, then whipped out a small pile of papers held together by a staple. He flipped a few pages, drew a giant X on one, then jotted something in the margin. He passed it to his brothers next. Each of them also scribbled on the side. Finally, Logan shoved the document back in the folder and slid it down the table to him. “You’re welcome.”

  Zy opened the folder and found his employment contract inside. The nonfraternization clause had been crossed out. All three of them had initialed.

  They had removed the restrictions keeping him from pursuing Tessa? Even the goddamn idea made his skin tingle.

  When he looked up, Logan smiled. “Yes, you’re now free to fuck her. Congratulations. But you better think with something other than your dick.”

  Too late. His dick was already having a party…and his conscience was choking on guilt. The only way to get close to her was to deceive her?

  “No.” He couldn’t do that to Tessa.

  Joaquin shrugged. “Told you we should have just fired Trees and Tess and been done with it.”

  It took everything he had not to jump out of his seat and tell them to go fuck themselves. “Neither of them deserves that.”

  “No?” Hunter shrugged. “Then prove it.”

  Over the past ten months, he’d seen the three of them push, shove, and maneuver some of his fellow operators into tight spaces and corners to get what they wanted. Zy had always been careful to keep his nose clean, so he’d never had it happen to him. He’d even wondered if the rumors were an exaggeration. But no.

  They really were manipulative motherfuckers.

  “Tessa won’t touch me. She needs this job.”

  Joaquin flashed him a rare smile. “I’m going to take her aside this morning and present her with a new contract. Better sick pay and vacation, tighter non-disclosure…and no nonfraternization clause. She’ll sign. Then you’re both off the hook.”

  Goddamn it. Their coercion pissed him off. But the thought of touching Tess while proving she’d done nothing wrong? “Fine. I’m in.”

  “We know.” Logan sounded like an arrogant prick. “You’ve got two weeks. Get a move on.”

  He clenched his jaw against some choice words that would probably get him fired and stood. As he marched for the door, it crashed open. In walked a man he hadn’t imagined he’d see in this office ever again.

  Caleb Edgington looked shell-shocked, like he’d collided with panic and run face-first into death.

  What the fuck was wrong? “Colonel, sir?”

  Hunter and Logan both stood. Joaquin, not far behind, rose with a frown.

  “Dad?” Hunter approached him.

  The older man swallowed. “Your sister…”

  Sudden tension gripped the room.

  “What’s wrong with Kimber?” Logan scowled.

  “I received a threat a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t specific, just a tube of lipstick and a warning to hand over Valeria Montilla before they took whoever the tube belonged to. I didn’t know who—” Emotion choked off the colonel’s words. He pressed his fist to his lips, grasping for the fortitude to finish delivering the bad news.

  Zy stood in shock, his gut twisting. The man’s only daughter, Hunter and Logan’s sister…

  Another guy came in behind the colonel—big, blond, badass, and totally pissed off. Deke Trenton, Kimber’s husband. “She’s gone. She dropped the kids off at preschool, then made a trip to the grocery store…and didn’t come home. A courier delivered this thirty minutes ago.”

  They all crowded around as he whipped out a picture of Kimber, her auburn hair tangled, her big eyes red rimmed, with a gag over her mouth, her hands tied behind her back, and a gun to her head.