Hunter hesitated, his pause uncharacteristically long. “We’ve been in talks to have a long-term working relationship with Oracle. They’re professional, well trained and managed, and fucking good at what they do. They feel the same about us. EM Security has gone well beyond the original scope of our business—bodyguarding, corporate security, and the like. We never anticipated taking on a motherfucking cartel. But my brothers and I agree with Jack and Deke that there’s safety in numbers. Intermingling teams on an as-needed basis makes sense.”

  Trees concurred. “So you’re saying some of theirs will help watch over Laila, too?”

  It wasn’t his first choice, but until he could protect her himself, this would be safest for her.

  “Yeah. I’ll call over there as soon as we hang up. He’ll give me guys besides Ghost. Trevor would be a good choice since he’s up to speed with the situation and a hell of an all-round good operator. Jack Cole also grew up around these parts, so I suspect he’ll have a good safe house in mind.”

  “Fine,” Trees grumbled. “I’ll pack up. You call with details.”

  They ended the call, and he checked in with both Matt and Ghost. Apparently, all was quiet.

  Too quiet?

  Trees couldn’t explain the nagging feeling. He didn’t like it. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to dissect it.

  Vaulting out of his seat, he took ground-eating steps to his bedroom and crouched beside a slumbering Laila. “Little one?”

  Her eyes fluttered open. She looked disoriented for a second. Then she blinked again and her wide hazel eyes looked alert. She sat up, holding the sheet to her breasts. “Trees?”

  “We have to go.” He grabbed his bug-out bag, double-checking its contents as he explained everything.

  She scowled. “We will be separated?”

  So she’d latched onto that first, too? That reassured him on one level, scared the hell out of him on another.

  “Temporarily,” he promised, cupping her face. “I’ll make my way back to you as soon as it’s safe.”

  But until he and the rest of EM Security managed to take down all their adversaries, how would that even be possible?

  Trees shoved the thought away and helped her from the bed, doing his goddamn best to ignore the lush curves of her naked body. He ached to lay her down and escape inside her again. Instead, he retrieved the duffel he’d shoved her stuff in when he’d packed up her Mexican bungalow and set it on the mattress beside her. “Do you need anything else?”

  She glanced inside, then shook her head. “No. I do not require much. I will be all right.”

  He swore under his breath. She didn’t require much, but he’d saved nearly every penny he’d ever made. He’d invested wisely. He had money. Someday, he’d shower her with everything he could so she would have a better life. She more than deserved it.

  After they finished packing, Trees set plenty of food and water out back so Barney would be fed for the next few days. Zy would check in on him, too. Then he ensured the house was secure, grabbed his keys, and took Laila’s hands. Standing by the back door, he peered at her through the shadows. “I don’t know how long this will take.”

  “I am scared.”

  He cupped her cheek. “You’ll be fine. I would put my own life in Hunter Edgington’s hands. He’ll make sure you’re well protected.”

  She shook her head. “I am not afraid for me. I am afraid for you. What Victor is suggesting…”

  Trading Trees for his own freedom? “Are you really surprised?”

  “No. But I am angry.” She dropped his hands and curled herself against his body. “And I do not have a good feeling about this.”

  He didn’t either, but staying here wasn’t wise.

  “It will be fine.” Trees hoped she believed him as much as he hoped it was true. Then he lifted her face to his for a lingering kiss before reluctantly backing away. “Time to go.”

  When he reached for the knob, she stayed him. “I am sorry. For everything since we met. I have been difficult. I have run from you. I refused to trust you…”

  Coming from Laila, that was huge. He knew how difficult it was for her to trust. It was even harder for her to admit that she should have all along. “Water under the bridge, honey. Just know that I love you and I’m coming back for you.”

  “But should you?” Tears welled in her eyes. “Because of me, you made enemies you never would have—Victor, Montilla, the whole Tierra Caliente cartel and their hitmen… Simply because you swore to protect me. If you let me go—”

  “Ditch you for my safety? Never. Do you love me?”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Until you, I never wanted a man. I never wanted entanglements of the heart. But then you touched me and took care of me and tried to heal me. How could I not fall for you?”

  He wiped her tears from her cheeks. “You make my life worth living, my future worth looking forward to. You’ve given my empty world meaning. I’ll be back for you, come hell or high water. Wait for me. And whatever Hunter or EM Security tells you to do to stay safe, do it. Promise me.”

  Her chin trembled as she held back more tears. “I promise.”

  As he kissed her one last time, someone knocked on the back door. He shoved aside the back drape and looked out the little square window. Matt and Ghost. Trees wanted to bash their faces in for taking Laila from him, but they were just doing their jobs. He should be grateful.

  He wasn’t.

  “You got the phone you left here last time?” he asked her.

  “Yes.” She squeezed him again. “You will call me?”

  “Every chance I get, little one.”

  The knock sounded again, this time impatient. Trees cursed. His time alone with Laila was up.

  He wrenched the door open to find Matt leaning against the porch railing, cowboy hat shading most of his face from the patio lights. Ghost stood a few feet behind him in darkness, wearing a black ski cap nearly pulled down to his inky brows, which accentuated his otherworldly gray eyes. The shadows clung to the angles of his face, more suited to the runway than undercover work. Dark stubble clung to his aggressive chin and a sharp jaw. His mouth was turned down in an eternally pissed-off smirk.

  “You got a problem with me?” Trees challenged the guy.

  The look Ghost shot him would have felled any man who didn’t make their living by a gun. “I have a problem with you fondling on the client while we should be getting the fuck out of here. It’s unprofessional. You mooning over her risks all of us getting killed.”

  Trees couldn’t argue with Ghost’s logic; he was right. But the motherfucker didn’t understand. “I’m sorry this isn’t to your liking, Casper. Laila is upset and afraid.”

  His dark brow arched up, almost disappearing under the cap. “So you’re going to revive her with mouth-to-mouth?”

  Trees lunged for him, violence sizzling through his veins. In the back of his head, he knew attacking an ally was stupid, but he didn’t need this shit. Neither did Laila. Based on size alone, he could take the guy, but… “I thought we were on the same team. I guess you just want to flap your gums so you can feel superior?”

  Ghost, who hadn’t moved a muscle, suddenly snapped to life, moving so fast he was a blur.

  Before the guy could make good on his furious snarl, Matt stepped between them, glaring at them both. “Let it go. We need to get on the road before we have uninvited company.”

  Fuck. The cowboy had a valid point. As for Ghost…Trees admitted he probably was out of line. Having to separate from Laila was fucking with his mood. He let out a deep breath and backed down. “Fine.”

  Ghost stepped away, too. “Fine. But don’t ever fucking call me Casper again.”

  Whatever. Trees didn’t have time for this guy’s ego. He turned his attention to Matt. “Where are you taking her?”

  Apology crossed his face. “Need-to-know basis, man. And you don’t need to know.”

  “Seriously?”

  Matt nodded. “Precaution. She won’t know where to find you, either.”

  Clearly, the cowboy didn’t understand Trees’s role on this team. Otherwise, Walker’s bestie would have figured out that he’d already given himself a way to track Laila’s phone. He’d also given her a way to track his. She didn’t know yet, but all she had to do was look.

  Trees forced himself to relax. “Let’s go.” Then he turned to Laila and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Soon.”

  She blinked up at him as if he were her moon and stars. “Soon.”

  Ghost glared his way. “Looks like you’re stuck with me. I’ll follow you in my truck.”

  Trees shook his head. “I can take care of myself. She’s suffered six years of rape and abuse. Stay with them.” He gestured to Laila and Matt. “Make sure neither Ramos nor Montilla gets their hands on her again.”

  “Those aren’t my orders.”

  Did this asshole love to argue for the sake of arguing? “In my shoes, what would you suggest?”

  Ghost hesitated for the span of a heartbeat, then pulled his keys from his pocket, grumbling. “I’ll trail them and stay with her. You leaving first?”

  To provide a target if anyone was watching. “Yes.”

  “Don’t get too far from us until we’re on the open road.”

  Where there might be traffic, witnesses, and cameras. “Sure.”

  Silently, they made their way to Matt’s truck. Trees settled Laila’s bag in the back seat of the cab, everything inside him hating this idea…yet knowing it was the safest choice. The cowboy settled behind the wheel. Ghost hopped in the back of the bed, gun drawn, looking watchful.

  Laila paused beside the open passenger door. “Stay safe.”

  “You, too. Don’t try to run from your bodyguards. Don’t balk when they feed you. And no matter what, don’t put yourself in danger.”

  “Will you promise me the same?”

  Crafty girl, answering his question with a question he was guaranteed to refute. “Danger is my job.”

  “Danger has been my life,” she countered. “But for you I will do my best to stay safe.”

  Trees brought her against his chest and held her close, breathed in the spicy floral musk of her scent, and closed his eyes. He was putting off the inevitable, and he knew it. But he didn’t want to let her go.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t have much choice. He was Ramos’s number-one target, so she was safer in someone else’s capable hands. End of story.

  Laila laid her head on his chest and exhaled, melting against him. “I can hear your heart beat.”

  He dropped his lips to her ear, whispering to her alone. “It beats for you. When I come back, you’ll marry me?”

  She eased back, a tear perched on her lashes. “I want that more than anything.”

  Trees believed her…but there was something she wasn’t saying.

  “Let’s go, kids,” Ghost growled.

  The longer they were here and unmoving, the more they were sitting ducks.

  “I love you,” he murmured.

  “Te amo.”

  Since he didn’t dare delay any longer, he helped her into Matt’s back seat, where she would be less visible, gave her hand one last squeeze, and shut the door.”

  Matt drove away slowly with a jaunty salute in his direction, his truck rumbling toward the end of the lane and pausing at Ghost’s. Jack Cole’s buddy hopped out of the bed and dived into his Tundra, starting the engine and idling.

  Waiting for him.

  Trees cursed, then grabbed his own duffel from the house, set the alarm, locked up behind him, gave Barney one last head scratch and a few more treats, then climbed into his Hummer. It wasn’t long before he pulled around Matt, settling in for the long miles until they were no longer on a dirt road. Ghost followed them.

  Though Trees gripped the wheel tightly, the drive to the edge of town and the hard road was uneventful. He stayed watchful, looking everywhere for Ramos or his violent drug mules to jump out and try to take Laila from him. With every mile that passed, he relaxed.

  During the drive, he peered at Laila in his rearview mirror. The sadness on her face was a stab in the heart, and he swore that somehow he’d make this shit up to her and keep her safe for the rest of her life.

  Finally, they reached the main drag bisecting the nearest little town. There wasn’t much—a dollar store, some churches, a mom-and-pop grocery store, along with a couple of gas stations, a body shop, and a one-window post office.

  At the town’s last intersection, the light turned yellow just as Trees made it through. Matt followed. It was red by the time Ghost reached the limit line, and he watched the guy shudder to a halt. In his rearview mirror, Ghost’s dark blue Tundra got smaller and smaller.

  A few feet off Trees’s bumper, Matt kept going, probably figuring the other operator would catch up in two minutes or less. Trees scowled. He’d feel better, especially for Laila’s sake, if they waited for the tail, but it was stupid to sit around and wait like no one was after them.

  As they reached the intersection at the interstate, Trees slipped into the left turn lane to head east on I-10. Traffic was almost nonexistent, so he paused, watching Matt zoom past him and continue heading south. Where was he taking Laila? What had Hunter and the other bosses cooked up? Trees hated not knowing as he watched the beat-up Chevy drive away.

  Vowing to put an end to this shit separating them soon, he caught a green light and made a left toward the freeway’s on-ramp.

  From a dirt corner, a black van lurched forward, tires spinning, kicking up dust. It barreled toward Trees, heading straight for his passenger door. Holy fuck, the driver intended to T-bone him.

  Trees stepped on the gas, trying to outrun them and jet onto the freeway. A glance behind proved Ghost still hadn’t caught up.

  The Hummer didn’t move fast enough, and the van clipped his vehicle, sending Trees spinning around on the otherwise deserted road, closer and closer to an embankment wall.

  His head reeled as he tried to steer out of the over-rotation. But it was too late. The top-heavy vehicle flipped onto its top, then rolled over twice more before slamming against a guardrail and coming to a shuddering stop.

  Pain roared in his head. A trickle of warm blood slid from a gash above his brow. His limbs felt like they weighed a ton as he tried to swipe away the blood and clear his suddenly blurry vision, but darkness ringed the edges—and started closing in.

  No. No! He needed air. But he couldn’t find the fucking handle. When he did, he couldn’t muster the strength to open the door. It was stuck. Crumpled from the accident? He groped around the armrest until he found the button to roll down the window, but even the chilly winter night didn’t jolt back his dimming senses.

  Shit. He was going to pass out. He must have hit his head harder than he’d thought…

  Help. He needed help. Nine one one.

  With the last of his strength, he felt in his pockets for his phone but couldn’t seem to yank it free.

  Suddenly, movement through the passenger window caught his attention. The occupants of the van poured out, illuminated by their headlights—three men shrouded in head-to-toe black. All carried guns pointed straight at him. They spoke rapid-fire Spanish as they wrenched his door open, yanked him from the cab, and dragged him toward the open door of their van as his consciousness gave way.

  Laila scrambled to the far side of Matt’s back seat, craning her neck as Trees’s truck was blindsided before it rolled twice and hit the guardrail. She screamed. Her heart lurched as cold fear washed through her. “Stop! We must help him. Now!”

  Matt glanced in his rearview mirror, looking into the night, then gunned the engine. His truck surged forward. “We can’t. I have to get you to safety.”

  “We cannot leave him! I am safe. I am fine. He is injured. He is—” Laila whipped her stare back to the scene of Trees’s accident to see if he’d managed by some miracle to get out. Instead, she saw him being dragged away by three men in ski masks who blended in with the dark. Fear became horror. She felt ready to peel off her skin, jump from this moving vehicle—anything to save him. “They are taking him! We must—”

  “Keep going. If that’s Ramos and his thugs, they probably think you’re in the truck. As soon as they figure out you’re not, they’ll come looking for you. I have to get you far away.”

  “We cannot simply leave Trees! He will die. They will kill him!”

  “He’s trained for this and—”

  “He is injured!” Couldn’t Matt see that? “He cannot fight all three of them by himself. And Victor wants revenge. He will torture and execute Trees. We must go back and save him.”

  Matt shook his head, scanning his surroundings with a sharply watchful gaze. “Ghost is seconds behind him. He’ll pitch in, but Trees would tell me to get you away from the danger. That’s what our bosses would say, too. I’m doing what’s best.”

  “You are doing what you have been told. I am doing no such thing.” If she had to jump out of a moving vehicle, she would. But she refused to let Trees be taken, tormented, and terminated.

  Matt glared at her through the mirror. “Yeah, you are.”

  She ignored him and reached for the handle to let herself out of the backseat. It was locked. She scrambled to find the button to release it, but flicking it did not disengage the lock. “Let me go!”

  “I can’t. Never thought I’d use those childproof locks. Good to know they’re useful for something.” Then he reached for his phone.

  Who was he calling? The police? It was too late for that, and fighting with the door was doing her absolutely no good. Trees and the scene of his accident were now several blocks away. Terror that she would be too late to save him threatened to shred her composure.

  “I will not let him die!” She pounded on the window, still pulling on the door handle, hoping it would magically give way.

  “Let us handle it, Laila. Trees would want you to.” Then Matt spoke to whoever he had called. “Hey, we’ve been ambushed. I’m still rushing Laila to the drop. As far as I can tell, we haven’t been followed. We lost Ghost at a light about two miles back, but Trees was broadsided…” He must be talking to one of his bosses because he explained the rest of the incident, including the location.