“What are—what’s going on?”

  “Nothing. Everything is perfect. You can go back to sleep.”

  He carried me into the bedroom, taking and laying me down, and pulling the bedsheets over me. He was tucking me in. “Everything is going to be fine. I’ve got this. I found the golden goose.”

  “You did?”

  “I did.” He gave me another kiss, and then began to pull away. I reached up, grabbed the back of his head. and pulled him back down. His mouth found mine again, and this kiss was more awake. Hungrier.

  “I thought you were asleep.”

  I kicked the covers off me and pulled him over me. “Not anymore.”

  “Ava.” He was hesitating.

  I didn’t want him to hesitate so I reached up, and moved his pants down, though, God, did I love watching him walk around in those sweats. Seriously defined muscles, and sometimes he wore a gold chain. I reached for it, finding it around his neck. He must’ve put it on when he was hacking. I used it and pulled his mouth to mine. He’d told me once that it’d been a gift his dad once gave him. It was a sort of initiation when he graduated from Cain University. He didn’t always wear it, but I was glad he was wearing it tonight.

  I wanted. I needed. I was in control here.

  “Ava.”

  “Shut up.” I scissor-kicked him so he was on the bed, and I was up, above him.

  I sat down, straddling him, finding him right where I needed him. And at the touch, I paused, just once, before I moved over him. He groaned, his hands finding my hips. He began kneading me there, but he was sitting up, finding my mouth.

  He battled for control, the way I’d known he would. He liked going rough, which I liked too, but there’d been some times when he went slow. Tender. I didn’t want that, and I could feel the build-up in him. He was riled up from the hacking. So was I. I was riled up for him, and I was fully fucking awake and dripping for him.

  I began moving harder over him, a hand planted on his chest.

  He moved with me, urging me down, as his mouth opened over mine, his tongue slipping in.

  This man. He’d been a boy when I’d first met him. A bully. Mean. Then he changed. He became a man, and now he was my man and I was breathless from needing him. From yearning for him. Another emotion was rising up in me, curling around my spine, and I felt it building. It was making me breathless all over again, but I opened my hips and sank farther down on him, and tried to clamp that feeling from bursting out of me.

  Not yet.

  He rolled me over, rising up over me, and I stretched, savoring from this viewpoint too. I loved watching as Zeke held himself above me, watching me, catching my chin, and holding me in place so I could feel him looking into me. It was like he was reading into my soul, seeing beyond every wall I had, every thought that was in place, every hesitation, and he blasted through them. Because he could. Because he was Zeke.

  My Zeke.

  He leaned down, his mouth touching mine in the softest kiss, and he asked, a whisper against my skin, “I’m going to make love to you tonight.”

  Yes, yes. Please yes, and I let all that out of me in a soft sigh as his mouth moved down my throat, down my body. My shirt was lifted up and over me, and his mouth was on my stomach. He kept going, searching, exploring. My shorts were pulled off. My thong was next, and he was kissing me there, holding me in place as I screamed, then I was erupting. And still he took his time, his hands moving over my body, then sliding under me, lifting me up as he moved back over me.

  He paused at my entrance, his eyes finding mine. We held each other’s gaze and I reached for him, cupping the side of his face, before I lifted up and kissed him. As I did, he slid inside of me, and I sighed, “Yes.”

  He groaned, his forehead finding my shoulder. He held still before lifting his head again, finding me. He was waiting for me to give him the go-ahead. I grinned because I fucking loved when he did that. I reached up, grabbed a hold of his gold chain, and I pulled on it as I slammed my hips against his.

  That was my go-ahead.

  He began thrusting, and I stretched out, riding with him.

  I woke up to darkness.

  It was all black. The ceiling fan was working, and I looked over. Zeke was next to me, his chest rising up and down steadily.

  I remembered what he had said earlier. He found the golden goose.

  Everything was going to be fine.

  He called me honey.

  I was a honey and a babe.

  My stomach was just melting all over again.

  I slipped out of the bed, headed for the bathroom, and officially got ready for bed. When I was done, I snuck back out, and crawled into bed.

  He rolled over, his head buried into his pillow, and his hand found my hip. “You okay?”

  I nodded before saying, “Yeah. Bathroom.”

  His fingers squeezed me a little before he began caressing me, rubbing his hand up and down over my hip. “Ava.”

  I stilled. “What?” I reached for him too, finding his chest and I began rubbing him in the same manner. He sighed, his entire body settled under my touch.

  He said it, so quietly, “I love you.”

  I paused, my whole body paused. Had I heard him right?

  I lifted my head up. “What?” I wanted him to say it again. I wanted to hear it again.

  He pulled me over to him, hugging me to him. “I love you.”

  “Zeke.” My hand spread out, and I was feeling the hot and steady rhythm of his heart. I waited… I was going to tell him back.

  His snores told me I’d have to wait.

  I let out a soft sigh but relaxed over him and he hugged me even more to him in his sleep.

  I loved this too. Cuddling. It was something new to me. I’d never cuddled with anyone before, but now, I just let myself collapse on top of him.

  It felt like the most natural thing in the world to do.

  I fell back asleep too.

  21

  ZEKE

  I was on top of the world, or that’s how I felt.

  Ava was still sleeping when I eased out of bed, so I considered it a success that I didn’t wake her up. I left my gold chain with her. She’d enjoyed holding onto it last night. My plans for the day were to kick ass, grab some coffee, and go back and make love to my lady. I was in my Jeep and heading out to cross off number one. I was halfway to Banker Mitchell’s house when my phone rang.

  Blaise calling.

  I never hesitated on answering my dude’s call, but I was hesitating now. But fuck. He was calling at this time because he’d heard something. If I didn’t answer, he’d keep calling and he’d sound the alarm so everyone would be calling. That was just how my boy operated.

  I hit the button. “Early for a call.”

  Blaise swore. “I have access to your doorbell camera. You forget that?”

  Shit. I had.

  “Where are you going at five your time?”

  I made a face, one that he wouldn’t see and one that I wasn’t proud of, but that’s how I was feeling right now. “Dude—”

  “Dude, don’t! Talk to me before you do something stupid. I can’t fly back to bail you out, and after getting a call from my sister, I know that you’re going to do something stupid.”

  “I have to do this.”

  “Does your dad know? Did he call you?”

  “He doesn’t know yet, but he will. And yes, he’ll call, but I’m going to have this handled by then.”

  He cursed on his end. “Talk me through it first.”

  “That’d make you an accomplice.”

  He swore again. “Zeke, I swear. Cut me in. Tell me what you’re doing.”

  “You know what went down?”

  “I heard you swung on Banker Mitchell. Taz informed me he’s known to be a perv among the female population. Knowing you, hearing about him, I’m guessing he was saying some shit about someone you care about. Ava?”

  I relaxed, just slightly. My boy was smart. I always liked that about him. “Yeah.”

  “You swung, with witnesses, and let me guess? You’re backed into a corner unless you force your way out somewhere.”

  “Pretty much, yeah.”

  “Logan’s your lawyer?”

  “Your phone must’ve been burning up today.”

  He grunted. “The voice messages, yeah. Can Kade get a lower sentence? A plea deal at all?”

  “I’m not doing a plea.”

  “You could be charged on assault—”

  “I hacked him.”

  He was quiet. “You did what?”

  “I hacked him.”

  “Banker Mitchell?”

  “Perv Mitchell.”

  He was quiet again. “You’re going public with your skills?”

  I had to grin. “I’m a late bloomer and my rep is firmly that I’m a dumb jock, well; now I’m sure it’s probably that I’m a has-been. You’re not a has-been, though. You’re a pro-fes-sional athlete. Yes, you are.” I was almost singing the last five words.

  “You’re stalling so I can’t talk you out of doing whatever you’re going to do. Stop. Pull over. Talk me through it. Come on, Zeke. I’m usually your partner in crime.”

  “You’re across the ocean.”

  “Yeah, well, I won’t always be over here. Talk. To. Me. You told me a long time ago that you needed guys to look up to so you wouldn’t become the guy you were becoming. That’s when your dad was working all the time and not around. Me and Kade. You aspired to be like Mason, and I was the only guy who’d stand against you. You said you needed that. Consider this the same fucking shit. Talk to me.”

  I tightened my hold on the wheel. “I don’t want to stop. If I do, I might not go through with it.”

  “That’s a flag right there. Whatever you’re going to do, think. If it goes wrong, what’s the worst thing that could happen?”

  “Extra criminal charges on me.”

  “Okay. Let’s focus on that. Look, I’m not saying don’t go through with it. I mean, fuck. You know I’ve done some seriously shady shit in the past.”

  “Shit I helped you with.”

  “Yes. Shit you helped me with, so the situation is reversed. I want to help you, but I can’t help you unless you tell me what you’re doing.”

  I checked the time, and I had ten minutes. Only ten. I pulled over but let the engine idle. “I got a small opening. I need to get to him, get in place, when he’s alone.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  I set a timer and told him.

  22

  AVA

  My phone was waking me up, ringing over and over again, and I couldn’t understand why Zeke wasn’t shutting it off. He always did if I got a call. I’d roll over as he would hand me the phone. I’d either take the call or not, but in both situations, he’d want me to stay so I’d flip to my back and answer while he would pull me in closer and settle in more firmly at my side.

  None of that was happening.

  I woke enough to look around. No Zeke.

  My phone kept going, so I grabbed it and answered without looking at the screen. “Hello?”

  “Ava?”

  I frowned, looking at the number. “Who is this?”

  “This is Aspen. Blaise’s—”

  Holy shit!

  I sat upright, panicked but controlled panic clicking in immediately. “Where is he?”

  She was quiet, for just a moment. “Okay. That was fast.” If she was calling me, it wasn’t good.

  “Where is he?” I repeated.

  “Blaise is on the phone with him right now. He just left your place. We know where—”

  I threw the bedsheets back, grabbed a robe, my purse, and I was running out the door. “Where?” I nabbed my keys on the way, going into the garage. Zeke tended to park outside, which I had no idea why because he had a four-car stall garage, but he had insisted I use the first slot.

  I reversed as soon as the garage door lifted.

  “He’s heading to Roger Mitchell’s house.”

  I was disgusted, just on principle.

  And I must’ve made a sound because she asked, “You know him?”

  “He’s disgusting, but yes. I know where his house is too. My ex used to drive his wife home. I’m pretty sure he still does.” My ex had been the local Uber driver. I’d been along a couple times back then, and I couldn’t imagine Mitchell moving. The house was massive. So I swung in that direction.

  Zeke would’ve taken the main highway, but there was a short cut around. I could maybe get there first.

  “Blaise is making him wait and tell him what he’s planning.”

  That was all I needed to hear. “I’ll try and get there first.”

  “Okay. Good luck. Also, it’s super cool that you’re coming into the mix.”

  That made me smile. “Thanks.”

  “We can talk later, but it’d be awesome if you and Zeke could come over sometime. I know Blaise really misses him.”

  She was right. That would be awesome.

  But first, I pressed my foot down on the accelerator.

  23

  ZEKE

  He liked to swim in the mornings, and he swam alone. They had their own pool, set back, in a building all by itself. I parked behind their wooded lot and made my way over their land. The door wasn’t even locked, which made my task easier.

  He was in the pool, swimming, with his head down. Front crawl. He had goggles. A hair cap. He wore a speedo, so as he kept swimming because according to his schedule, he had five more minutes to go, I went about getting everything ready.

  The doors were locked.

  The windows were shut.

  I made sure the security cameras were off, or when he’d look back, he’d see they had been paused. No alarm.

  He had the side wall pulled back with the screen still shielding against animals, bugs, but I moved to start sliding that closed. I had moved to a back chair before he stopped, resting a bit at the end, before heaving himself up and to the edge. He sat there, feet and legs still in the pool and taking deep breaths, his head slightly folded over his stomach. Then, as if deciding it was time to go, he swung his head up and back, climbing the rest of the way.

  He was padding halfway to the table where his towels were before he noticed the side wall had been closed. His hand closing around one of the towels, he began looking around, and he started to wrap it around his waist, the ends not quite together when alarm finally settled over him. He jerked around, seeing that each window was closed. The smaller doors were as well.

  He sucked in his breath, and I knew what he was looking for as he began twisting around, his eyes not lifting up enough to see me. He was scanning the tables set around the pool.

  I was sitting in a chair, far corner, in the shadowed area of the building, and I leaned forward.

  He heard the squeaking of the chair and froze. His gaze went right to me, but he frowned because he couldn’t quite see who I was.

  “Who are you?”

  “You don’t recognize me? My feelings are hurt.” I half laughed, sighing at the end because it wasn’t funny. Not at all.

  “Allen?” He scowled, starting to stomp around to where I was, one hand holding his towel together. “I’ll have you—”

  I raised his phone up and pressed play.

  Moans filled the room, echoing.

  He paused, his head rearing back. “You’re really messed up. Playing porn for me—”

  His own groan sounded next. “Yeah, yeah. Do that, baby. Turn over. Let me see you—”

  And her groan.

  He had frozen by now.

  Not me. I turned that recording off and played another.

  His own voice came out, “Benny, my man. How are you? Listen, I need you to—”

  He growled to me, “What the fuck is this? What are you doing?”

  I smirked, though he couldn’t see me. “Don’t you want to hear what you ask the chief of police to do for you? Or don’t you need to hear it to remember?” I smiled. “Because I know what you asked him to do. I don’t need the reminder.”

  “What the fuck are you doing, Allen? You need to tread real carefully here because you’re a pup playing among—”

  “Shut up.” I said it casually because that’s how I was feeling. He wasn’t getting it. I played another.

  “Felicia, I need you to call me. This isn’t a smart thing you’re doing, not returning my calls—” That one I ended because he didn’t seem capable of talking.

  I rose from the chair, holding his phone up. “These were recordings I found on your cloud. They were recordings you kept. One of you on a sexting call with another woman. Another where you asked an officer of the law to look the other way when your boy got caught with drugs. The last one, where you blackmailed one of your employees into sleeping with you. These alone will land you in a pile of trouble.”

  The blood was draining from his face, but me, I was starting to have fun.

  “I found these the first ten minutes.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Wha—”

  “Can you imagine what I found after three hours?” I stepped forward, letting him see just how much fun I was having.

  He didn’t respond. He didn’t seem capable of standing anymore either.

  “I found enough where I could send a nice file, all put together with a pretty bow on top, to the FBI and they’d be interested in it. You have companies in other states. Fraud. More recordings. More blackmail. Recordings of conversations you’ve had with other people, other very powerful people. I’ve no doubt you were keeping those as evidence that you’d have against others, not thinking if they fell into the wrong hands how it’d look for you to have them.”

  “You are way out of your league, little boy.”

  “Maybe. And you’re probably right because I just showed my hand, that I’m capable of getting all this information on you, whereas you’re the one who has such dirty and bloody hands. Am I right?” I chuckled. “I know I’m right. I’ve done shit, but you’re right. I’m in no league that you are, but this is what I’m going to tell you that I do have. I have access. I have skills to get access even when you try to hide it all again, because we both know you will. What else do I have? I have connections. Granted, they aren’t my connections, but it wouldn’t take much to reach out. There’s a motorcycle club not far from here, and I know they have ties to people I know. It wouldn’t be hard to put the word out, asking for a meet and I think they’d take it. I think they’d be interested in a deal where you withheld money that was owed to them. Course, that’s in the past so maybe they’re the forgiving kind? Between you and me, I doubt it. And what else do I have? I have people across the ocean who are aware of this very conversation happening, so if you get the bright idea to try and graduate from the shithole you’re in to, say, a more murderous shithole, well, there’s witnesses listening in.” I pulled my phone out and let him see that it was active and someone else was there.