Zy clenched his teeth and cursed as he sent her a gaze that burned with anger and unquenched need. “Bye.”Her reaction was irrational, and Tessa blamed leftover adrenaline and emotion, but the thought of him leaving was nearly enough to make her weep. Still, she had to let him go—but it was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. “Bye.”******The weekend passed so slowly, Zy thought he’d lose his mind. A hundred times, he picked up the phone to call Tessa. Every fucking time, he put it back down. If he’d called her, he would have insisted on being with her. And if he’d gotten anywhere close to her, he would have pulled her into his arms to reassure her—and himself—that she was all right. And once she’d been that close, he couldn’t promise that he wouldn’t have kissed her. Wouldn’t have touched her. If he’d done that, even once, he would have done anything to feel her against him, under him—alive, safe, naked, and his.So he’d stayed away and waited for her to call.She hadn’t.And

“No. Trees and I aren’t…together. Besides, I have to get up early and help my mom cook Christmas dinner for the rest of the family.”“Then, yeah. I’ll take you up on that. Thanks. I just need a few.”Because every moment Zy was apart from Tessa, his chest got tighter and his fury multiplied. He was a fucking mess with no outlet to unleash it on. He needed to get his damn head together before he took another step.“Sure. I need to use the ladies’ room, anyway.” Madison turned and headed to the far side of the house, leaving him alone with Trees.“You look like shit.”Zy huffed. “Don’t hold back.”“I never do.”“Yeah, well… I feel like shit. I’m stuck, man.”“I know. I wish I had an answer.”Zy hardly expected him to. “No one does.”“Hang in there. Everything happens for a reason. Stuff often turns out for the best when you let it.”Believing that had gotten him and Trees through some really horrible times, courtesy of Uncle Sam. Zy had questioned that wisdom before, then always been pr

Zy froze. “What happened?”“Someone broke in to 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 all now.”“You need me to go?” He hated to leave Tessa with so much on the line between them, but to save Valeria’s younger sister and son from being snuffed and slaughtered, he would.“No. We’re sending Kane and Trees to bring them back here.”Hunter jumped in. “A couple months back, we started working on a plan to relocate Valeria and her family nearby, then shit happened…”“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, and I’ve proven it as best I can.”Hunter se

“I don’t need slow. I just need you.”Her words threw gasoline on his blazing need. “We’ve waited a long time for this. I don’t want to rush you. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to leave you a fucking shred of doubt that I will give you more pleasure than you’ve ever had, and I want to do it every day of your life.”He wanted her to know—to feel in every part of her body—that she was his.“Oh.” She looked stunned and flushed and beyond beautiful. “You’ve already succeeded. I’ve never been more aroused in my life.”Was she kidding? He’d barely touched her. And she thought she was ready?No. Hell no. Not even close.“Don’t move.”“Okay,” she promised with a shaky nod, her exhalations loud in the otherwise silent night. “But I want to give you pleasure, too.”“You already do, baby, just by being with me.”“No. More than you ever imagined.”That would be a tall order considering how many fantasies of her he’d indulged in since they’d met, from his first time masturbating in her sho

“Duty calls, huh?” He grinned at her. “Guess I can’t blame it on the bosses this time.”Her heart flipped over. She was so in love with Zy and wanted to tell him how she felt so badly. But if she said the words, he would assume that she wanted to move in with him. He’d expect it, even.Tessa wasn’t ready for that.“Pretty much.”As if to reiterate the fact she needed to get out of bed, her alarm clock went off next, playing a Keith Urban song.Zy laughed and rolled to his side, pressing a kiss to her lips. “No rest for the wicked, I guess.”“None. You poor thing.”“Yeah. I guess we should get up. You want me to make you some tea before I head out?”It was sweet of him to ask, but… “You’re leaving?”“I need a shower and a change of clothes.”“Of course.” If he showed up in what he’d worn yesterday, One-Mile would definitely notice. “I’ll see you at work. Don’t worry about the tea. I got it.”“All right.” He pressed another kiss to her lips, this one lingering, telling Tessa without a w