What the fuck was he supposed to do with an engagement ring she seemingly didn’t want?Another problem for later.He stepped outside to pace the porch—and avoid the vodka bottle—when the big RV pulled into the yard and disappeared around the back of the house, killing the lights.Of course Trees wouldn’t want it visible from the road. Tessa had jacked up his thoughts so much, he hadn’t even considered the obvious.Feeling like an idiot, he jogged around the place and met Trees just as he was stepping from the RV with a long-suffering sigh and a stretch. “Hey. So fucking glad that’s over.”“I’m glad for you, man. Good to have you back.”Trees peered at him with the light from the RV’s interior. “You look like shit.”“Well, stress, lack of sleep, and your girlfriend looking for the politest way possible to tell you to fuck off will do that.”“No shit?”He nodded. “It’s been one of the worst weeks ever.”“Sorry, man.” Trees clapped his arm, then glanced over his shoulder. When he looked

“I’ll call you back.”“Wait—”But it was too late. He was gone.Tessa closed her eyes. Why had she assumed he knew about the corpses and opened her big mouth? She’d much preferred the smug, didn’t-have-a-care-in-the-world kidnapper to the panicked, out-of-control one. Now that she’d stupidly rattled him, would he take it out on Hallie?Her hands shook as she tried to go about her morning like nothing was out of the ordinary. She hooked up her laptop to her monitor and opened her company email. Joaquin had sent her a list of things to do today—people to email, copies to make, clients to bill. None of that would take too long or require her to think too much, thank goodness. She could barely spare any thoughts for anyone but Hallie.As she sent him an email promising to take care of all of the items quickly, her phone began to buzz again. Tessa lunged for it and answered immediately.“Yes?”“Change of plans.”“I need to know if my daughter is okay.”“You’ll get a full report when we get

“Nice,” she said with a smile full of forced cheer. “Craig took us to a place that, um…had wonderful burgers and chicken. Yeah, on the south side of town. They sang to her. But Craig is doing well. I’m glad we went.”Liar, liar… But why?“The whole thing tuckered Hallie out, so I put her to bed. It’s just us now.”And he couldn’t miss the suddenly seductive note in her voice. She swayed closer.What the hell? After avoiding him for days, she was suddenly turning on the charm?Oh, baby. If you’re going to play with fire, I’m going to burn you so bad…“Great.” He took her hand. And if you’re willing to seduce me for information, let’s see how far you’ll go to get it. “But I’m more tired than I thought, and it looks like I have to leave town soon. I can’t say much, but let’s catch up next week, when the op is over. And if I’m back on Wednesday for her big day, I’ll take you and Hallie to dinner then.”She swallowed. “So the rescue op is definitely on for this weekend?”“We’ve got a reall

Love he wanted to give back to her so fucking badly.His chest tightened. His heart clenched.Time to end this show or she would pull him under until he only cared about Tessa, not doing what was right. He was already perilously close to giving up everything he believed in for her.“I am,” she whispered against his lips.He pressed their foreheads together and plunged into her body as he drilled into her soul. One long, strong thrust led to another, then the next. She twisted under him, cried out, begging him with almost inhuman sounds of need. And still he kept fucking her, doing his best to stave off his rising need for release.Because once he pulled free from her body, he’d probably never have her again.Everything inside him fought that notion.He wasn’t braced when she gripped his face in her hands and slanted her lips over his as if she needed to be as close to him as possible.Zy was done for.The pleasure he’d been trying to dam spilled over, bursting free. He gripped her eve

Take a number, pal. “I’m sure she got away with it for this long because she thought everyone would overlook her.”“And we did.”“Yep.” Zy knew he was more guilty than most.He’d somehow equated her being a single mother and the fact she’d needed help with her safety as being some sign that she was too sweet to sell them out. He should have flipped his thinking. Because she was raising a child alone, she needed more money than she made. And for her daughter, she would do whatever it took to make it.“I want a timeline.”Was he serious? “Sir, I think our time now would be better spent bringing Tessa in and questioning her—”“I didn’t ask what you thought the better move was. If this was strictly my business, I’d probably agree. But I have two other partners, and I think Logan is going to need more convincing than your word, especially since our problems started when Tessa was on maternity leave. Start at the beginning and show me how she could have been our mole for months on end. And