I scanned the treeline but I was fairly satisfied that the man dead at my feet had come alone.

This business wasn’t exactly built on a buddy system.

I grabbed his sniper rifle, assessing it with grudging respect. An M24 with detachable sight, an efficient weapon system in the right hands.

More skilled hands.

I didn’t recognize the dead guy but then I wasn’t the social type.

If this guy had been better at his job, Bree would be dead.

But he’d found my safe house, which meant our location was compromised.

If one opportunist could find us, more would come.

I sprinted back to the house, barking orders.

“Bree, grab your stuff, we’re leaving.”

But Bree wasn’t where I left her.

Panic sharpened my voice. “Bree!”

Maybe the sniper hadn’t come alone?

Instantly on alert, I slowly canvased the house, going slowly from room to room.

Maybe she was hiding?

“Bree, it’s safe now,” I called out to her. “C’mon, we gotta get out of here.”

“Are you going to kill me?” a muffled voice sounded from a closet.

What the...? Kill her? Was she cracked in the head? I was busting my ass to keep her fucking alive.

“I haven’t so far...” I answered on a sigh, going to the source of her voice. I opened the closet door and found Bree huddled on the floor, a butcher knife clutched in her hand.

“So far...” she repeated, her gaze narrowing.

“What are you doing?” I asked, perplexed. I reached for her but she swiped at me with the knife, barely missing my skin. “Holy shit, Bree, knock it off! We don’t have time for this fucking shit.”

“How do I know you’re not going to get tired of protecting me when you’ve already told me I’m nothing special? I’m not stupid, Dex. What if the novelty of saving me grows thin as more people start shooting at us?”

Jesus H. Christ.

I seriously did not have time for this woman bullshit.

Quick as a lightening strike, I grabbed her wrist and squeezed hard.

She cried out in pain, dropping the knife, then I jerked her out of the closet, spinning her toward the bedroom. “Grab your fucking shit. We’re out of here in ten.”

Bree rubbed at her abused wrist, tears welling in her eyes. I didn’t have the luxury of feeling bad for hurting her. She was alive, that’s what mattered.

When we got out of here alive, she could be pissed at me all day long if she wanted.

I should’ve kept my mouth shut earlier. Now she didn’t trust me.

Worse, she was afraid of me.

Way to go, Dex.

Now, instead of a cooperative captive, now I had a frightened, pissed-off skittish rabbit, ready to bolt at the first opportunity.

I’d have to fix that later.

Bree stalked past me with her bag, going to the kitchen to grab some food for the road.

Good thinking.

I wanted to tell her I was sorry for being a prick.

But I doubted she would hear me right now.

After clearing out the essentials, including any guns and cash I had stashed, we climbed into the truck and headed out but once we were clear enough, I pulled my cell and put in my secret code.

Seconds later, an explosion rocked the horizon, causing Bree to nearly jump out of the truck.

“What the hell just happened?” she asked, craning her neck to see what I already knew was happening. “Oh my God, your house just blew up!”

“All those MRE’s up in smoke,” I lamented with a wry grin but she didn’t see the humor.

“Did you just blow up your freaking house?”

“Yep.”

“Why?”

“Because the location had been compromised. Once a safe house has been identified, it’s worthless at best and a liability at worst. All my houses are rigged to blow if need be.”

“But what if someone sees the explosion?”

“The fire puts itself out. By the time anyone thinks to investigate, all they will find is ash. It will look like an electrical fire caused by old wiring, not so uncommon in those old houses.”

“That’s why you picked that shack,” she guessed. “And here I thought you just had really terrible interior design skills.”

I shook my head but I was optimistic that Bree was, at least, speaking to me again.

Until she said, “So, you’re really not going to kill me?”

I cast an irritated look her way. “I already told you, I wasn’t.”

“Yeah, but then you said some other things and now I don’t know if you’re lying to me just to play with me like a cat does a mouse.”

“I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it.”

She didn’t look happy with that prospect but Bree was smart, she could plainly see I was her only option for survival at the moment.

“Did you mean what you said...?”

Why couldn’t she drop it? How was I supposed to answer her question without looking like a total dick or a wishy-washy bastard?

“Answer me.”

“I was trying to protect you from getting feelings for me, Bree,” I said, the truck bouncing hard along the country road. “You started to get that look in your eyes.”

“What look?” she asked, affronted.

“That dreamy, I-think-I-love-him look and that’s just not me. I’m not cut out for that domestic shit. I mean, if you think about it, you’ll agree...I’m not boyfriend material.”

She surprised me with a snort. “Get over yourself. Like I would want you for a boyfriend. How exactly would I introduce you to my friends? Yeah, no. Besides, before you start getting a fat head about your supposed effect on me just know that extreme situations warrant extreme action. I didn’t want to die a virgin. You helped me with that. So, yeah, NBD.”

“Excuse me? What does NBD mean?”

Bree lifted her chin and cut me a dismissive look, saying, “No Big Deal.” Then she shrugged to examine her ravaged cuticles, adding, “For all I know, you might suck in bed seeing as I have nothing to compare your skills to. I can’t wait to test out other penises. Big, small, short, round...I want to try them all.”

That wasn’t going to happen.

Bree continued to prattle on, goading me. “They say it’s the motion of the ocean, not the size of the wave but I’ll just have to test out that theory. Tell me, for the sake of future comparison, would you consider yourself large in the penis department? Or average?”

I was slightly above average, not that Bree was going to get the chance to compare.

I’d rip a motherfucker apart if some cocksucker tried to touch my girl.

My girl.

Good God, Dex...have you lost your fucking mind?

Bree tried to go on, taunting me with her future exploits, but I was finished.

Smiling, I turned on the radio...real loud.

She got the picture.

But the seed had already been planted.

I didn’t want anyone else touching Bree.

I wanted her all to myself.

I guess I’d have to find a way to either get over that feeling or embrace it.

The jury was still out on which one it would be.