Listening to Bree sleep was fast becoming my favorite pastime.

Maybe it was creepy.

I didn’t care.

I didn’t seem to care about a lot of things that I usually would.

Like gloving up.

I couldn’t say that it was simply the heat of the moment.

No, I knew the minute I stuck my tongue in her ass that I was going to plant my seed inside her.

It was something so basic, an urge unlike anything I’d ever known, that just took over.

Hell, I was trying to get her pregnant.

I wanted Bree to carry my child.

The realization was heady and frightening but liberating at the same time.

I wasn’t cut out to be a father.

I knew that.

And yet, I’d been determined to do exactly what I swore I never would.

Bree was my everything.

Seeing her in that tub...the fear that I’d lost her...it did something to me.

She was everything I never knew I wanted.

Or needed.

The best way to hold onto her seemed obvious — put a baby in her belly.

Fuck, I said I wasn’t a hero.

Maybe I was a sociopath after all.

But I couldn’t say I was sorry.

I’d fuck her senseless if it meant she would end up carrying my child.

It wasn’t fair to her — yeah, I know — but I couldn’t explain this overwhelming need to claim what was mine in the deepest, most primal way possible.

I would do anything to keep her safe.

And I would ensure that Bree would never want for anything if she turned up pregnant.

I might not be able to be a true father but I would make sure that Bree and my child were financially cared for.

I breathed a little easier knowing I could provide for them if need be.

But I was getting ahead of myself.

Someone still wanted Bree dead.

Given the fact that Lily had changed their names when Bree was still a baby told me that they had been in danger before.

So whoever Lily had been running from had finally caught up to Bree.

Everything always came down to money.

Someone owed, someone needed, someone took.

The key was the name Caroline Burke.

I’d have to reach out to a few friends who owed favors to hack into the FBI database.

The government allowed the illusion of privacy but in reality no one took a shit without the feds knowing how many times you wiped before flushing.

If there was any kind of paper trail on Caroline Burke, it would pop up.

I closed my eyes but sleep wouldn’t find me easily.

It was, at least, comforting to hear Bree sleeping hard.

A smug grin twisted my lips knowing that I’d knocked her ass out with some epic sex.

Hey, in my line of work, I took my victories where I found them.

When I stopped to think about the last few days, I remained stymied as to how Bree managed to interrupt my life without so much as saying a word to me first.

She changed my life through the crosshairs of my sight.

As long as I lived, I’d never forget the electricity that shocked my system when I realized there was no way in hell I’d ever hurt her.

There was no rhyme or reason to my feelings but I didn’t want to pick them apart anymore.

There was relief in accepting the insanity.

My little nerd.

My sensual little hellcat.

It turned my crank that she was both in the same skin.

Bree had no idea how sexy she was.

How she twisted me inside out with a single look from behind those ridiculously large glasses.

Hell, if Bree had any clue just how wrapped around her little finger I truly was...that could be dangerous.

I didn’t want her to get comfortable with the idea of me sticking around.

I was crazy about Bree but I knew it wouldn’t last.

I wasn’t hard-wired for love.

Sure, I could fuck like a beast but when it came down to the real nitty-gritty of a true relationship?

Fuck, I was under qualified as shit.

Bree deserved better than what I could give her.

Someone without my baggage.

Someone who didn’t murder for a living.

I didn’t want to give Bree the false hope that I was anything but what I seemed but I did have a code.

I never took jobs involving kids.

And for the most part, until Bree crossed my desk, I rarely took jobs where the target’s final destination wasn’t warranted.

The money had swayed me in Bree’s case.

I thought, maybe I could retire on this job, top off my account and find a beach somewhere with a floating bar.

Somewhere like Fiji.

I wasn’t going to share that with Bree, though.

I couldn’t stomach the guilt of breaking her heart when she discovered my soul was as black as a smoker’s lungs.

Occupational hazard.

Bree shifted in her sleep and nearly whacked me in the face with a flailing arm.

Jesus, girl, I left my body armor in my other safe-house.

Bree mumbled something incoherent.

“...Wonder Woman Underoos are too considered appropriate...”

“...Jackalope? No such thing...but Nessie is real...”

It took me a minute to realize she was talking in her sleep.

I chuckled and listened to her mutter nonsense.

Of course she talked in her sleep.

I shook my head, smiling. I could probably live an entire lifetime and never experience a dull moment with my sexy geek.

That’s not going to happen.

My smile faded as reality slapped me.

I was a selfish bastard but I couldn’t tease Bree with the promise of a future I could never give her.

Eventually, I would break her heart.

I would tear apart all that lovely innocence and replace it with something jaded and worn.

I couldn’t do that to her.

I’d already earned my spot in hell — probably right beside the devil himself — I didn’t need to pitch in for overtime.

That meant one thing.

Having the stones to turn her loose once I determined she was safe.

Never in my life had I ever suffered a moment’s guilt of leaving a lover behind.

Without a word or explanation.

Without a second glance.

But even as I contemplated the inevitable, my heart spasmed in warning.

Do it, buddy and you’ll end up with a pulpy mess in your chest cavity.

You need her.

Like you need air to breathe.

Yeah, that was probably true but she didn’t need me fucking up her world and that’s all I could guarantee.

I rolled away from Bree, trying to put some space between us, but the stubborn woman simply followed me in her sleep, wrapping those long legs around me and becoming Big Spoon.

Snuggling.

Cuddling.

God, I hated this shit.

Except with her.

With Bree...it was everything I never knew I would come to crave.