Despite knowing he looked like an ass, Calvin couldn’t help but glare.

How had he not known Lily was the missing link in their case? Why had no one told him? Declan must have known when he trailed her that morning. Hell, Declan had to have seen him leaving the fucking house.

Damned conspiracy by his teammates to shock him. They’d thought it funny. Calvin? Not so much.

Lily was in more trouble than he’d expected. Her ex-husband was but the tip of a deadly iceberg. Lily had names of those involved. Even addresses. Apparently, Brock was heavily involved in the cover-up and drug operation. He was the one, along with his buddies, siphoning goods from out of the lockup.

Harry asked questions while the others took notes.

Calvin just stared.

Stared and feared because he knew, by Lily giving them this information, she’d just made herself a target.

Lucky for her, he was a man who knew how to minimize that risk.

If she ever talked to him again, which at the moment seemed unlikely.

When he’d first walked in, she’d shot him a startled glance, and then her gaze had narrowed. “What are you doing here? Did you follow me?”

“I work here.”

“As a realtor?”

“On the surface. As you might have guessed Bad Boy Inc. is just a cover. In actuality, we are problem-solving specialists.”

Her lips flattened. “So you’re part of some kind of underground vigilante group.”

“Underground, yes, vigilante, no,” Harry explained. He spread his hands. “We are a group with special skills. Graduates of an academy that is very picky about its candidates.”

“There’s a school for what you do?”

“More than a few around the world founded decades ago when it became clear that sometimes local laws and government weren’t enough. We are the ones called in when regular channels don’t work.”

Her lips flattened. “You’re mercenaries for hire.”

“In a sense.”

“Which means you’re really a killer.” At that statement, Lily finally looked at Calvin, and what he saw on her face didn’t encourage. Especially when he nodded, and her shoulders slumped. “I knew there had to be something wrong with you.” And that was the last thing she said to him.

Things turned back to business at that point. Words spilled out of her as Lily told them everything she knew. Gave them a list of names, many of them part of her ex-husband’s posse. She gave them an address, a swanky place in a gated community that Brock had once driven them to before taking them on a family trip to the beach. Business, he claimed.

She told them of the suitcases full of cash. The duffel bags full of drugs.

He watched as her fingers twisted and turned in her lap as she related to them all the things she’d observed.

At one point, Mason, that fucking idiot, asked her, “Why didn’t you rat him out before?”

Calvin answered for her. “Because that douche wad beat the shit out of her.”

Lily ducked her head and nodded. “He’s been threatening me for years. Not only is he a cop, he’s also Zoe’s father.” Her shoulders lifted and dropped. “I didn’t know who to tell.”

So why her sudden change of heart? Did he dare even imagine it was because of him?

When the meeting adjourned, Calvin left his buds talking over a plan and instead chose to follow Lily. She ignored him as she stabbed the elevator button. He wouldn’t let her walk away this time. As soon as the elevator door closed, he confronted her.

“Why didn’t you tell me about all this before? You knew I wanted to do something about the drug problem in this town.”

“I didn’t tell you because I thought you were a realtor playing a game. But all along, you weren’t what I thought. You really are a killer, aren’t you?”

Did the gun and the fact that he took care of himself not make that clear before? “I never lied about that.”

“No, you didn’t, but I thought you were joking. I mean, seriously, who the hell kills people for a living?”

“I do.”

At that stark announcement, her face turned ashen. “I’m sleeping with a killer.”

“You’re sleeping with a man who sometimes gets rid of bad people.”

“And who decides if they’re bad? You? Them?” She spat the words at him and slashed out her arm. She closed her eyes and leaned against the cab. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Who I am hasn’t changed.”

“Perhaps not, but it means that, once again, my radar is off.” She opened her eyes. “I left Brock to start a new life with Zoe. One free of violence. And instead, I’m right back in it.”

“I told you I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you. I even offered to take care of your ex.”

“By killing him? Are you going to murder anyone that gets in your way or pisses you off? Are you going to kill me if I don’t do what I’m told? Hit me.” She got right in his face as she yelled. Her cheeks held a flush, and her eyes flashed with anger—and hurt. “I just want a safe and normal life.”

Before he could say anything, the elevator doors opened, and she walked out.

The words he wanted to speak hung on the tip of his tongue. All I want is you.

But how to make her understand that?

He needed to vent his frustration. Lucky for him, he had a list of places and people he could take it out on.

A few hours later, he stared down at the body slumped on the ground with a hole in his head. He didn’t feel sorry for the lowlife. The fucker was peddling underage girls and drugs. With him gone, there was one less danger to Lily and Zoe.

Killing the lowlife didn’t make Calvin feel any better. He kept seeing the hurt and fear in Lily’s eyes. The truth had made her scared of him.

How can she be frightened of me? Doesn’t she know how much I care?

He cared so much that he’d assigned Jerome guard duty over his woman. He kept an eye on her in between Calvin’s hunt for asshats. He noted her bedroom door closed on the video feed. Did she cry behind it?

Argh.

The pain gripping him, an emotional pain he’d not experienced since his youth, meant he spent that night cleaning up the streets. Those that didn’t die got one chance to leave. The ones that refused? No one would ever see them again.

Calvin didn’t hunt alone. Declan provided backup while Mason did what he did best—siphoned the dirty money. Took all the profit out of it.

Meanwhile, Benedict and Harry put their heads together and sifted through the clues, looking for the link they were missing because, while what Lily had given them uncovered some secrets, they were still missing one thing. The person in charge of it all.

Maybe if Calvin got rid of that threat, then perhaps Lily would look past his job and see the man who just wanted to protect her.

A man who had everything but felt as if he’d just lost it all. An assassin in love.