Waking to the smell of coffee and bacon, I ask myself if I’m still dreaming. I’m a bachelor, so the only smell I’m used to waking to is the one of clean laundry coming off my sheets. Stretching, my arm hits something solid.

Cherry.

In my bed.

To make sure I’m not dreaming, I poke her.

“Umpf, stop hitting me, I’m trying to sleep,” she complains from my side.

“I’m sorry, Cherry. I was only checking to make sure you’re real.” Man, I have a killer headache.

Did I drink last night?

As the memories of the previous day slam into me, I lie back on the pillow and begin to panic. Somehow between all the talking things over, I forgot to fill everyone in on the new danger Tessa’s in.

My first instinct is to wake her to tell her first. My second is to fill Rhys in privately. Being the dumbass I am, I decide option two is the best for now. Worrying her over the details is more than she needs on her plate at the moment. I’ll tell her later. For now, she’s safer not knowing.

Slipping out of bed, I laugh to myself because I’m still fully clothed. Rhys must’ve carried me in here after I passed out. It’s what usually happens. He’s there whenever I need him, drunk or sober. Grabbing some fresh clothes, I head out and into the bathroom. I’m in desperate need of a shower.

All scrubbed up and smelling fresh, I enter the kitchen to find Rhys and Av drinking coffee at the dining table.

“Av cooked breakfast, and there’s enough for about twenty people. Then again, it’s you, so maybe I should set some aside for Tessa before you have at it,” Rhys jokes, knowing how much I love T-Lil’s cooking.

Grabbing a plate, I pile it high with bacon, eggs, pancakes, and fresh fruit. Setting it down, I go back to make a huge mug of coffee.

“Have any Tylenol handy?” I ask. “My head is pounding like someone’s in there with a jackhammer. How much did I drink last night?”

“Second drawer over from the sink on the left, and a whole bottle of Jack.”

Finding the pills, I grab four, figuring double the dosage should work twice as fast. As I’m sitting down to the table, Cherry breezes into the room. After she greets our friends, she looks and me, winks, sits, and grabs my plate.

“Thanks for breakfast, Ace.”

Getting up, I place a kiss on her forehead and make myself a second plate.

“If you can’t finish it, pass it my way when you’re done.”

“It’s Av’s cooking—trust me, I’ll eat it all,” she replies.

“Save room for some chocolate-covered cherries, Cherry,” I say while smirking at our inside joke. She knows I want to eat the candy off her naked body. If she’s good, I’ll share.

“Fill us in on her nickname. She’s always been Tess to me. Why Cherry?” Av asks inquisitively.

“She likes cherry lip balm.” I figure it’s enough info for them without going into the exact reason. “Rhys, when we’re done eating, care to take a drive to my place with me? I’d like to check things out before leaving town again.” Code for: we need to talk.

“Sure, I’ve given myself the next few days off. We have more to talk about anyway, correct?”

“You know it.”

An awkward silence fills the room, and I wonder if it’s because of my relationship with Cherry or if it’s my imagination. Either way, no one speaks a word. Cherry keeps sneaking sips of my coffee, and I like that she’s comfortable enough with me to do so. T-Lil stares at us like we’re a zoo attraction, and Rhys is attempting to clean up the mess from her cooking.

“Did you know she’s obsessed with the pandas at the zoo?” I ask to break the silence. I find it fascinating I’ve only recently learned of her panda love after knowing her for as long as I have.

“Did you meet Goa Goa?” Av asks.

Awkwardness broken.

* * *

The drive to my place later in the afternoon passes by quickly, aside from one fast stop at Starbucks. We’re walking up my steps as Rhys asks what’s truly going on.

“Spill it, douchenozzle.”

Sighing, I run my fingers through my hair in frustration.

“I’m in deep, man.” Unlocking and opening the door, I’m hit with the smell of stillness. Dust mites dance in the rays of sun shining through the living room windows. “Have a seat, it’s another long one. Want a beer?”

“Sure. It’s five o’clock somewhere, right?”

“A guy after my own heart,” I tease.

Grabbing a couple beers from the fridge, I hand one to him and plop down on the couch. “A few weeks of hotel living sure makes you appreciate what you have waiting back home, doesn’t it?” I ask.

“Hell yeah it does, although our honeymoon in Italy was spectacular. Those weeks were some of the happiest of my life. It may sound asshole-ish of me to say since I was pissed off at you at the time, but I wouldn’t change a thing about our stay in Italy.”

“You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you say those words. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin your honeymoon. The guilt was just too much for me to handle in Cancun, man. I couldn’t keep it to myself any longer. I’m aware of the fact that my timing was complete shit, but know my intentions were to never hurt. As effed up as it all sounds, I’m truly sorry, Rhys.”

“I’ve forgiven you. Now, tell me what you couldn’t in front of the girls.”

Popping the top on my beer, I settle in to tell him about Martinelli’s newest threat.

“He wants me to remain in his life after my time is up, and he says he’ll do anything to make sure that happens, including having my Cherry hurt, maybe as much as killed. He told me yesterday she’ll remain safe as long as I agree to a few calls, dinners, and family holidays. If I don’t, he’ll ‘have her taken care of’.” My knee won’t stop twitching; up and down, up and down it goes with my nervous energy.

“Okay, what are you going to do about it?” he asks.

“Destroy him,” I state. “I’ve been working with Justin to take down his organization, piece by piece—which reminds me, I should probably fill him in on leaving my sunglasses in Martinelli’s office.”

“Dude, did you bug his office?” Rhys asks, the excitement in his voice evident.

“Hell yeah I did.” When I hold my beer out to his, we toast. “I’ve been wearing bugs for the last few weeks. One of the main reasons I’m in San Diego is to work closely with the FBI agents there, since he’s based there more months out of the year than in Chicago. I’ve been having meetings with an endless circle of ‘family’ members to find out who’s to blame for all the issues he’s been having lately.” Pausing to take another sip, I continue, “He doesn’t know the person behind it all is his own flesh and blood.”

Hands on his knees, Rhys looks like I feel—exhausted—and he only knows the half of it.

“I know you have tons to fill me in on, but I’ll help in any way I can. Are you sure me protecting the girls is the correct place for me to be? Because I’ll make them close up their stores for a while, put them up somewhere safe, far away, and assist in San Diego. I’ll help you put him through hell.”

His idea doesn’t sound stupid, but what if they’re still found? Hell, I’m not even sure if her presence here is safe enough. I’ve put Averill in danger now by bringing this epic mess to their doorstep, and she’s pregnant, for fuck’s sake.

“One tiny fact you should know…Tessa’s ex-husband is one of his employees. We put the pieces together a couple days ago. I didn’t know this new thug Mick was her ex Mick, never gave it a second thought when I learned his name, even with my knowledge of her past and her ex’s name. He hurt her, terribly. He’s a piece of filth and needs to be disposed of. What he did to her…man, it’s horrific.”

“Maybe she’s safest with you…have you thought of that? Since she’s in the crosshairs anyway, not to mention her life is there, wouldn’t you think you could protect her more?” he asks.

“Better than a trained, muscled, huge, ex-military man? Hell no. I’m a paper-pusher at best. Yeah, I work out, but it’s nothing compared to how well equipped you are when it comes to protection. I want her safe, away from me. Justin says we have maybe two weeks left until we have everything we need to dismantle him. I have a month, tops, left of my contract. With her ex involved, I feel more secure with her here.”

My reasoning makes sense to me.

“By coming here, you put us all in danger. You know as much, right? I will keep the girls safe, but not here. I’m taking them somewhere. Tiger Lily can’t fly, but I’ll drive them south somewhere. We’ll buy burner phones and stay in contact using only those. We won’t let them take anything with them that may be traced. I’m not putting my pregnant wife in danger. You can trust me to keep Tess safe, but you have to fix this, and the sooner the better.”

Fuuuck.

Placing my beer on the coffee table, I get up and begin to pace my living room.

“I’m calling Justin and putting him on speaker. It’s time I give him the mother lode.”

Of course, I have one thing that’ll without a doubt put Martinelli away.

Knowledge, my ace in the hole.

Ace—Cherry’s nickname for me finally makes sense.

“All right, dial away. I have your back,” Rhys says.

Reaching into my pocket, I pull out my cell and tap on Justin’s name.

“Do you find it weird that they left to talk privately?” I ask Av while pausing the DVR. “Because we gave them alone time last night. What makes them think we wouldn’t have done it again?”

“Because they think with their dicks?” she offers.

Chuckling, I turn to look at her. “They truly do, don’t they?”

“Most of the time, yes. You never did tell me how Brant managed to sweep you off your feet.” She reaches her outstretched legs farther forward and kicks me. “That’s for not telling me last night about his last name being Martinelli.”

“Ow,” I protest while massaging my thigh. “It wasn’t my story to tell. I told you it was his place to give you the details. I also knew Rhys would fill you in, and I had other things to share. For instance, the shit concerning my ex.”

“Ugh, fiiiine. You’re forgiven.”

Lifting my legs, I mimic her pose, sighing. “This is comfy…okay, let’s get to how he won me over.”

“One second, I need more food.” Of course, I should’ve known. She’s snacking every twenty minutes, give or take a few, her hunger never fully satisfied.

“I’m telling you, baby Alixandria is going to come out a little porker. You’re feeding her so much. I mean, it’s totes fine by me—I love chunky babies and their chubby cheeks.”

As she stands, she grabs a throw pillow and tosses it at me, but it misses and whizzes by my head. “My baby will not come out a porker. She’ll come out perfect, the way God intended her to be.”

While she’s grabbing food for her endless appetite, I spill my truth.

“This is going to sound completely insane, but Ace won me over by being himself, the guy I always knew was hidden underneath his frat-boy exterior. He’s been knocking down my walls piece by piece, but mostly what helped was him letting me inside, giving me his secrets. It made me comfortable to tell him mine, and before you get mad, hear me out. You’re my best friend, and I’ve always known I could tell you anything. You’ve never asked for it, have always accepted me the way I am.” She comes back into the room with her arms full of snack foods, boxes of cereal, and two glasses of milk.

“Don’t judge, it’s almond milk.” As if I’m judging her beverage selection. “Also, I wasn’t going to be upset because you told him your hellish nightmare first. I tell Rhys most things before I do you. That’s just how it is, no explanations needed. Cookie?” She extends her hand, passing me an Oreo.

Taking the offered cookie, I nibble it as I mull things over in my head. “He kissed me out of the blue when he brought me lunch the week I returned from your baby shower. I was rude and he walked out. I followed him to apologize, begged him to come back inside, if I recall correctly. He asked for another chance at our friendship and then he kissed me.”

“Heart, meet floor,” Av mumbles with her mouth full.

“It only lasted until he woke me at the ass crack of dawn on my day off, for which I threatened to castrate him. You know how serious I am about my beauty sleep.”

She erupts in laughter, and her mouth, which until two seconds ago was full of Oreo and milk, spews the concoction all down her chin and chest. She’s a mess. Grabbing a tissue from the end table, I offer it to her.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it’s probably a great thing you didn’t follow through on your threat. I’m guessing you’d miss his penis about now.”

Shit, I miss his penis all the time.

Since we’ve taken things to a more sexual level, my thoughts have been consumed by his magical member. Feeling my face start to heat up, I don’t comment. I’ve never had an issue with talking about my sexual escapades with Av, but this is different. Hearts are involved.

“He came bearing gifts though—coffee and brownies. He’s brought them almost every time we’ve had plans since, which is another plus in his column. Then he had a busy work week, causing us not to have plans for a few days. He sent me gifts, and I’m not talking a small trinket here or there. It was multiple deliveries each day.

“A giant stuffed panda, fresh lilacs even though they’re not in season, cherry lip balm, chocolate-covered cherries—you get the picture. The first night, after closing the store, I went to his hotel suite with the intention of telling him where to stick his excessive gifts, but amidst my rant—where I informed him I wasn’t a hooker he needed to buy affection from—he kissed me again, and I swear, Av, he kisses with his soul. He gives me air when I can’t breathe.”

Maybe deep down I’ve always loved him and now I’m just finally seeing it for what it is. His betrayal of Rhys hurt more than it should have if he was only my friend. Last night, I realized I was in love with him now, but have I been for longer? Sighing, I snuggle deeper into the couch cushions.

“You took him to see Goa Goa? Letting him meet the big guy was a huge step for you. It took you ages to take me! And when you did, you only took me because I caught you watching them on the live feeds,” she says with a hint of sadness in her tone.

“I took him there on our first unofficial date. He fed Goa Goa leaf-eater biscuits. Seeing his reaction to my furry friends melted my heart. It made me forget all about the tiff we had on the drive to the zoo.” Remembering causes me to think about my illness. These last few days have been extremely stressful, and usually in high-stress situations, my ADHD will pop up. By some miracle, I’ve remained somewhat normal this time around. Remembering also brings to my attention that I’ve never shared this part of myself with Av either.

Wow, maybe I’ve never truly shared who I am.

“Av?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to tell you a random fact about myself, and I’d like you to give me one in return. It’s come to my attention how little we truly know about each other. I know, we know who the other is as far as people. Our moral compasses are the same, and we share a love of clothing, pizza, and all things sparkly, but I want to know the small things.”

With tears glistening in her amber eyes, she nods.

We spend the next three hours getting reacquainted, and it’s one of the best afternoons of my life.