“I’m in.”

It was seven o’clock the next morning and Finn sipped coffee at his kitchen table as Aiden entered through the side door, looking like hell.

“In what?” Finn asked. “My house, or a shitload of trouble? Because you look like a hot mess.”

Aiden stumbled the rest of the way in and collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs, scrubbing both hands over his face. “Coffee. Please for the love of Mike, coffee.”

He chuckled and got up to pour it for his friend. “So, by ‘in’ I’m assuming you mean the network trying to buy the NORAD info.”

“Yeah. As a weapons smuggler. Ends up my military background and Linear Tactical form the perfect backstory.”

He handed his tired friend the coffee. “How so?”

“All I had to do was play a disgruntled partner. That Linear has all these contacts overseas and we’re not using them to our financial advantage.”

That probably wasn’t far from the truth. All of them had several contacts from their years in the Middle East and Europe. If they were looking to bring illegal substances or weapons into or out of the United States, suppliers or buyers wouldn’t be hard to find.

“I’m glad Saturday night wasn’t a total wash since I completely bailed on you.”

Aiden took a sip of his coffee, closing his eyes in relief as the brew entered his system. “Actually you not being there was probably for the best, given I’m supposedly trafficking weapons right under your nose.”

He nodded. “So, they bought your story?”

Aiden nodded and took a sip. “I’ll admit I talked a lot of shit about you guys. And we should probably try to keep this cover in place long-term. It could come in handy for other stuff.”

Linear’s primary objective was to teach survival intelligence. But from time to time they stepped out of the training field and back into the heart of trouble, helping corporations and individuals with dangerous situations: kidnap and ransom, extortion, detention.

A cover story that a member of Linear wasn’t afraid to dip into illegal activities could definitely be to their advantage.

“I agree,” Finn said. “But be careful. That could bring trouble back on you.”

Aiden took another sip. “Like having to stay out till the crack of dawn two nights in a row at two different strip clubs? That sort of trouble?”

He chuckled. “That wasn’t exactly what I meant, but yeah.”

A knock came at his front door.

Aiden turned toward it. “That’s Henry. He was in the area, so I told him to stop by.”

Finn shook the other man’s hand, then led him in and offered him a cup of coffee. Henry looked marginally better than Aiden, but not much.

“Cline bought your cover,” Henry said to Aiden as he took a sip. “I found a transmission late last night that included you as a potential buyer.”

Aiden grimaced. “Good. Because I’m ass-deep in this now. From what I’ve been able to find out, Cline is not stupid. He’s setting up an auction for the Operation Sparrow stuff, trying to pull together as many potential buyers as he can that might be interested in flight pattern info.”

Henry nodded and sat down in the kitchen chair Finn gestured to. “That’s why you got in so relatively easily. Selling the info is a one-time shot for Cline, so he wants to make as much as he can.”

“Smart on his part,” Finn said.

Henry circled the rim of his mug with his finger. “I just wish there was something more I could do. I’m a DoD civilian now, not active duty anymore. But just sitting around, gathering intel doesn’t make me happy.”

“What branch were you in?”

“Air Force. Combat controller. Until I blew out my knee.”

Both Finn and Aiden nodded respectfully. Air Force combat controllers were held in high regard among the Special Forces community. They generally acted as a one-man attachment to special operations teams where air traffic was involved, working in remote and often hostile locations. Lone warriors—both part of a team and yet separate from it.

“You caught Cline in the act. That’s the most important thing,” Finn told him. “Aiden will make sure he goes down.”

Aiden took another sip of his coffee. “Believe that. I know it’s tough doing nothing when everything you’ve ever been trained to do tells you otherwise. But I promise we will take them down. Not just Cline, the buyers too.”

“Did you find out anything this weekend?” Henry asked.

“They’re meeting at different clubs each week, or sometimes even private residences.” Aiden rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Cline gives them a little teaser of what he’ll be offering. There’s a lot of foreigners around, Russians, South Americans. But there are also some good old home-grown criminals like me.”

“And what about the mysterious Mr. Stellman?” Finn asked. “Any word on who he is, how to nail him?”

“I haven’t been asking a lot of questions, not wanting to draw undue attention. But once drinks are flowing most of those bastards gossip like old women. I don’t know who Stellman is, but I know they’re all damn scared of him. He’s the one coordinating this whole thing for Cline.”

Henry took another sip. “My intel confirms Stellman isn’t interested in the airspace intel, just in being the broker.”

Aiden shifted back in his seat, smothering a yawn. “Honestly, I think there’s more going on than just the info with Operation Sparrow, but I have no proof. It’s just a gut feeling.”

That was enough for Finn. “I’ll take your gut feeling over most hard evidence any day. Shamrock has gotten us out of many a dire situation.”

Aiden laughed at his Army nickname, which he’d gotten not only because of his Irish name, but because good luck seemed to follow him around. Every single one of their Special Forces team had been shot, stabbed, or damn near blown to kingdom come. Except Aiden. The man never seemed to get a scratch on him.

“All luck runs out sometime, brother. Let’s just hope this isn’t it. Word is, when Stellman has something to sell, he only shows up at one place and stays out of sight. Once the deal is finished, he makes sure there are no civilian witnesses left to identify him. Evidently, the criminals he works with know not to double-cross him, but civilians he just eliminates.”

“Damn, Aiden.” Finn’s eyebrows drew together. “Be careful you’re not in over your head.”

Henry’s face mirrored Finn’s concern.

“Believe me, with no real backup or support? I know it.” Aiden nodded. “I just want to figure out where and when the sale is going down. So, for my foreseeable future I’m going to need lots of ones and fives. I’m too old for this shit, you guys.”

“I’ll be sure to provide you any information I can,” Henry said. “You’re not completely without backup or support.”

They all glanced up when they heard water running upstairs. Finn’s house was large—really, way too big for just him and Ethan—and the piping was old. Quiet wasn’t an option here.

“Ethan?” Aiden asked.

“No, he’s with my mom. It’s Charlie.”

He’d left her asleep in his bed when he’d come downstairs. The two of them had spent the last sixteen hours in a sort of surreal mixture of sleeping, eating, and lovemaking.

But now it was time for real life to restart. They couldn’t lock themselves away from reality any longer. Ethan would be coming home in a couple hours and Charlie had her own condo to go to.

“Zac mentioned Charlie got mugged and you brought her here,” Aiden said.

Henry looked surprised. “She’s here right now?”

“Yeah, she needed somewhere to crash.” Finn turned to Henry. “Do you know her?”

Henry shook his head. “Just heard of her.”

Finn refrained from rolling his eyes. He shouldn’t be surprised. You couldn’t get far around here without knowing about Charlie and their history.

“Is she okay?” Aiden asked. “I heard a knife was involved.”

“Yeah, that was just a nick. The bigger problem was exhaustion. Evidently she’s been working three jobs for a while.”

At least now he knew why she’d been at The Cactus Motel. It had to be easier to stay there a couple nights a week than to drive all the way to her condo in Oak Creek.

Aiden scratched his jaw. “Is she going to be sticking around your place permanently?”

“Hell no, she’s got to leave in the next few minutes. There’s no way I want her here when Ethan gets home.”

Not that Ethan didn’t like Charlie or would be upset to find her here. It was just time to get back to real life, a life Finn had conveniently pushed aside during the last thirty-six hours of mind-blowing sex.

“It was nice of you to give her a place to crash.” Aiden folded his arms across his chest. “A lot of ex-boyfriends wouldn’t even do that. Or might try to take advantage of her.”

Aiden hadn’t been accusing him, but he couldn’t control his wince. Shit. Is that what had happened? She’d been so adamant otherwise, but in her weakened state . . .

He wiped a hand over his face. “I—I . . .”

“Bollinger didn’t take advantage of me,” a feminine voice said from the doorway. “But I very definitely took advantage of him.”

Three handsome faces, all with that military air, swung around to look at Charlie as she walked through the kitchen doorway. She kept a smile on her face even though Finn’s comment about making sure she wasn’t here when Ethan got home cut at her heart.

What had she expected? That this was the start of a relationship with him?

She’d thrown herself at him in bed and he’d reciprocated. Hot sex, that was all it was. She’d lost the right to hope for anything more eight years ago.

She smiled at the guys. “I’m sure Finn’s too much of an officer and a gentleman to say I was the one doing all of the advantage-taking, but it’s still true.”

Finn looked like he might actually blush. “I was never an officer,” he muttered.

Aiden smirked over at him. “Or a gentleman, if you’re honest.”

“No offense,” she said to Aiden, “but it looks like you weren’t too much of one yourself last night.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Weren’t you at The Silver Palace on Saturday night, too? Sounds like you Linear Tactical guys stay pretty busy.”

She wouldn’t have figured Finn to be much of a strip club guy. But how well could she say she really knew him anyway? He walked over to the kitchen counter and poured her a cup of coffee. “Still milk and sugar?”

She had learned to drink her coffee with nothing in it to cut down on cost, but hell, if he was offering . . . “Yes, thank you.”

“And oatmeal. You still need to eat.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mother.”

He was right, she did. God knew they had burned as many calories as she had gotten into her system yesterday. One glance at Finn told her he was thinking the same thing.

The man she didn’t know held out his hand. “Henry Nicholson.”

She shook it. “Charlotte Devereux. Nice to meet you.”

Finn handed her the coffee. “Believe it or not, Aiden and I aren’t regular strip club attendees. He’s working undercover. Henry is the brains behind it all.”

She wiggled her eyebrows at Aiden. “Undercover at a strip club, not a bad gig.”

He raised his coffee mug at her in a salute. “I’ve definitely had worse.”

“Same thing you guys were talking about at the Frontier that day at lunch?”

Finn sat beside her. At least he was willing to do that. “Yes, Aiden’s going undercover to stop the sale of some government secrets. Henry’s the one that discovered it in the first place.”

“It’s a hodgepodge of criminals and they’ve been known to meet at clubs,” Aiden said.

She nodded. “We get some shady people at The Silver Palace. Last Wednesday night a group reserved the back rooms. They had guns and freaked me out pretty bad.”

Henry leaned closer from across the table. “Do you remember anyone who was there?”

She took another sip of her coffee for fortitude. “Big guy with a gun. Little guy who I think was in charge but hid in the dark. There may have been others in the dark room too. Jade, one of our dancers, was back there, probably doing a lot more than just dancing. But that’s her business, not mine. The only person I recognized was a guy named Rocco. He’s a regular at The Silver Palace.”

“Rocco Christensen?” Aiden asked, then glanced at Henry, who gave a little nod.

She shrugged. “I don’t know his last name. I just know he’s around all the time and brought his friends into the VIP room last week. They weren’t happy when I came in to clean up before they were done.”

She didn’t mention her paranoia about Paul and the police officer talking to her that night. Now that she’d had rest and food, she could recognize they hadn’t done anything overtly suspicious.

“I’ll look into Rocco more closely,” Aiden said.

Henry stood. “Me too. I’ve got to get going, but I’ll be in touch with any info I find.”

Finn stood and pointed at her as he walked Henry to the door. “And you stay far away from them if they show back up. Way far.”

He came back in and made the three of them oatmeal—giving her a dirty look again when she offered to help—and he and Aiden moved the conversation to funny stories from their time in the Army. She had finished her oatmeal and was laughing as they argued about who held the record for the longest hike carrying a backpack with fifty pounds of gear.

“One time I had to carry Finn and his backpack for two miles, so I win anyway,” Aiden said as he finished his last bite of oatmeal.

“Why? Did you lose a bet?” she asked.

Their laughter died and the look between the two became solemn. “Our boy here had just taken one for the team,” Aiden said softly. “Needed a little help getting out of enemy territory.”

Charlie’s eyes flew to Finn’s. If Aiden had carried him out of enemy territory, then he’d been in pretty desperate shape.

“How bad?” The question came out strangled.

“Not bad.”

“Bad.”

Both answered at the same time, Finn downplaying his injuries, Aiden probably telling the truth.

She turned to Aiden. “How long ago?”

“Eight years. He was pretty reckless back then.”

Her eyes fell on Finn. Right after she’d married Brandon. He’d been hurting, confused, and reckless. And he’d almost died because of it.

Because of her.

He reached over and grabbed her hand. “Hey, I lived. Takes more than a group of isolated Afghani extremists to put me down.”

Finn was the strongest man she’d ever known. In every possible way.

She couldn’t stay at the table, not without spilling her guts and begging for his forgiveness and trying to explain away all the mistakes she’d made. It was too late for that.

She picked up the empty bowls and walked them over to the sink, looking out the window at the morning sun rising higher into the sky. It was time to go. In more ways than one.

“Can you give me a ride back to my car?” she asked. “I’ll get out of your hair. I know you’ve got stuff to do.”

“Why don’t I just take you to your condo,” Finn said. “I’ll get one of the guys to run by the Cactus and bring your car to you.”

There was no way he could take her to the condo. “No, I need to go into work. It’s already past midnight for this Cinderella. Playtime is over.”

He brought the coffee cups to the sink and stood beside her. “You’ve got to promise me you’ll stay away from the Cactus. That place is not safe.”

She had no desire to go back there, but she might not have a choice. She reached up and brushed his cheek with her hand. “I promise I’m going to take better care of myself.” And she was. She couldn’t take a chance on getting that rundown again. She felt so much better now after multiple good meals and lots of sleep. Or at least lots of time lying on a bed.

Finn looked skeptical.

“I promise,” she said again, careful not to be too specific.

Aiden offered to give her a ride since Ethan was due home soon. She grabbed her suitcase and was ready to go a few minutes later. Aiden took the suitcase and went out to the car.

She was on her way out, too, when Finn grabbed her waist and spun her around. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled his lips down to hers. “Thank you,” she said against his mouth. “For everything.”

“You and I need to talk about what happened here. The sex. We both know that.”

Just like they both knew talking wasn’t going to change anything about their past. “Do we? What can be said besides rehashing what we’ve already lived through? I have no place in your life, Finn. I know that.”

And she’d give anything for it not to be true.

He had this beautiful big house here in the woods, one she would’ve chosen if she’d been around to choose. He had this beautiful full life and she wasn’t part of it. No talk was going to change—

He kissed her.

He kissed her in a way didn’t change any facts about their past, but it gave her hope about their future.