“So what took you so long?” asked Lucas as he finally navigated the rental SUV onto the highway.

“Are you going to accuse me of sleeping with another one of my exes?”

“So you do admit that Leo’s an ex?” Harper twisted around in the passenger seat of the SUV and was about to lay into Lucas when he held up a hand. “I was kidding. I was kidding.”

“Damn right you were. Does that mean you’ve come to see the humor in how silly it was that you were accusing me of sleeping with other men? The fact that it even slightly microscopically bothered you?”

“Oh, trust me. I don’t think there’s a lot amusing about it.”

“Good. Me neither.”

“But I don’t feel bad about it.”

Of course he didn’t feel bad. “Are you happy about it then?”

“No. Just... it bothers me. I never get jealous. Ever.”

“Should I be happy that I’m the one exception?”

“I don’t think happy is the right word.”

“All right. I admit it. I’m confused. What are you getting at?”

“I’m wondering if maybe there’s something to this. Maybe if my gut tells me that you shouldn’t be with any other guys, I should follow that.” Her face went pale, and he knew this wasn’t going well. “I’m just saying.... Except for when we’re fighting, we have a good time together, don’t we?”

“We’re always fighting.”

“All right, fine. Even the fighting is kind of fun.”

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Oh no. I think this is a lot worse than that. The way I see it, we’ve kind of been going on one long continuous date this whole time. I’m asking you to go steady.” He planted a smile on his face, but he knew this was no joking matter.

While Harper had been gone, even though it had only been for a few hours, he’d had time to think long and hard about her. To be fair, he hadn’t stopped thinking about her ever since he met her. Even with everything going on, flashes of her wicked smile, delectable body, and razor-sharp wit distracted him all the time. And for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why the thought of her with Leo bothered him so much. She called him out for acting like a caveman, and he knew she was right. Considering he never felt this way about any other girl before, something had to be different. He should keep on fighting it, but in all honesty, fighting his attraction for Harper had only landed him in bed with her twice and with a minor bit of sleep deprivation that was only bound to get worse. So instead of fighting the feeling, he was going to lean into it.

“You know I can’t take you seriously when you ask ridiculous questions like that.” Harper stared out the window, as though she couldn’t even look at him.

“If the answer is no, the answer is no. Just tell me now so I don’t get any more stupid ideas in my head.”

“It’s not a no,” she said quickly.

“So it’s a yes?”

“No, it’s not yes.”

“You’re mysterious. That’s one of the things I like about you.”

Harper shook her head and gave him a quick smile over her shoulder. “So how was your time with Evan and Lily? Were you able to make up?”

“I think my feelings toward Evan will be directly correlated to our outcome tonight.”

“So if you don’t end up in jail, you’ll forgive him?”

“I think that sounds fair.” He remembered what Meredith Reinhardt said to him. Fair is for pussies. It made more sense that she’d think that now. She was the matriarch of a family that earned a good sum of money each year from money laundering. At some point, Meredith had to find ways to massage her conscience. He had no doubt she would squash him like a bug if she got a chance, and he was the perfect scapegoat for any failings their daughter had. From what little he knew about her parents, Lily was much better off with Evan now.

In general, he wasn’t the luckiest guy out there, but now he had Harper with him. Maybe she’d be his good luck charm. God knew he needed it.

“How did the meeting with Wade go?” he asked, trying to pull his mind off the silence of the road.

“He asked about our progress.”

“I’m sure that went great.”

“Well, he’s not super happy. He told me not to worry about looking up the boxes.”

“Does that mean he figured out who was behind it?”

“No. It means he’s replaced us with somebody a little bit more motivated.”

“Leo.”

“All right, how did you know that?”

“Well, we haven’t heard back from him yet. You guys are all so interconnected."

“I really have to look into getting you a job. You definitely have the instinct for it.”

“And the bank account.” He looked over at her and gave her a little wink.

“All right, Stone. I’ve got a challenge for you.”

“All right. I like challenges.”

“I’ll go on a date with you, but only if you can give me one really amazing date idea.”

Hell, he’d been sweeping women off their feet for as long as he could remember. He could do that. “How long do I have?”

“You have until we figure this out with the Reinhardts.”

“And I get to do it under pressure. You really are little bit conniving, aren’t you?”

She looked over at him and flashed him a big smile. “That’s one of the reasons you like me.”

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Harper couldn’t believe they were back. The gorgeous house with the stunning red brick and white columns probably looked lovely in the daytime, but at night, everything about it seemed more ominous. When they’d first driven up, she’d been comforted by the fact that they hadn’t been shot immediately. Now she didn’t have that comfort. They’d want her and Lucas to come inside and tell them what they found. If they weren’t happy, a bullet to the head was extremely likely. Considering she and Lucas were not giving them any of their money back or their daughter, their displeasure was inevitable.

They just had to make sure they played this carefully. They couldn’t put all the blame on Lily without making it seem as though they were shaming the Reinhardts’ daughter. Also, they couldn’t have Lucas apologizing for a crime he didn’t commit. Logically, killing them made no sense. Dead bodies were hard to cover up, and they couldn’t know that much about Harper. The Reinhardts had no idea who might come looking for her. Murders were messy, literally and metaphorically. Just because they had the power to kill Harper and Lucas if they wanted to didn’t mean it was convenient.

It was passion that was the problem. If they got too angry or defensive over their daughter or their own pride, logic could fly out the window.

“Do you remember what I said the first time we came here?” asked Harper as Lucas brought the car to a stop.

“That you wished you had your gun?”

“I still wish I had my gun.” The gates had been open for them, but none of the guards moved to stand out on the front porch this time.

“I wonder if anyone’s home.” Harper looked up at the mostly dark house. There was one light on by the front door, but none behind any of the windows she could see. Granted, it was a big enough house that there could be plenty of activity happening in the back that she’d be completely unaware of. But she had a feeling there weren’t any parties going on tonight.

“Oh, I’ve got a feeling they’re home.” Lucas put the car in park and took the keys out of the ignition. “You know, you don’t have to come in.”

She tore her gaze away from the house to glare at him. “I know you didn’t just say that to me.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, but you know I’m right. Some people would say putting yourself in this much danger for some guy you barely know is idiotic.”

“You’re not some guy I barely know. You’re some guy I might be going steady with. Remember?” She faked a little smile, as though this were their normal, everyday bickering before she opened up her door.

Suddenly it hit her what was bothering her. She’d been so insistent on helping this whole time. Lucas was right, for the most part. He had been just some guy she barely knew.

But over the course of the last few days, that had changed. He wasn’t just some random stranger. He meant something to her, and right now he could be threatened. The reason her heart was beating so much faster for the first time in so long as a spike of adrenaline coursed through her was because the stakes were so much higher.

She couldn’t lose him. She wouldn’t.