Raze led Vinnie, Vivienne, through the doorway toward the war room and entered what used to be the building’s vestibule. He had to keep his distance and stop thinking of her as Vinnie. The name was too cute, too likable. Not for a second could he like her.

Stairs, brick and worn, led to the upper two floors, which held ten apartments each. He climbed quietly and reached the top floor, turning right and walking halfway down the hallway to shove open a doorway.

Vinnie tromped behind him. “You don’t lock your door?”

“Nothing to steal.” He moved aside to let her walk into the tiny efficiency. An L-shaped kitchenette took up the area to his left, his bed the right, and a couch sat under the far window. A bathroom, now defunct, opened beyond the kitchen, where he stored extra boots if he came across any.

“It’s, ah, lovely,” she said.

Humor attacked him and he grinned. Damn it. So fucking likable. “Thank you.” The sofa was an atrocious purple pleather, the bedspread threadbare, and the floor cracked concrete. Even the kitchen counter was a faded lime green that somehow conflicted with the useless avocado colored oven. A gaping hole remained where a fridge had probably once been, and another hole near the baseboard had been plugged with old T-shirts. “I’m glad you like it.”

She clutched her hands together and moved inside, taking a second, as if summoning courage. “What did Jax mean that this was ‘on you’?”

Raze eyed her, the sense of obligation creating a heaviness in his chest. He was being pulled in too many directions, and he needed to shut down and complete the mission. That’s all this was. “Bringing you into headquarters is on me. If you end up trying to kill anybody or go nuts, then I take the fall.”

“What does that mean?” she whispered, her pretty eyes widening.

Raze gave her the truth in gentle terms. “In Jax’s world? He’d probably shoot me.”

She blanched. “Then I should go.”

Shit. He’d upset her. “No, honestly, it’s all good. Don’t worry about Jax. It takes a while for him to trust anybody.” Even Raze didn’t have Jax’s full trust, and after he did what he had to do, Jax would try to kill him. That wasn’t on Vinnie, though.

She looked around again. The room seemed brighter with her in it. “I feel bad taking your home.” Her voice was a low, sweet murmur.

The apartment was so far from home it wasn’t funny. His body awakened at the concern in her voice. When was the last time anybody around him had truly given a shit? Somehow, even though he was rock cold, she managed to warm him. “Don’t feel bad. This place sucks.” Not that Tace’s was any better.

Raze studied her, once again taking a hammer to the chest. God, she was beautiful. Long blond hair, dark blue eyes, so damn tiny she’d be a master at hide and seek. He’d always had a thing for petite blondes, and throw in obvious intelligence and a wary cautiousness? Yeah. She filled his damn dreams.

Which was why he hadn’t slept more than an hour at a time since rescuing her. Of course he’d been hunting her for months now, hadn’t he? Not for a second had he considered he’d end up genuinely liking her, much less wanting to shield her from the world.

Two seconds inside the apartment and the room seemed warmer. The smell of calla lilies, her scent, already was seeping into the air. The woman wrung her hands together, so nervous she was making him uncomfortable. “Vinnie? You’re safe here.”

What a fucking lie. She wasn’t safe . . . because of him.

She nodded. “I just hope I can help out a little.” Her blue eyes darkened as she looked at the bare countertops. “You don’t have any pictures anywhere.”

“No.” He shrugged. “I was on a mission halfway around the world when Scorpius hit and haven’t been home since.”

“Home?” she asked.

He breathed out. “Wyoming. I grew up in the mountains before entering the service.”

She smiled. “You’re a cowboy?”

The smile shot through him like fine whiskey and put his muscles on alert. His groin hardened. “I’m no cowboy.” He chuckled. “We did own a small ranch, though. Also, our mom owned a small restaurant in an even smaller town. We served a lot of ranchers.” From ten years old, he’d known how to sling hash. Sometimes he missed those days.

“Do you still have family there?” she asked, her body finally relaxing.

He didn’t have time to share with her. The less she knew about him, the better. Yet the hope in her eyes did him in. “No. Our father died in the service when we were young, and my sister and I were raised by our mom. Great lady.” To this day, his heart hurt at losing her. “Cervical cancer took her when I was twenty and Moe was sixteen.”

Poor Maureen. She’d gotten so lost.

“Moe is your sister?” Vinnie asked.

“She was,” Raze said, his pulse quickening. He had to get out of there and stop sharing with the shrink. While she might be vulnerable, pure intelligence shone in her stunning eyes. “I have to go meet Jax and will be back later for my stuff.” Almost running, he shot out the door and closed it behind him, taking several deep breaths. A mission. That’s all she was. Just another mission.

The second he turned her over to Grey, he’d forget all about her. Just like any mission.

Liar. Even now, as he stormed back down the hallway, he knew he was a damn liar. He’d never forget Vinnie Wellington. Taking the steps down two at a time, he launched into the vestibule just as Jax emerged from his offices, gun in hand.

Jax lifted a dark eyebrow. A scar cut under the left side of his rugged jaw, showing he’d beaten death more than once and would more than likely do it again. He’d changed into worn jeans and a black shirt, stretched tight over solid muscle. “You okay?”

“Fine.” Raze reached for the gun at the back of his waist and checked to make sure the safety was off. “Ready to roll.”

Jax studied him with deep brown eyes, as if trying to see inside his head.

Raze stared back, accustomed to the Vanguard leader’s scrutiny. Of course they didn’t trust each other. This deadly new world made for odd allies, and for the moment they could cover each other’s backs. If, or rather when, Jax discovered Raze’s true mission, they’d be instant enemies.

The thought charged into Raze’s gut like an ax handle he’d taken to the ribs one time years ago. It’d been so long since he belonged anywhere, and Vanguard was a good place. As good as possible these days anyway.

Jax turned to look up the stairway, his movements quick and graceful. “She still having nightmares?”

“Yes.”

“She tell you why Atherton wanted her so badly?” Jax slid that hard gaze back onto Raze.

“Nope. We’re not girlfriends, Jax.” Raze pivoted to open the outside door.

Jax may have muttered asshole behind his back, but Raze didn’t give a shit. He was a helluvalot worse than an asshole.

“She was with President Atherton a long time, Raze,” Jax said.

“Yeah, but she’s not working with him. She wakes up screaming his name in terror,” Raze snapped. “You can trust her, Mercury.”

“I don’t trust anybody,” Jax retorted easily. “Especially a former shrink who can read us all with a glance. If she does anything to harm Vanguard, I’m taking it out on both of you, and I hate the idea of harming a woman, so I’ll probably kill you instead.”

“You could try,” Raze said evenly.

Jax kept moving forward. “It’d be a helluva fight, Shadow. But you gotta know, in this time and this place, I apparently have more to lose than you do.”

“Right.” Yet that wasn’t exactly true. “You have trust issues. Maybe Vinnie can help you work on those.”

“Asshole.” Jax didn’t bother to mutter this time.

The Vanguard headquarters opened up to a former parking lot, now empty, that reached the long chain-link fence and a large gate. Downed vehicles protected them on the other side, while across the deserted road, a three-story brick building still stood.

“You figure out how to get rid of that damn building yet?” Raze asked as Jax followed him into the early dawn light.

“Yeah. C-4 or a bunch of dynamite. If you find any, hand it over,” Jax all but growled as they made it across the parking lot.

Right. If he found C-4, he’d save it to defend himself from Jax’s attack when it came. Vinnie was under Jax’s protection, and once Raze took her, Jax would fight hard and without mercy to get her back—whether he trusted her or not. “I would assume all the C-4 and dynamite has been looted or secured.” But who knew? They’d found weirder stuff in innocent-looking suburban homes.

“Nah. There’s more out there somewhere. We just need to find it tomorrow when we go scouting.” Jax whistled and the gate rolled open. “We have a briefing with Vinnie after lunch today to discuss President Atherton and what she knows about his organization, motives, and next moves. She had better be of value or she’s out of headquarters. For now, I need you to walk the perimeter with me to look for holes in the fence and weak points. I have an itch between my shoulder blades—I think an attack is coming.”

Raze nodded. “Copy that.” Oh, an attack was coming, but it was from the inside. From him.