Hours later…

“Where are we going again?” Pilar hadn’t said much since her revelation about her family. Exhaustion seemed to weigh the air around her.

“Food first, then the safe house.”

When he stopped for gas earlier, and she’d made her way to the restroom, he’d kept watch—and he’d made plans. Fortunately, they were back in a cell service area, as evidenced by the avalanche of texts from his mother.

Yeah, he’d need to deal with that. Later.

Taking only back roads had helped to avoid a lot of traffic cameras. He didn’t know the full extent of the Petrucci organization, so he assigned them a value based on the intel Pilar provided. Planning accordingly, he’d made a few decisions. Tex and Jacko worked logistics and handled the rest. It took most of the day to dip down into the Shenandoah Mountains. He had a safe house there.

First, he took them to one of his favorite diners slash truck stops. It had great food, clean bathrooms, and a gift shop. The latter made Pilar happy as she found a couple of shirts in her sizes and some leggings. When she pulled out a black t-shirt with the diner’s logo on it and handed it to him, he’d just nodded.

“It’s ridiculous, but it feels like the kind of souvenir I want from this road trip.” The animation in her expression and the spark in her dark eyes promised a resumption of her earlier spirit, so Cannon was more than willing to go along.

“Not sure it quite hits the nail on the head. I think it would need to say Highway to Hell on it.” Instead, it read Scorchy’s with three words underneath—broiled, charred, and served.

“I like it.” Not even the bruises could diminish her beauty. She seemed to dare him to deny it.

“Then let’s get two,” he retaliated, enjoying the hell out of her liveliness.

“Let’s,” she fired back and flattened her hand against his chest. “We’ll be twinsies.”

“A matched set.” He stole another kiss. The one in the truck had rocked him to his foundation. He’d ached for her after the story she told. He knew all about disappointing family—he’d been doing it all his life. But in the lost look in her eyes, the little girl she’d been had peeked out at him, bewildered and torn. If time travel were a real thing, he’d have found a way to get back to that kid and extract her before all her illusions could be shattered.

Since he couldn’t, he’d settle for protecting the woman she’d become. The only woman he’d found he didn’t need to seduce to enjoy.

“You have that weird look on your face,” she said as they made one last pass along the odds and ends aisle, because they really had some weird crap on it. Hell, they could go in a damn knick-knack store if it made Pilar relax and smile again.

“Just thinking…I’ve always liked women, but they were always fluid to me. One woman was as good as the next. Good mood. Good looks. Good times.” Weird how alien that felt now. Even the thought of heading to a bar, looking for a woman into SEALs or sailor or just military guys left him cold. They were out there, easy pickings. “You’re not like those women. Not even a little bit.”

Pivoting, she gave him a guarded look. “Thank you?”

“I mean it,” he said, not shying away from the truth. “You’re worth it. You’re worth every moment.” Considering his plans, it probably wasn’t the best moment, but life wasn’t about waiting for the right moment. Never should be. A person had to make their moments and make the time. “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, and I’ll make sure you’re safe. You know that, right?”

“I do.” Still, the guarded look remained firmly in place. Dammit, he’d gotten all serious and shit and ruined the mood.

“I like you…I like you a lot. I think we are a matched set. I think we fit. You know, like Deadpool and Cable levels of fit.” If she understood that reference, then he’d found his soulmate.

“Maybe more like Wade and Vanessa.”

Man. He was in love. The corner of his mouth quirked up. “Just not sure about International Woman’s Day.”

Pilar’s smile burst out from behind the doubtful clouds, and her eyes sparkled. “But you’re not utterly opposed to it.”

True. “We’ll talk.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“I’m asking you for several dates…at least a year of them. We have months until we get to the next one, you know.” He wanted to ask a whole lot more, but he had a plan. The first date was the next step. If he lined up dates two through a hundred, he was okay with that, too.

“We don’t know each other that well,” she said quietly. It didn’t seem to matter that they were standing in a gift shop, in a diner, in the mountains. It was just the two of them. His world narrowed to the woman in front of him. “But I feel like we’ve known each other forever…so, yes, I’ll go on a date with you.”

“A date?” Just clarifying.

“Yes, a date. You get the answer to date number two after date number one.” She kissed him. “A woman has to set some standards, you know.”

“Yes, she does.” His woman set great standards. Satisfied, he oriented his mind back to business. “Let’s get this and get some food. You remember the rules?”

“Anything happens, I head out back.”

“Just like at the hotel.” He could handle anything, as long as she stayed out of the line of fire.

After they paid for their shirts, they split up at the bathrooms and changed. It was silly, but Cannon loved the way she laughed. How she fit beneath his arm when he slid it around her shoulders. In the diner, he chose a table near the back, and she slid into the booth opposite him. Her side didn’t have the window, and the wall would obscure her position. His back was to the wall and gave him the perfect vantage on egresses as well as a view of the lot.

Enjoying breakfast—particularly when she dug into her waffles, bacon, and eggs like a woman who’d never had a meal—he wasn’t thrilled when the pair of black cars pulled into the lot. Not from around here, and they were too far off the well-traveled path to be just passersby. Locals and those coming to see locals frequented the diner. It was why he’d chosen the place. The bastards could have waited until he finished his steak and eggs. They weren’t flashing guns…wait, the second set of guys exiting the vehicles definitely had the big guns.

Fine. Time to go to work.

“Pilar, go.”

Her eyes went wide, and she glanced to the window but didn’t lean forward.

“Just like we planned.” The angle of her departure would take her right through the swinging door and out of sight.

Her hand closed over his. “Come with me. You don’t have to stay here…not again.”

“I do, and we both know it. Go on, sweetheart. I’ll find you afterward.” It was an oath.

“You’re not Rambo, Ben.” Damn, it was sweet to hear her use his real name. He’d been Cannon so long, he’d half forgotten what it meant to be Ben. He could learn—with her.

“Nope, Rambo is a fictional special forces army guy. I’m Navy true, through and through.”

Shaking her head, she squeezed his hand. “Don’t do anything dumb.”

“Can’t promise that. You’re taking all the brains with you.” But he winked, and she gave him a wobbly smile. It was enough. Steeling his heart, he released her hand. “Now go.”

No way in hell those crazies were going to open fire on the diner. There weren’t a lot of people inside, but it didn’t matter. They’d have to close it for repairs, then Cannon couldn’t come here to eat.

Rising, he left the table and headed for the door.

He was ready for them this time. The waitress had followed Pilar to the back, and the cook nodded to him as he passed. The two guys sitting at the counter shifted position as if tracking his movements.

By the time he stepped outside, there were a dozen men out front, all of them dressed in unrelieved black, from their shirts to their suits. Do they all use the same tailor? Dude must be making a killing.

Keeping his arms loose and at his sides, he identified the leader from the way the man held back. In a group like this, they didn’t stand at the front of the charge. They kept their distance. Real standup type people, course the wise guy appellation was kind of an oxymoron in his book.

Ignoring the Scorchy’s shirt for the moment, he cocked his head to the side. “Fellows, there’s nothing for you here but a lot of hurt and pain. You need to walk away while you still can. I might even be convinced to forget you were even here in the first place.”

Everyone deserved a warning.

The men laughed, and Wise Guy number one pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He blew out a stream of blue smoke. “You’re a funny man, but there’s twelve of me, and one of you.”

Yep. Everyone deserves a warning, but they only get one. “Then take your best shot.” He spread his hands. The adrenaline flooded his system, but he stayed right where he was. He’d made a plan.

Now it was time to execute it.

They were on his turf now.

One of the men standing closest raised his gun. It never made it past a 45-degree angle before the side of his head exploded and he dropped. The two blood-spattered men standing nearest him swore and backed up a step. They raised their guns and earned a one-way ticket to joining their friend.

Wise Guy number one wasn’t pleased. He shouted, and they rushed toward him. Why did these idiots do that? They had guns. Instead of talking about shooting, they should just shoot. ‘Course, he’d been relying on their predictability and the rush to get closer to him. It afforded him time to pull his own weapon. He took two, and the snipers took out three more. The fourth took one through the shoulder.

“Your odds just went three to one,” Cannon said. The guy at his feet started to reach for his weapon, and Cannon tsked. “You’re still breathing. If you want to keep doing that, stop moving.”

The guy spread his fingers and obeyed.

The man at the car had dropped his cigarette. Rage turned his face red, but he didn’t raise his gun. The last two with him had already set theirs down. Maybe they were the real wise guys in the bunch.

“Correction, one on one. I’ll even take you on hand-to-hand if you want to give it a shot.” Now he was just fucking with him, but these bastards came down here armed to teeth to kill Pilar and any civilian who got in their way. He wasn’t feeling a whole lot of sympathy.

“What do you want?” The man gritted it out between his teeth. Humiliation did leave a shitty aftertaste.

“You’re alive for one reason. Go back to your boss and tell him Pilar is off limits. The next guy who comes goes back to him in pieces. Then I’ll be coming for him. He won’t see me coming.”

The guy huffed, but he wasted no time diving into the back of his car. The other two looked at Cannon, and he shook his head. Nope. They could stay right where they were. Wise guy number one had to get out of the back seat and rushed all the way to the driver’s side. Probably a good thing he’d chosen dark pants.

The guy’s tires peeled out as Cannon’s cell phone rang. After motioning to his prisoners to get on their knees, he pulled it out and hit answer. “Go.”

“Nice showboating, smartass,” Tex said with a drawl. “Get your girl and go. My guys have this. We’ll take care of the cleanup.” Tex had called in some favors of his own. Everyone from the cook to the patrons were SEALs or retired. They’d laid the trap, and Pilar’s pursuers walked right into it.

“I owe you,” Cannon told him, holstering his weapon and walking back into the diner.

“You don’t owe me shit, son. Just bring the beer to the next game.”

“Deal.”

They hung up, and Cannon weaved into the back toward the steel-reinforced cold storage area. He opened the door to let Pilar and the waitress know it was all clear. Though they were both wearing coats and drinking hot coffee, Pilar set hers down and flew into his arms.

“What is it with cold on this road trip?” Her question made him laugh. The adrenaline still pumped, as he hadn’t gotten near enough of a fight out of them. But when it came to weighing his need to punish those assholes against keeping Pilar safe, he’d choose her every time.

“We’ll try somewhere south next time,” he promised, then rubbed his chin against her silky as hell hair. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah,” she breathed. “Is it over?”

“Almost.”

They still had one more thing to do.

The scene outside the diner left Pilar queasy. As much as she hated to admit it, the blood and the gore, it was too much. Inside the freezer, she hadn’t been able to hear much. But she could count, and there were a lot of bodies out there. Who the hell was Cannon? Would he ever tell her?

Just a sailor, my ass.

They’d driven to a house he’d deemed secure and been met by friends of his…a lot of friends. Flint and Trudi were the first she’d met. She was wearing Trudi’s boots, and thanked her for them. Flint slugged Cannon in the shoulder but nodded to Pilar politely enough.

Inside, Mickey and Arizona welcomed them. Arizona guided Pilar into the living room with Trudi while the guys headed for the kitchen. She could still see them, but their conversation was low and intense. Probably about what happened. A fourth guy came downstairs. Unlike the others, he was dressed in pajama bottoms and nothing else. The glasses he wore gave him an almost academic air and didn’t go with the wealth of muscle on display.

“Who is that?” Arizona asked as she studied the grouping.

“Jacko,” Trudi replied. “This is his place—or one of them, I think. I’m not clear on who owns what in the business.”

“That’s Jacko?” Arizona whistled. “He’s…”

“Hawt.” Trudi volunteered helpfully, and Pilar had to hide a smile. The woman wasn’t wrong, but he was nowhere near as good looking as Cannon. That said, from a purely academic standpoint, she could admire the man’s physique.

“I heard that,” Flint called from the kitchen.

Trudi grinned unrepentantly. “You were supposed to.”

The hot guy in question gave them a bemused look then shot Flint the middle finger. It was all so very casual. More men came in from outside.

“That’s Angel…not sure about the other guy.” Trudi eyed them speculatively.

“Jammer.” Arizona was the one to point out who he was. “He lost his fiancée a few months ago, in that bombing in New York.”

“Yeah, Angel’s sister,” Trudi sighed. “I heard about that.”

Who were these people? “I’m not sure I should even be here,” Pilar said quietly. “You all seem to know each other well.”

“The Teams do that,” Trudi said. Arizona nodded. “Most of the guys served together or worked together on missions.”

“Teams?”

“Navy SEALs,” Arizona said, grinning. “Didn’t Cannon tell you?”

No, he hadn’t. She looked across the room and locked gazes with him. The haircut, the way he handled himself, even the ease with which he brushed off the danger. “I had no idea… I mean, I know he’s incredible and amazing, but he never said.”

“They don’t talk about it.” Arizona leaned forward. The woman had so much poise and seemed so put together. Trudi had presence. Even in jeans and a ripped shirt, she seemed more fashionable than Pilar in her diner bought shirt, borrowed sweatpants and boots. “It’s just who they are.”

“The guys are close. They like saving people and things, but they are crazy,” Trudi admitted.

“The good kind of crazy,” Arizona amended.

“Oh, they’re definitely the good kind, but it takes a special kind of crazy to do the things they do. They need that level.” Trudi chuckled. “And they’re hot.”

“Woman, you know I can hear you!” Flint yelled again.

Trudi laughed. “Then stop listening to me.”

“Never!”

The warmth radiating from the interaction filled in the air around them. Cannon winked at Pilar, and she grinned. They might not be the couple who yelled across the room at each other… Couple? Are we a couple?

Two days ago, she’d never heard of him. Now, she couldn’t imagine her life without him.

Too far? Too fast?

A hundred or so dates.

The butterflies in her stomach had a litter of kittens.

“I shouldn’t be here,” she whispered. Being there put all these wonderful people in danger.

“Nope, you’re right where you belong.” Trudi said, and then added, “I don’t usually do this. I’m a journalist, but I have ethics, and you need to draw clear lines. To be perfectly clear, we’re off the record here. I always am, with Flint and the guys. What I see and hear, it stays between us. That said, there is nothing we can’t accomplish. They saved me.”

“She’s right,” Arizona tacked on. “They saved me, too. I was on the run for months. I’d left everything I knew, everything I had, behind. I didn’t think I’d ever get it back. They helped me. I have a different life now, but…I love this life.”

“I have…evidence. Evidence of what my family was doing. I know turning it in is the right thing to do. It’s why they’re after me, and why I met Cannon.” Pilar licked her lips then swallowed. “Before, I was okay with the fact it might take me down.”

“How would it take you down?” Arizona asked, but she had both women’s attention.

“Because I was the accountant. I hid the money. I moved it around. Ignorance isn’t an excuse.” It was eating her up. Going to jail before seemed like a small price to pay, but now she had Cannon. She wanted to see where this thing between them went. How selfish was she?

“Pilar, give me a dollar.” Arizona said.

“What?”

“Give me a dollar,” she repeated and held out her hand.

She had cash in her wallet, but she didn’t have any singles, so she pulled out a five. Bewildered, she passed it over. “Will this do?”

“That’s fine. You just hired me. Trudi, would you excuse us?”

The other woman rose, drink in hand. “You got it. I’ll go bug the boys. And close the door.” She pulled the pocket doors closed, leaving them alone.

Folding the bill in half, Arizona tucked it into her pocket. “As your attorney, nothing you say to me is admissible, nor can I repeat it unless you tell you’re planning to commit a crime or to defraud the court. Okay?”

“Okay.” Great, she had an attorney. “Are you going to represent me? In court?”

“Absolutely, if it comes to that. I don’t think it will, but let’s do this one step at a time. Tell me everything.”

Cradling her coffee cup in her hand, Pilar confessed to it all. She walked her through her life’s story up to the moment she discovered the truth, then about everything since.

Arizona didn’t interrupt, waiting until Pilar finished before asking, “Just to clarify, you copied all of the books onto the flash drive? Not just since you began handling them?”

“Everything we had digitized. I’d been working on that on the side. I needed to be able to access the records easily. The change in tax laws…it’s a whole thing.” Most people got a glazed over look when she dove too deep into the financial hows and whys.

“You issued payments to some of the accounts you’ve identified as those that handled what you now believe to be criminal activity?”

“Yes.” The nice phrasing didn’t remove her culpability. “I was blind, maybe intentionally so.”

Arizona the lawyer didn’t let up. “Maybe? You’re not sure?”

“They were my family,” Pilar said, spreading her hands. “They were good to me, and…there for me when my world upended. I never dreamed they could be involved in this stuff but looking back…it gives new context to some of what I saw and heard.”

“Okay, you believe that because you handled the books and issued the payments, you are guilty by association? After the fact? What are you thinking?”

“I’m not a lawyer,” Pilar admitted.

“No, that’s my job. What is it you think you did?”

“I think I was blind and stupid. I had an FBI agent try to tell me the truth, and I ignored him.” Wasn’t that obvious? “Then I went to work for my family.”

“Okay, let’s accept all that at face value. You had the means to commit the crimes you’re alleging, and you wrote the checks. You issued the payments. You kept good documentation of all of this, right?”

Heart sinking, Pilar nodded. “Right.”

“You could ascribe your motive as being to protect your family. It’s why you didn’t believe the FBI agent, and why you went to work for them. Why you let your grandfather guide your career choices and pay for your college, right?”

“Yes.” See, she’d done it.

“So means and motive, and you could build a case for that. A flimsy case maybe, but all right. We’ll say you’ve established those two items. What was your intent?”

Confusion blurred through the worry. “What?”

“Your intent? To prove a criminal act, you need means, motive, and intent. You established you have the first two, but what was your intent? Did you intend for the money to be spent on facilitating criminal actions? Did you intend to get people killed? To aid in smuggling? To hide earnings from the IRS?”

“No.” Pilar set her coffee cup aside before sitting straighter. “My intent was to do a good job, to be able to keep accurate books. I didn’t know that was where the money was going.”

“When you did know…when you became aware of the criminal element in what you were involved in doing, what action did you take?”

“I copied the files and decided to take them to the Justice Department.” The guilt eating her soul dissipated.

“Exactly.” Arizona smiled. “Winner, winner, chicken dinner. You had no intent. You acted with responsibility and awareness.”

“So I’m not guilty.”

“Legally? No. The rest is up to you. I’m not a psychologist, but I would say you have issues. I know I did and still do sometimes. You don’t go through hell and not come out the other side a little damaged. Some of us have our scars on the inside. Like Cannon…and I’m going to say just like you. For what it’s worth, I admire the hell out of you. I went against my law firm, but you are taking on your whole family. I’d have understood if you buried it and your head in the sand. We do that for family. You didn’t. You stood up, and you’re trying to do the right thing.” Arizona caught her hand and Pilar couldn’t believe it, but she did feel better.

“Thank you.”

“For what it’s worth, if you want to stay on course and take it the Justice Department, and I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

It meant a lot. “If I don’t?”

“Then I’m still with you. I’m your attorney. I will work toward your best interests, whatever you decide them to be. As your friend, only you can answer what you need.”

After they filled the guys in on everything, there were a lot of ideas thrown out, but Cannon held up his hand, silencing them. Focused on Pilar, he said, “Do what you believe is right. We’ll back your play. No matter what it is.”

Her heart had never been as full as it was when each person in that room nodded their agreement. They were great, but it was Cannon who filled her with amazement. He hadn’t wavered, not an inch, even when she had a gun in his face. He’d been there for her.

Turning the tape cassette USB drive over in her hand, she didn’t have to think on it. “Arizona, I want to turn this into the Justice Department, and I’m willing to make a statement.”

Her attorney grinned as she took it. “We’ll get it to the right people. I’ll make sure there’s a deal in place for you, just so you can cross the t’s and dot all the i’s.”

Relief left her limp. When Cannon reached for her, she went into his arms and leaned against him. “Can we go somewhere? Without guns? Or people trying to kill us?”

“Of course.”