CASEY SMITH COVERED his face with his hands.

The silence stretched on. He knew they were watching him.

What the hell was he supposed to do with that story? How could a simple B&E get so complicated?

Of course it was Trevor’s mystery girl at the center of it. Casey hadn’t known the guy more than a few years and even he recognized the routine, but this had to be the craziest story he’d ever heard.

From what Dina had said, this was one for the FBI. Or maybe the US Marshalls. He wasn’t entirely sure who got dibs on a case of this magnitude, but it sure as hell wasn’t a local law enforcement kind of thing.

“Okay.” Casey dropped his hands and looked at Trevor. “Where do we take this? Because right now I’m at a loss on how to escalate this to the right people.”

Trevor glanced at Dina. Their joined hands were hidden, but Casey knew what was going on. Which made him wonder, was Trevor a target? Had Dina set out to use Trevor somehow? Or was it all coincidence?

It wouldn’t be the first time Trevor had leveraged his cop connections to help a girl in trouble. He had a good heart, but it was blind. Really fucking blind.

“I don’t think the first half of the story is relevant to last night’s crime, except that Dina has a history with these men that make her afraid for her life,” Trevor said.

“The beginning of the story has everything to do with how this is going to end.” Casey could hardly believe this. He didn’t expect Trevor to have researched what she said so that would be up to Casey. He hoped, for Trevor’s sake, that Dina’s story wasn’t all a lie.

“Look, what Dina needs right now is evidence she’s in danger.” Trevor gestured at the woman. “We have to prove she’s being threatened before we can take it to the next step.”

Casey nodded. That made sense. Until they could verify everything else the only actionable part of what they’d said was the B&E. As for her story and what they did with that, he didn’t want to continue this conversation with Dina there.

“I have what I need for my report.” He closed his notebook. “I think the best thing to do is inform the property owner and take it from there.”

“You want to go grab some clothes and things?” Trevor asked Dina.

“Yeah.” She pushed to her feet and went down the hall to the bedroom on the other side of the house.

Casey watched her go. He was there the night she walked in wearing a red dress and heels. Just about every single guy had been interested, but Trevor made the first move and staked his claim.

“Jesus, man.” Casey shook his head and glanced at Trevor. “Really?”

“Don’t start.” Trevor knew what he was going to say. Trevor had to know what everyone who saw this report would say.

“I’ve got to. Man, for your own good, I’m going to call the FBI and—”

“Don’t.” Trevor’s glare was fierce. “You call the FBI and she’ll run. Besides, it’s a B&E. Not exactly a federal matter.”

“What do you expect us to do about this?”

“Our job. We keep an eye out for these guys. We protect her. That’s it.”

Trevor didn’t get to make the call. He wasn’t on duty and Casey was the one making the report, but people listened to Trevor. It was the benefit of being a local, the son of the famous detective and one of the so-called founding families. Even with Trevor’s track record with problem women, people still saw him as a darling of the community.

“Okay.” Casey sat back and pocketed his notebook. “Then I think we keep it simple. Focus on the B&E. The rest of it is a need to know basis.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate this.” Trevor relaxed back into the cushions.

Casey glanced down the hall. Dina was still in her room, but she could come out at any point. This might not be the smartest thing to do given Trevor’s history, but Casey had to say something. If shit went sideways, it would be on him.

“Is this smart?” he asked.

“Is what smart?”

“No. Don’t do this with me.” Casey leaned on the arm rest and pitched his voice lower. “Should you be involved with her? How’s that look given your history?”

“It looks like I was in the right place at the right time to help a citizen of Ransom.” Trevor’s chin tipped up just a bit.

There was this pride people got when they talked about the town. It was especially strong with people who hailed from families who’d been around for generations. Casey didn’t understand it. He’d moved here by virtue of finding some place that met his criteria of being a thousand miles from home and a small town with a large, metropolitan area nearby. He didn’t love this town like everyone else did.

But helping this woman wasn’t a point of home pride. This was Trevor’s ego talking.

“What is it about this one you like so much?” Casey asked.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Trevor scowled at him.

“Why do you like her? She’s pretty. Is that it? Or is there something else? Come on, you’ve got to give me something. Make me believe you aren’t trying to help another girl in danger.”

“Dude, you are out of line.” Trevor shook his head. “Dina and I were already an item before this happened.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“Is she funny? Crazy smart? Why are you attracted to her?”

“She’s...I don’t know. Different. We want the same things.”

“Like?”

“I don’t see what business it is of yours.” Trevor pushed to his feet.

Casey watched him stalk down the hall. He could see the invisible hooks. She had Trevor wrapped around her finger. Nothing Casey could say would change that. There was only one person who could talk Trevor off this cliff. It was time to call in the big gun.

DINA STUDIED TREVOR and Casey standing on the sidewalk, their heads together. They weren’t happy with each other. Casey kept taking steps toward Trevor. Trevor would lean away or put distance between them. Things between the friends were tense, and it was more than likely because of her.

When she’d begun her story, she’d still been on her high of Trevor belief. His hand had been a physical connection to that drug. It was a powerful thing. Casey didn’t have that same faith in her. He had reservations. She doubted he believed even half her story. The only thing he seemed to accept without question was the break-in because he could see the physical evidence.

What he believed didn’t change history. She knew where she was from, what had happened to her and the risks. He didn’t even have to like her. All she needed was for him to do his job.

But was that enough? Was she making the right decision?

People said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting different results. She couldn’t keep hiding and expecting Dominick to stop looking for her. He’d been after her for almost ten years. There were guys who’d turned on the family, served their time, gotten out and still lived in the same place they always had that hadn’t been killed for turning on the family. The only reason she was a target was because her brother couldn’t let it go.

This was the right thing to do even if it scared her. Cosa Nostra didn’t run her life. It had never given her anything except pain and heartache.

Trevor climbed behind the wheel and shut the door. She watched Casey walk to his cruiser, his shadow stretching away from him, toward the house. Dread had her insides twisted up. They were in unknown territory. She wasn’t in control. She didn’t know how to anticipate the next move.

“What now?” She hadn’t relied on the justice system since after the trial. All of that was a blur.

“I want to see if we can’t get a few leads. Don’t get your hopes up that we’re going to find these guys tonight or anything. This is probably a wait and see operation.”

Dina stared out the window at her house.

She didn’t want to sit back and wait. Doing that allowed Dominick and the guys to make a plan. The only way she’d survived was by being quick to act. But this whole thing was founded on the idea that she had to change how she handled this. She didn’t want to be eighty and still running.

“What’s wrong? You don’t look happy.” He glanced at her.

“I’m not used to waiting. I’m not used to relying on others.” She slid down in her seat.

“We got this. They won’t know what hit them.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “Casey thinks the best thing for you is to reach out to the FBI—”

“No.”

“That’s what I told him. We’re handling this like a simple B&E for now, okay?”

She nodded. That wasn’t the most comforting thing to hear, but it made sense. The police had to handle what was in their jurisdiction. Everything before the break-in was in other states. If she wanted to keep the FBI out of her life, then she had to be content with this response.

“You know, whatever FBI agents were assigned to your case here wouldn’t be the same ones that let you down?” He turned onto the main street headed toward downtown Ransom.

“It doesn’t matter.” She knew her stance was probably silly, but she’d trusted the wrong people too many times. She was done with that. Trevor had earned her trust, and she’d trust his cop friends. But no one else. “Where are we going?”

“The best source of information in Ransom city limits.” He grinned at her. “You a coffee or tea gal?”

“Both?”

“Good. Do you want to change before we go?”

“Uh.” She glanced down at her tank top and yoga pants. “That’s probably a good idea.”

“Okay, first stop—my place. Then, we’ll hit up the best information spot in Ransom.”

Dina didn’t know what that meant, but she was along for the ride, nonetheless.

The drive to Trevor’s house only took five minutes because they had to wait for an elderly couple walking a toddler across the road. Otherwise the drive was even shorter.

There’d been a few times over the months since Dina had last seen Trevor that she’d considered just showing up at his door. She’d chickened out. Meeting him in a bar was one thing. He’d approached her, but she didn’t have the nerve to go to him like that.

Trevor pulled into the garage.

“I’m going to lay my gear out to dry real quick, okay?” He popped his seatbelt and turned toward her. “Need a hand with anything?”

“Can you take the external drives in?” She thumbed at the huge brick that made up her livelihood.

“I can.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. Every time he did that she felt a surge of warmth. His presence was reassuring. With him, she could do this.

“Okay. I’ll hurry.”

She got out and retrieved her bag from the back seat. Packing was easy. She’d never gotten out of the habit of clustering the things most important to her together. The number of times she’d had to drop everything and go had taught her what was valuable and what wasn’t. In this case she could at least go back if she needed to.

Dina took her bag into the house. She hesitated in the living room for a moment. While she’d showered and slept in Trevor’s room she didn’t want to presume to take over it. The hall bathroom was a bit small and her suitcase large.

She’d make sure to repack everything so as to not encroach on his space.

What would she have done without Trevor showing up at the grocery store the other morning? Would she have gone to him, anyway? Or would she have been stuck on foot with nothing but a gun?

She still didn’t know how Dominick had found her this time. Rudy wasn’t connected to the family. Cosa Nostra had next to no presence in Texas. Down here others held sway in that dark world.

How had she fucked up?

The garage door creaked open and shut as Trevor shifted his gear, ticking away the minutes she wasted wading through the past.

Whatever had happened, she couldn’t change it. But with Trevor’s help she could change her future. No more running. A calm life spent not looking over her shoulder.

That sounded nice.

She opened the suitcase and pulled out a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt as well as clean underwear. Nothing flashy, but she also wouldn’t die in the heat. Normally she lived in flip-flops, but she opted to wear her slip-on sneakers in the event she had to run.

These were the choices she lived and died by.

Her discarded clothes went in a drawstring bag she’d grabbed for her dirty clothes. She changed, all the while her mind mulled over the last few weeks, where she’d gone, what she’d done.

There was a misstep in there.

She needed to call Rudy, but she needed a new computer and phone first. At the very least she’d warn him to maybe not come home first. She hoped whatever he was doing it had taken him away from home. Dominick had not historically been kind to anyone who helped her proving that he was exactly like Dad.

What did that say about her?

Dominick was her twin. Yes, they’d always been a little different, but until those pre-teen years they’d been close. He’d stuck up for her on the playground even to his friends. They’d sneak into each other’s rooms at night and whisper secrets. She’d loved her brother.

If he was just like Dad, what did that say about her?

Dina didn’t want to be like either of her parents.

Mom had married Dad because it was agreed their two families should work together. Their marriage had formed an alliance that elevated Dad in the scheme of things. Along the way Mom had bought into the idea that her life was Dad’s.

Dina knew Mom had killed men for Dad. There was one night in particular when a capo Dad was having problems with came over when Dad wasn’t home. Mom hadn’t realized Dina and Dominick were playing hide and go seek and that Dina was behind the curtains. She’d stood there and listened to Mom carry on with this man, right up until the moment he choked and died.

Dominick had rushed in from wherever he’d hidden to watch the unfolding drama and grabbed Dina, as though he’d known her little mind couldn’t handle what happened a few feet away. The rest of that memory was a blur. Mom had yelled. Dominick rushed Dina upstairs to her room, and they’d hidden under the bed for what felt like ages until Dad came in to explain it all away.

Dad’s version was something along the lines of a bad man trying to hurt Mom, but Dina had seen it through the sheer curtains. That wasn’t the truth.

She didn’t want to be like Mom. And Dad was ten times worse. Dina didn’t think they loved each other as much as they believed they were the only person the other could trust. Even during the trial they’d held to their story, never once showing weakness where the other was concerned.

“Dina?”

She turned her head toward the bedroom door.

Trevor stood there with one hand braced on the entryway.

“Sorry, what?” She’d let her mind wander when she was supposed to be getting ready. Shit.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I just got lost in my head. Almost ready.” She grabbed her toiletry bag.

“Put that down. Come here.” Trevor took the bag from her and set it on the bed.

He pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. Again that warmth and assurance that everything would work out sank into her. She closed her eyes and breathed in his spicy scent.

How had she gotten this lucky to run into him when she had?

It was like there was some cosmic force guiding them to collide because she would need him.

“Casey’ll make the report.” Trevor leaned back a little and looked down at her. “There’s not a lot of crime, so you’ll get their full attention. If those two are in Ransom, we’ll get them.”

Dina nodded. She was less confident about the Ransom police as a whole. They weren’t Trevor. They had no reason to believe her full story.

“Look at me?” Trevor cupped her cheek.

“I’m not used to trusting other people.” She stared into his eyes. “I trust you though.”

“Glad to hear it.” He smiled, his eyes twinkling.

“If I’m not good at this, it’s because I don’t do it a lot.”

“Well, good for you I’m very trustworthy.”

Trevor bent his head, and she stopped breathing. He lifted her chin and covered her mouth with his. The tension between her shoulders eased, and she leaned toward him.

Forgetting everything for a little bit sounded lovely.

He lifted his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“If we didn’t have somewhere we needed to be.” He sighed.

“You sure we have to go?”

“If we want the help of the best detective in town, yeah. Ready?”

“Let me do something with my hair first, then yeah.”

“I like it down.”

“So you can pull it. I’m aware. That’s why it looks like this.” She pointed at the slightly wild state of her hair.

Trevor grinned, not the least bit repentant.

What would it be like to be free of danger and able to follow up on all those unspoken offers Trevor threw her way?