Kat buckled her seat belt in Marco’s mother’s Mercedes, looking over at Marco as he adjusted the mirrors. He seemed cramped and out of place in this luxury car. The sturdy truck suited him much better.

It was kind of a metaphor for him, actually. She couldn’t picture him sipping champagne and munching on caviar. He seemed more like a beer and potato chips kind of guy. Had he always been like that? Or had the military changed him? She was curious, wishing she’d known Marco before he joined the military and when he’d been friends with her brother. She could guarantee he wasn’t the same man now as he was then. The man now would never have such careless judgment as to drive drunk and high.

As the car pulled out of the driveway and onto the street, Kat looked over her shoulder at the house one last time. She’d spent plenty of time at Natalie’s house and she’d known the Adamos were wealthy, so she didn’t know why it threw her to visit Marco’s home. Maybe it was the circumstances. Maybe it was meeting his mother and seeing his grandmother unexpectedly.

Or maybe it was just Marco.

Most likely, it was all three.

The senior Mrs. Adamo was a lovely woman. Kat had known that from the few times she’d seen her with Tony at various events. And the other Mrs. Adamo seemed perfectly nice. But somehow she’d never felt more out of place. There she was in their home, taking Marco away from them so that he could protect her from goons who were after her criminal father.

It made her feel like a lowlife.

Logically, she knew she couldn’t help who her parents were or where she’d come from. She knew she should be judged by the woman she was today. But that was easier said than done. She was her own harshest critic.

While she couldn’t choose her parents, she had chosen a man who’d nearly destroyed her. She’d had to change her name for Christ’s sake, which was a daily reminder of her biggest mistake.

Kat had never had the courage to press charges against Leo after he’d nearly killed her, telling herself it was more important to just get away. She’d been beyond lucky her friend was a nurse and able to help her recover while keeping her hidden. As soon as Kat was well enough, she left Florida. Along the way, she’d learned Leo had gotten picked up for armed robbery. She told herself as long as he was locked up, it didn’t matter why.

But Leo wouldn’t be in prison forever. It scared the shit out of her. Not much else did.

Except for society women she’d once served, apparently.

She sighed.

“You okay?” Marco asked.

“Fine.” Kat immediately squared her shoulders and looked straight ahead. Now was not the time for a pity party. She needed to get through the next few days—God, she hoped it wouldn’t be any longer than that—and once Ryan and Marco were convinced she was no longer in danger, Marco could go back to his life.

She hated that she was disrupting it. It shocked her to recognize the guilt she felt. Somehow in the course of the last few hours, her feelings toward Marco had changed from hatred to respect and gratitude.

Though Marco had been absent from Ryan’s life for the past four years, it was obvious he still cared about her brother. Why else would he continue sending checks even after Ryan hadn’t cashed even one? She could also tell just by the way the two men interacted. They’d shared a horrific experience and perhaps it had bonded them in a way Kat didn’t understand.

She’d been alone for her most horrific experience.

She squeezed her eyes shut as the memories invaded her mind. She never thought about the time in her life when she’d become an expert at applying makeup to cover the bruises. But now it was creeping in, probably because of the stress.

Running and hiding had worked for her before, but it wouldn’t work now. Though she didn’t have a much of a life, she didn’t want to lose what little she had. And Ryan was here. She couldn’t ask him to uproot himself, not when he’d finally started to get his life back on track.

She couldn’t believe he had enrolled in classes without telling her. It was fantastic. Ryan didn’t consider himself a smart guy, but she knew better. He was smarter than he gave himself credit for.

Kat took a deep breath as they stopped at a light a block away from the cemetery. Though she’d talked a big game to Ryan and Marco, her stomach clenched.

Please don’t let anyone be watching my car.

Because if someone was indeed there, she could no longer deny that she was in serious trouble.

When the lot came into view, she exhaled. Her crappy car was the only one sitting in the lot.

When Marco drove past the entrance, she turned toward him. “What are you doing?”

“See there?” Marco pointed to a car in the adjacent shopping center parking lot. “He’s watching your car.”

“No, he’s . . .” Kat trailed off as she realized he was. He wasn’t staring at it with binoculars or anything like that, but he definitely seemed interested in it. “Damn.”

“It’s okay,” Marco said. “I don’t think he noticed us.”

But it wasn’t okay. How could it be? Her life wasn’t perfect, but she was working on it. She’d been happy for the most part. And now her sperm-donor father X might ruin everything.

* * *

Marco pulled into Kat’s apartment parking lot and noticed right away that most of the cars were in worse shape than Kat’s. Damn. The Mercedes was going to stick out, but that couldn’t be helped. There was no reason anyone would connect the expensive car with Kat. He was being paranoid.

But dammit, if anything happened to her, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. He’d be lying if he said that was solely because of his promise to Ryan. He cared for Kat in a way that he didn’t have any right to.

She was off-limits. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Ryan’s sister. Again. Wasn’t it enough that he was responsible for nearly killing her brother?

Marco grabbed his bag and met Kat around the front of the car.

“I’m on the second floor,” she said.

He nodded, scanning the parking lot. Nothing looked suspicious. Tomorrow while Kat was safely at work, he’d drive by her car again to see if it was still under surveillance. Maybe this whole thing would blow over.

But he didn’t think so.

The building was run-down, but clean. She unlocked her door and even though he was obviously welcome inside, he hesitated in the doorway.

She dropped her keys and purse on an end table and looked back at him. “Are you coming in?”

He walked through the doorway, feeling a little stupid for hesitating. He was here to keep her safe and he couldn’t do that from the hallway. But it felt like he was invading her personal space. Contaminating it.

“I’m afraid the couch doesn’t pull out.” She gestured to a worn sofa adorned with colorful pillows. His feet were definitely going to hang off the end of that sucker.

“That’s fine,” he said.

“The kitchen is there.” She pointed. “Obviously. And the bathroom is in the bedroom.”

He nodded, looking around the place and using that as an excuse not to look at her.

Her bedroom. Damn.

He really didn’t want to have to go in there for two reasons. The first was he didn’t want to violate her personal space any more than he had to. The second was he could think of a lot of things he’d like to do in there with Kat.

Slowly take off her clothing, one piece at a time, putting his mouth on every new inch of exposed flesh.

Lay her down on the bed and worship her body the way it deserved.

Pleasure her until she forgot her own name and screamed his.

“Are you hungry?” she asked. “We had the pizza at kind of an odd time, so I’m not sure if you want dinner.”

He hadn’t considered that. If he had he would have run through a drive-thru on the way here. He didn’t want to put her out.

“I’ll be okay,” he said.

She cocked her head. “Are you sure? I’m getting kind of hungry myself, so I have no problem making something. I’m not a fancy cook like Ginny, but I can fry up some chicken.”

“That would be great.”

She smiled, seeming relieved that he’d accepted. “Okay. Make yourself at home.” She kicked off her shoes and disappeared into the kitchen.

Remembering his manners, Marco followed her there, which was little more than a hole-in-the-wall. “Can I help with anything?”

“No. There’s not really room for more than one person in here, anyway.”

Looking at the small space, Marco decided it was much better she didn’t want his help. Being in such close quarters would make it too tempting to press her against the refrigerator and plunder her mouth and run his hands over her sweet ass.

“If you change your mind . . .” Marco pointed to the living room and she nodded. He returned to the couch and picked up the remote, needing something to distract himself. He mindlessly flipped through the channels, settling on the evening news.

When his brother appeared on the screen, he sat on the edge of the couch.

“Adamo is still fully operational and does not have any plans to lay off employees, despite what you may have heard.” Tony looked the part of the polished businessman in his charcoal suit. Unless you knew him, you’d never notice the tick in his jaw, a sure indication that he was holding in his temper.

The reporter nodded. “With the criminal charges against the company—”

“I want to be clear,” Tony said. “There are no criminal charges against the company. The criminal charges are against Santi Adamo, who is no longer associated with Adamo Enterprises.”

The camera panned back to a shot of the building as a voice-over started, relaying the details of the drug manufacturing. Marco noticed that the reporter had caught Tony at his car. Ambushed was probably a better word.

Marco had no idea that rumors about Adamo laying off employees were circulating. Probably because he had no fucking clue about anything going on at the company. He’d offered Tony his help, but his brother hadn’t taken him up on it. Marco had been keeping his distance, figuring it might cause more trouble if he tried to get involved. But dammit, Tony was stressed. He’d just gotten engaged and bought a house for him and Ginny to live in. He should be spending time in his new house with his fiancée instead of fending off reporters when he’d already stayed at the office way too late as it was.

Marco flipped the channel, not wanting to watch anymore. When the situation with Kat was resolved, he would redouble his efforts to take some of the burden off Tony. In fact, he wouldn’t even have to wait. Kat would be going to work at Adamo, so there was no reason Marco couldn’t start now. It actually worked out perfectly. That way, Kat wouldn’t object to his being at her work all day.

And if Tony wouldn’t let him help, he’d turn to Ginny. These days she seemed like the more reasonable of the two. There had to be something he could do.

Over the sound of frying chicken, Marco heard a soft knock on the door. He hesitated for just a moment, but went to the door himself. What the hell kind of bodyguard would he be if he let her answer the door and it turned out to be those men? Though he doubted they’d knock.

He peered through the peephole to see a little old man with tufts of white hair sticking out above his ears. His cardigan was buttoned in the wrong holes, giving him a completely disheveled look.

Marco opened the door. “Can I help you?”

“Is this Katerina’s home?” With a bewildered expression, the man twisted to look at the other doors on the hall. “I thought I had the right address.”

“Is that you, Mr. Lyle?” Kat stuck her head out of the kitchen. When she saw who it was, she wiped her hands on her apron and walked toward the door. Marco stepped back so she could speak with the man.

“Oh, Katerina, I thought I had the wrong address.”

She smiled at him. “No, you’ve got it right.”

“I have the money for you.”

She shook her head firmly. “I told you I’m not taking your money.”

“But you took such good care of Jaws and Gremlin. You earned it.”

“I was happy to do it. Use the money to buy them a new toy or something.”

Mr. Lyle pursed his lips, reminding Marco of a frog. “Are you sure? I—”

“I insist, Mr. Lyle. Truly.”

The elderly man took her hand and squeezed. “Bless you.”

As Kat shut the door, Marco raised his eyebrows at her. “Katerina?”

“He thinks that’s my name and I don’t have the heart to correct him. He lives in the next building over and I helped him catch his cats once when they escaped. Then I took care of them a few weeks ago so he could go to his great-granddaughter’s wedding.”

“Ah, Jaws and Gremlin,” Marco said. “Interesting names for cats.”

Kat shrugged. “He has a thing for old scary movies. His cats are sweethearts, though. Nothing like their namesakes.”

The real sweetheart was Kat, even though she didn’t realize it. Beneath her tough exterior was a good heart.

God, he wished the circumstances were different. Meeting Kat had been the first really good thing to happen to him in a long time.

* * *

Kat thought she’d have trouble sleeping, but she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. It was morning that came too soon. Her alarm was a blaring and unwelcome intruder into dreams where Ryan could walk, Gram was alive, and X was still blissfully unaware of her existence.

She dragged herself out of bed and stumbled toward the kitchen for coffee. Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one who’d had coffee on the brain and she collided with Marco, causing his coffee to spill down the front of him.

He stood holding two now-empty mugs with his body angled to keep his drenched shirt hanging away from his skin.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.” Kat took the mugs out of his hands, suddenly all too aware she hadn’t brushed her teeth yet. Dammit. She wasn’t used to having company and she wasn’t at her best in the mornings. She quickly disposed of the mugs in the sink, grabbing a towel.

“It’s okay.” Marco gripped the bottom of the coffee-soaked shirt and pulled it over his head.

“Are you burned?” She whirled around at the same time he did, bringing her face-to-face with his bare chest—his impressive bare chest. Tight pecs and ridged abs. Whatever regiment the military had him on, all men should be required to partake, she thought stupidly.

The scent of coffee wafted off him. She felt the sudden urge to lick his chest.

Because of the coffee, of course. It had nothing to do with the enticing way dark hairs were scattered across his muscles, thickening near his abdomen, leading down to . . .

She cleared her throat and averted her eyes.

He jumped back. “Sorry.”

Wait, why was he apologizing? She’d made him spill the coffee. She realized now that he’d held two mugs—one was for her. She felt like even more of an asshole.

“Why don’t you get in the shower?” she suggested, still not trusting herself to look at him. “I’ll make more coffee.”

He wordlessly fled the kitchen and she leaned against the counter, cursing herself for her stupidity. Then she sighed, mopped up the spilled coffee, and set about making a fresh pot. She didn’t have one of those fancy single-serve coffee machines, so it would take a while to brew. Glancing at the clock, she cursed again. If she didn’t get her ass in gear, she would be late to work.

She hurried into the bedroom to select her clothes from the closet. Her professional attire was limited and since she hadn’t had time to do laundry in a while, she was running low on options. If she was going to continue at Adamo, she’d have to invest in some new pieces.

She pulled out a pair of slacks and a blouse, laying them out on her bed. Behind her, the bathroom door opened. She turned and Marco emerged, a towel wrapped around his waist.

She shouldn’t have turned. She wished to God she hadn’t turned.

Water droplets beaded on his chest and shoulders and his damp hair glistened. She’d had trouble maintaining a coherent thought in the kitchen when he’d been wearing sweatpants and was covered in coffee. That hadn’t prepared her for this.

His eyes locked on hers with an intensity she was intimately familiar with, thanks to the kiss they’d shared after their one date.

She wanted to put her hands on his chest and push him back into the bathroom. To strip off her own clothes and join him in the shower, letting him put his hands on her body until the water ran cold.

But there were so many reasons why that couldn’t happen. She’d had no interest in men for years. Her experience with Leo had left her broken. It figured the man who finally awakened her desire was the one man she couldn’t let herself have.

“Sorry,” he said. The man was full of apologies this morning, even though he had absolutely nothing to apologize for. “I left my clothes in the living room.”

At his mention of his lack of clothes, her eyes raked over his body again before returning to his face. “Okay.”

He stepped toward her, one hand holding the towel secure. All she would have to do was take his hand and the towel would fall to the floor, leaving him completely nude.

Heat pooled within her and goddammit, her panties became wet. She wanted this man like she’d never wanted a man before. She wanted him to be the one to break her celibate streak.

He took one more step toward her and she willed him to keep going. It was so wrong, but she wanted it so badly.

Abruptly he stopped. With one last tortured gaze at her, his eyes taking in all of her, he turned and left the bedroom.

Kat exhaled, lowering herself to the bed.

What the hell just happened?

Nothing. Nothing happened, which was the way it should be. But God help her, she’d never been so disappointed.