If Damon were any more pissed, his damn head would fly off. He stormed into Jax’s war room, fresh stitches in his arm and a bandage above his right eyebrow. Greyson was already sitting next to Raze Shadow, one of Jax’s lieutenants. The guy was the silent type—a former sniper—with longish, black hair and sharp, light blue eyes. He looked to be Native American, and rumor had it he was dating the shrink at Vanguard.

Jax sat at the head of the table. “Did Doc Penelope get you stitched up okay?”

Damon nodded. The petite doctor had been quick and efficient. “Yeah. Once your brother let me near her.” That Marcus Knight, Jax’s half-brother, had some serious issues.

Jax waved a hand. “He’s a problem for another day. Right now, it appears Vanguard and the Mercenaries aren’t getting along very well. I kicked the two guys out who attacked you.”

“What about Quincy?” Damon snapped, taking a seat.

Jax shrugged. “He said he was just at the wrong place, wrong time. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt this time.”

“He was outside April’s place on purpose,” Damon snarled.

Jax’s eyebrows rose. “So?”

So? She was with Damon, damn it. He bit his lip.

Jax sighed. “Listen. I get it. She has that whole nun-slash-whore thing going on. But, no.”

Lava poured through Damon’s veins. “What did you just say?”

Jax frowned. “What?”

Damon partially rose.

Greyson raised a hand. “Hold it a sec. I don’t think Jax meant any insult.”

Jax’s lips turned down. “Of course, not. I adore April. But you have to admit, she’s pretty and kind and great with the kids…and she has a body like Jessica Rabbit.”

Damon gave a sharp shake of his head. “What the fuck?”

Greyson’s grayish-green eyes twinkled. “That’s kind of true.”

Damon might have to beat the shit out of both of them. “One of you says a word about her, and I pull out my knife again.” It still had blood on it from the last fight.

Jax cut Greyson a look. “He’s getting in too deep.”

Not deep enough. Damon had had one taste of her, just one, and she was already in his blood. He’d figure out what to do about that later. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.”

“Jesus.” Jax shook his head, the motion almost sad. “First, I had to deal with Raze and the shrink while stupid Greyson here kidnapped and seduced Raze’s sister.”

Grey reared back. “Hey. She seduced me.”

Raze calmly reached across the table and punched Grey in the face before settling back down.

Greyson rubbed his chin. “That was hardly necessary, but I get it. She’s your sister. But she’s carrying my baby, so don’t hit me again.”

They were a bunch of lunatics. Damon growled low and deep.

Jax continued as if violence hadn’t just occurred at his table. “Then Tace and Sami danced around each other for ages, making googly eyes. I had to send them both to our Bunker just to keep from puking. And now? Damon and April. Well, no. I’m just saying no this time. No romance, no fucking, no emotional shit. Got it, Damon?”

Damon finally calmed. “I think you’re a complete moron.”

“Ha.” Jax shook his head again. “It’s too late. You’re already lost. Damn it.” He looked at Greyson. “I’d ask you to take him to the Bunker with you, but I need him on the inside of the Pure. Speaking of which?” He turned back toward Damon.

Damon shoved down the temper that very rarely showed itself. He had to get ahold of himself. “They were nice and made a big show of folks doing their part—men and women. All laughing and having fun. Which was easy to believe because we had some phenomenal steak for dinner.”

Greyson leaned back. “Where the hell did they get steak?”

“Now that’s a good question,” Damon agreed. The Pure obviously had sources on the outside somewhere.

Jax drummed his fingertips on the table. “I’m thinkin’ from your word choices that they were trying too hard?”

Damon rubbed his chin. “Maybe. We saw only what they wanted us to see, that was for sure.”

“You weren’t here when they had five pregnant women come out and tell me to leave them alone. They were acting all subservient and kind of numb.” Jax shuddered. “It was like something out of a horror movie. Any chance you saw any of those women?”

“Nope.” Damon stretched his aching shoulder. Stupid knife wound. “If there’s anything cultish or sexist or whatever going on, I didn’t see it. Also didn’t see any expecting women.” He thought through the problem. “But I’ve been invited back tomorrow. What if April and I get in a bit of a fight beforehand, and I handle her?” He tried not to wince at the thought.

Jax studied him. “If the Pure group steps in, they’re legit. If they don’t…”

Then maybe they’d see him as an ally. Damon wanted this assignment over—and now—so he could figure out his life.

Raze cleared his throat. “Is April that good of an actress?”

Smart. The sniper was definitely sharp. Damon shook his head. “No. She’s terrible. If I pick a fight, it needs to be real on her part.” Until he could explain later. “It won’t be pretty.” Especially for him.

“Can you do it?” Grey asked quietly.

The question echoed the thoughts rampaging through Damon’s own head. Greyson was a true brother, and he knew how Damon worked. Grey had his back, and that meant everything. He met Grey’s gaze and gave him the truth. “Yes. I can do it. Don’t want to, but there’s a part of me that doesn’t think she realizes the danger she’s in.”

“She lost her daughter,” Jax burst out.

Damon shook his head. “I know, but that was Scorpius. This is a nice and charismatic group of people who cook fine food and say the right things. The darkness, if it’s there, is hidden well.” April was a nester, and that was a fact. She’d settled into this life, and it still wasn’t safe. Showing her that might be necessary.

“The thing she fears may become you,” Grey said quietly. “Sure you’re prepared for that?”

“That’s already happened,” Damon admitted. The look in her eyes after he’d stabbed the ex-Vanguard member just an hour before would always haunt him. Then he’d kissed her, and he hadn’t exactly asked for permission.

“Sorry,” Greyson said.

Damon forced a shrug. “It is what it is.” It wasn’t as if he were looking to make a connection. His job, after this current mission, was to cover Grey’s back like always. Since Grey’s fiancée was pregnant, he was distracted. Especially since no Scorpius survivor to-date had managed to stay pregnant long enough to give birth, and Maureen had definitely survived the infection. “Let’s move on. What’s the plan for tonight’s raid?”

“We’ve changed it to tomorrow night,” Jax said, reaching for a map under the table. “Here’s the plan.”

* * *

A soft knock on the door nearly stopped April’s heart. She looked up from her perch on the old sofa where she was reading a Lexi Blake novel a group had found while scouting the previous week. Oh, she’d already read it a couple of times before the pandemic, but it took her away from this world for a while. She had to find the rest of the series somehow.

Another knock.

Swallowing, she moved on unsteady legs to the outside door. Had Damon come back? Just an hour before, he’d kissed her as if he wanted to eat her alive.

And her body had been all in.

She wasn’t ready to face him. The violence he’d shown in such a calm and deliberate way had shaken her. Completely. Then the kiss had rocked her world. None of it made a lick of sense.

“Hello?” came a soft voice. “April? You there?”

Oh. April pulled open the door to see Lynne Harmony and Vinnie Wellington standing in the soft moonlight. Lynne had a bottle in her hand. “Hi?”

“Hi.” Vinnie pushed past her with Lynne on her heels. “Came to check on you and maybe get a little drunk.” She glanced to her side. “Shh. We won’t have too much. Geez. Go away, Lucinda.”

April squinted at the shrink, who sometimes hallucinated her dead stepmother. She’d needed a friend, and her friends were here. “Okay.”

Lynne quietly shut the door, her heart glowing a bright blue beneath her white T-shirt. She no longer tried to hide the aberration. “I hope it’s okay. We heard you and Damon went on that date with the Pure, and we’re dying to get the details.”

“Good. I wanted to talk to you, Vinnie, about doing some counseling with the kids.” April followed them into the small living area after grabbing three plastic cups from the kitchen. What the soldiers did to protect Vanguard was important and vital. But so was taking care of people inside the territory.

“Sure,” Vinnie said easily. We can talk about it tomorrow, when we’re working. Tonight, let’s just relax.”

Yeah. Good plan. Both women were brilliant and had doctorates, and sometimes April wasn’t sure what to say around them. She hadn’t even gone to college. But they were kind, and they’d become her friends. “It was an unsettling night.” She flopped onto a cracked leather chair.

Lynne sat next to Vinnie on the worn sofa and poured three glasses of tequila.

April winced. “Seriously?” Why couldn’t it be schnapps or something?

“It’s all we had.” Vinnie took her glass. The shrink had blue eyes, blond hair, and a wicked sense of humor. She ran the deadly serious Raze Shadow in circles, and it was a lot of fun to watch. She was also a former profiler with the FBI. “Go away, Lucinda,” she muttered.

Lynne took her glass and handed one to April. They’d bonded while locked in a room hiding from psychos with guns, and Lynne had been there for April after her daughter died. “Have a drink, sister.”

April accepted the glass. “Cheers.” She tipped her head back and swallowed. The liquid burned her throat and heated her stomach. She coughed, her lungs compressing.

“Did he kiss you?” Vinnie asked after taking her shot.

Lynne nudged her with an elbow. “Vinnie. Come on.” Then she looked at April expectantly. “Well?”

How the hell should she answer that? “Yes, he kissed me. But it was after he stabbed a guy and knocked another unconscious by kicking him in the head. It wasn’t after our date in a goodbye-at-the-door type of way.” April held out her glass for another shot of the healing brew.

Lynne poured. “Wow. That was more than I expected. I need a second to process.”

“Not me,” Vinnie piped up. “Did you kiss him back?”

Had she? April took just a sip this time, and her lips burned a little. “I’m not sure. It was such a surprise, and he just took over. I may have moved my mouth?” Man. Had she? Or had she acted like a cold fish? While she wasn’t sure she wanted to kiss Damon again, she couldn’t have him thinking she was a bad kisser. “Oh, I don’t know.” Her stomach dropped.

Vinnie gulped down another shot. “I’m sure you did. If he was that into it, then he liked it.”

“Wait a minute.” April waved her hand. The room tilted a little, and her body fuzzed nicely. “It doesn’t matter. Come on. I’ve been with one man my entire life. I have no idea what to do with a tough guy like Damon.”

Vinnie snorted. “It’s all the same, sister. They all have the same parts.”

Lynne tried to cover a laugh with a cough. Her eyes watered. “Yes, and no. I mean, come on. These guys are a little different. The whole survival and deadly soldier thing. It makes the sex, well, intense.”

Vinnie giggled.

April’s vision blurred, but she studied the two brilliant blondes anyway. “I got pregnant at sixteen with my husband, which was the best accident ever to happen in my entire life. It also got us out of foster care.” Sure, things had been tough, but they’d made it. “I worked, and Don went to school and became a dentist. Things were really good then.” Until they weren’t.

“Wow.” Vinnie tapped her glass against her lips. “You never even dated anybody else?”

April shook her head. “Nope.” Then she tried to clear her head. “And I’m not dating anybody now. You guys know that. This is a mission.”

Vinnie nodded, her face morphing just a little. “Yeah, I understand. But these days, that’s like online dating. Everything is an op.”

Humor slaked April, and she chuckled. That wasn’t even funny. But, somehow, she laughed.

“I was on a mission when I hooked up with Jax.” Lynne’s words slurred. “That worked out.”

Vinnie giggled. “I was a mission with Raze. Remember? He was supposed to turn me over to Greyson Storm.”

Lynne nodded vigorously. “Yeah. And Greyson was on a mission with Maureen, who he kidnapped. They’re all missions. Everywhere you look, another mission. Why do they all lead to kissing?”

Vinnie half-heartedly swung out to pat Lynne’s shoulder. “Great question! Yeah. That’s a really good question. Right?”

“Uh-huh.” April couldn’t feel her feet. Or face. “Is it worth it? Taking the chance again. After everything?” She blinked, trying to keep her eyes open somehow.

“Yes,” both women answered in unison.