“That was fucking incredible, sweetheart.” I helped her from her knees. Her skin was dewy with afterglow. Her eyes were still hazed with lust. I knew she wasn’t ready to stop. I just unleashed something primal in both of us.

I traced my thumb along her jaw. “But I have a situation to deal with.” I squeezed her heart-shaped ass with a growl.

She pouted, pressing her pillowy lips forward. I was tempted to wipe that look off her face a second time, but Don Lorenzo would be here any second. I had already risked an awkward run-in with him, fucking her the way I had. I’d lost my damn mind when I was buried inside her.

She was insatiable. Too bad there wasn’t more time.

Something about the girl was already under my skin. There was something sinfully adorable and seductive about her. That made for a dangerous combination.

When had I ever let a woman derail me? I didn’t have the luxury of time. I never had. SEALs didn’t live normal lives. Normal didn’t exist in my world. This was my kind of normal. I had a job to do.

I fastened my belt and zipped my pants just in time.

We heard the slam of a car door outside and Jessica gasped. I felt an instinctiveness to protect her kick in.

“Don’t say anything,” I warned her. “And don’t stare at him. No matter what.”

“Why?” she asked quietly.

I exhaled. “Don doesn’t like it when people stare. Best not to get on his bad side. Trust me.”

She moved behind me and I wrapped a hand against her waist. Her body was warm and soft. My fingers dug into her flesh and she whimpered.

“I think I’m scared.” She tried to take a step backward.

I shook my head. “I’ve got you. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I told you you’re safer with me than you are out there.” I wasn’t about to let her take her chances on the street again. She had idea what she was dealing with.

The door opened and I kept one hand on the gun holstered at my back, the other fixed to Jessica.

“Jason.” Don grinned. He puffed on the end of a cigar. “You’re alive after all.”

Jessica seized beside me. I felt her entire body go rigid as she tried to inch closer to me. There was no space she hadn’t already invaded. This was as close as we could get.

“Shh,” I hissed. “Stay calm.”

She had seen it. The nasty scar that ran from his forehead, through his eye, all the way to his chin. It wasn’t as noticeable from the left, but it depended on how Don walked into the room. Unfortunately, tonight he had chosen to showcase his monstrous ragged scar.

Jessica quivered behind me. Fuck. This girl was going to get us both killed. I needed to focus. Instead, I was worried about her. I’d never been the teddy bear type. If she wanted a man to hold and comfort her, I wasn’t that guy. I was the man who could save her life right now. I was the man standing between her and her worst nightmare.

Still, there was a part of me that wanted to wrap my arms around her and kiss her. I wanted to tell her she was going to be all right. But there was no way I’d come close to anything like that in front of Don. We’d lose every advantage I had. He had worked for years to find my weakness and always came up short. That wasn’t going to change.

Two hours ago I didn’t even know her name. I wasn’t risking everything.

“Don, you made it.”

He snarled. “Cut the shit.”

His eyes wandered to the terrified girl clinging to my body. Suddenly he smiled.

“What did you bring me?” It was more of a threat than a question.

I shook my head. “Nothing.” I felt the cool metal in my hand as my clasped my gun. “What did you bring me? That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

He strolled inside the safe house followed by his goons. They were heavily armed. I didn’t expect anything less. He traveled with a full security presence wherever he went. It was the hazard of being a mob boss. One the bastard was fucking proud of.

“Why don’t you get me a bourbon?” He stared at Jessica. “I like mine on the rocks. Make it a double.”

“She’s with me. Leave her out of this,” I barked. I wasn’t going to force her to serve him. I gritted my teeth.

Don chuckled, settling on the leather sofa. It bowed under his weight. I had to hold Jessica to keep her from running. I could almost hear her heart pounding in her chest.

“And people call you a heartless bastard, Jason.”

I growled. “Do you have the cash or not?”

“Where’s that drink?”

She whimpered and the sound went right to my gut. “I’ll get your fucking drink,” I spat.

I led Jessica to the bar. “You have to get your shit together, sweetheart.”

She clenched her jaw. “Let me go. I’ll run.” Her eyes darted back and forth. “I used to run—in high school. I’m fast. Just let me go and you’ll never see me again.”

I grabbed a highball glass and dropped a few ice cubes in it. I reached for the bourbon, considering what she said.

“No.”

“What do you mean no?” she whispered. “I don’t want anything to do with the mob, or these guys. You’re one of the good guys, right? So, let me go. Please.”

I shook my head, pouring the thick rich bourbon into the glass. “I never said I was a good guy. I said I’d keep you safe.” I eyed the drink to make sure there was more than a double shot.

“You’re not going to let me go?”

“Is that really what you want?” I tilted my head. “You’re not curious what it would be like if I fucked you until the sun came up? If we had five days instead of five minutes?” I leaned toward her ear.

She looked at the drink and then Don Lorenzo. My jaw dropped when she pulled it from my hand and started walking toward the sofa.

“What are you doing?”

She looked back over her shoulder at me. “I’m helping you out.”

Fuck. She wanted to stay.