“Is that porn?” Jade asked as she walked up behind Dillon and Mac, both staring at Dill’s computer.

“Maybe.” Mac grinned as he straightened and then kissed Jade on the cheek.

I stepped over and put my hand around her waist. “What are you guys watching?”

Dill’s screen was paused on what looked like a BDSM porno, a woman in a tight black corset and stilettos bent over and strapped to some kind of leather bench, her legs spread.

Dill turned off the screen. “Just doing some research for Keagan’s case.”

I shook my head at the clear lie. What did I care if my brothers watched porn—together. Seemed like a solitary activity to me, but to each his own…

Or maybe Jade would be into watching with me sometime? Hmmm. Something to ask her later. I never wanted to stop learning about my amazing Jade.

“Where do things stand with Keagan?” I asked the twins. He’d been charged, held for nearly a week at this point, without a bail hearing. “Sorry we can’t kick in much money.” I squeezed Jade’s waist.

Jade was good with my putting up as much bail and legal fees as I wanted—she even offered some of her own savings—but after putting down the deposit on our new place, we didn’t have much to spare. And she’d been right. Sometimes I had to choose me. Choose us.

“Don’t worry, Nicky.” Mac plopped down on the sofa and stretched his legs out on the coffee table. “Keagan says he might not even need bail. The DA’s offered him some kind of deal.”

I laughed. “You’re kidding about him taking a deal, right? No way would Keag rat on you guys.” Even if maybe he should. Enough was enough with my brothers’ illicit business. Surely Keagan’s arrest was the wake-up call they all needed to end it for good.

“I don’t think it’s us the DA’s after,” Mac scratched his head.

“Does she want the guys Shane was dealing with?” Jade asked.

I hated that she knew about that, about any of this, that she was even around when we talked about it, but she’d made peace with it, as long as I didn’t get involved.

“I think it’s more complicated,” Mac replied.

“What kind of deal does the DA want?” Jade asked.

“The lady’s got lots of interesting wants.” Chucking to himself, Dillon went to the fridge and grabbed everyone beers.

“Keagan wasn’t clear on the deets of the deal when we talked,” Mac said. “He was worried the room was bugged.”

I sat on a leather chair, and Jade settled onto my lap. The past two weeks, we hadn’t gone a minute without touching if we could help it. She was back working at two of her old jobs, one close to full time, and I’d found a spot as a bouncer at a fancy dance club in the SoMa area of the city.

It was going to make for a long commute once we moved out of Keagan’s and into the small bachelor apartment we’d found in Oakland, and I’d had to buy a good suit, but the job paid well. Plus the owner hadn’t laughed when I’d said I was interested in moving up, learning the business and becoming a manager.

“I’ve got a good lead to unload most of the haul,” Mac said.

“That’s my cue.” Jade patted my chest. “Melodie invited me over for tea.”

“I’ll come.” My fingers spread over her ribs, loving how her body felt under my fingers.

“That’s okay, babe.” She peeled herself off me to stand. “Girl talk.”

“Okay.” I took her hand. “I’ll walk you out.”

I walked her from the twins’ apartment across the Shady Oaks courtyard to the bottom of the stairs. Jade mounted the first step, then turned to put her hands on my shoulders. “Go. Talk to your brothers. You guys need to help Keagan. It’s not like you’re going to get involved in unloading whatever shit they stole.”

“No fucking way.”

She kissed me lightly, and I pulled her forward, pressing her hips against my body. “Jade Cuoco. What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“I do remember a little sex slave thing you did for me once…”

“Speaking of that.” I grinned. “Can you believe what Dillon and Mac were watching?”

“What was that all about?” She raised her eyebrows. “And claiming it was for Keagan’s case? Why?”

“No idea.” I slid my hands down and squeezed her butt. “Maybe some night, we should watch a little…”

“Bored of me already?”

“Never.” My cock was semi-hard. “The sight of you makes me hard, Jade. The thought of you. Hell, your text messages make me hard. Even when they’re asking me to pick up groceries.”

“Duly noted.” She laughed. “Eggs and milk turn you on.”

“Sure I can’t come with?” I looked up toward the third floor where Melodie lived across the courtyard from where everything had started for us. “Or we could duck back to Keagan’s for a quickie…” I held her against my growing erection.

“Tempting,” she whispered in my ear. “But Melodie’s expecting me, and you want to hear what’s going on with Keagan’s case.” Pulling away, she stepped up another stair.

“Say hi to Melodie for me,” I said as she climbed another few stairs and our hands parted.

“Will do.” She smiled. “Did I tell you? Melodie got a new job. Teaching dance.”

“Thank god,” I said, then I watched Jade climb the stairs before I returned to the twins’ apartment.

Jade and I had been crashing at Keagan’s since I quit my job, and as far as we knew, Nicola had no idea Jade and I were still around Shady Oaks. New people had moved into our places upstairs. Looked like Russian mafia to me.

I walked back to the twins’ place and found Mac and Dillon staring at the computer again, Dillon seated and Mac leaning over. Boys had developed a serious porn problem.

“Do you think that’s the right kind of stuff?” Mac asked Dill. “How about that one?” He pointed at the screen. “Mistress Spanks the Baby Man. That sounds, um… How do we know what this chick likes?”

I slammed the door shut behind me. “Okay, now you guys really need to tell me what the fuck’s going on.”

They turned their heads toward me at the same second.

“Already told you,” Dill said. “Research for Keagan.”

“Porn research?”

“Dirt on the DA.”

I widened my eyes. “You’re kidding me.”

“Nope. Nothing concrete yet, but we’re trying to get some leverage. Maybe get him out of this thing altogether.”

I dropped down on the chair I’d vacated, missing Jade already. “Blackmail? Why would he risk adding another charge? Plus what if it gets you guys arrested? That’s all we need.”

Dillon pushed his chair back from the table. “Probably nothing will come of it.”

“Something just came in this one.” Mac pointed to the screen and laughed.

“Just following all the angles,” Dillon said as he crossed the room. “Still not sure why the DA is so interested in Keagan, though. Clearly, there was more to that container than we expected.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Baby formula for one,” Mac replied.

“What?”

“Yeah. Baby formula. Boxes and boxes of the stuff.” Mac shook his head. “Shane was right about the electronics, though. We’ve got it all stashed. Best to unload it slowly… Not draw any attention. I’m working a few channels.” He shook his head. “But if Keagan’s bail gets set high, I could cash in quickly.”

“What about the formula?” Dillon asked from the other end of the sofa. “Dump it in the bay? Seems stupid to pay to store it.” He looked at me. “Or maybe you and Jade…”

I threw the TV remote at him. “We’re not making babies yet.” But the prospect made me so fucking happy. In a few years we would. After I had a more stable job and Jade had gone through culinary school…

“Pretty sure I can unload the formula,” Mac said. “Already working another buyer for that.”

I stretched out my legs, relieved my Jade-induced boner had finally subsided. Since meeting her, I’d had to get used to being half hard all the time.

“Who buys stolen baby formula?” I asked Mac.

“I met someone…” He chewed on the inside of his cheek, and a flush rose on his neck.

“Holy shit!” I said. “Cormac Downey! You like a girl!” My brother was so transparent. To me, anyway. He might be a master negotiator with strangers, but I recognized this look on his face from back when he had a crush on Selena Gerard, a hot senior at Corpus Christi, when he’d been a freshman. The age difference hadn’t stopped Mac. He and Selena had fucked regularly the entire summer before she went off to college.

“It’s not like that.” Mac shook his head. “She’s just a mark. Works at a women’s shelter, and they go through a lot of baby formula.” He took a swig of beer. “Gotta admit, though, she is cute, but business aside, there’s no way. She’s off-limits.”

“When have you ever let a limit stop you?” I asked Mac.

Dillon started laughing, clearly knowing more about this than I did.

“What?” I asked. “She married or something?”

“Kind of,” Mac said. “She’s a nun.”