I was on the ladder, securing the mount in the corner when April came in. I didn’t expect her and dropped the screw when she spoke. “What’s happening? Diego and Brody ran out of here pretty quick.” She laughed when I swore under my breath and stopped me from getting off the ladder. “I’ll get it.”

“Thanks. Brody’s checking out a rumor about a spray can.”

“Shit. He’s going to blame me for that, but I don’t buy them.” She grabbed the screw and held it up to me. “Here’s your screw.”

My lip twitched when I tried to suppress the smile. I wanted her to offer me a screw in more ways than one, but I’d settle for the one she was handing me. I made sure I touched her fingers when I took it and smiled when I looked into her eyes. I touched her every chance I could. “Thanks.”

We decided to keep it platonic at work, but it killed me not to touch her. She was better at hiding our growing relationship than I was. All anyone had to do was mention her and I smiled.

She backed up and placed her hands into her back pockets when I took it from her. I liked to think it was hard for her to keep her distance from me, too. “Is there anything else you need help with?”

“As soon as I get this fastened to the wall, could you look at the laptop and help me direct the angle?”

“Sure.” She headed over to the desk. “Why are you adding security in here?”

“The next appointment has a reputation and we want to protect ourselves. Brody wants eyes and ears for this conversation in case he needs it later. The guy can’t be trusted.”

“Then why have a meeting with him?”

“Brody thinks it could be about his kid. If someone needs help, we want to help. We’re just not going to get fucked in the process.” I secured the last screw. “How’s that?”

She looked at the laptop and motioned to the left a little. “Right there. That’s perfect.”

I got off the ladder after I tightened the camera in place and walked around the desk to have a look at the feed. “Beautiful.”

April looked down to the desk. She knew I was talking about her and not the camera angle. I got out of her space and walked over to the ladder. I needed to get everything put away and stop daydreaming about a future with April. Joshua Mosley was due in just a few minutes.

April stood and ran her hands over her jeans. “I’ll head out there in case Mr. Mosley is early.”

“Okay, thanks.” I waited until she was almost to the door. “Hey, April?” It was difficult to not smile when she turned and looked at me. “Thanks for the screw.”

Her eyes got wide as they looked down to my crotch. “Would you stop that? We haven’t even done that yet and you’re going to get rumors flying about us.”

“But we’ve done everything else.” I walked a few steps toward her and pulled her close to kiss her neck. “Let them talk.”

She placed her hands on my chest but didn’t push me away. “I’ll let them talk, but not before I ride you.” She kissed me. “I need to know if you’re worth the trouble first.” She smiled and watched me over her shoulder as she walked away.

It was all I could do not to chase after her and take her to my office. I liked the pace we were going, but I was looking forward to her riding me. Things were different with her. I wanted us to take our time to get to know each other. It was more intimate than sex ever had been with any other woman. It was how I knew she was the one for me.

I’d just walked back into the office from taking the ladder to the storage room and April was walking Joshua Mosley and one of his men back to Brody’s office. I was hoping for one more look around to make sure all the evidence of the added cameras and microphones had been picked up.

Joshua narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you Michaels? I heard you were bigger.”

“I’m Tim Michaels. Brody is handling an issue, but he’ll be here shortly.” I looked at April. “I’m going to make sure there aren’t any client files on the desk before you see Mr. Mosley in. Will you please see if they need anything to drink while I do that? I’ll get Brody afterward.”

“Sure.” April nodded as if telling me she knew exactly what I was doing and she’d stall for me.

I shut Brody’s door behind me and made sure everything was in place. I left the video feed open on the laptop, but minimized it and turned the screensaver on. If they tried to get into it, they wouldn’t have the password. One more look around and I was confident he wouldn’t notice anything.

“You can have a seat in here. Brody should only be a few minutes.” I walked out of the office area and headed straight for the residence of the rehab center. That was usually where any contraband was found. It was easy to follow Brody’s voice to find him. I couldn’t have yelled at them the way he did, but it was vital to tell them we meant business. It was also helpful that the rest of the clients heard we wouldn’t tolerate it, either.

However, what I was hearing was anything but helpful. It was downright scary and I knew him. What would the clients think if they heard him going off like that? I needed to put a stop to it.

I didn’t knock. I opened the door and stuck my head in. “Brody, your appointment is here.”

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

“I don’t think you want to keep him waiting.”

He turned and took a step toward me, causing me to back up. “I know who he is. He can wait.”

I nodded and left the room, but I waited for him to come out. I wasn’t going to make a bigger scene in front of Juliet. She was upset enough after getting caught with the spray can. I stood and crossed my arms as I stared the door down. I was sick of his shit.

He walked out and paused for a moment before shaking his head and walking past me. “I don’t have time for this. You told me not to keep my appointment waiting.”

I didn’t allow him to get too far before I grabbed his arm and tried to jerk him back around. He was bigger than me, so it was hard to overpower him, especially when he was as angry as he was.

“Brody, that was too much in there. You need a vacation.”

He turned and narrowed his eyes. “And just who is going to oversee all of this?”

“I will.”

He laughed and turned back toward the office. It pissed me off when he laughed at me. The center was my passion, my idea, and I was the one who ran it. He may have thought he played a bigger part than what he did, but that was my fault. I wanted him to feel as if he had a purpose in life. I may have led him to believe he had too much influence in running things, but the truth was I made all the decisions for the center.

He was a great asset with his experience. The clients didn’t want to hear things from someone who never experienced what they were going through. They wanted to hear it from survivors, and Brody was a great example for them. He needed to work on his attitude, but he was a success at leaving the drugs and alcohol behind.

“Go sit in your circle and tell them all how you feel. I won’t tell Dr. Panties you started without her.”

I clenched my jaw. Dr. Samantha Cruz was one of the counselors who came in every week to work through the emotional aspect of their recovery. I got along with her, but Brody did not. “I wish you would stop calling her that.”

He turned quick and shoved his finger in my face. “This is the exact reason you could never do what I do. You give a shit about how other people feel. I couldn’t care less, so I have no problem telling them what the fuck their problem is and why I’m throwing them out onto the streets. You can’t do that. You never could, and you never will.”

I let him walk away and see to his appointment. I was too furious to follow. He hadn’t a clue who I was or what I was capable of. He never took the time to get to know me. I needed to calm down before I took him out. I could beat the shit out of him at home, but the center was off-limits no matter how much I wanted to make him hurt.

* * *

“Are you insane?” I placed my hands on my head and started pacing. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You can’t do this.”

“Sure I can. Consider it a little test to see if you can run the shit show without me.” Brody was looking out the window waiting for a car.

“You will go to prison, Brody.”

He glanced my way and shrugged me off. “No, I won’t. She’ll be in no danger.”

I stood right behind him and yelled as loud as I could, “She doesn’t know that!” I took a couple of deep breaths, trying to will the panic away. “What if things get violent? She’s going to try to get away.”

“She won’t get away.” He turned and placed his hand on my shoulder. “This is the only way we can be sure she won’t be harmed. Her father is going to do this with or without our help.”

I hit his arm off my shoulder. “We are not a part of this. This is all you, Brody. All you. I’m not going down for this.”

“I would only ask you to get groceries and supplies. You aren’t going to be part of it.”

“That is being part of it! You are kidnapping her because her father doesn’t like her fiancé. Do you realize how idiotic that sounds?”

We both looked out the window as his friend drove up. It was a black Town Car with tinted windows. If I could’ve kidnapped Brody myself and held him until the stupid idea passed, I would’ve.

“Go home, Tim.”

I watched as he walked out and shook hands with his friend. It wasn’t unusual that he borrowed the car. He’d borrowed it before when he had to pick up higher profile clients from the airport. I almost went out to tell his friend what he wanted it for, but I didn’t want to drag his friend into it. The less he knew about Brody agreeing to kidnap Laney Mosley the better.