Caleb entered his offices and ran into Sienne while getting himself coffee. “Hey,” he said. “You studied Japanese in college.”

She blinked. “If you mean the single Japanese culture class I took a zillion years ago because I needed the credits and it was the only class that wasn’t full, then yes. I nearly failed it, by the way. Why?”

He yanked at his shirt and pointed to the Japanese character. “Apparently this means mom . Naoki’s idea of a joke. I’d take him to the mats if I thought he remembered.”

She burst out laughing. “And people call you a genius.”

Rolling his eyes, he headed to his office.

“Where’s the tattoo for your sisters?” she called after him. “Why aren’t we immortalized on you yet?”

He locked his door.

It wasn’t until hours later when he was in a meeting that he started in surprise as Sadie appeared in front of him. He halted the computer program and pulled off his Virtual Reality goggles.

Everyone in the huge room with him working on their latest project did the same. Spence, Sienne, the two engineers from NASA he’d been working with, and his three highest level programmers. “Lights,” he said.

The lights went from dim to bright.

Sadie stood there in the same outfit she’d had on when he’d dropped her at work that morning; formfitting ripped jeans, the holes showing off flashes of sexy leg. She wore a black cropped sweater and black high-heeled boots that put her nearly nose-to-nose with him. Her hair was loose and sexily wild around her face and she was wearing enough earrings and bracelets to set off a metal detector.

But sexy as all that was—and it was very, very sexy—when his gaze met hers, he felt his breath catch. There was so much fury in her eyes he nearly missed the heart-stopping hurt.

Nearly. “What’s wrong?”

“We need to talk,” she said.

“Oh boy,” Spence murmured under his breath to Caleb. “Nothing good ever came from those four words. You do something stupid?”

“Take ten,” Caleb said to the room, ignoring Spence while maintaining eye contact with a clearly pissed-off Sadie.

“Try thirty,” Spence said with a smile to Sadie. “Sometimes a woman’s got something to say and needs time to say it.” He crouched low and offered a hand to Lollipop at her side, who allowed a pet, but she was all eyes on Caleb, straining at her leash to get to him.

Sadie actually returned Spence’s smile, effectively proving Spence right, that Caleb was indeed in trouble all on his own. As the room cleared out, he reached for her.

She stepped back and crossed her arms. She’d locked herself up good and tight, which wasn’t good. “I take it this isn’t a social visit,” he said and scooped Lollipop up for a big hug, accepted a face full of kisses before putting her down to concentrate on Sadie.

Not that Lollipop was okay with this. She sat right on Caleb’s feet and stared up at him in adoration, giving him the I’m still right here! whine.

Pretty much the opposite of Sadie’s greeting.

“Definitely not a social visit,” she said. “I knew better than to let my guard down with you, but somehow I thought you were going to surprise me and be different. Instead, you’re worse than any guy I’ve ever dated.”

“That’s quite an accusation,” he said mildly. “You going to tell me what I did?”

She drew a deep breath. “You were sneaky and manipulative. I mean all you had to do was come to me and ask me yourself. I’d have told you anything you wanted to know. I’m a damn open book.”

She was lying. He’d never met a woman less an open book. But hell if he was going to point that out when there was steam coming out her ears. “Still don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” he said.

“Oh, please. And the really screwed-up thing is that it doesn’t even make any sense. It’s not like I wanted anything from you—or that we’re even a thing.”

He took a second to absorb that, realizing just how serious she was. “Okay,” he said. “Well, first, we are very much having a thing. It started the night we rescued Lollipop, even though it took you until last night to trust me enough to lower some boundaries and spend the night.”

Her eyes shot daggers. “Sex does not equal a thing .”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “Which is why I didn’t reference the first time we slept together. That was sex. Great sex, actually, but last night was different. It was more and you know it. And now you’re using it to back away and run scared.”

She sputtered for a moment. “Don’t turn this on me. I’m not running scared. I’m furious . And whatever that was last night, it’s over now.”

“Because . . . ?”

She drew a deep breath as if she needed it to talk instead of murder him where he stood. “Because you’re having me followed like I’m some stranger you want to bang but have to vet first. And you didn’t even care enough to do it yourself! I don’t know what you’re looking for, but I’m not some sort of con artist. I’m not going to sneak into your house and steal from you or talk to the press and give away your trade secrets, are you kidding me?”

He felt his mouth fall open. “Wait.” He caught her just as she whirled to go. “Wait a damn minute. What the hell are you talking about?”

“Remember when your sister mentioned how the people you date have to be vetted and go through a process to get cleared?”

“Yes,” he said. “And she was exaggerating. I’d never do such a thing to you.”

“Right, you wouldn’t need to because you’re having your sister do your dirty work.” She shook her head. “I didn’t want this, Caleb. Any of it.”

She didn’t say his name often, but when she did—as she had last night when he’d been buried deep inside her—it never failed to give him pleasure. Except this time. This time she said his name like it was a bad word. “I’m not having you followed. I swear it,” he said at her look of disbelief. “I wouldn’t do that to you.” And even just saying it, he knew it was true. He wouldn’t do that to her, and that’s how he knew he was in deep.

Way deep.

Too deep.

Somehow when his brain hadn’t been paying attention, his heart had engaged. It’d been a slow unfurling, but there was no sense in denying it. He was doing things he’d never done before, like using his awake hours for things other than working. Such as opening his home—and heart—to the woman standing in front of him, eyes flashing hot with temper and mistrust.

Which meant he’d have to have enough trust for the both of them until she understood that he wouldn’t hurt her, that he was real and not going anywhere. “I’m not tracking you,” he said quietly. “And . . . I talked you into this ? I’d call bullshit on that, but I’m going to give you a pass because you’re clearly upset and—”

“Let me tell you where you can put your damn pass,” she said. “Sideways.” She pulled out her phone.

There were two shots, both of Sadie presumably going about her day in the Pacific Pier Building, and both featuring a woman in the background.

Kayla, in all her pregnant glory, playing the part of the sneaky photographer. He stared at it. “What the actual fuck.”

“My question exactly.”

He lifted his head and met Sadie’s furious—and hurt—gaze. “I don’t know what’s happening here,” he said, “but I will find out.”

“You once told me that the Parkers act as a team,” she said, “even when it’s just one of you. You stand by each other, you watch each other’s backs. Maybe you didn’t say the words that set this in motion, but you knew it could happen and you certainly could’ve stopped it.”

This was all true enough to make him wince. “Sadie—”

“Are you going to tell me you’ve never had your sexual partners vetted?”

“Sexual partners, no,” he said. “Lovers, yes.” He met her gaze, letting her know that he considered the two of them lovers and not just sexual partners, but she looked away. Whether that was because she didn’t want to acknowledge it or she didn’t believe it, he wasn’t sure. “In the past,” he said, “before I’ve gotten too deep into a relationship, there’s been a vetting process, but always with permission. I admit, I’m in deep with you, but I haven’t informed anyone of that yet.”

She stared at him. “Including me.”

“Then you’ve not been paying attention.” He risked his life by closing the gap between them. “I was hoping my actions would fill you in.”

“Yeah, well, I’m learning a lot by the actions of you and yours,” she said, still stiff, still full of mistrust. “I just hope whatever you all found out about me was worth it.” She scooped up Lollipop. “Goodbye, Caleb.”

“Hold on,” he said and took her hand in his when she tried to walk past him to the door.

She tugged free and this time when she lifted her gaze to his, pain eclipsed her temper. Haunted, hollow, gut-wrenching pain, and it stopped him in his tracks. “Sadie,” he said quietly, softly, wanting only to soothe, to ease what she was feeling. Because something more was going on here, he was definitely missing something.

“No,” she murmured, her voice hitching. “Don’t.” She took Lollipop and walked out the door, Lollipop’s head bouncing as she looked over her mama’s shoulder to watch him.

“Arf!”

She wanted her human. “I could—” he started, but Sadie’s response was to flash him her middle finger as she left.

Right.

He could have stopped her or called down and have the front desk detain her. But he’d never do either. She was angry and upset, and she had a right to be.

He needed to fix this. First, he needed to find out what the hell had happened and why. He’d told Sienne to stay out of her personal life. When he had the 411 he needed, he’d find Sadie and lay his heart out on the line.

Sienne’s office was empty.

He hit up Hannah’s next and hit the jackpot. Three of them in the same spot, in fact. Hannah was sitting cross-legged on her desk eating out of a small Chinese food container with chopsticks. Kayla was in Hannah’s desk chair, her plate balanced on her big belly, eating with a fork because she had no chopsticks skills and never had. Sienne was eating standing up, leaning against the desk, laughing at Kayla, who’d just dropped a pot sticker on her chest.

“Hey,” Kayla said at his entrance, pulling her shirt up to her mouth to eat the pot sticker right off the shirt.

He shut the door harder than it needed to be. “Oh good,” he said. “A meeting of The Coven. Let’s talk.”

The Coven froze in unison and then looked at each other, brows raised.

“Is it that time of the month?” Sienne asked him.

Caleb blew out a breath. “You know I had all the males in this entire company go to sensitivity training. Maybe I need to send all the females as well. And no, it’s not that time of the month. It’s the I-need-to-fire-all-of-you time of the month.”

“Wow,” Hannah said, taking another bite. “It’s like he wants to die.”

But Caleb wasn’t playing. “Sit down,” he said to Sienne.

“I like to stand.”

“Do you like to be unemployed?” he asked.

Sienne chewed her bite and swallowed, taking her sweet ass time about it too, but she did finally sit. “What the hell crawled up your—?”

“Which one of you approved the background search on Sadie after I told you not to?”

They all gave each other a careful look again, their faces now blank in the Parker family way when they were closing ranks.

“Someone needs to start talking,” he said and met Sienne’s gaze. “I pay you the most, so you first.”

“You pay her more than me?” Hannah asked.

Sienne set down her Chinese food container and wiped her hands on a napkin before meeting his gaze. “I approved it.”

“After I explicitly asked you not to do it,” Caleb said, wanting to make sure he was hearing her correctly.

“You were—are —acting off,” she said. “You’re doing things you’ve never done before, like leaving work early.”

“Not early,” he said. “I’m just putting in normal hours instead of the usual insane overtime—something you’ve been after me forever to do, by the way.”

“You’re leaving meetings to take personal phone calls. And texting all the time. And you’re so secretive about it, about her.”

“Because it’s private,” he said.

“It?”

“Yes, and it’s between me and her and not all of you. It’s not about work, so leave it alone.”

“But we’re not just your work people,” Hannah said. “We’re your family. We’ve been doing this for how many years? Why are you upset now? What’s so different this time? What is she to you?”

He was only just starting to understand the answer to that question, so he certainly wasn’t about to discuss it with his nosy-ass sisters. “What does that matter?”

“It matters,” Sienne said. “You know we had to check, maybe now more than ever since you’re acting so weird.”

“Sienne,” Hannah said and gave a single head shake. She looked at Caleb. “There’s more,” she said quietly. “We . . . found something.”

He cut his eyes to her.

“I know you’re pissed off,” she said. “But—”

“Actually, I’m furious. Looking into her, maybe I could see. If I’m being honest, we’ve had reasons to do that in the past.” This was a grudging admission. “But to have Kayla follow her around after I asked you not to?”

“You’ve never complained before,” Hannah said. “What did you expect?”

“I expect you to let me live my life and let me make my choices,” he said. “You went too far. I should fire all your asses.”

Kayla’s eyes welled up with tears and he blew out a breath. “Don’t cry.” He pulled her into him and pressed his cheek to the top of her head. “You’ve made a lot of sacrifices for me, I get that. And I appreciate all you’ve done, more than I can ever say. And yes, you’re in charge of my professional life. But this is my personal life, so I really need you to hear me on this. I love you, but you all need to butt the hell out.” He gave them each a long look and turned to the door.

“I’m still going to send you the file,” Sienne said.

“Don’t,” he said.

“Okay, let me reword,” Sienne said. “I already sent it to you. You should read it.”

He shut the door on them and drew in a deep breath, mind spinning. To the shock of his staff, he left the building. He was headed back to Cow Hollow, though he made a quick stop on the way.

He parked and checked his phone. Sienne had indeed sent him a file this morning with the subject Mercedes Lane, please read .

He didn’t. Instead, he entered the Canvas Shop. Both Rocco and Mini Moe were at the front desk, elbow-to-elbow, taking up half the shop with their size, talking about the radish and grape salads they were eating.

“Hey,” Mini Moe said defensively, jabbing his fork in Caleb’s direction. “It’s gluten free.”

“Not judging,” Caleb said.

“Are you sure? Because even I’m judging us just a little bit.”

Caleb refrained from laughing, knowing it was best for his physical well-being. He looked at Rocco, who hadn’t said a word or uttered a greeting. “Is Sadie here?”

“Why?”

“I’d like to talk to her.”

“Why?” Rocco asked, shoveling in another bite of his salad and crunching aggressively.

Caleb blew out a breath. “She told you.”

“She told me things were fucked up.”

“Yeah,” Caleb said. “And I’m here to apologize.”

Rocco and Mini Moe looked at each other in surprise.

“What?” Caleb asked. “What’s so weird about that?”

“Nothing,” Rocco said. “Except I don’t think a guy she’s been into has ever cared enough to apologize for anything.”

He’d guessed as much, but hearing it made Caleb feel like an even bigger dick. “Does that mean you’ll tell me where she is?”

“Apparently, he’ll tell you anything you want,” Sadie said darkly from behind him and he turned to find her standing in the opened doorway to the back rooms.

“And,” she said to Rocco, “you know what else is gluten free? Shutting up.” She turned to Caleb, cool and remote.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

Sadie didn’t acknowledge this. She simply glared at Rocco and Mini Moe.

Rocco offered his fork with a grape on it.

She shook her head. “I don’t consume wine in pill form.”

Rocco shrugged and went back to eating.

Caleb handed her the travel tumbler he’d stopped for, filled with her favorite coffee.

She eyed the container and the words on it:

She gave a reluctant smile.

“Can we talk?” he asked and felt a déjà vu since only an hour ago she’d told him they needed to talk. That hadn’t gone so well. He was hoping this went better.

But she hesitated. He actually thought she was going to turn him down flat, but she finally nodded and jerked her chin toward her workstation. She yanked the curtain around her area and pulled herself up to sit on the counter. Her body language said Closed Off as she sipped the coffee he’d brought her, watching him from eyes that weren’t giving much away.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “You were right about what was happening, but I want you to know I didn’t ask for you to be vetted. I wouldn’t have done that without telling you first. My sisters are going to cease and desist and leave you the hell alone. If you want to be done with this, with me, I’ll understand, but I hope that you’ll give me another chance.”

She stared at him for a long beat and he stared back, wishing he could get a bead on what she was thinking.

“Did you get filled in on whatever they dug up about me?” she finally asked.

“No.” This was the utter truth and it would remain so. He had zero intention of reading the file sitting in his unopened e-mail.

She processed this for a long moment and then nodded again.

“Go out with me,” he said.

She gave him a long look. “We already had a date.”

“So let’s check date number two off the list.”

She sipped some more coffee, not nearly as composed as she wanted to be because he could see her hands shaking. “My list doesn’t have a date number two on it,” she said.

“What does your list have on it?”

“A lot of things.” She ticked the points off her fingers. “One, men suck. Two, dump any men in my life. Three, men suck. The rest of the list isn’t important right now.” She set down the mug and slid off the counter.

He caught her by the hand when she went to walk away. “Are we done then, Sadie? Is that what you’re saying?”

She stared into his eyes and said nothing.

His heart did a belly flop, but he nodded. He’d told her he would understand, and he stood by his word. Regardless of the way his heart threw itself against his ribcage, he let go of her hand and turned and walked out.