Jack checked his Rolex as the cab pulled curbside next to Eva’s apartment building in Tribeca. It was just before midnight.

He would much rather be rolling up to her place to continue their lessons in seduction, but he was accustomed to shifting gears quickly. It was part of what made him a shark at the negotiation table. He didn’t have as much experience using the seek-and-destroy part of himself in his personal life, but right now he was ready to tear the son of a bitch who had broken into Eva’s apartment to pieces with his bare hands.

What if Eva had been home? Alone? What would the bastard have done to her?

The thought was enough to make Jack’s jaw clench and his hands ball into fists at his sides.

Eva’s apartment boasted a 24/7 doorman, a brightly lit lobby, and an address in one of the best neighborhoods in the city. One of the safest, too—Antonio had made sure of that. That safety came with a hefty Tribeca price tag, but Antonio had spared no expense where his little sister was concerned. The day they’d closed on the apartment four years ago, he’d had a team install a top-of-the-line security system. At the time Jack had thought the cameras in every room were overkill.

But now, as he stepped onto the sidewalk to greet the policemen milling around outside the apartment building, he wondered whether Antonio’s instincts had been spot on.

“Were you the officer American Security sent to follow up on the break-in?” he asked the young policeman who was slouching against a squad car.

The baby-faced cop stood up straight and waved him off. “I’m going to have to ask you to move along, sir. This is an active crime scene. Only residents are allowed in the building right now.”

Jack’s jaw clenched. Ordinarily, the kid cop’s tough-guy act would have loosened the sharper edge of his tongue. But tonight he needed answers—fast—and there were times when honey caught more flies than vinegar. “Look. I’m Jack Bennett, Miss Fiorini’s friend. I’ve known her since she was a girl, and I was with her when she got the call that there’d been a break-in. I didn’t want her coming here until I made sure it was safe. I’m worried about her and would appreciate any information you’re able to share.”

The other man’s expression softened. “I get it. I’ve got two little sisters.”

Jack nodded, though he certainly wasn’t thinking about Eva in a sisterly fashion any more. Not after tonight.

“It’s safe,” the cop continued. “The perp got away, but we’ll need the resident to determine if anything’s missing. I’m Officer Valentine. Come on. I’ll show you what we’ve got so far.”

Valentine motioned him through the revolving doors to where the doorman, an older man with a thick gray moustache, stood in the elegant lobby, looking thoroughly spooked. “Nothing like this has ever happened here before,” he said as they approached. “Been here ten years, and we’ve never had a break-in.”

Well, that makes sense. This place is like Fort Knox. If the intruder was a junkie looking for something to sell to get his next fix, there were about a million other places in the city that would be easier to get into.

“I have no idea how this person gained access,” the doorman continued with a huff, “but he certainly didn’t come through my lobby.”

“It’s all right, Harry.” Officer Valentine clapped the doorman on the shoulder. “We’ll figure it out. And as soon as we do, you’ll be the first to know.”

“You do that.” Harry nodded crisply. “If Miss Fiorini had been hurt, I never would have forgiven myself. Sweet girl like that should feel safe in her own home.”

Jack smiled at the man as he followed Valentine deeper into the lobby, a fan of Harry already.

“As I said, we’re working on figuring out just how the guy gained access.” The officer circled around the front desk, motioning for Jack to join him on the other side. There, below the polished black marble countertop was a console with a series of six small television screens, each displaying a stretch of empty hallway. On one of them Jack saw the frozen image of a man working at the lock on Eva’s door.

“This is their best shot of him so far.” The officer clicked the mouse beside the front desk computer, blowing up the image until the intruder’s pixelated face filled the screen. “We’re working with American Security to get the images from the cameras inside the apartment. We should have them soon.”

Jack stared at the blurry picture of the fucker who’d ruined his evening. The guy was tall and wore baggy jeans and a hooded jacket that was drawn tight around his face. He could’ve been any one of a million men. “That’s all you have?”

The officer crossed his arms with a sigh. “’Fraid so.”

Jack looked at the doorman, whose moustache was ruffling with irritation “So you were here in the lobby the entire time, Harry?”

The older man nodded. “I sure was.”

“And she’s on the, what? The twelfth floor?” When the older man nodded again, Jack pushed on. “Are there any back entrances this guy might have come through? Maybe a delivery entrance?”

Harry shook his head. “There are, but all the other entrances are locked, and I didn’t see anyone out of the ordinary.” He leaned his forearm on the desk and pointed to the log book on the other side. “All the people who signed in have checked out. Unless the bastard scaled the wall, I don’t know how he got in.”

And if he had scaled the wall—or resorted to other elaborate measures to gain entrance—then this for damned sure wasn’t a random break-in.

Jack turned back to the officer, his brow furrowed. He didn’t like this. Not one fucking bit. “So, what happens next?”

“We’re looking into all possible leads,” Valentine said vaguely.

Jack sucked in a breath. In other words, they had no idea. He rubbed his eyes, his frustration growing. “Do you have any leads?”

Valentine pressed his lips together. “We’re compiling evidence. Our first order of business is interviewing the victim. You said you were with her at the time? Is she close by?”

“Yes, I was with her,” Jack said. “But no, she’s not close. I told you, I wanted to make sure—”

“I’m here, I’m here,” a slightly breathless voice said behind them.

Jack turned to see Eva hurrying toward them in her sexy-as-hell black dress and fuck-me heels. Emotions warred within him: irritation at her for not listening when he’d told her to stay put, relief that she was close enough that he could keep her safe from fuckers like the one on that screen, and gratitude that every inch of her beautiful body was unharmed.

Jack flashed back to the hotel room, when she’d let her sinful dress fall to her feet, baring the goddess underneath. The mix of innocence and seduction in her every movement had blown him away.

Now, she wrapped her arms tight around her body, fear stealing her confidence. “I’m Eva Fiorini. What do you need to ask me?”

The officer held out a hand, which Eva shook with her usual elegance. “Nice to meet you Miss Fiorini. I’m Officer Valentine. Why don’t you go on upstairs first and take a look around, so you can let me know if anything’s missing. I’ll be up as soon as I make a quick call into headquarters.”

Eva nodded, but as she turned toward the elevator, she cast an anxious glance at Jack over her shoulder. She half bit, half licked her lower lip in a way that made his cock twitch, despite the fact that his blood was boiling.

What the fuck was she doing here? When he’d agreed to be her teacher, he’d assumed she would respect his direction, even if it extended to activities outside the bedroom. He needed her to listen to him, to obey him, especially at times like this. If something happened to her on his watch, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

“I thought I told you to stay put,” he muttered as he took her elbow and led her the last few feet to the elevator bank.

“I’m not a dog,” she said softly, irritation clipping each word.

He gritted his teeth. “Obviously. Dogs have more sense. As my student, you are under my authority. That was part of the deal, was it not?”

After a brief pause, her breath rushed out. “Yes, but—”

“Then you should have listened,” Jack said. “When I say I’m going to take care of something, and I want you to stay safe, I mean it.”

“Then I guess you’ll have to punish me, won’t you?” Her voice still carried an edge of irritation, but there was heat in her eyes—heat that made him want to push her dress up around her thighs the moment the elevator doors closed.

Once again he wondered how she managed to straddle the line between innocent virgin and sinfully sexy vixen, a combination that kept his jaw dropping and his cock as hard as steel.

His dick stiffened more as he imagined how he would show her who was in control. The way he would bring her to the edge with his mouth between her legs, but deny her release until she was begging him to get her off and swearing she would never disobey a direct order again.

Damn, she turned him on like no one else. Not an hour ago he’d been a heartbeat away from burying himself deep inside her, and now he was here again, in this unfamiliar, agonizing place of wanting her like nothing he’d ever wanted before.

“Hold the elevator,” Valentine called, just as the doors were about to close.

Jack reached out, opening the doors for the officer to slip through. Probably for the best. Being alone with Eva right now didn’t seem like the best idea. He needed to regain control, to rule his emotions instead of the other way around.

On the way up to the apartment, Valentine filled Eva in on the particulars of the case. The higher the elevator rose, the deeper the crease of worry on her forehead became.

As the doors opened on the twelfth floor, the officer said, “Unfortunately, there have been a rash of burglaries in the area. It’s nothing new. We’ll just make a list of what’s missing and hope he gets careless next time.”

Jack frowned as they made their way down the hallway to her home. What kind of plan of action is that? And what about the fact that this man went to all the trouble to rob someone on the twelfth floor, where it would be harder for him to make his escape?

At her door, Eva took a bracing breath before turning the key and stepping inside. Jack followed her and was immediately enveloped in the welcoming energy of the apartment.

Even in pretentious Tribeca, this was just the sort of place that he’d expect Eva to have—homey and warm, with touches of her family everywhere. The shelves teemed with books, and the overstuffed couch was draped in the same colorful homemade blankets that had littered Antonio’s bed when they were in school—Jack couldn’t recall a time when he’d seen Mrs. Fiorini without her knitting needles. Family photos adorned nearly every inch of available wall space.

As Eva walked to the middle of the room, two fluffy gray cats emerged from beneath the couch to curl around her ankles. She picked one of them up and stroked behind its ears, still looking around. “Everything looks okay in here.” She pointed down a small hallway. “May I…?”

The officer nodded. “Of course. We’ve already made sure it’s clear, and we’ve dusted for prints.”

As Valentine followed her down the corridor, with Eva’s fuck-me heels clicking on the wooden floor, Jack couldn’t help but remember the way she’d walked toward him, nearly naked, and how perfect her tits had felt in his hands. He ached to touch her again, and not simply because they’d stopped seconds from the main event. He needed to hold her, to banish the stress from her eyes with his hands, his kiss, his mouth against hers, promising that she was safe as long as she was in his arms.

A moment later he heard Eva say, “It’s all fine in here, too. My jewelry, my computer, my iPad—everything’s here, even my grandmother’s pearls, thank God.”

Jack turned back toward the living room and found himself facing a picture of a younger Eva, when she was probably eight or nine, wearing a riding habit and straddling a giant black horse. She held a blue ribbon, and an ear-to-ear smile brightened her face. Beside her was her family, all of them now deceased: Mrs. Fiorini, who died when Eva was in high school; her father, Pietro, who’d died in a boating accident a few years ago; and her brother, Antonio, who’d been struck by a hit and run driver last year.

Once upon a time they’d had it all—love, money, success, happiness. There had been a lot to envy about them.

And now, Eva was the only one left.

Cursed. Jack had heard the whispers after Antonio’s funeral. The only family I know of that has worse luck was the Kennedy clan.

But Jack didn’t believe in luck or curses or coincidences.

And he sure as hell didn’t believe in sitting tight and waiting for the man who had broken into Eva’s apartment to strike again.

When Eva drifted back into the room a moment later, her eyes wide and her fingers anxiously scratching her cat’s furry neck, he realized there was no way he was letting her out of his sight. Not for the foreseeable future, anyway.

She swallowed and asked Valentine the same question he’d been thinking. “So what do you think the man wanted, if he wasn’t here to rob me?”

“Oh, I’m sure he was after your valuables,” the officer answered, “It’s likely the alarm just got tripped and scared him away before he could.”

Jack went over to the front hallway to study the elaborate panel on the alarm system. It looked like something out of the space shuttle. If that wasn’t enough of a deterrent, the warning signs on the door that said This Home Is Protected By American Security should have been. He remembered how proud Antonio had been when he’d had the thing installed. Let them come, he’d challenged with a glint in his eye. This alarm system makes NORAD look like child’s play.

Despite what the officer thought, Jack knew one thing for sure: this was no run-of-the-mill burglary.

The officer began another round of meaningless assurances as Jack paced behind Eva, itching to take action. As she and Valentine grabbed spots on the couch to run through the particulars of the phone call from American Security, Jack excused himself to the hallway to check the front door.

The doorknob was perfectly intact, without a scratch, and there was a fingerprint scan required to gain access. If the man had entered through the front door, wouldn’t the lock be damaged? How else had he gotten in without a print scan?

Frowning at the buzz in his pocket, Jack slid out his cell. He had a text from Stella, asking if he was still alive. Just the person he needed to talk to.