At the sound of movement from Harper’s room, I pour her a cup of coffee and make it the way I remember she likes it. I’m willing to bet her taste in coffee hasn’t changed. She likes everything sweet. After adding the amount of cream and sugar she likes, it shouldn’t even be called coffee.

Harper stumbles into the kitchen rubbing her eyes and grunts when I hand her the mug. She’s never been a morning person. I sit at the table next to her, watching her slowly become a functioning human. Her hazel eyes brighten with each sip and bounce around the room avoiding my gaze. I want her to look at me. I want her to know I thought of her all night. After she ran off, I couldn’t stop thinking about every sweet piece of her.

My eyes drift down to her cleavage. I smile when her nipples turn to hard peaks through her silk top.

“Stop it.”

My grin widens when I look up to find her scolding me. “Can’t help it, Sugar.”

The scowl on her face is adorable. I don’t want to stop at all. I want to push all of her buttons and make her come alive again. The passion and fire I saw in Harper last night is the girl I remember. We have shit to figure out. I never told her all of my reasons for breaking up with her. I never told her I came back. She thinks I left and never looked back. Even with the years and distance between us, I never left her.

“I’m dropping you off at your store. Then I’m going to get my stuff from the motel to bring here. I’ll meet you at your store after.”

“You can’t stay there all day.” Harper runs her hand through her hair, scowling at me.

“Yeah, I can. I won’t be gone long and you’ll call if he shows up.”

“I have work to do.”

“I won’t be in your way.” I have no intention of being in her way, I’m not just not willing to leave her side for a long period of time.

“You’ll distract me.”

I could definitely distract her. Harper bent over a desk flashes in my mind.

“I promise to make the distractions really quick.” I wink and watch her face turn red. She gets up from the table and storms past me to her room, slamming the door.

“I can hear you laughing,” she yells from her room. This makes me laugh even harder and damn happy that I’m getting under her skin. She’s determined to ignore every time I flirt with her, but I will break down those walls.

After dropping Harper off at her store, I quickly toss everything from the motel into my truck and start searching for the gym James owns. Rafael’s name carried some weight with him.

Throwing my truck in park after I pull into the parking lot of Raise the Bar, I jump out and head inside to find some answers. My eyes sweep over the large area. I see him coming out of a room in the back. The receptionist at the front desk tries to stop me, but I ignore her and continue heading straight for him. His head pops up when I’m twenty feet away. The scowl on his face deepens as his eyes narrow into slits.

James stops walking and crosses his arms over his chest, waiting for me to come to him. I stop in front of him and raise an eyebrow. He knows why I’m here, he knows the information I want. I match his stance, arms crossed over my chest.

“Tell me who he is.” My demand is rough and curt, leaving no room for friendly interpretation.

James clenches his jaw and narrows his eyes even more. He watches me for a moment before turning on his heel and striding back into the room he came from. Helpful.

He can’t get rid of me that easily. I march into his office, stopping in front of his desk. He’s sitting in the chair behind the desk completely still. He still doesn’t speak when I stop in front of him, only continues to glare. I lean on his desk, matching his stare. I will not back down.

“Door.”

“What?” I ask, surprised by his one growled word.

He speaks slowly as if my comprehension level is that of an infant. “Close the door.”

I push off his desk and throw the door closed, turning back to him. If I expected him to start speaking, I would have been sorely disappointed. He remains sitting in the exact same position. I don’t think he’s even blinked. Completely silent.

“Tell me,” I demand.

James finally moves. He points to the chair across from his desk, silently telling me to sit down. If all of his answers are going to come that way, this is going to take much longer than I planned. I sit across from him, narrowing my eyes on him and demand again. “Tell me.”

After a long, terse silence, James finally speaks. “Why?”

“Fucking Christ,” I mutter, bowing my head and closing my eyes, gathering every spare ounce of patience I have. “He has his eyes set on Harper, he wants something from her.”

“Okay.” The expression like pulling teeth comes to mind.

“Tell me who he is, James.”

“You don’t need to know.” He finally moves a fraction of an inch, just a tiny shrug.

“How am I supposed to protect her if I don’t have all the information?”

“Keep your head on a swivel.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re charming?” I ask, looking away. I’m on the verge of jumping across his desk and ripping him limb from limb unless he starts giving me answers.

“All the time.” When I look back at him, there’s a small twitch of his lips.

I try another tactic. “Look, I know you don’t know me, but you know Harper. I see that you care enough about her that you wouldn’t want her to be hurt.” He bristles. I keep going, trying to reason with him, make him see this isn’t for me. It’s for her. “I need to know what this bastard wants from her. You don’t need to like me. Do this for her.”

He points at me. “You keep watch and protect her.” Then points to himself. “I’ll handle Rafael on my end.”

“Goddammit. Tell me who the fuck he is.” I demand, slamming my fist down on his desk.

“You don’t need to know.” James growls, just as irritated with me as I am with him.

“How do ya figure?” I ask sarcastically.

“The more you know, the more danger you’re in.”

I stand up, done with his cryptic responses. James has height and bulk on me; he looks like he could pulverize anyone, but he’d be nothing compared to me if he stood in the way of keeping Harper safe. Leaning over his desk and getting in his face, I growl my words. “Fucking tell me everything you know. I will fucking end you if you’re the reason something happens to her.”

James stands to his full height before coming down to the same position I am. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I should kick you out of my gym. Sit your ass back down.”

I’m about to respond when he keeps speaking. “You want answers or not? Sit the fuck down.”

I glare at him before slowly lowering myself back into the seat. If this wasn’t for Harper, I would already have been gone and not obeyed him like a damn dog. I try to calm down, but I really want to tear this place apart.

Once I’m seated, James sits in his chair again and sighs before clearing his throat. “It’d be better if you knew nothing about him. The more you know, and more importantly, the more Harper knows, the more danger you’re both in. He isn’t someone to fuck with. I told you, I would get you answers. I can handle him on my end. I will tell you just enough to make sure you’re covered on all fronts.”

I shake my head. “Not good enough. I don’t give a fuck about danger. I can handle myself.”

“Don’t doubt that, but you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

“If it’s so dangerous…” I drawl out sarcastically. “Then why do you have so much information?” This guy probably doesn’t know anything about being in a real dangerous situation. He just looks like he handles danger. All talk.

“None of your damn business,” he replies quickly, snarling. James grits his teeth, blowing out a frustrated breath. “I’ll tell you, but it stays between who needs to know. Don’t bring this shit to the rest of the group’s doorstep. They sure as fuck don’t need it.”

“Fine.”

“I’m gonna dig until I find some answers. It doesn’t look good for Harper. I don’t know how this landed on her lap, but we’re going to clear it for her before it goes too far.”

“We?”

“Yeah. You got me. Shut up and deal with it. I’m not walking away from this. Harper’s a good girl.”

I shake my head. “Not one to deny help when they have knowledge of a suspect.”

James curtly nods. “Rafael Bazán Cortez is the son of Santiago Cortez, former head of the Cortez Cartel, the largest cartel to have a foothold in Texas. Rafael took over his father’s place.”

Fuck.