The sound of Sophie's stomach was a reminder that we hadn’t eaten a meal today. Since I had collected her from the office this morning, we had been on the go. We needed food.

I looked over at Sophie. She was breathtaking. Her red hair was falling from her bun. Her white T-shirt was tight and accented her curves.

“In about ten miles, we’ll stop and have dinner. I don’t have food at the house we are heading to. We’ll run out tomorrow and grab some groceries.”

Sophie shifted in her seat. “If we stop at a store to pick up food, I can grab clothes and other things. It’s been a long day.”

“No.”

“I need more than ‘no.’”

“We have both had a long day. I need food, and from the sound of your stomach, you also need something to eat. I have clothes at the house you can wear, and then tomorrow, we can run to the store.” I turned the SUV into the Greasy Spoon Diner.

The diner was showing its age. When Zack and I were kids, we spent summers up at the lake, and we would eat at the restaurant. Zack doesn’t know I bought the cabin we used to go to when we were kids. It’s the one place that reminds me of our mother.

The bell to the diner dinged when we opened the door. With one step into the diner, a tall, leggy blonde had me wrapped in her arms. “It’s been too long, little Z.”

I could feel Sophie stiffen behind me and heard her clear her throat. I stepped back from Georgia.

“Sophie, this is Georgia. Georgia, this is Sophie.” Sophie reached out her hand to shake Georgia’s. Georgia ignored her hand and engulfed her in a hug.

“Take a seat at the counter. Travis's flight landed a few minutes ago, and he’s on his way here. It’s been too long.”

When we sat down at the counter, Sophie leaned into me. “I thought we were going into hiding at a safe house, not to find your ex-girlfriend.” Sophie's knuckles were white from the grip she had on her fork. She looked close to using the fork to take Georgia out.

I would have let her stew in her jealousy for a few minutes, but Georgia was not having it. She must have overheard. She set a cup of coffee in front of Sophie and me. “Honey, you have nothing to worry about. We might live in the back hills of Virginia, but I’m not into incest. I married the man of my dreams. No need to marry my brother.”

Sophie choked on her coffee. “Brother? I thought the president only had one sibling, according to the newspaper, and nobody ever sees that brother.”

“Georgia’s mom and my dad have had a relationship since my mother passed. Mary raised us, but she didn’t like all the publicity that came with being married to the governor. We offered to go public and announce Georgia as our sister.”

Georgia shook her head. “I love my life. The media was always in my brothers’ lives. This one here somehow dropped off their radar years ago. I know who my brothers are. I don't need the media to tell me. Zack said you were in trouble and I wouldn’t hear from you for a while. I take it you still haven’t told him?”

I could tell Georgia didn't like that I was keeping things from Zack, but I disappeared to the cabin to escape the world. “I will tell him when he retires.”

Before Georgia had a chance to respond, the bell dinged. At the sight of her husband, her face lit up with pure joy. Georgia had married one of my Navy SEAL friends. Travis had come to the cabin with me one summer, and they hit it off. Travis worked for a private security firm. I knew that if Sophie and I needed him, we could call.

Travis walked around the counter and wrapped Georgia in a hug and kiss that made my stomach roll. Sophie sighed. I looked over to see her staring at them. She looked lost in thought.

“Paying customers shouldn't have to watch you make out like your teenagers,” I chided before Sophie elbowed me in the side.

Travis pulled back, and a grin spread across his face. “When you pay, I will listen to your demands. I don’t think you or your brother have ever dropped a dime in here.”

He was more than likely right. Zack and I had bought the house they lived in for their wedding gift. They both knew that if they ever needed a dime, we would do anything to help them.

Sophie reached out her hand to shake Travis’s. “It’s nice to meet you, Travis.” He brought her hand to his lips and gave it a kiss. I might have growled at his antics, but I knew it was dumb since he was my sister’s husband. He was testing to see what Sophie meant to me.

Sophie gave me a puzzled look. I didn’t tell her I planned to murder him later for giving me crap.

While Travis and I were getting caught up, Georgia brought us our food. We had both ordered her chicken and waffles. Nobody could beat her cooking.

The noises coming out of Sophie’s mouth were making my dick hard.

“Do you like it?”

“This is the best food I’ve ever had.” She put another forkful of food into her mouth and closed her eyes to savor it. I had to look away before I embarrassed myself.

“Travis, do you still have cameras on the entrance leading out to the cabin?”

“Yes. I’ve added perimeter sensors to your cabin too.”

Travis took care of the cabin when I wasn’t around. With the missions we’d worked in the past, we both had people who would love to see us dead. He made sure no one could get to us.

Georgia had packed us a couple days’ worth of food and an apple pie. We said our goodbyes to my sister and brother in-law. The cabin was a quick ten-minute drive from the diner.

“Zane, do you have a burner phone I can use?”

“Who do you need to call? Your boss and best friend already tracked you down.” I wondered if she had a boyfriend she needed to contact.

Sophie shifted so she was facing me. “I need to call my landlord and ask her to take care of my cat, Jinx.”

The tension in my back released. I tossed her one of my many burner phones.

* * *

Sophie

My landlord, Betty, would worry if she didn’t see me come home for more than a couple of days. She would call the cops and have them put out a missing person report on me. I needed to heed this before it became something. On the fifth ring, she finally picked up.

I informed her that I was out of town with a friend and wouldn’t be back for a week and asked if she would take care of Jinx. Betty said someone had been there earlier asking if she had seen me. She was worried and had already grabbed Jinx out of my apartment. She told me she had planned to call the cops if I hadn’t come home by tonight.

“What's going on?” Zane asked. His voice was deep and rich. It made my insides melt when he talked.

I knew I needed to be straight with Zane because Director Sanchez was coming after both of us. I wasn’t used to sharing this part of my life with anyone. For the last twenty-five years, I had dealt with Sanchez alone and hid it from everyone I knew because he asked me to. “Betty said someone scary was looking for me.”

Zane shook his head. We turned down a gravel driveway lined with evergreen trees, and the smell of pine was refreshing. The SUV rolled to a stop in front of a small cabin. It was a complete contrast to the mansion we were at a few hours ago. When I went to get out, Zane grabbed my arm.

“I needed to disarm the landmines.”

I laughed then looked at his face. He was serious. “Shouldn't you have done that before we drove into your yard?”

“Nah. I know where they are.”

That wasn’t too reassuring. Zane made a couple of clicks on his phone and nodded.

Who the fuck puts landmines around their house? This is crazy people stuff.

“Are you sure you got them all?”

Zane jumped out of the SUV and grabbed the bags of food from the back seat. When he was halfway up the drive, he turned. I hadn't made it out of the SUV yet. I wasn’t sure if I would ever get out of the vehicle. But knowing I couldn’t sit in the car all night, I got out and started toward the door. The sun was going down, and I was getting tired.

The inside of the cabin was warm and inviting. I expected a chair and TV, but Zane surprised me. The walls displayed photos of him, Zack, and Georgia. The living room looked into the kitchen, which had beautiful granite countertops and cherry cabinets.

“Not what you expected?”

It was scary how the man could read my mind.

“Run and take a shower. While you’re in there, I will lay clothes out for you on the bed.” Zane turned and started to put the food away.

A hot shower sounded like a good idea. I headed back to his bedroom to find a master bath. The marble shower was huge. It could fit at least four people. The rainfall shower head hanging from the ceiling was calling my name.

I spent close to a half hour in the shower. It was refreshing. I grabbed the fluffy white towel from the rack to go see what Zane had laid out for me. When I opened the door to the bedroom, I stopped in my tracks. Zane was in a pair of boxers, leaning over to dig through a drawer. The man had a light sheen of water on his body from a shower, and his muscles flexed as he rose. My mouth went dry. The man filled every fantasy my brain conjured.

Zane turned. His tight butt that made my mouth water.

“Like what you see?”

Cocky bastard. “I’ve seen better.”

“Sure you have.” He winked. 

I couldn’t take my eyes off him. When he found the clothes he wanted, he gave me another wink and left the room. The man knew what he was doing.

A shirt and a pair of sweats were waiting for me on the bed. Even though they were too big, it felt marvelous to change into some clean clothes.

When I went into the living room, Zane was sitting on the couch, watching TV. I sat next to him and fell asleep almost immediately.

The piercing noise of an alarm woke me. It must have also woken Zane. He leaped from the couch, bent down, and grabbed two guns from under the coffee table.

“Here. The safety is off. Shoot first. I will announce myself when I come back.”

“Wait. You're going out alone? And who keeps guns under the coffee table?” A storm must have moved in after I had fallen asleep, because. I could hear the steady pounding of water hitting the log cabin.

“Yes, and I do. Stay.”

Zane left through the front door, leaving me to wonder if he would be back or if was I going to die.