“Hunt, get in here.”

I halted, and turned around before heading toward the captain’s office. Exhaustion rolled off me, and after working all afternoon on the road, I needed to get some desk time in before I headed home to Sasha where she’d hopefully help me forget about being exhausted.

“What's up?” I greeted after stepping in.

He looked up, and the stress was evident on his face. “I can’t keep holding them back much longer. We’ve gotta move on this Hamilton’s shit.”

I knew it was only a matter of time before I had this exact conversation with the captain. Patience was running thin, and resources were coming to an end, and we still had nothing to lock down O’Leary. My frustration with this was growing by the second. O’Leary was still walking around like he was king fucking shit, and Hamilton’s had started to drown in bad publicity.

“How long do we have?” I asked, taking a seat on the other side of his desk and hoping he’d give me more than a couple of days.

“Maximum, two weeks. The mayor is riding my ass on this. His daughter’s assault brought the wrong kind of attention, and he wants someone made accountable. If you don’t bring in O’Leary, or stop his fucking goons from causing havoc, then he is going to shift his focus to Drew and Sasha Hamilton. I do not want that happening. Those two are good kids who, for some fucked up reason, have been dealt the shit stick more times than one person should. I know you and Sasha have something going on, which is another thing we’ve got to discuss because that is so grey, it’s not even fucking funny, but please get this asshole off the streets before someone gets seriously hurt. We caught a lucky break, and thank fuck the bouncer was there before it went any further, but next time we might not be so lucky.”

I pushed back from his desk and headed to the door.

“I’m not ending it with her,” I said, standing at the door.

He looked up from the file in front of him. “Thought you might say that.”

“Glad we cleared that up,” I smirked,

“Get the fuck out of here.”

* * *

I got home from work to find Sasha in the kitchen, soft music playing through the house and new candles and bright pink pillows sitting on the dining room table. After my talk with the Captain, I’d organized a meeting with Austin and Carson tonight, but needed to come home and see Sasha first. I leaned against the door, folded my arms across my chest and let my eyes roam over her. She stood at the stove with her hair piled on top of her head, bare feet, and wearing one of my shirts that hung loosely around her mid-thigh. I loved her in heels and her tight skirts, but fuck, she looked good wearing my clothes.

“What’s for dinner?” I hummed, my voice thick as my head started thinking we should ditch dinner, and I’d feast on her instead.

“Argh! Ben! Don't do that,” she gasped and swung around to face me. "How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to check you out and think of all the wicked things I want to do to you.”

Heat hit her cheeks. “You keep your alphaness over there,” she warned. “You are not wrecking my pasta sauce like you wrecked my quiche.”

“Me wrecking your quiche meant I ordered dinner from Amigos and got you with extra queso dip, and you got two orgasms. I’m pretty sure you have nothing to win this argument with.” My laugh grew deeper when she attempted to glare at me but failed miserably as heat soared in her eyes.

“Whatever.”

She went back to stirring the pasta sauce, and I quickly went to Gigi’s to help her move a cabinet. My visit with Gigi lasted longer than expected because she decided to roast my ass for missing lunch at Missy’s. After asking Sasha to order my lunch, I had to text her back and tell her that I had to go to a job. Sasha was fine with it, but Gigi decided she wasn’t. I swear to fucking god it felt like I was in a relationship with two women some days.

As soon as Sasha heard me hit the kitchen and place my cell on the island bench, she said, "I just realized something. I've stayed over here every night since our little shower rendezvous."

My cock twitched at the thought of our shower rendezvous as she liked to call it. “And, the problem with that is?”

She looked over her shoulder, gave me soft eyes, and then quietly replied, “Nothing.”

I stepped into the kitchen and made my way to her. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I rested my chin on top of her shoulder and focused on the bubbling pasta sauce she was cooking.

“We can stay at your place whenever you want. But I like falling asleep with you, and I like knowing you’re safe, and that’s not going to end anytime soon.”

“Good to know,” she whispered. “That’s one of the things that scares me.”

I moved my hand to hers, removed the spoon, then turned her around to face me. “What scares you?”

She hesitated and then whispered, “That it’s going to end. That you might leave.”

She bit her bottom lip and dropped her eyes. Her body language begged to be heard. Opening up like this was hard for her to do. There had usually been a brief hesitation in her touch, distance sometimes crossed her gaze, and there was always something that kept her from taking that final couple of steps and jumping all in with me. She hadn’t fully opened herself up to what could be, and I needed to keep showing her why she should.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I lowered my voice, and said. “I have nowhere I’d rather be.”

“You say that now, but—”

“Sasha, listen to me. There is nowhere else I’d rather be, and no one else I’d rather be with. Today, tomorrow, next week, fuck… next fucking year.” I gripped her chin and forced her to give me her eyes. “The thoughts I have when I look at you are thoughts I’ve never had when looking at anyone else. So, I’m not going anywhere.”

Slowly, she nodded before rising on her toes and giving me her mouth for a quick kiss. She pulled back, before admitting, “That's a big thing to me. I’m probably going to freak out a lot about it. If it gets too much...”

“I'm not going anywhere.”

“Okay.”

“How long till dinner? Do I have time to shower?”

I changed the subject drastically so her mind wouldn’t go into overload. The shift on her face was immediate.

“Twenty minutes. Be warned though; this sauce is orgasmic.”

She gave me a smile, and that was all I needed to confirm the demons in her head had settled.

For now.

* * *

“I’m gonna get back late. I’ve got a meeting with Austin and Carson,” I said, leaning over and kissing her forehead.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, concern evident in her tone.

I took her in. Blonde hair fanned out over the pillow, golden skin covered only by a white sheet, pink, pouty lips swollen from kissing her all night, and exquisite green eyes that couldn’t lie staring up at me. Everything was more than fucking okay. Seeing her like this just confirmed the fact that whatever was going on must come to an end. Her concerns were something I needed to erase.

“We are running out of time when it comes to O’Leary, so we’ve got to step things up. It’s nothing for you to worry about though. It’s going to be over soon.”

She sighed and propped herself up on her elbow and pulled the sheet tighter around her. “He is killing our business. I had someone come into Sass today, and I overheard them saying that Hamilton’s was the go-to place if you wanted to score drugs. How has this happened? The only thing people should be scoring from Hamilton’s is cold beer and damn good chicken wings.” She leaned over and grabbed the end of my shirt and looked up at me with worry-filled eyes. “I don’t think he is going to stop.”

“He’ll stop. I’ll make sure of it.”

Her expression softened. “Please be safe. Wake me up when you get home.”

Home.

“You’re waiting for me in bed, so tonight I’ll be the safest and quickest I’ve ever been.”

“Get out of here and stop making me swoon. You’ve got creepy men to bring down.” She shooed me away, and I didn't leave until I kissed her hard, and left her giggling.

I made the ten-minute trip across town and pulled up out front of Austin’s apartment building. After taking the elevator to the tenth floor, I made my way to his apartment and didn’t bother knocking. It was a risk meeting here, but it was a lot less risky than meeting at my place. These days we had no idea who had eyes on Sasha and Drew, so if Carson had anything to do with these meetings they had to be away from anywhere either of them would be.

Carson sat on the couch with his ankles crossed on the coffee table.

“Hey,” he said before his attention went back to his phone. “Give me two seconds to wrap this up.”

“Who’s the lucky lady tonight?” I asked, knowing exactly what he was doing. “And two seconds? Fuck, you’re losing your touch.”

“Marie, and fuck off.”

Grinning, I dropped into the armchair and waited for him to finish setting up his booty call. Austin stepped out of the hall, gave me a quick nod, and smirked at Carson before claiming the armchair opposite me.

“What’s going on?” Austin asked, focusing on me.

“We have two weeks to figure out what the fuck is happening. The mayor’s pissed, and he wants someone held accountable for what happened to his daughter. If we don’t get O’Leary, he is saying he will find a way to go after Drew and Sasha because it’s happening in their bar. I, for one, refuse for that to happen, and I do not want my woman’s name being dragged through the mud more than it already has.”

“Let’s visit O’Leary’s man again and see if we can get him talking. There’s got to be someone who will talk. We’ve busted three assholes for dealing, for fuck’s sake. One of them has got to spill,” Austin grunted, his frustration felt between Carson and I. “How about talking to Sasha’s girls who work there, Paige and Shelley. They could know something. We can rush background checks, credit checks, before we approach. They could be another set of eyes in there.”

The thought had crossed my mind, but I still thought the fewer people that knew, the better. “That will be the absolute last resort.”

Carson sat forward. “I'll head in tonight, talk to a few staff members and see if anyone gives up any info. I’ll keep it low key as if I’m trying to find out gossip. Either that or we have to talk to Drew and decide that I go in there looking to sell. Whoever the link is will be pissed that I'm trying to undercut them, but they’ll show their face. But we all know that kind of shit can backfire.”

I rubbed my hands over my face as frustration rolled through me. O’Leary was causing havoc but keeping himself in the clear. The men busted for dealing were known associates of his. In the scheme of things, the amount they’d been caught dealing was small, but the effects on the Hamilton’s were huge.

It needed to be stopped before the effects became colossal.

“I’ll talk to Drew and Sasha. We need to include her in this.” I stood from the armchair. “She reminds me daily that she and Drew own that place equally and she must know what's going on.”

“She’s got you by the balls,” Carson laughed and stood from the couch.

I looked at him and smirked.

“Having her hands on my balls is not a bad thing.”