“Georgie,” Brody growled with a sharp tug on the leash. “Easy, buddy.”

The nearer they got to home, the more agitated the dog became. Searching for reasons, he eyed the normally obedient canine. Straining against the tether, his four-legged walking companion was doing the dragging as they rounded the corner and their driveway came into view.

Having no damn clue what was making the mutt so anxious, he walked a little faster to ease the restraint, but instead of relaxing, the damn dog tried to take off running. Catching him by surprise, Brody floundered to find his footing before he ended up face planting on the sidewalk. As his feet pounded, he sincerely hoped the neighbors weren’t witnessing his undignified fall from grace. Some fucking dog whisperer he turned out to be if a little girl’s pet got the better of him.

“George! Shit! What the goddamn fuck,” he barked.

The firmer he held the leash, the harder it was to control the dog. An unexpected growth spurt around the time they settled in Arizona gave the brown mixed breed an edge. There was nothing quite like the challenge of walking a muscular and overly energetic goofball.

At the front door, George stood on his hind legs, pawing the door while Brody punched in the door code and tried to knee him aside. As the door swung open, the dog let out a pitiful whine at the same time that Bella was heard frantically yelling.

What the hell was going on?

He barely got the leash off George before he took off again, scrambling up the stairs in the direction of the commotion.

“Sweetie, settle down, okay?”

That was Heather’s voice using her mom-in-charge voice. Didn’t sound to him like Bella was having it.

“No!”

When his head topped the stairway and the second floor living room came into full view, he was startled to find Bella, arms defiantly crossed as she stomped her foot. “You don’t understand! What if she’s scared?”

Heather had George by the collar. Her face was a mask of confusion and concern.

Suddenly, Bella let out an anguished wail, threw her hands up, and ran into her room. George squirmed from Heather’s grasp and tore after her.

“What the hell?” he asked.

“Kelly Anne is missing. We’ve searched everywhere, and the longer we looked, the more agitated she became.”

The sound of his daughter’s miserable sobs tore at his heart. He took Heather’s hand and led them to her bedroom where they found George hovering anxiously as Bella cried into her pillow.

He went to her straightaway and gathered the sobbing child in his arms.

“Daddy,” she whimpered. “Did my Kelly get disappeared?”

What the fuck did that mean? He looked at Heather for help, but her face told him she was also confused.

She knelt at the side of the bed and stroked Bella’s hair. “Sweetie, what does that mean? Get disappeared? Tell us so we’ll understand.”

It took a few minutes of quivering sobs and tissues to get the snot and tears under control.

“Before Daddy,” Bella whispered, “sometimes kids got disappeared. When it was night. I don’t like the dark.”

There was no time to react because the crying started up again. “Kelly hates the dark.”

Heather’s eyes locked with his. All kinds of loose ends were tying up. Bella wasn’t kidding about not liking the dark—and now they knew why. Just like the deal with cutting her hair. The suggestion was always met with atypical defiance.

The rage he felt—all of it directed at Tracey—was red hot. What kind of mother put her child in a situation like that? Not for the first and probably not the last, he admitted feeling relieved that the woman was dead because if she weren’t, he’d have to kill her.

Heather stood and wobbled for a second. She was pale and looked to be struggling.

“I’ll go look again,” she muttered before literally running from the room.

* * *

It was a miracle she made it to the toilet before puking her guts out. Bella’s wails and hearing her agony spoken so eloquently and with few words must have triggered Heather’s PTSD.

Shaking and white as a sheet, she tried to repair the damage, but her first glance in the mirror made it clear she was dreaming.

Opening and closing every drawer and cabinet in the master bath, their walk-in closet, and the bedroom, she even got on her hands and knees to check under the bed.

Nothing.

With a heavy sigh, she repeated the procedure in every room and space on the second floor—except Bella’s.

From the upstairs bathroom, she peeked around the corner into Bella’s room and found Brody comforting her while he washed her face with a cloth. He was a great father. Bella was lucky.

She searched through every nook and cranny downstairs. Still nothing. At one point, she even looked in the trash.

The doll was not in the house.

Going upstairs, she didn’t relish telling Bella another search and rescue mission came up empty but came armed with a suggestion that might alleviate further turmoil.

“Why don’t we make a family bed in the loft? Hmm? We can make popcorn and watch movies. Won’t that be fun? It’ll be like camping.”

Brody looked at her and mouthed, ‘Thank you.’

“Okay,” Bella sniffled.

Like a well-practiced team, they went into every room and gathered all the pillows, blankets, and comforters. Brody inflated the king-size blow-up mattress and got things ready while she and Bella went into the kitchen to make the popcorn.

A long, long while later after Bella fell into an emotionally exhausted sleep, she and Brody didn’t talk—they communicated with their eyes. He was worried. She tried to express her belief that everything would be okay.

They fell asleep with their daughter sandwiched between them and George curled up by their feet.

* * *

Finn’s performance at Pete’s was worthy of an award. In full view of everyone, he climbed a ladder and ripped everything down from the back wall. It took him some time to find it because he had no idea what he was looking for, but eventually, he found the small camera and a miniature power pack.

The discovery flabbergasted Barry. And Grey.

He made a production out of threatening whoever invaded his privacy and punched his fist into his palm a bunch of times for emphasis.

While all of this went on, a hulking Schwarzenegger look-alike stood sentry nearby. He never acknowledged his bodyguard, but that didn’t mean anybody looking couldn’t figure it out. Especially when the guy stopped and frisked one of the waiters who tried to approach Finn.

Hiding in the kitchen after that was the only way to keep his mental shock at what was happening in some sort of check. The busy atmosphere demanded all his attention.

When the dining room slowed and his guys were in control, he stepped back. The temptation to slam some Macallan was sent packing—not if he had to drive farther than five hundred feet.

In his office with hulking Arnold in place to stop anyone attempting to get through the door, he called his dad. If anyone would have advice, it was him.

“Da,” he said when the call connected. “Got a minute?”

“You realize there’s a time difference between us, don’t you?”

He heard his mother’s voice. “Is that my Finn?”

It sounded to him like she was quite literally on top of his father. He grimaced. They were probably watching one of the late shows together, and if he had to guess, his money was on his Ma doing some husband lap-sitting.

“Settle down, Maggie. Eat your ice cream.”

There was a pause, a soft giggle, and another pause. Finally, his dad came back and swore to St. Patrick that he was giving Finn his undivided attention.

“Something’s happened, Da.”

The response startled him and made his mind go blank.

“I know. Is my telephone pal okay?”

Finn gathered his thoughts. His dad was a police detective. He and his first responder brothers were familiar with all sorts of stuff in the law enforcement bag of tricks. Not saying Remy’s name and referring to her in a gender-neutral way got his damn attention. If the call were monitored electronically, certain keywords, names, and phrases would draw interest.

“Yes. It’s being handled. What should I do?”

“Trust Zorro. Do what you’re told. Understand the parameters, my boy.”

This whole thing is surreal. “Got it. Thanks.”

“Yer Ma is making her usual mess. Gotta go.”

“Love you both,” he muttered.

“Same, and Finn? Tell her we love her too.”

The line went dead, and he sat with the phone, staring at it. Understand the parameters. He got it in one. There was a public part of this bizarre situation and a secure part. All his calls, everything he did, were open to surveillance. Remembering that was crucial moving forward.

The bizarre strip-off in the desert was starting to make more and more sense. It was too easy these days to get tagged without knowing. An invisible sensor on his shoe could be sophisticated GPS technology. The threat was real.

He didn’t doubt that Alex was half a mile ahead of him in thinking this through and probably had a plan. Reaching for a notepad, he scrawled some questions, tore it off the pad, and stuffed it in his pocket. All those high-tech skills and game system talents everyone thought were so forward thinking meant absolutely nothing after stepping through the looking glass. Managing without a phone, Wi-Fi, and Google was more than a challenge.

The door to the modular office wing opened. He looked up—curious to see who got past his minder.

Jesus. It was Meggie. And she didn’t look pleased.

She walked straight at him and shoved a box into his hands. Her finger was at her lips telling him to say nothing. His brows shot up at the cloak-and-dagger feel. Reaching into the expensive and gigantic tote bag she took everywhere, his sister pulled out a small device that looked like the cable box on his TV. After showing him the plug and making a gesture, he pointed at an accessible wall socket.

Once the device was plugged in, she pushed some buttons and waited. A series of lights flashed. She entered another sequence of what he assumed were commands. It flashed again, and she visibly relaxed. Pulling her tote closed, she reached in again and yanked out a sophisticated looking satellite phone. Then she finally spoke.

Motioning to the box he held, she said, “Encrypted phone. Totally secure but only if your environment is scanned. This is a blocking machine. It stays put. If you need to make an encrypted call, you have to do it from here. It’s an added level of security.”

“If the phone is encrypted, why the next level tech? What am I missing?”

“Hold on. Alex wants to talk.”

She activated the satellite phone and quickly filled her husband in before handing it off to him.

Alex was already talking when he put the phone to his ear.

“…and that means we can’t assume anything. Calls are secure but a listening device in your vicinity can cause problems. Understand?”

“Yeah. What else?”

“I understand you’ll be staying on property. That will make things easier. Remy’s apartment will have a blocker. Everything you bring into her place will go through something like what happens at airport security. That’s how we ensure nothing sneaks by. No tracking devices, nothing. From that point, you can assume your personal items are safe.”

“Is that why I had to see a trio of wangs out in the desert today?”

Meghan looked at him in shock. She gasped and slapped her hands to her waist. She looked like an outraged virgin who was forced to view a lineup of naked guys.

Alex chuckled. “Anyway, look ... go about your business but use your head.”

“Found the camera.”

“Was it hardwired?”

“No. Battery pack. I’m assuming that tells you a lot.”

“It will after we do some checking. Where is it now?”

“I left it with Barry. He’s got it behind the bar.”

“Smart. It’s probably still hot. Bring it. When you leave Pete’s and come here, go through security and come to the house first. I’ll meet you with a nova box. Something Calder and I designed to mimic the device’s signal. That closes the circle for the watcher. You found the device and delivered it to me. They’ll expect it to go dark, but once it’s in the box, remote commands will be redirected. They’ll think it’s shut down.” The guy chortled in a decidedly unfriendly way. “They’re fucking with the wrong guys.”

Finn sincerely hoped Alex Marquez would be on his side in an intellectual fight. The man’s brain was fucking scary. It was no wonder he attracted enemies.

“What’s my wife doing?” he asked.

Meggie was doing what she did best. Looking innocent while wandering around the big office and taking in every word Finn said. She too was raised by a cop and had her own ways of figuring shit out.

“Right this second, she’s feigning interest in a box of wooden bar nickels.”

Meghan straightened, dropped the box, and flipped him off. She also added a wrinkled nose and stuck out tongue. “Nyah!”

Alex laughed. “Send her home with bar food, you understand?”

“You mean make it look good? Like my sister showing up here late in the evening is normal.”

“Sure, that, and I’m fucking hungry. Carmen is off with Duke, and that means your sister has the run of the kitchen. There’s only so much cereal and Chef Boyardee I can eat.”

“Why didn’t you say something before this?” he asked with an amused snicker.

“The answer to that and many other mysterious questions will all be made clear once you marry Remy. In your sister’s case, she imagines she’s proving her mettle as a pioneer wife or some such nonsense. Women, catch my drift?”

He looked at his sister and smirked. “Yeah. Your wife is a bitch, and you’re a pussy for making it about her feelings. Put your foot down, man! She’ll poison your ass if you don’t keep an eye on her.”

When Meghan figured out what they were talking about, she shrieked. “Finn! Stay out of it.”

He grinned. “No can do, Meggie. Your husband says he’s starving. I’m sort of obligated to feed the poor guy.”

He loaded her up with half the dinner leftovers and sent her home with enough spaghetti and meatballs for a platoon along with a big container of pot roast. She demanded all the desserts he didn’t bodily block her from taking.

In a surprising move, she drew him close for a hug while they were next to her car. “Please be careful, Finn.”

The worry in her voice tore him up. This should be one of the happiest times of her life. He said the words his heart formed and meant them.

“Alex is the only person who can figure this out, Meggie. Da said to trust Zorro and that’s what Imma do.”

He watched until her Explorer exited the parking lot and pulled onto the main road followed closely by a black Suburban. Her security detail wasn’t messing around. As he walked back to his office, he saw his hulking body man and sobered.

Shit was in uncharted territory.

* * *

The atmosphere in the old business center was thick with tension. Domineau looked around the room. Everyone was in attendance, and all eyes were on her.

Several travel easy Pack ’n Plays were clustered in a corner for the little ones. Molly and Bella were watching a movie and unable to hear anything due to clever use of headphones.

A moment of uncomfortable panic made her wince. Molly. Rafe and the boys were off doing stuff. That left her with a kid to watch over. Even if she wanted things to slow down because it felt like this relationship was moving too fast—she was shit out of luck. Nobody cared about her emotional issues—nor should they. None of this was about her—not as far as she could tell—which left her in the unenviable position of riding with the cavalry. She did much better on her own. This being part of a group thing and having a boyfriend and a kid to worry about was all new territory.

“Why didn’t you say something before?” Meghan asked. The question was directed at Angie and Sophia.

“At the time, it didn’t seem important.” Angie was wearing a panicked expression as her sister sat next to her and patted her leg.

Domineau needed clarification. “Explain again. Slower.”

Sophie took the lead and spelled it out with more detail.

“We were in Flagstaff. Shopping. Brent Harper was in town filming, and we hoped to catch some of the action. We ate lunch at an outdoor bistro. I left Angie at our table to meet Ben at the curb to load our packages. While we were piling purchases into the trunk, I noticed a guy lurking around the hedge surrounding the bistro patio. He had a 35 mm camera. I wasn’t looking through the viewfinder, but I’m pretty sure he was shooting Angie. Shit,” she murmured. “I should have told Alex.”

“Anyone else?” Domineau asked while looking at everyone.

“Yeah,” a disembodied voice said. It was Kelly—talking to them on a secure line. “I was jostled at the airport, and our security reacted. Roman is convinced it was deliberate.”

“You mean like a probing? To see what happened?” Heather asked.

“Yeah, yeah, exactly. Before we boarded, he made me check my purse a hundred times to see if anything was missing. Nothing. When we landed in New York, he took everything I was carrying out of the purse and all but ripped it apart. Then he had me toss the bag into the ladies’ room trash.”

Betty and Ria appeared visibly alarmed. She couldn’t blame them. This fucking mess was making all of them rethink every interaction and moment of weirdness over the past couple of months.

“This might be a stretch, Domineau, but you said anything that stands out.” Wendy Sullivan was holding Ashleigh Marquez’s hand as she spoke. “We filled out a card for a drawing. Baby stuff. At a store in town.”

“Nobody ever actually wins that stuff. Do they?” Ashleigh remarked in a shaky voice.

“The weird thing,” Wendy said as she continued, “was that I got a call the next day. Not the grand prize but a subscription service. Baby supplies delivered every few weeks. They wanted all kinds of information like address, cell phone, and something else.” She stopped talking and looked across the table at Angie. “They asked for a due date and what hospital my daughter-in-law was using.”

Domineau felt the drip, drip, drip of alarm. “Wait. Did you indicate the expecting mommy was your daughter-in-law? How did they know it wasn’t you?”

“They didn’t.”

“Oh my god,” Angie gasped.

“She hung up after declining the prize,” Ashleigh hastily interjected. “I’m so sorry, baby,” she said to Angie. “We didn’t know it was important.”

“Lacey? Victoria? Anything?” Domineau asked the question and waited for a reply.

“Nothing,” Tori answered. “I mean the deal with Draegyn’s parents showing up here a few months back was more than a little weird but besides that, no.”

Remy spoke slowly—distinctly. “We’ve been targeted, ladies. I know the after party wasn’t a secret, but somebody went to great lengths to spy on that particular event. The question is why.”

“Alex suspects it was a diversion. Nothing gets a reaction from a bunch of territorial alphas like a direct threat against the womenfolk. Calder agrees.” Stephanie’s voice suggested her husband probably had a lot more to say than just that.

Lacey got up and went to the drink table. She poured ice water into a glass and swirled it around. “My husband already told Alex, but he suspected something wasn’t right one day right before the variety show when he was leaving the family center. Unfortunately, he got distracted and forgot all about it. That was when he found our dog. Cassé. She was injured and abandoned. Her situation took precedence.”

“I wish Carmen would get back here,” Meghan mumbled.

Betty looked up and nodded. “She and Duke hit a snag with his grandson. They had to delay their departure because of a court date. A second judge with family court has to sign off on the guardianship transfer. As usual, once lawyers got involved, it became a nightmare.”

Angie snorted and gave Boop a rude finger gesture.

“Hey, Kelly. Do you know if Charlie is coming back?” Tori asked. “Draegyn said Caleb was sticking around to keep an eye on the work at the Villa.”

“She’s here now. Staying with Rhiann and Liam. The designer who got the house ready while they honeymooned lost her damn mind and went all sharp corners and modern. My sister-in-law was not amused. Charlie is running interference.”

“Where does this leave us?” Meghan asked the question and looked around at everyone.

“Staring down the barrel,” Remy answered. “We’ve got that damn challenge thing coming up, and Finn’s monster event at Pete’s.”

“It’s actually a good thing,” Domineau pointed out. “We can’t change what we do. It’ll look suspicious. But as a group we have to be on the same page—all the time. Information is crucial. Nobody goes rogue or goes off on his or her own. Understand?”

A dozen heads nodded, and Kelly barked, “Got it.”

“Business as usual, gals. With an extra eye on everything and anything. I want each of you to check in every day. You can do it in teams if you want, but it has to be all-inclusive.”

“Ash and I will team up,” Wendy said.

Betty raised her hand. “Ria and I will pair up. When Carmen returns, she’ll be under Duke’s protective wing.”

“Another thing,” she added in a voice even she heard was cold. “Don’t isolate and don’t go off by yourself. Meghan, that means no desert yoga without your bodyguard. Same for the activity along the backroad. Stephanie—I applaud your roller skating prowess and agree it’s great exercise, but you have to have coverage. Same for you, Lacey. And Tori. No leisurely walks, pushing baby carriages, or arduous jogs without your minders.”

One of the babies let out a yell. Meghan put her hand up and chuckled. “That one’s mine!”

On cue, as soon as Aiden began hollering, Bella and Molly ditched the headphones.

“Oh, Bella!” Betty called out. “I almost forgot. Look who I found.”

She produced a Cabbage Patch doll from her workbag and held it up. Bella let out a squeal and rushed forward.

“Where did that come from?” Heather demanded in a harsh voice.

Boop looked taken aback by Heather’s tone. “Uh, it was just by accident that I even saw her. I was going between the canine compound and the new workout facility when I nearly tripped over her.”

“What? The doll was just lying on the ground? In the agency zone?”

The discussion stopped when Domineau noticed Bella and Molly’s avid interest. She cut off further comment with a hand gesture but let Heather know with a look that the subject wasn’t closed.

* * *

Meghan watched Alex like a hawk. He was trying overly hard to act normal.

When she got back from the ladies’ meeting, he was waiting with a romantic candlelit dinner for two that went to waste because the twins didn’t give a shit about Mom and Dad’s needs.

They spent the evening doing the usual. Feeding, burping, changing, playing, bathing, story time, and all-around loving.

The kids were barely down for the night when her domineering husband took her into their bedroom and made fierce, slightly aggressive love to her until she had nothing left.

Meghan found Alex’s heavy-handed domination sexy as fuck and had no problem being on the receiving end when he was in the mood. Especially after the storm calmed. Her husband’s loving aftercare never failed to touch her heart.

Wrapped in each other’s arms, they were comfortable in their big bed. She listened while he thought out loud. It was his way. Sometimes he had to hear the words to make sense of a situation instead of letting that stuff fester in his mind.

“After something my father said, I asked Cam to discreetly check out the clinic that Sophie used for her IVF. Did you know she went out of country for the procedure? All this time, I thought, well,” he grumbled. “I don’t know what I thought. Anyway, she went to Paris, of all places. He’s doing a deep dive. Making sure her information is protected.”

“What’s Cris worried about? Is there a problem?”

Alex stroked her arm. “He’s just worried in general. Teo is a dream baby, and things are going so well for her and Jace. Don’t spill the beans but he told me Jace did the whole asking for permission speech. Between that and Duke making the Marquez men sign off on marrying Carmen, he’s feeling a bit overwhelmed.”

She snuggled closer. If there was a way to crawl inside him, she would. Her heavy sigh ended with a ferocious hug.

“Don’t worry, baby. I’ve got this.”

“Do you, Alex? No offense or anything, but from the cheap seats, it looks like there are more questions than answers.”

He made a gruff sound. “Wise observation, Mrs. M. You are correct. But it’s been my experience that when the questions outweigh the answers, a weakness is revealed. I’ll figure it out. Trust me.”

“I’ll feel better when Carmen gets back here, and Angie’s baby arrives.”

“When is that spoiled brat due to deliver?”

The question was oh-so-snide, but the love he felt for his youngest sibling came through loud and clear.

“December fifteenth. Sixty days, give or take.”

“Jesus, really? Two more months of this? I’m ready to smack Parker as it is. He was whining about the damn dog again.”

She giggled against his shoulder. “What did he say?”

“Dude,” he grunted in a spot-on imitation of Parker’s delivery. “Did you know your sister named my dog Snooki? I laughed in his ugly mug and reminded him that my sister was also his wife. Suggested he get her in hand and stop being a pussy about it.”

“Bet he liked hearing you say that!”

“Newsflash,” he pithily growled. “Parker Sullivan has zero balls when it comes to putting his foot down when Angie gets going.”

“That’s not entirely true,” she reminded him.

“Why? Because he’s a dick, and she likes taking orders?”

There was absolutely no use trying to talk to him about the underlying D/s dynamic—much like their own—in Parker and Angie’s relationship, so she let it go. It was one thing for Alex to express his desires in dominant terms and another thing altogether for him to accept anything similar was part of his sister’s marriage to his best friend.

They fell asleep not long after.

* * *

Alex.

Wake up.

He fought the sleep cocoon and struggled awake. The sound of helicopter rotors and gunfire roared in his head.

Bolting upright, he clutched a hand over his heart and took several deep breaths.

The war memory receded.

A tapping noise reverberated in his head.

Another deep breath.

The tapping seemed … familiar.

A glance to his side showed Meghan deep in slumber.

More sound, this time a voice, got him moving off the bed.

Alex. Think.

He moved silently to the terrace door, opened it, and stepped into the nighttime air. Darkness with only the barest sliver of moonlight enveloped him.

The tapping got louder and played repeatedly on a loop in his head. Something about the pattern was clawing at his brain. That damn algorithm and the repeating patterns.

His eyes rose heavenward, and he searched the inky sky for a clue. When it came, a lump of pure dread dropped into his gut.

He knew.

Knew there was only one other person on the face of the earth who would know what it meant.

What it spelled out.

One word.

One word was enough to put all his senses on high alert and sound the alarm.

Breach.

Breach.

Breach.

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