Living with Bailey for the two days before she went back to work was more torture than he liked. She was sexy as fuck with her lavender hair and lithe body, and Alexei kept catching himself watching her, thinking of the way she’d looked at him when she’d confessed she’d been imagining him rolling on a condom.

He’d grown harder than fucking stone when she’d said that. If she’d dropped her pants then and there, he’d have lost his mind and fucked her before he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to do that.

At night when he lay in bed, it was worse. He pictured her in the makeup she’d worn when she’d dropped off Ana—and then he thought of her gyrating on a stage in a tiny G-string. He’d had some massive hard-ons at those thoughts—and he’d been massively pissed off too.

He understood the hard-ons. He didn’t know why he was pissed. She wasn’t his, he didn’t want her to be his, didn’t care that other men were ogling her—

Okay, that was a lie. He did care. What he didn’t know was why. She didn’t mean anything to him. Their only connection was the pip-squeak, and that wasn’t going to last much longer. Once the test came back and proved he wasn’t Ana’s dad, he was off the hook.

Not that he would kick them out or anything. Alexei wouldn’t leave Bailey on her own to deal with a man who’d threatened her and her sister. He’d take care of that motherfucker if—when—he reared his head again.

Still, even when Alexei tried not to—even when he opened his laptop and surfed over to some porn—he found himself thinking about Bailey and what she looked like in a G-string. Wanting to see her in it. Wanting to run his palms down her body and over her curves and mounds. He wanted to explore her. Wanted to hear her moan and call his name. Wanted to see her bite her lip when he made her come.

Jesus. These urges for one woman were nuts. As soon as he got Bailey settled at home again, he’d arrange a hookup with one of the women whose numbers he kept for just such a reason. Women who didn’t expect a relationship but enjoyed a good fuck.

He was on edge after two days alone with Bailey, looking at her but not touching her. They ate meals together, talked companionably, and took care of Ana. He taught her several things. Some of it he had to look up on YouTube because it had been a while. But most of it he remembered from his childhood and from visiting his very fertile sisters.

The Boppy pillow came, along with the rest of the crap he’d bought. Bailey’s eyes grew shiny as she insisted she couldn’t accept. But he’d told her she had to or he was dumping it all at the local thrift shop. So she’d relented, but she kept shooting him thoughtful glances when she figured he wasn’t looking.

Drove him fucking nuts.

Bailey grew more confident under his tutelage, changing diapers, feeding, and rocking Ana to sleep. She took the crib to her room the second night, and he never heard a peep all night long. She emerged from the bedroom the next morning with a triumphant smile. He gave her a high five.

The night she was supposed to return to work, he arranged for Miranda to watch Ana. Cowboy was horrified, but Miranda merely laughed and said she’d be delighted. She was between cases right now anyway.

“It’ll probably be overnight, unless you want us to pick her up at two a.m.”

Miranda waved a hand. “Honey, I got it. Don’t you worry. Pick your jaw up off the floor, Cody,” she said to her husband. “You might as well learn sometime.”

Apparently Miranda hadn’t warned Cowboy when they were headed over to Alexei’s place what they were doing. Alexei watched them go, silently laughing at his teammate. Dude was about to get a crash course in Baby 101. Alexei would pay to see that if he didn’t have other things to do.

Bailey was still getting ready. She’d said goodbye to Ana earlier. When she emerged from the bedroom, she was wearing her tracksuit and the heavy makeup she’d had on two nights ago. His groin started to ache.

She carried a gym bag, and she smiled tentatively at him. “You ready for this?”

“Baby, it’s beer and boobs. How can I not be ready?”

She frowned, but she didn’t say anything about him calling her baby. “Pretty sure you can’t be drinking beer if you’re supposed to be watching for that asshole tonight.”

“You’re right. Just testing you.” He grinned.

She was still frowning. “What are you going to do if he comes back?”

He didn’t tell her what he wanted to do, which was put a bullet between the guy’s eyes. Instead, he told her what he thought might be believable—and palatable. “I’m gonna have a little chat with him. Find out why he wants your sister—and what he knows.”

“Why do I get the impression none of this is going to happen without threats and coercion?”

“Because you’ve been here for two days. You know enough by now to realize I’m not planning to ask nicely. Wouldn’t work anyway.”

“Just don’t get arrested, okay? I don’t have a key to your house or your car or anything. I’ll have to go back to my place, and most of my clothes are here now.”

He went over to the kitchen and opened a drawer. Then he pulled out one of the spare keys he kept there. He liked to have them on hand, though Money had a key for emergencies. He handed it to Bailey.

“Just in case.”

She folded it in her palm and looked up at him with eyes rimmed in smoky charcoal. “This doesn’t inspire confidence, Alexei.”

“It’ll be fine, babe. Come on, you ready?”

“Yes.”

They went out and got into his truck. It was about a twenty-minute ride to the Pink Palace. Alexei parked near the building, his truck facing out, and turned to look at Bailey.

She seemed thoughtful. “Deke isn’t going to let you in the back. You’ll have to go through the front like the other customers.”

“Wanna bet?” This Deke was no match for him. He opened the door and put a booted foot on the ground. Then he went around and opened Bailey’s door. He shouldered her bag. She huffed a breath like she was going to say something, but then she shrugged and headed for the entrance.

The club was dark, even at the rear entrance. There was a man standing just inside. He was a big man, stocky, and shorter than Alexei. His gaze narrowed when it reached Alexei.

“No boyfriends, Honey. You know that.”

Honey?

“Not my boyfriend, Brian. This is Alexei. He’s my bodyguard.”

Brian looked up, meeting Alexei’s gaze. “What, you hired a Russian guy to protect you? Where’d you find him, the mafia?”

Alexei smiled his stone-cold-killer smile. “Brian, is it? Not mafia, man. Navy SEAL, and I’m coming in with the lady tonight. Anybody touches her, they gotta go through me.”

Brian puffed up like a rooster. He started to reach around to his back, but Alexei pulled his Glock before the man could even get his fingers on the grip of his own gun. He held it at his side. Casual. Cool. Nonthreatening.

Well, not really. Definitely threatening.

“Wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said.

Brian’s face reddened but his hand dropped to his side. “You know this isn’t the kind of shit we allow in here, Honey,” he ground out.

“I know. But he’s here to protect me. And he wouldn’t go in the front entrance when I told him to. So what am I supposed to do?”

“What the fuck is going on here?” a voice said. Another man came out from the hallway. He was tall, thin, and he wore gold chains around his neck and one wrist. His gray hair was spectacular because it was clearly a comb-over, but a puffy comb-over that was impressive in its height.

“Honey brought a bodyguard,” Brian said. “A Navy SEAL.”

The man came into the light. He looked curious rather than pissed. “Oh yeah? Prove it, fancy-pants.”

“I can’t prove it,” Alexei replied, sizing the man up as he holstered the Glock. The man had a shrewd gaze and he was clearly waiting. “But I’ll tell you my name and the class I graduated in. If you have access, you can verify it. Or maybe you can tell me your class.”

“Yeah, I could. But let’s hear yours first.”

Alexei didn’t mind saying it. BUD/S classes weren’t secret. It was the work you did afterward that was. Your assignments, your missions. But every man who’d ever graduated from BUD/S was listed, just like in a high school yearbook. Though only those in the know could access the lists. It’d be interesting if this guy was a brother-in-arms. You never could tell where a former SEAL might end up. A strip club was a little odd maybe, but then again maybe not.

Alexei rattled off the class, year, and date. “Alexei Kamarov. I’ll wait,” he finished.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes. You can wait for Honey outside the dressing room—but if you’re lying, I want you the fuck out of here.”

“Fair enough.” Alexei followed Bailey to the dressing rooms. There were chairs outside and he took a seat. What he really wanted to do was go in and clear the dressing room, but he could hear feminine voices, so he was pretty sure there was no man waiting inside for Bailey to walk in.

“I told you it was better to go in the front,” Bailey said with a sigh as she stood outside the door. “Sorry about that, but Brian and Deke are protective.”

“I’m glad they’re careful. But leaving your side is not what bodyguards do, Bailey. I can’t protect you if I’m not nearby.”

She made a face. “I thought you were coming with me to watch for the man who threatened me, not shadow me everywhere I go.”

“If I’m shadowing you, then I’ll see him if he shows up. You’re the one he’s after.”

She was still standing there when Deke—he assumed it was Deke since she’d called the other guy Brian—came strolling down the hallway. He held out his hand. Alexei took it.

“Deke Mitchell. Graduated BUD/S in 1975. Served twenty-two years.”

“Thanks for your service.”

“Thanks for yours, Alexei.”

“Call me Alex.”

Deke nodded. “You taking care of this girl?”

“Yes.”

“She hire you?”

“It’s complicated. But I’m not going to let anyone hurt her.”

Deke nodded. He was a SEAL. He got it. “That’s my goal too. I watch out for these girls, and I don’t let anyone abuse them. I can still kick ass pretty good for an old guy.”

Alexei didn’t doubt that was true. Being a SEAL meant something no matter when you graduated BUD/S. “I’m looking for the guy who harassed her the other night. He might have something to do with the disappearance of her sister.”

Deke’s gaze swung to Bailey. “Your sister go missing? You didn’t mention that.”

“I didn’t think you’d be interested.”

“Of course I’m interested. You said she left the baby with you for a few days—that’s not true?”

“No. She left the baby. Period.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I thought.” Bailey held out her hand and Alexei handed her the gym bag. “I have to get ready, if you two don’t mind. You can continue the reunion without me.”

She disappeared inside the dressing room, shutting the door behind her. Deke lifted an eyebrow. “You tapping that?”

Alexei liked the old guy, but the question irritated him. Probably because he wasn’t but he wanted to. “Not sure that’s any of your business, Deke.”

Deke snorted. “Nope, sure isn’t. But I’m old. I can dream.”

“Well, dream about somebody else. She’s got enough on her plate.”

“All right, sailor. I got a club to run. Make sure you don’t shoot anybody on my premises, got it?”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

“Atta boy.”

A blinking light on the ceiling caught Alexei’s eye as Deke turned away. “You got cameras in this joint?”

Deke turned back, nodding. “Of course.”

“Think I could get a look at that guy from the other night?”

Deke studied him for a second. “I’ll get my guy to review the footage. See what we can find. If we got a good shot, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks.”

Deke nodded. “See you around, kid.”

Alexei took out his phone and called Blade. He trusted that Deke would tell him if he had anything, but there was no sense waiting for the old man if Alexei’s team could hack the system and get the information sooner.

If they were lucky, they’d have an ID on the guy before the night was over. Assuming he didn’t show up first…