Bailey yawned as she applied her makeup that night. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the evening before. After her encounter with Alexei, she couldn’t stop thinking about the full package. The full package, because she’d seen everything. It had been dark, sure, and she hadn’t gotten as good a look as she wanted, but she’d seen enough to realize the dude was hung. She’d already known he was hot. She hadn’t known he had the equipment to go with the rest of the package until that moment.

But, wow, he did. So she’d tossed and turned and, yes, finally caved and sank her fingers into her wet heat so she could get some relief. She’d been so certain when she woke this morning that she had to put some space between them. Before this craving got worse. Before she gave in and slept with him—and then got her heart broken because he wasn’t a guy who did relationships, as he’d stressed more than once.

Not that she wanted a relationship. She didn’t have time for one, not really. But she also knew herself. She’d been lonely for a long time. If she started down the path of a physical relationship with Alexei, she could fall for him all too easily. Not because he was hot and sexy, but because he had a tender, honorable side that drew her to him with every second they spent together. He was nothing like the men she’d known growing up, or the ones who came to the club and only saw her as a body.

If only he was bad with babies, or he’d slammed the door in her face when she’d first showed up on his doorstep. Then again, she’d probably be in bigger trouble right now if he had, considering what he’d told her about James Dunn.

Bailey shuddered. What the hell had Kayla gotten herself into? Why was her little sister so bad at making decent choices? And why had she hidden James Dunn’s existence last year? Because Kayla had never mentioned a boyfriend. She’d talked about the military guys at Buddy’s, but never one in particular. Not even Alexei.

And all the while, she’d been hanging out with Dunn. Had she gone away with him too? Had she and Melanie really gone to California, or was that all a lie? And what about now? Was Kayla hiding, or had Dunn found her after all? Was that why he hadn’t been back yet?

Bailey picked her phone off the counter and opened her text messages. There was an endless string of texts from her to Kayla, but nothing in return. She sighed, then brought up the keypad and began to type.

Why didn’t you tell me about James Dunn?

She stared at the screen for a long while, then finally hit Send and set the phone down again. She finished her makeup, fluffed her lavender hair—maybe it was time to go back to being blond—and grabbed her gym bag with all the stuff she needed for tonight.

When she emerged from the bedroom, Alexei was watching television, his feet propped on the couch. He shot her a look over his shoulder, his gaze darkening as it slid over her body. Then he turned away again, and she felt the loss of his heated gaze.

He turned off the TV and stood. “You ready to go?”

“Yes.”

They walked out to his truck, and he held the door for her, like always. She watched him walk around the front and then stared straight ahead while he climbed inside. He was wearing dark jeans and a black polo shirt tonight. He looked good enough to eat with a spoon, damn him.

“It’s so quiet without Ana,” she finally said as he backed out of the drive and headed down the street. She hadn’t thought she’d miss her niece, but she did. Not everything about her, that’s for sure. But some things. Her little face—when she wasn’t crying. Her snuggles. Her sweet baby smell.

“I’m sure she’s being spoiled rotten right now. Miranda’s having fun. Cowboy, probably not so much.”

He snorted a laugh and Bailey couldn’t help but grin. “You’re seriously having fun thinking about your poor friend dealing with a baby, aren’t you?”

“Oh yeah. Cowboy needs someone with his maturity level to play with.”

“Cute.”

“Okay, so Ana is more mature. My mistake.”

Bailey laughed. “Your friends are great. You sure they don’t mind keeping her?”

“I’m not sure of anything—but I know that Miranda and Cowboy will take care of her and keep her safe.”

Bailey sighed. It must be great to have friends like that. People you could count on to watch your back whenever you needed it. To be there for you. She’d been taking care of herself—and Kayla—for so long that she didn’t know what it was like to have a tribe. Oh, she had the girls at the club and some of them were awesome. But they all had their own lives and their own problems to deal with.

“Are you friends with the rest of your teammates?” She knew that SEALs had teams or units or squads or something. But were they close or did they just work together?

“We’re brothers. We’d do anything for each other.”

She thought of his conversation with Deke last night. “Was Deke a SEAL too?”

He glanced at her. “Yeah, he was. Decorated too.”

“Decorated?”

“Medals. He saved people. Did important shit. He’s a good guy.”

He was, though he was also a hard-ass sometimes. “You’re not going to piss him off tonight, are you?”

Alexei laughed. “Can’t guarantee that, but it’s not my goal.”

They were nearly to the club when her phone chimed with a text. She fished it from her bag, thinking it might be one of the girls giving her a heads-up about something. They often did that for each other. Schedule change, someone couldn’t make it, et cetera.

But it wasn’t any of the girls. It was Kayla. Bailey started to shake as she hit the Call button. If Kayla had just texted her, surely she could talk.

“My sister,” she said to Alexei as he pulled into the club parking lot and swung into a spot. He didn’t turn off the truck. Bailey let the phone ring and ring, but Kayla didn’t pick it up. “Dammit!” she yelled, stabbing the button to end the call. Because Kayla wasn’t going to answer no matter how many times Bailey kept trying.

“Let me see the text,” Alexei ordered.

She swiped back to the message box. Swallowed as she read it again. Then she turned it to Alexei. A muscle in his jaw flexed as he read it too.

Stay away from James. He’s dangerous. He’ll kill you. Does he know you have Anastasia? Don’t TELL him, Bale! Please don’t tell him!

Dunn hadn’t shown. Alexei waited for Bailey outside the dressing room door, anger humming in his veins. He hadn’t wanted her to do this tonight. In fact, he’d tried to stop her, tried to convince her that it would be better if she went back to his place and chilled the fuck out for a while.

Predictably, she didn’t like that idea. She’d argued. He’d argued. They’d yelled. He’d asked himself, at one point, what the fuck he was doing because it sounded like two people in a relationship having a fight. And he was intimately familiar with those because he’d had to listen to his parents’ fights when he lay in bed late at night and they’d thought no one could hear.

To be fair, he hadn’t heard the words, but he’d heard the voices. Angry voices. Pleading voices. Crying—his mother. More yelling—his father. And then silence. Sometimes he heard other noises. Noises he couldn’t quite identify. He knew now what he didn’t know then—they were the sounds of make-up sex.

So he’d argued with Bailey while a disconnected part of him watched the whole thing and shook its head in disbelief. What are you doing, dude? Why are you fighting over this? Let her fucking dance. Watch the show. Watch for Dunn.

In the end, that’s what he’d done. But he’d hated it. Hated every damned second of Bailey’s routine. Her sexy little gyrations, her spins on the pole. The motherfucking lap dance she’d performed for some kid celebrating his twenty-first birthday. Alexei had watched the whole thing in stunned, angry silence.

It also made him hard, which pissed him right the fuck off. He wasn’t a deprived kid getting hard at the slightest hint of sex. And certainly not while watching a woman grind on another dude.

A woman he wanted pretty badly if he were being honest with himself. He wanted her to grind on him like that. Naked.

He was still pissed off when the door opened and she came out. She’d changed into her usual tracksuit. Her makeup was still in place, though it was smokier and more smudged than when she’d started.

She didn’t smile. He didn’t either.

“You ready?”

“Yes.”

They walked out to his truck in silence. He held the door for her. Got in and started it. “McDonald’s?”

“That would be great.”

They rode in silence. “Same as last night?” he asked when they turned into the parking lot.

“Yes, please.” She held out a twenty. This time he took it. Not because he wanted her to pay for the food but because she’d gotten so mad at him last night for refusing. For making her feel dirty and cheap, she’d said.

He didn’t want to do that. He hadn’t intended to do that. He’d been a broody bastard though. Tonight he wouldn’t be. Even though anger and frustration hummed through his veins like an alcohol buzz.

After he handed her the food, she started eating fries. But she still didn’t speak. He sighed.

“You still mad?”

“No. I’m hungry.” Chomp, chomp, chomp.

“You sound mad.”

She closed the bag. Blew out a breath. “Okay, fine. I’m irritated. I’m also worried about my sister. Worried about Ana. What the hell did Dunn say or do to scare Kayla so badly? Why won’t she answer my calls and tell me what the fuck is going on?”

Alexei white-knuckled the wheel. He was used to fixing things for people, but so far he hadn’t fixed anything. “I don’t know. I intend to find out. If I could fix everything for you right now, I would. But I can’t.”

She sniffed. “You can fix one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You can apologize for being bossy. There was no reason for me to skip tonight and every reason to be there.”

Shit. “He didn’t show up.”

“He could have. And you’d have been there to get him if he had.”

“I wasn’t going to abandon the plan, Bailey. Deke could have looked out for him. A couple of my guys could have gone and watched for him too. If Dunn showed up, one of them would have bagged him.”

Her head dropped. “Maybe I just needed something to do. Did you think about that?”

He wanted to give her something to do. “Like a lap dance?” he ground out, unable to stop the words from escaping.

She snorted suddenly. “Oh geez, that poor kid. I didn’t even touch him—but he was so aroused.”

Alexei growled. Not what he wanted to know. “Of course he was. You were grinding on his lap like—”

She arched an eyebrow. “Like?” Before he could think up a suitable answer that wouldn’t piss her off more, she shook her head. “I wasn’t touching him, Alexei. It only looked like I was. If I’d ground on his lap for real, he’d have embarrassed himself in front of all his friends. Which I think they wanted or they’d have gotten him a private dance.”

Private dance. He didn’t even like to think about it. He turned into the driveway and shut off the truck. But he didn’t move. Neither did she. Because she clearly hadn’t forgotten what she’d told him she wanted when she’d finally started speaking to him. Alexei blew out a breath.

“I still think you could have skipped tonight, but I’m sorry for being an ass about it. Happy now?”

She laughed. It wasn’t at all the sound he’d expected. “Wow, I didn’t think you were actually going to do it. Just for the record, Alexei, you’re lousy at apologies. You did it, but you sound pissed off about it. Not to mention you still don’t think you’re wrong.”

He flexed his hands on the wheel. Let go and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I wasn’t wrong that you didn’t need to be there. It was handled.”

“I couldn’t let the girls down though. And I still need the money, let’s not forget. Unless you turn out to be Ana’s father, and then you can marry me and support us both— Oh my God, your face!” she howled. “So funny. You really do get totally horrified at the idea of marriage, don’t you?”

She was teasing him? Of course she was. Alexei opened his door, put a boot on the ground. “Ha ha,” he said. “You’re a real comedian, Bailey Jones.”

Okay, so maybe she shouldn’t tease him, but she’d had a hell of a night, and she could use a good laugh. So fine, she’d pressed his hot button. Lain on it, in fact. He’d been a bossy ass earlier, so he deserved it.

She got that he was trying to protect her, but the only thing that had changed before she walked into work was that text from Kayla. It upset her, sure. But, if anything, it made her more determined to go in there and perform. Because Kayla was safe for the moment, and maybe Dunn would show up again. And then Alexei could do his thing and stop Dunn from threatening her and Kayla and Ana.

More than ever, she believed that Alexei wasn’t Ana’s father. Kayla had pulled his name out of her ass when confronted, but Bailey suspected that Dunn was really Ana’s father. And Kayla hadn’t wanted her to know it. But why? And why run off like that? Why not answer any fucking phone calls? Was Ana the thing of Dunn’s she’d taken?

Bailey waited behind Alexei while he unlocked the house and went in first. She palmed her phone while setting the food on the coffee table, checking again for any messages. Of course there was nothing. She tapped out a text while eating fries.

Why won’t you answer me? Are you safe? We’re fine here. I’m with AK. Did you lie about him being the father?

She sent it before she could change her mind. Kayla probably wouldn’t answer anyway. Alexei dropped onto the couch beside her and dragged his food from the sack. He flipped on the television and went to cable news. She’d noticed that he watched a lot of cable news, much of it international.

She checked her email, placing the phone on the table so she could eat and read at the same time. There was the usual shopping stuff, a Groupon offer—and an email from a genetics lab.

Her heart thumped. It had to be the test results. The kit’s information sheet had said they’d send an email notifying her once the results were in. Her sandwich was suddenly dry in her mouth, and she picked up her soda to take a deep drink.

She glanced at Alexei. And then she opened the email and read the contents. It directed her to a site where she could log in with the PIN they’d given her. She followed the directions and then she was in. There were disclaimers. Jargon. And then a page to tap for the result.

“Alexei?”

He turned his head. “Yeah?”

“I got the email from the DNA test company. I’ve logged on to see the results.”

His brow furrowed. He pressed the Mute button. Was that concern in his eyes? Oh hell, she did not need to see that. She melted when he was nice. When he was an ass, it was much easier to maintain her distance. He needed to be an ass right now.

But of course he wouldn’t be. He’d be sensitive and amazing.

“You okay?”

She swallowed. “I haven’t looked yet. I thought we should look together.”

His expression softened. “If that’s what you want.”

Her finger hovered over the link. She almost wished she could make time stand still for a little while. Let Ana at least have the possibility that a man like this one was her birth father.

“Whatever the result,” he said softly, his deep voice stroking her nerve endings, both soothing and arousing at once, “I’ve grown kinda fond of that pip-squeak.”

She smiled in spite of the hammering of her heart. “She does that to a person.” She pulled in a breath. “You ready?”

“Yeah.”

He leaned in to look at her phone, and Bailey tapped the link. She had to scroll past a data table with percentages, but then the result appeared in black and white.

---

John Doe is EXCLUDED as the biological father of Jane Doe.

---

“Wow,” she said, sudden tears pricking the backs of her eyes. “I guess you were right.”

“Guess so.”

“I’m sorry for everything,” she began, but his gaze snapped to hers and his fingers pressed against her lips. Softly, but firm enough to make her hesitate.

“No. You did what you had to do. You’re a fierce aunt, Bailey. Kayla told you I was Ana’s father. That’s not your fault.”

“I don’t know why she lied to me.” She bit the inside of her lip. “She lied about so much, you know? I ask myself who this girl is, who she’s turned into. We were close growing up because we had to be. I took care of her, looked out for her, tried to make things right for her.”

“You did your best. But we all make our own choices, right? Your sister made hers for reasons you may never understand. Doesn’t mean you didn’t do a good job raising her.”

“Maybe that’s it,” she said as his words sank in. “Maybe I was more parent than sister to her the past few years. She certainly hid stuff from me like she thought I wouldn’t approve. And I probably wouldn’t have.”

She pressed her hands to the sides of her head as the import of the test sank in. Really sank in. She wanted to hyperventilate. Wanted to have a good freak-out for once in her life. But she never got the luxury of having those. It was her job to be strong. To do whatever it took to survive and not let life beat her down.

“What the hell am I going to do now?”

Alexei’s strong fingers wrapped around her wrists, pulled her hands away from her head. He entwined his fingers with hers. Her body sizzled to life with sparks of excitement that she did not need to feel.

“You’ll do what you always do, Bailey. You’ll take care of the people you love.” He squeezed her hands. “I’ll help you figure it out.”