The alarm on Garrett’s watch sounded at two in the morning. He’d re-routed the new silent alarm at Lauren’s house straight to his watch. Actually, Matthias had, but the result was the same. It got Garrett’s attention.

He’d been on his side in bed, curled around Lauren’s naked body, finally drifting off to sleep after hours of touching her. Now he was up and dressed. Freezing his balls off on the sidewalk in front of her house with Lauren at his side.

He really wanted to leave her back at the hotel, locked in and safe. She made it clear when she got dressed and threatened to kick him that she did not agree. “This could be dangerous.”

She didn’t look at him. Her focus stayed on her front porch. “More dangerous than those two guys walking around with guns while they try to fade into my shrubbery?”

The men, dressed in black and carrying, stalked the house. They moved around the grounds, without a sound and out of sight. They only popped into view when Garrett pulled up a few houses down. But they’d been on site since Carl’s body was found, blending in and slipping into the darkness when needed.

“They work for Matthias.”

She nodded as she tucked her hands in her jacket pockets. “That’s oddly comforting.”

Garrett agreed. Matthias only hired the most qualified. His teams were trained, serious and lethal. They obeyed orders and did not mess around. They also breached the house as soon as Garrett called to say the motion sensor went off but had no luck catching anyone.

One of the guards slipped around the house and in just a few steps stood in front of them. “We checked. No one is in there.” He spoke to them but his gaze continuously scanned the area. “No obvious signs of anything being taken.”

“How did anyone get around you?” Lauren’s sounded fascinated, not accusatory.

“Not possible.” The guard met Garrett’s gaze and held it for a few seconds. “It’s a false alarm.”

Garrett did not want to get in the middle of a pissing match. He knew better than to go up against a guy carrying at least three weapons. And those were the ones he could see. Garrett was pretty sure there were more, but he didn’t want to test the theory.

“Save that for your boss.” He nodded at the guard then looked at Lauren. “Stay here.”

“Not happening.”

Garrett was pretty sure he saw the guard smile at her refusal but Garrett kept his full attention on her. “Lauren.”

“You can say my name as many times as you want. The answer will be the same. No.” She unzipped her jacket and headed for the front door.

“Don’t smile. It only encourages her.” Garrett mumbled the comment under his breath to the guard before reaching out and snagging Lauren’s arm. “You stay behind me and don’t touch anything.”

“In my own house?”

He used the key he’d made to open the front door. “These comebacks. You really are on your game at two in the morning. I need to remember that for next time.”

“I’m hoping this doesn’t keep happening.”

Garrett didn’t respond because he didn’t disagree. He slipped inside, careful not to disturb anything. He’d turned off the sensors to keep his watch and Wren’s console back at his office from going haywire.

He glanced around the room. Didn’t spy anything out of the ordinary. He remembered the layout of the floor and had studied the photographs enough times to know where and how Lauren kept everything, down to the box sitting next to the couch filled with Christmas ornaments.

He didn’t need that reminder. Time ticked down to the holiday, Garrett’s least favorite of the year. His only comfort came in slipping away in quiet each year. He’d been dodging decorations and holiday displays for months. Lauren hadn’t put up a tree yet, but the box was clearly marked.

Walking around, he realized he couldn’t hear anything. The room was silent. She’d stopped talking and her boots didn’t sound on the floor. He whipped around to find her standing over the spot where Carl’s body once rested. “Lauren?”

Her face was drawn and devoid of color when she glanced up at him. “The floor is clean.”

He wasn’t sure what to do here. Did he usher her out or put an arm around her? He honestly had no idea what the proper protocol was for this sort of thing. For his work cases, Wren had a team of people who came in and took care of the hand-holding.

After a few seconds of indecision, he went with talking. Nothing else. “I had a service handle it once Detective Cryer gave me the okay.”

Her mouth twisted in a frown. “Someone had to see that?”

“It’s a specialty company. They clean crime scenes.” He could see her sharp intake of breath and took a step toward her.

Instead of breaking down or yelling—both would have been understandable—she shook her head and inched back from the now invisible outline of blood. “That sounds like a terrible job.”

“But necessary.” He went to her this time. Rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “Anything obvious?”

She gave the area within view a quick look. “No. Could this have been a false alarm?”

Anything was possible but Garrett didn’t believe in coincidences. “We set up motion sensors. Something set one of them off.”

Her eyebrow lifted. “How did you manage that?”

That tone he recognized. She brought it out when dealing with business matters and when she thought he was trying to walk over her. It bugged him at first but now it was one of his favorite things about her. It meant Lauren was Lauren. She wasn’t locked in the past or swept away by anger or grief.

“Carl came here for a reason, possibly to look for something since he waited until you weren’t here to come in. If true, I thought the person who killed him might come back looking for the same thing.”

“Whatever that was.”

“Exactly.” Garrett wasn’t used to explaining his actions. Wren gave him a lot of room to maneuver. Garrett had worked Kayla’s case with Matthias and had his trust as well. “There was a small chance, so I took it.”

“Smart.”

The tension pinging around the room died down. “Thanks.”

She stepped into the kitchen and opened a few cabinets. “Any chance you set up cameras, too?”

He guessed there was a right answer to this. He knew what it was. He hoped she did. “Actually . . .”

Her head shot around and she looked at him again. “Really?”

“A few. I called Wren. He’s checking the feed.”

She treated him to a small smile. “You guys take this stuff seriously.”

“Your being in danger? Yes, I do.”

She started to say something but stopped when the front door opened. Matthias stepped in wearing a suit without a tie, further convincing Garrett the guy didn’t own anything else.

“Hey.” Matthias kept his hand on Kayla’s elbow as he ushered her inside. “She insisted on joining me.”

“Of course I did.” Kayla glanced at Garrett. “But I couldn’t convince him to wear the casual clothes I bought him.”

Garrett winked at her. “Next time.”

“What are we looking at here?” Matthias asked as he stepped further into the living area.

Lauren pulled a water bottle out of the refrigerator and motioned to the rest of the room. They all shook their heads and she kept it for herself. “Matthias, I don’t understand how someone got around your guys and got in here.”

Matthias smiled at Garrett. “You didn’t tell her that part?”

Confusion spread across Lauren’s face. “What?”

Garrett had figured this was part of the setup he and Matthias discussed. Now he had confirmation. “When you want to trap someone inside, you lure them in. You don’t make it hard.”

“Did you leave her door open?” Kayla asked.

“That would be a rookie move. Too obvious.” Matthias shrugged. “Cracked two hard-to-reach windows in different locations in the house and someone took the bait.”

Kayla leaned up and kissed Matthias on the cheek, not an easy feat since the guy was about six-four. “That’s pretty hot.”

Since Garrett would rather be anywhere but at the house that held all the bad memories for Lauren, he kickstarted the conversation. “We had an alarm in the bedroom and one in here. The place is clear of intruders but who knows what else we might find.”

“We’ll get started in the bedroom,” Kayla said as she reached out for Lauren’s hand. The two of them disappeared into the other room a second later.

Garrett headed for the front windows then crouched down to check the sensors. He expected Matthias to head for another part of the cottage but he loomed right there. It was enough to make Garrett stand up again. He knew something was coming.

“Having a good night?” Matthias asked from right behind Garrett.

He knew Matthias well enough to know the question he asked was not really his question, and he braced for more. “Up until a half hour ago.”

“Still just being a bodyguard? Doing bodyguard stuff?”

That didn’t take long. Garrett had been expecting it but Matthias still landed the shot pretty well. “We can look without talking. I’m fine with that.”

“Be careful.”

The change in Matthias’s tone had Garrett paying attention. “A warning? Really?”

For a guy who excelled at negotiating and strategizing, he seemed to be doing a pretty shitty job of maneuvering through his relationship with Lauren. He’d dated before. He had no idea why this was so different. So much bigger. Whatever it was, it made him careful with what he said.

“This time I’m worried about you, not her.”

“I’m trying to believe we’re having this conversation.” Garrett would be happy to have it end anytime now. Really.

Matthias scoffed. “That makes two of us.”

He took off for the kitchen at twice his normal speed. Garrett had to smile at that. Matthias was not a man known for running from anything. But Garrett still needed to make a point. “We’re seeing if there’s anything between us. Just . . . you know, seeing.”

Matthias stilled. “Do you hear yourself?”

His stammering was tough to miss. Even Garrett had to admit that. “Unfortunately.”

“You swoop into town—”

“Swoop?” Not a word Garrett ever remembered saying before.

“You might have just started sleeping together, which is the only explanation for that stupid look on your face, but you guys have been circling each other for months. Dating without dating.”

Garrett was pretty sure that was more words than Matthias had said all last month. But he did say something worth noting. “I tried to tell Lauren about that dating part but she was in denial.”

“Women.” Matthias shrugged. “Look, I’ve never seen you like this before. With anyone. She might not be ready even if you are. Maybe go slow.”

Garrett heard the tone. Not Matthias’s usual grumbling bark. No, this was something different. “Is this warning from Kayla or from you?”

“I don’t care about any of this.” Matthias opened the refrigerator and took out something in a plastic container. He studied it but didn’t open it. “You’re consenting adults.”

That was more like the Matthias he knew. But Garrett didn’t buy it. Matthias wasn’t the type to meddle. The uncomfortable talk was his way of saying he cared. That mattered to Garrett and he was close enough to Matthias to accept the advice without mentioning the emotion behind it.

He dropped the container back on the shelf and closed the door. “But, Garrett? Don’t fuck this up. You likely don’t see it yet, but you guys make sense together.”

That sounded like decent advice, so Garrett decided to take it. “Okay.”

“And if you mess it up, Kayla will make me kill you.”

Lauren and Kayla walked around the office area in the bedroom. Stacks of unfiled paperwork teetered on the edge of her desk. This was her personal information, which she hadn’t looked at or thought about but was pretty sure she was supposed to save. At work, everything was catalogued with bookkeeper perfection. Here she let things slide.

“You okay?” Kayla asked from the opposite side of the desk chair.

“I love that you keep asking that and expecting a different answer each time.”

Kayla shrugged. “I guess I’m an optimist.”

“What?” Lauren laughed. “You are not.”

Kayla was incredible and loving, and she had a horrible past that made it hard for her to be anything other than practical and a bit wary. Things had changed a bit now that she was dating Matthias, but people didn’t morph into something new. That was one thing Lauren was pretty clear about. Their general makeup, what mattered to them, stayed static.

“True, but back to Garrett . . .” Kayla cleared off an edge of the desk and sat there, swinging her leg back and forth.

Dodge. That advice kept running through Lauren’s head. She didn’t know what she was doing with Garrett, so there was no way she could explain it.

“He’s great.” That sounded so ridiculous she immediately tried again. “I’m trying not to overanalyze.”

Kayla’s smile was a bit too happy. “What I’ve learned about Matthias and Garrett and their friends is that you don’t need to overanalyze because they’ll do it for you.”

Lauren had no idea what that meant. “What?”

“If you don’t think you’re the main topic of conversation between them each day, you’re wrong.”

Lauren was pretty sure she swallowed her tongue. “What?”

Footsteps sounded in the hall, then Matthias and Garrett appeared in the doorway. One after the other, they stepped inside the room. With four adults, the furniture and all the files, it was claustrophobic.

“How are we doing up here?” Garrett asked as he moved to stand beside her.

“We have documents and . . .” Kayla grabbed a stack off the bookshelf. “And more documents. Then we have files and what look like old bank documents. Don’t you get that stuff online like everyone else?”

“Wait.” Lauren reached across the desk and Garrett’s chest and grabbed the file. She held it tight to her as memories of the last thirty months ran through her head.

Garrett frowned at her. “You okay?”

A light clicked on inside her. She’d never experienced an aha moment before but now she knew the sensation. It spun through her.

She turned to Garrett and held the file out to him. “The documents. The bank statements. I’ve kept them.”

Matthias looked around the desk. “It looks like you keep everything.”

“No, you don’t understand.” She opened the file and passed it around for them to see. Showed them the top statement. “I realized the money mess Carl dragged us into when the creditors started calling. The police knew about the money issues and asked what felt like a million questions on the topic. But the bank statements, the fraud . . . I didn’t share that with the police.”

Kayla frowned. “What?”

“It’s why I went to the divorce attorney right before Carl bolted. I asked questions and Carl wouldn’t answer them, but I knew the statements didn’t make any sense compared to how little money we had left over after expenses and Carl’s credit cards.” Lauren exhaled. “That lie was the one that broke me.”

Kayla’s head shot up. “But why hide this information from the police?”

“Because she didn’t want to paint an even bigger target on her chest. She was already a suspect. Her husband cheats on her, runs up debts and lies to her then disappears.” Garrett put a hand on her lower back. “More evidence might have had the police looking in the wrong direction.”

The tension buzzing in Lauren’s head vanished as Garrett talked. He understood. He wasn’t blaming her or judging. The expression on his face could only be described as pride. “And I needed Carl declared dead. I couldn’t afford—literally—a protracted investigation or more lawyers.”

“All those months of insisting he was dead.” Kayla said the words slowly, as if the importance of them hit her as she spoke.

Lauren rushed to explain. “It was the only way to survive.” She looked around the room, willing them all to understand. “Once I knew Carl scammed me I really didn’t care where he was, but I was terrified of being blamed and not being able to defend myself.”

Matthias nodded. “Smart.”

“Very,” Garrett said right after. “So we’re dealing with someone who knows—”

“Bob.” All the pieces slipped together then. She didn’t know why she hadn’t figured it out the second she saw Carl’s body. She pointed to the business’s name listed as a duplicate address for receiving the statements. “That’s Bob’s old company. It’s changed its name, but it’s him. He’s a financial expert. How did he not know these weren’t real? It was his job to manage our finances, to check.”

Garrett searched through the file. “You said he was the first one to come looking for a loan repayment when Carl disappeared.”

“And he knew about the scam.” Kayla sighed. “According to Maryanne.”

“He might want to get his hands on these before you turn them over . . .” Garrett’s voice trailed off then he lifted his head. “You are going to give these to the police this time, right?”

So few days had passed since they’d found the body. Detective Cryer had called and insisted they talk again. She needed to do it, but she’d barely had time to think. It was as if an endless parade of people filed in and out of her days. Police questions. Alarms. Garrett.

But she had to concentrate now. She needed her life back and the only way to take control was to grab it. “The police can have them. I actually didn’t think about them until this second. I almost burned them last year.”

Garrett looked at Matthias over the top of the file. “While we’re burning things, I think we should ask to talk with Bob again.”

“You can’t kill him.” Lauren tried to phrase it as a joke, but when no one laughed she was pretty sure she’d failed.

Garrett scoffed. “I’m not promising.”