I QUICKLY LEARNED that nothing ever happens in Mosset, North Carolina. Everyone here was born and raised here. There had been a few who hadn’t been happy with small town living and made it out, but no one ever moved to Mosset. I was the first. The day after I showed up, I even found my picture and a three-sentence story of my arrival in the town newspaper. I had a panic attack in the middle of the diner, which had taken Becky almost an hour to calm me. No one here knew Mian Ross existed, and the senator would never bother himself to read a small town newspaper.

“So, did you hear?” Excited blue eyes twinkled from across the booth. Stephanie was another part-time waitress at the diner. She couldn’t work many hours because of the bad knee she got from a car accident two years ago. She walked with a limp that she never seemed to let bother her.

“Hear what?” I asked with little interest. The good people of Mosset had a lot to learn when it came to juicy gossip.

“Some crazy hot guys drove into town this morning.” I choked on the coffee I had been sipping. “Are you okay?” She quickly handed me napkins.

“What did they look like?” I said as I patted my mouth dry.

“Tall and hot.”

“Stephanie,” I took her hands in mine. I could tell I was freaking her out. “I need a little more than that.”

“Ok, well, one was a gorgeous dirty blond with the brightest eyes and the longest lashes. The other cutie had long hair pulled back in a bun. I really need to ask who did his coloring. It’s fantastic. Oh, and he had the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re even greener than yours.” She went on about how hot the two strangers were, but I didn’t hear a word after I figured out they weren’t strangers at all.

I don’t remember leaving the booth with Caylen. I could hear Stephanie calling after me, but I didn’t stop, not even to offer an explanation to Becky. I hurried up the stairs that led to the tiny apartment and threw open the door. A scream built when I saw my room occupied. Lucas had thrown his hand over my mouth before it could escape and tugged me inside before shutting the door.

“Don’t scream. Don’t you dare, girl.”

Z took Caylen’s carrier and moved him out of harm’s way while I struggled against his partner. “Careful, princess. Don’t make us do this the hard way.” I struggled some more until I was too weak to fight anymore. Surprisingly, Lucas released me, and I didn’t scream.

“How did you find me?”

“It’s not what you think, princess.”

“We’re here for you,” Lucas added.

“Yes, I figured as much,” I answered sarcastically. I counted the steps it would take me to reach the bed and the seconds it would take to free the gun Sam loaned me from under the bed. There was no way in hell I’d let them take me back.

“I’m not going back,” I voiced. I took another step and was surprised when they didn’t pounce. 

“We’re not here to take you back. We’re here to protect you.”

My gaze narrowed. “Because he sent you?”

Z shook his head as his eyes pleaded with me to understand. “He didn’t send us. We left on our own.”

“You expect me to believe you left Angel broken in a hospital to fend for himself?”

“He was released weeks ago and is healing just fine,” Lucas explained.

“We left because he hurt you.”

“With your help,” I pointed out. “Try again.”

Lucas’s nostrils flared, and Z’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “He lied to us too, princess.”

“What do you mean?”

“We know it wasn’t Theo who shot Art that night,” Lucas answered. Before I could respond, he continued. “You don’t have to believe us now, but you have to trust us.”

“We need you to come with us, princess.” The plea in Z’s voice prickled the hairs on my skin. “We picked up a tail. ”

“Across the street,” Lucas explained, “at the third gas pump, there’s a black SUV that’s been at the pump for an hour. Two doors east, there’s a man in a blue and gray flannel standing by the lamppost smoking a cigarette. They’re Staten’s men.”

My attention slid to the window on the other side furthest away from the gun. When I didn’t move, Lucas reached behind him and pulled out Sam’s gun. I recognized the custom oak handle.

“If you’re wondering about this, don’t bother. This isn’t our first rodeo, kid.”

Irritated at being bested, I stomped to the window and peeked through the curtains. True to his word, I peeped the large black truck and the man wearing the blue and gray flannel. He wasn’t smoking, but from here, I could see several yellow buds littered around him. He’d been there a while.

“How did you find me?” I didn’t turn away from the window. I didn’t want to see any more of their false sincerity. I knew they weren’t entirely truthful, but seeing the senator’s men waiting for me out there left me no choice but to consider the lesser of two evils.

“It doesn’t matter,” Lucas evaded. “We need to go.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you until you tell me how you found me.”

“We bugged Anna’s phone.” Lucas sighed.

“And then you led them to me by coming here.” They didn’t try to deny it. “I was safe, and now I’m not because of you, and you expect me to just trust you?”

The loud knock on the door kept them from responding. “Alison,” Becky called from the other side, “are you okay in there? Stephanie said I should check on you.”

“Alison?” Lucas mouthed. He smiled faintly as he stared. I wanted to chuck something at his head.

I needed to do something and fast. The last thing I wanted was Rebecca or Sam caught in the crossfire of this standoff between Angel, the senator, and me. 

“I’m fine,” I called out. “I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to get sick in from of customers. I’m sorry for running off like that.”

There was silence on the other side of the door. I held my breath, hoping she’d take my excuse and leave.

“All right, missy. I can bring you some tea if you think you’ll need it?”

“No, I think I’ll be fine.” Please go away. We waited until Rebecca’s footsteps could be heard moving away.

Z moved to the window and took a peek outside. “The guy in the flannel is moving in with two more guys. We need to go now.” He turned green eyes on me. “You coming or are you staying to die, princess?”

They hadn’t left me much choice when they came here. I ran to the bed and pulled the black duffel with our clothes and money from under the bed. Lucas took the duffel while I lifted Caylen, who passively watched us from his new carrier. As we made our way to the door, Z took point while Lucas brought up the rear, keeping Caylen and me in the middle. Once we were down the stairs, Z turned to lead us to the back door where the dumpster and Joey’s car was hidden. We had only just made it out of the diner when we heard the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking.

“Don’t you two take another step,” Becky ordered. My breath caught, and my heart stopped. She moved from behind the dumpster where she had been waiting. “You’re not going anywhere with this girl.”

Lucas and Z didn’t move. Even though the gun was pointed at them, my fear was for my friend. She may have the upper hand, but they were hardened criminals.

“It’s all right, Becky. I want to go with them.” I left out the part about not having a choice because I knew, if the wind even blew the wrong way, she wouldn’t hesitate to blow them away.

“You don’t have to lie for my benefit,” she shrewdly shot back.

“We’re not going to hurt her,” Z dared to speak.

“I wasn’t born yesterday, city boy. Now hand her the baby and back away real slow.” To my surprise, they did as she ordered. I could no longer see them as they moved behind me. “Come to me, child.” Rebecca’s eyes never left them, and her finger never left the trigger of her shotgun. No sooner had I taken a step toward her, a shot rang out. The next moments passed in slow motion as Rebecca dropped to the ground. My scream was drowned out by more gunshots.

I shielded Caylen as best I could as I looked around for cover. The flannel-wearing shooter was laying face down a few feet behind Rebecca. I couldn’t see where she was shot, but there was so much blood.

“We need to go now.” I felt a hard hand close around my arm and jerk me up from the ground. Z grabbed Caylen’s carrier, and together, we made a run for Joey’s car. “Keys!” Lucas shouted in my face.

“We can’t leave her!” I looked back at Rebecca’s unmoving body. Guilt consumed me.

There were more shots and shouting. I felt my body being jerked as Lucas found the keys in my pocket and ripped them out before unlocking the Caprice and shoving me inside. No sooner were we all inside and bullets started raining down on the car. Z was firing out the window while Lucas expertly maneuvered the car out of the back lot, running over the flannel guy and speeding around the corner of the diner.

“Oh, God. She’s dead! It’s my fault. Rebecca’s dead. It’s my fault. It’s my fault.” I no longer recognized my own voice.

“Shut her the fuck up!” Lucas yelled over my screaming. My screams mixed with Caylen’s cries as Lucas drove us out of town.

“I’m sorry, princess.” It was the last thing I had heard before my vision exploded and everything went black.

 

* * *

I WOKE UP to a splitting headache and my hands tied. I could hear Lucas’s low rumble as he spoke on the phone. “She’s still out. We lost them.”

I didn’t move as I listened to his one-sided conversation. The only other sound was the television playing on low volume. I could smell the must from the old bed beneath me as I slowly opened my eyes. When the fog cleared, I noticed the stained green carpet first. A groan escaped as I moved to rise from the floral print bedspread.

“Whoa, princess.” Z appeared in front of me and pressed me back down. “You took quite a hit. Take it easy.”

“Where am I?” My voice sounded groggy, and I wondered how long I’d been out.

“You’re safe.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, Zachariah. Where am I? Where’s Caylen?” I swung my head in search of my son but ended up clutching the side of my head in pain.

“Damn it, princess.” Z quickly knelt and pried my fingers from the lump. A guilty flush spread over his cheeks as he checked me out.

“You hit me.”

He flinched and looked away. “I had to.”

“You had to hit me?”

“We were on a high-speed chase, and you were hysterical,” Lucas interjected. He was no longer on the phone, and he leaned against the paint-cracked wall.

“If you had left me alone, I wouldn’t have needed saving.”

“That’s neither here nor there. You’re dead without us now.”

I turned away from Lucas to face his more rational partner. “Where is Caylen?”

He took my hand and helped me up from the bed. It took a few extra seconds for me to trust my balance before he led me over to the second bed I hadn’t noticed.

Caylen was fast asleep on his blanket. I checked him over to make sure he was okay and turned toward my two saviors. “Why did you change his clothes? How long have I been out?”

“Only a few hours.” Lucas nervously scratched his chin before answering my second question. “We changed him because he threw up all over his clothes. I think he got car sick.”

“You don’t say,” I quipped. “A high-speed chase would do that to a baby.”

“It’s okay to hate us, girl, but we aren’t going away, so deal.”

I was across the room and in Lucas’s stupid, smug face before I had a chance to rethink it. “You led them to me.”

“Does it matter now? If we walked away, you’d be dead.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I don’t want anything from you. Angel does.”

“Then why isn’t he here?”

“Because he’s cleaning up your mess. That scrambled brain of yours refuses to see the whole picture. Staten was a client, not an enemy. If he walked away, and you and Caylen died, who do you think would have to live with that?”

“So, I’m supposed to thank him? What about Victor and his psychotic daughter? Was that my fault too?”

“But you already got your revenge in that warehouse, didn’t you?” The knowing look in his eyes made me back down a little. Had Angel told them I was the one who stabbed him? Lucas’s glare was full of accusation as if I were the one who did the betraying in that warehouse. I wasn’t sorry then, and I won’t apologize now.

“Not hardly,” I answered coldly. After all, Angel was still alive.

I didn’t expect Lucas’s grin. It was cold and deadly. “You’re a cold piece of work.”

“Likewise.”

“Are you two done?” Z finally spoke. He had been watching us argue from the far side of the room. “Princess, whatever happened in the warehouse is between you and Angel.” His glower was trained on Lucas as he spoke.

“You told me he didn’t know you were here.” They both froze as I stood back. They shared a meaningful look I wasn’t privy to before turning their attention back to me.

“He doesn’t.”

“Then who were you speaking to when you thought I was still sleeping?” Z’s reaction would take a microscope to see unless you’ve been lied to enough times to spot it. “You lied to me, didn’t you?”

“Princess—”

I held up a hand when he took a step forward. “Please just stop, Z. There’s nothing you can say to make me trust you. For all I know, you’re taking me back to him so he can finish the job himself, so give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you both the second I have the chance?”

“The answer is irrelevant. You’ll never get the chance,” Lucas answered. He brushed past me, and it was a couple of hours before either of them spoke to me again.

“Pepperoni or Sausage?” Z quizzed.

I hesitated, not wanting to accept their help, but I was starving, so I said, “Both.”

His grin was wide and bright, and I couldn’t help but think how I could have fallen for a smile like his if circumstances were different. “My kind of girl,” he praised before leaving the musty motel room.

Lucas rested his shirtless back against the headboard of the bed closest to the door and flipped through the channels. His jaw was hard, and his stare was steady, and I had the feeling he was trying to ignore me. I decided two could play his game, and I busied myself changing Caylen’s diaper.

“You tried to kill him, didn’t you?”

My hands paused from opening a fresh diaper. “You sound pretty sure of yourself. Why not just accuse me?” My lips were pressed tight as I turned my attention back to changing my son.

“I don’t get what it is about you two.”

“I don’t know what you mean, and frankly, I don’t care.”

“Oh, you care. You want to know why he’s helping you just as much as I do.”

“You should ask him then. I’m not the one with the secrets.”

“Angel keeps secrets to protect the ones he loves. What’s your excuse?”

I didn’t answer.

I was the one people kept secrets from, never the keeper. Lucas wanted an explanation that he wasn’t owed. That was his problem. Not mine.

Z came back with pizza that smelled and tasted just right for my empty stomach. I ate silently while Lucas and Z placed bets and argued heatedly about a football game playing on TV. After I was full, I fed Caylen and cleaned him up. I wanted to go outside for fresh air, but knew it would be with company or not at all, so I passed and settled for taking a long, hot shower. It was the only alone time I was going to get.

I was alarmed when the shower curtain ripped back as I was shampooing my hair. Z then stepped inside wearing only a smile.

“What are you doing?” I crossed my arms tight to cover my breasts and backed away from him. The shower was tiny, leaving only a small space between our bodies, and leaving me under the spray.

“Wanted to make sure you weren’t calling for help.” He lacked the menace his brothers’ wielded ruthlessly, but I had the gut feeling he was just as threatening and dangerous.

“In the shower?” I resisted the urge to knee him in the balls.

He shrugged powerful shoulders and reached for my soap. I watched him pop the top and take a sniff before waggling his eyebrows and squirting some in his palms. He then ran soapy hands over his body, but suddenly, stopped. His mocking gaze was trained on my arms still covering my breasts. “Are you shy, princess?”

“A little bit,” I replied sarcastically.

“I’ve seen you… and felt you.” His eyes trailed over my body slowly. “You have nothing to be shy about.”

“That may be, but privacy is well appreciated.”

He didn’t respond, and I hated myself when my eyes dipped to his hard abs as he ran my peach-scented soap over them. The light scars made him look enticingly rugged. “I can pose if you like.”

My gaze moved away to study the dingy shower curtain. “That won’t be necessary.” I turned my back on him to finish my shower as fast as I could. I could feel his eyes on me as I finished washing my hair and he continued defiling my soap.

“You didn’t have to run,” he blurted as I started running my sponge over my body.

“Yes. I did.”

“The senator is powerful and relentless, and so is Angel. You can’t run forever.”

I forgot modesty when anger forced me to turn and face him. “Angel was never going to let me go after he kills the senator.” Z glanced away, so I turned and finished my shower. I quickly wrapped my body in a towel and practically ran from the bathroom, but my escape was thwarted when I bumped into a very hard and hairy chest.

“Whoa.” Lucas’s hands closed around my bare arms. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“I was just going to check on Caylen.”

He looked back at my son blowing spit bubbles and babbling happily at the dirty, cracked ceiling. When he faced me again, his frown was deeper than I’d ever seen. “I’d never do anything to hurt him.”

“It’s not that,” I rushed to assure him. His face softened as he released me.

“Sorry,” he mumbled before stepping around me and closing himself in the bathroom with Z. I chose not to fixate on them closed in the tiny bathroom together and hurriedly dressed while I had the privacy. Z emerged minutes later with his feet and chest bare and his signature black jeans riding low on his waist. He was scrubbing a white towel through his hair as he moved around the room. I hummed to fill the tense silence while rocking Caylen to sleep. When his eyes finally drifted shut, I put him down for the night.

Through the thin wall separating the room from the bathroom, I heard the shower shut off and listened as Lucas moved around. He came out moments later wearing less than Z had. The white fluffy towel was wrapped around his waist as hot shower water dripped from every tanned inch of him.

“You should get some sleep,” he ordered when he found me sitting cross-legged on the bed.

“Afraid I’ll run away?” I pretended not to notice the way the water glistened on his tan skin. I was pretty sure he had a thing for my best friend, and I was definitely sure she was in love with him.

“We won’t be here past dawn.”

I slipped under the covers and hoped there weren’t any bed bugs or questionable stains. “Where are we going?”

He chuckled softly and shook his head.

“I can’t sleep without knowing,” I challenged.

His smirk made me realize my mistake a second before his hand moved. “Suit yourself,” he grinned and unhooked his towel. I gasped and squeezed my eyes shut. I could hear his chuckle followed by the sound of his towel hitting the floor.

Moments later, I drifted off.