Jax Mercury scrubbed his wet hair away from his face and settled into his chair in the war room, his gaze on a map of what used to be Los Angeles. His elbow rested on the cool surface of the conference table they’d found at a law office somewhere.

A whisper sounded by the door, and Damon Winter strode in, munching on what looked like fruitcake. A bandage peeked from his superficial wound. “Get the blood off after interrogating that gang member?” he asked, pulling out a chair at the elaborate table to sit. His voice gave nothing away.

Jax glanced sideways. “Yeah.” He took in the newest member of his team. The guy could definitely handle himself, but rumor had it he’d been a cop. Even though Jax had been a soldier with the US military, he’d never been a big fan of law enforcement. Of course, he’d been in a gang that had broken laws on a regular basis. Now, he was trying to create law and order. “That bother you?”

“Yeah.” Damon took the final bite, his dark eyes sober. “That bothers me.”

Jax tugged his fresh T-shirt into place. “Then don’t do it.”

Damon lifted a dark eyebrow. “I’ll do what needs to be done, but we shouldn’t like it.”

Ah. Jax nodded. “Agreed.” He tilted his head. “How’s your wound?”

“Just a scratch. Needed a Band-Aid. No big deal.”

“What were you just eating?” When was the last time Jax had eaten?

“Fruitcake,” Damon said. “Did you know it lasts forever? I mean, forty years from now, the fruitcake we have in storage will still be edible.”

That couldn’t be good. “Didn’t even know we had fruitcake,” Jax muttered.

“Scouts found an old factory a day ago and brought as much as they could carry in the van.” Damon gave a mock shudder. “It really is as awful as I remember. But it’s food.”

Yeah. They couldn’t turn away sustenance. Not an ounce. “Why you here, Damon?”

“What did you find out?” Damon asked.

All right. The cop would get to his point in his own time. That was fine. This was a man Jax wanted on his team, so he’d play along. For a while. “I have the Twenty’s hierarchy, which is pretty damn loose, and I’ll make diagrams. Bottom line is that the president is using them to harass us as well as gather supplies and so on. They number about a hundred.”

Damon winced. “A hundred gang members who get points for killing us. Wonderful. What does Vanguard number?”

“About six hundred now that the Mercs have joined up,” Jax said. If they had. That still seemed to be up in the air. “Do you think you’re joining Vanguard?” He studied the cop’s face, looking for any clue as to what he was thinking.

Nope. No tells. Damon could probably play poker with the best of them.

Damon turned and studied the map of Los Angeles. “I’ll back whatever play Greyson makes.”

That was clear as glass. Perfectly, actually. Okay. Jax leaned back, his body relaxing. He liked a guy who played it straight. “What’s Grey thinking?”

“Dunno.” Damon crossed muscled arms. A small bandage peeked from beneath his T-shirt up high on his left bicep. “But I think we should stay.”

Jax went on alert. There was no question Greyson Storm relied on Damon’s council. “Why?”

Damon turned slowly, his gaze thoughtful. “For one thing, our entire territory burned down.”

Yeah, that did suck. But they could always build somewhere else. Probably. “And?” Jax prompted.

“You have a good group here. People forming connections and families. The Mercs need that as much as the rest.” Damon rolled his neck. “And you could use us. Your soldiers are good, but there’s strength in numbers, and our soldiers are phenomenal.”

“You think they’ll be part of Vanguard?” Jax asked, watching carefully.

Damon seemed to think it over. “Yeah, but you’ll need to phrase it differently. Have a Mercenary faction within Vanguard that’s responsible for security. For fighting. Maybe let some of your Vanguard soldiers, the best of the best, join up and train with the Mercs.”

Jax mulled it over. “I don’t really see a problem with that.” It was all semantics, and he’d never given a shit about that. “What else?” He didn’t have all day here.

“April and I were invited to dinner,” Damon said, his voice lowering just enough to be noticed.

Jax lifted his head. “You don’t think she’s up to it.”

“How the hell should I know?” Damon asked. “Not that it matters. She’s our way in, and I’ll cover her. Have you even taught her to fight?”

Jax shook his head. “Barely. She’s been busy with organizing the structure for the kids—when she wasn’t in mourning. I haven’t pushed. There’s something just so…”

“Delicate,” Damon said. “There’s something fragile and delicate about her.”

“I was there,” Jax said, a ball of fire burning through his chest. “When she buried her daughter. I was there.” His throat started to close, so he stopped talking. He wasn’t capable of pushing April Snyder to do anything she didn’t want, and that was a fact. She needed to be protected at all costs. His head lifted. “I’m allowing her on this mission, but that’s all it is. Remember that.”

For the first time, emotion filtered into Damon’s dark eyes. Amusement and something else. Warning? Yeah. That was a warning. “Mind your own business,” he said easily.

“April is my business,” Jax shot back. If the Merc thought he was going to have a good time and use April, he’d find a bullet instead. “Don’t forget it.”

Before Damon could retort, Lynne Harmony strode into the room, a ream of papers in her slender hands that she was reading as she moved. She wore a lightweight, white lab coat over a casual peach sundress, and the odd blue of her heart glowed slightly. “I’ve been reading the newest intel we got from Zach Barter, and I think we need to get into the Reno Bunker as soon as possible—as soon as Tace and Sami get home with information from the Century City Bunker. I may finally have some good news for you.” She looked up, and her stunning eyes focused. “Oh. Hi, Damon.”

A different heat—the good kind—filtered through Jax. His woman had her blond hair piled on top of her head in a messy but totally cool way, and her soft lips were pursed as she seemingly thought about a million things at once. “Come here,” he said.

She blinked. Once and then twice. A lovely pink filtered into her pale cheeks. “Jax.”

“Now.”

She faltered, rolled her eyes, and then moved toward him. “I thought we took care of the bossy part of you.”

When she was close enough, he grasped her arm and tugged her down onto his lap, as she no doubt knew he would. Considering she snuggled closer while keeping her papers safe from being crumpled, she didn’t seem to mind much.

He kissed her forehead. “Damon was just telling me that he and April were invited to dinner with the Pure tonight.”

Lynne stiffened just a little.

“Jax was just warning me off April,” Damon said easily.

Lynne twisted her head to look at Jax. “Why?”

Why? Because the woman had been through enough. “It’s a mission. Not a dating app,” Jax returned.

Damon sighed. “You’re the only one who can date?” His eyes dropped to Lynne’s chest before quickly lifting.

Jax didn’t take offense. Lynne had been injected with a cure for Scorpius that had turned her heart blue without curing anything. The organ glowed an aqua shade, as did the veins surrounding it. He didn’t mind people being curious, and he appreciated how quickly Damon had looked back up. “April isn’t in a state to date. She’s vulnerable, and we’ve already discussed that she’s fragile.”

Lynne snorted. “You’re such a moron.”

He tightened his hold on her, not liking the amusement that glowed darker in Damon’s eyes. “I’d appreciate if you kept the insults private, baby,” he murmured.

Lynne shrugged one slender shoulder against him, obviously unconcerned.

Damon, quite wisely, stood. “I’ll check in after this dinner.”

Jax nodded. “Do so. Also, we’re conducting a raid on a Twenty gang headquarters late tonight. We can’t let their attack go unanswered. Figured you had experience raiding gang and drug houses.”

Damon lost his smile. “More than I’d like. I’m definitely in.”

That’s what he’d figured. “I’ll have a plan by the time you check in,” Jax said, wrapping his fingers around Lynne’s ribcage. Was she losing weight? Sometimes, she got so busy with her research and trying to cure Scorpius that she forgot to eat. He hadn’t been paying close enough attention.

Damon left and shut the door behind him.

Jax partially turned Lynne. “I’m a moron?” he asked mildly.

Her smile brightened her entire face. “Sometimes.”

“When was the last time I spanked you?” he asked, enjoying the darkening of her blush.

Her eyes widened. “Last week during sex. It was pretty good, too.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his nose. “I’ll show you. Next time, I’ll spank you.”

Humor took him, and he couldn’t help the chuckle that rose from his chest. So much for intimidating the beautiful doctor. “I don’t think so.” He glanced at her papers. “What did Barter’s notes give you?” Zach Barter was the fuckwad who’d injected Lynne with the blue drug, and he was only still breathing while sitting in a cell because he had useful information.

She bit her lip, making Jax want to do the same. “There’s evidence that the Scorpius bacterium only survives on surfaces for six months. Then it dies and is no longer a threat.”

Jax straightened. “Good evidence?”

Her frown drew down her fine eyebrows. “I think so. I’ll need the records from the Reno Bunker to know for sure.”

The Century City Bunker they controlled had more computer records and weapons. Apparently, all of the Bunkers had a primary function, and the one in Reno was all about research. Jax started making plans. “I want to get the Mercs integrated a bit more, and then we’ll take that facility as soon as Tace and Sami return.” They were at the Century City Bunker looking for more intel on Reno before they could attack. It wouldn’t be easy. “We also need to find more explosives before launching the attack.”

She kissed his nose again. “Has Sami had any luck with the encrypted files?”

“No, but she doesn’t think the president has either. She says the encryption is the best of the best.” Jax grinned. If Sami couldn’t hack into the mysterious file the president had made Greyson Storm steal, then no way could anybody else. For a while anyway.

Lynne fluttered her eyelashes. “You’re so handsome.”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “What do you want, Doc?”

She grinned. “Leave April and Damon alone. If there’s a chance for them, stay out of the way.”

There was no chance for them. April was barely functional, and Jax didn’t know Damon. “It’s not going to happen,” he muttered. “Stop getting hearts in your eyes and thinking everyone should hook up. Those two are way too different, and she’s too fragile.”

“Different?” Lynne’s lips twitched. “Not like us, huh? I mean, we’re so much alike.”

Okay. So they were opposites. Completely. “Damon is as dangerous as they come, no matter how mellow he seems,” Jax said. He knew a soldier, a predator when he met one. He liked the guy, too. “April has lost everything, and a strong wind could break her. She’s not up for a casual fling.”

“Maybe Damon isn’t either.” Lynne sighed. “I think they’d be good together. She’s sweet, and he seems like he deserves that. He’s tough and protective, and that woman needs to be safeguarded. I like them together.”

How intriguing that a scientist, one of the best in the world, would be so romantic. “You’re a sweetheart, Lynne Harmony.”

She wiggled a little on his lap, and his dick perked right up and said hello. “You’re insatiable,” she said, sounding pretty damn happy about it.

“Yeah, I am.” He tangled his hand in her hair. “There’s a new preacher in Vanguard. Used to preach somewhere near San Diego.”

She stilled. “There is?”

“Yeah. How about we plan that wedding you’ve wanted?” He didn’t care about ceremonies, but he definitely wanted to claim her forever as his. “You’re everything. You know that, right?”

Her expression softened in a way he’d only seen her do for him. The sight filled something in him that he hadn’t known needed filling until he met her. “I do,” she murmured.

Then she kissed him.