It was seven forty-two on a Thursday night when Lila finally confronted Xavier. She’d avoided speaking to him for nearly a week once she figured out he was working with the Russians. What she’d learned was bigger and badder than she was comfortable with, but she knew the longer she waited, the more likely he was to do something that would put Cian in danger.

She came into the office and spent all Thursday afternoon working on updates to Cian’s business. And she waited for her only coworker to leave, enabling her to speak privately with Xavier.

While there were plenty of dark websites operating from laptops in people’s basements, Xavier had always had a front for Rogue. He rented a small office in a run-down office park with a sign out front that read: “Elite Software Specialists.” It enabled him to launder enough money to look like a legitimate businessman. Hackers or “programmers” coming and going at all hours of the day and night didn’t trigger any warnings at all to the property owners, and while most Rogue staff worked from wherever they wanted, Lila and a few others had always been in Chicago, so they came in to the office when it suited them.

As the door closed behind Lenny, a man who’d worked at Rogue for at least three years and never spoken a word to Lila other than “Hey,” and “See ya,” she shut down her laptop and stood. She’d spent most of last night in bed, trying to think about how she’d approach Xavier, but as nothing had come to her, she decided she had to get it over with. She knew as much about Rogue as he did, and she doubted he wanted her to quit because he was being a greedy bastard.

Once he knew she was on to him, Lila was certain Xavier would give in and extricate himself from whatever he’d gotten mixed up with. Or, at the very least, he’d find a way to do it without damaging Cian MacFarlane. She felt certain he didn’t want her to tell Cian what he was up to.

“Yeah?” Xavier asked without looking up when Lila entered his office.

“We need to talk,” she said, leaning against the doorframe.

“Okay.” He kept clacking away at his keyboard.

“I need you to look at me while we do,” she demanded.

Xavier froze, his gaze swinging to hers. He lifted his hands off the keyboard. “Whoa, sorry. Didn’t know this was something so important.” His tone was mocking, and, coupled with what kind of guy she was rapidly learning he was, it pissed Lila off no end.

“Yeah,” she said, eyes narrowed. “It is important. I want to know why you asked me to watch Cian MacFarlane.”

“Maybe I don’t trust him,” Xavier said, leaning back in his chair.

“Maybe I don’t trust that,” she answered, one eyebrow raised.

Their stare down lasted a few seconds, then he gave her his best imitation of a smile. Xavier rarely smiled, and when he did, it was entirely socially awkward. Until now, Lila had always found it funny. Now it seemed somehow mostly gross.

“I give you a lot of freedom in your job,” he began. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not still your boss. I asked you to do something, and it’s hardly any different than when I ask you to monitor someone online. We do it all the time.”

“But it doesn’t usually make me feel like you’re whoring me out,” she snapped.

“I didn’t tell you to have sex with him, for fuck’s sake,” he muttered. “Just keep tabs on him. What’s the difference if it’s in person or online?”

“It’s different,” she replied. “Trust me.”

He narrowed his gaze, watching her for so long, she nearly cracked and told him to forget she’d mentioned it, but then something else flickered in his gaze.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for him.” Xavier tossed his hand up in the air in frustration before standing and stalking around the desk. “You have, haven’t you? You fell for the big sexy mobster, and now you feel too guilty to inform on him. And you think you need to protect him from what? Me?”

Her blood pressure spiked. How dare he act as though she was the one in the wrong here. “I know you’re taking payments from the Bratva,” she said, her voice soft but deadly.

Xavier stopped, cocked his head, and looked at her thoughtfully. “I’ve always liked that about you, Lila. You’re smart, and you don’t pull punches.”

“You’re not denying it.” Her anger ratcheted up more.

He shrugged. “What’s the point? You’ve obviously seen the offshore account and the deposits.” He half sat on the edge of his desk, nothing but a few feet between them.

“And your intent is what? To destroy the Dublin Devils so the Bratva can finally take over Chicago?”

He shook his head, a sad smile on his face. “Oh, Lila. The thing about being smart and pulling no punches is that it can lead you to things you’re not supposed to know.”

Suddenly, Lila’s fury was replaced by something more disquieting. A shiver traveled through her as she watched his face morph from amused to cruel.

Before she could move, he was on her, grabbing her long hair in his fist and yanking her head back. He pulled her over to the desk, where he picked up a trophy made of thick glass in the shape of a triangle. He held the sharp point to her throat, pressing until she coughed.

Lila breathed hard, so shocked by the attack, she didn’t resist. But as she stood with her neck awry, a large chunk of glass held against her larynx, she knew she couldn’t let him kill her.

“I am glad you came to me with this, though,” he said. “It could have created some real problems if you’d told your new man candy.”

Lila tried to shift, but Xavier only pressed the glass in harder.

“Now, here’s how this is going to work—”

Lila remembered one of the moves Cian had taught her in their self-defense session and brought her elbow back as hard as she could, but not into his midsection, into his crotch. As she shifted to hit her target, the glass cut her, and she felt something in her trachea give way, but she didn’t stop, spinning as he released her with a cry and doubled over.

She dove for the door, but even though he was bent over, he reached out, grabbing her around the thighs. She flew forward, landing hard on her front, midway through the doorway.

“You bitch!” Xavier snarled as he pulled on her legs to regain control. She kicked and gasped, loosening his hold enough that she could roll onto her back. Partway up on her elbows, she kicked hard at his face. And in a moment, it was over. She connected with his nose, which burst, spraying blood everywhere, but the force of it threw his head back against the doorjamb. There was a horrifying crunch, then he collapsed forward, landing facedown on her ankles.

Lila screamed hoarsely, scrambling to get away from him. She panted, on her knees a few feet beyond where Xavier lay, motionless, the back of his head and nose both spilling blood that slowly pooled beneath him.

“Oh my God, oh my God,” Lila chanted to herself. Blood dripped down her neck and into the V-neck of her T-shirt, ending up in her cleavage. She stood on shaky legs and stumbled to the front of the office, locking the main door and then grabbing her phone from her desk. She pulled up the contacts and pressed the Call button.

“Lila from Rogue.” His deep voice came over the line, and Lila began to shake so hard, she almost dropped the phone.

“Lila?” he said again. “Are you there?”

“Help,” she rasped out.

His voice turned from teasing to sharp in a second. “Where are you? What’s happened?”

“Rogue office. I think I killed him.” Her voice was barely a whisper, and the blood from her cut was beginning to soak into her shirt, turning the lavender cotton a reddish brown. All she could think was, it will never come clean.

To Cian’s credit, he didn’t ask who was dead, and he didn’t sound surprised, just efficient and in charge. “Are you safe there?”

“I think so. I locked the door.”

“Good.” She could hear him moving and snapping orders to people around him. “Stay there, don’t answer the door for anyone but me, don’t call anyone but me. Can you do that, Lila?”

“Mm-hm,” she said, panic setting in.

“Lila,” he said, low and soothing. “Whatever’s happened, it’s going to be okay. I promise.”

“Hurry,” she said before she disconnected and sat down halfway between Xavier’s body and the front door, pulling her knees up to her chest as she shook with sobs.

* * *

Cian watched as Danny knocked lightly on the glass door to the generic office suite. All the offices opened onto the sidewalk in the strip park. Exposed. Not Cian’s favorite setup, especially when he didn’t know what had even happened, but there was no way he was going to get a call from Lila asking for help and not answer.

Danny turned to him, questioning. “Let me,” Cian said, stepping forward.

“Not liking this, boss,” Louis said from beside him.

Cian grunted an answer as Danny stepped aside. He leaned his head toward the door and knocked a touch louder. “Lila,” he said quietly, “it’s me.”

He heard the click of the bolt sliding, and then the door cracked open. As soon as she saw it was him, she pulled it wider, and he stepped through, barely clearing the threshold before she pinned herself to him, burying her head in his chest while she kept her arms wrapped about her middle protectively. His open overcoat partially concealed her, and he wound his arms around her in a bear hug, tipping his chin to his guys, who followed him in.

“Go see what the situation is,” he instructed. As they moved to the back of the suite, he murmured comforting words into her hair. “It’s all going to be okay now. I promise. Whatever’s happened, we’ll take care of it.” His chest ached as he held her for the first time. The feel of her small frame tucked into his was life altering.

Danny came back, his face saying more than even his words. “We got a body,” he said. “The nerd guy she works for. Face and head wounds.”

Cian nodded, still protecting Lila. “Call Finn and have him get over here right away. See if there’s a back entrance he can use, and then put one of you out back and one in front.”

Danny nodded before disappearing into the back of the suite.

Cian gently guided Lila to a cubicle in the front corner of the room where no one could see her and vice versa. He sat in the biggest chair in the tiny space and, without a second thought, pulled Lila onto his lap. He shifted to get comfortable, then set her back a few inches so he could finally look at her face.

His brave little hacker. She was shaking like a leaf. He’d never touched her like this, but it felt so natural and right, he didn’t hesitate for even a moment.

He pushed back the hair that hung alongside her face, obscuring his view of her. And that was when he saw it—ugly dark bruises on her throat, along with a slice directly across her larynx, blood still oozing from her mottled skin. Rage erupted so hard and fast, he had to take a steadying breath, but even then, when he spoke, his voice was smooth and cold, like ice.

“What the hell did he do to you?”

She gazed at him, her eyes heartbroken. His heart raced. No. Anything but that.

He had to clear his own throat to say the next words. “Did he…?”

His eyes grazed over her face and down to her chest, her arms, searching for other signs—torn clothing, blood, more bruises—but she interrupted. “No. No, it wasn’t about that. He was trying to kill me, or maybe keep me until the Russians got here, I’m not sure.”

Cian’s head spun with incomplete information and the obvious raspiness of her voice. So much worse than when he’d saved her from the Vasquez guy. Her larynx was obviously seriously damaged.

“Russians? Lila, you need to start from the beginning.”

And she did. She told him Xavier had been out to destroy his family from the beginning and she’d figured it out, then she’d confronted him with her suspicions and been forced to fight for her life because of it.

Once she’d described it all, he melted into the chair, pulling her as close as possible, one arm wrapped around her hips, the other around her back, his hand reaching into her smooth hair. She pulled her knees up, tucking herself into his big body as tightly as she could.

He didn’t reprimand her for putting herself in danger, nor for not telling him about the threat immediately. The fucking Russians were after him now too. He closed his eyes for a moment. Thank God Connor was out. Things were going to get worse, and he couldn’t imagine what he’d have done if anything happened to Connor.

He needed to get Finn and Liam safe next. It wasn’t going to be good enough to keep them out of prison now. He had to get them out of the life entirely. Not something he’d have a hard time convincing Finn to do, but Liam was another issue all together.

He turned his attention back to the frightened woman in his arms. “You’re a fighter, Lila,” he said softly as he heard doors opening and closing and hushed voices at the back of the suite. Finn was here getting to work. “You did the right thing calling me. We’re going to handle it all. My brother’s the best fixer there is. No one will ever know what’s happened here. You can relax.”

“What about Rogue?” she asked. “Everyone at Rogue will notice he’s disappeared. We can’t just pretend he’s still here.”

Cian thought about it for a few moments before answering. “How many people at Rogue have ever seen or spoken to him?”

“Four of us. The four here in Chicago who use this office sometimes.”

“So everyone else only hears from him online?”

She tipped her head to look up at him. He could feel her gaze on his face like the heat of the sun.

“Right,” she answered. “He’s just a signature on the internet to all but a few people at Rogue.”

“Okay, so I think he needs to put out a message detailing his leave of absence and leaving you in charge.”

Lila’s gaze was assessing now. He seemed to have snapped her out of any lingering trauma. “You’re thinking no one has to know he’s gone.”

“I think Xavier has a personal crisis of some sort. Something that’s called him away—maybe it’s family, maybe it’s legal trouble that’s forced him to hop a plane out of the country. No one’s going to doubt that, are they? He’ll leave you in charge. Rogue will continue as normal.”

“Or…” she paused. “It just so happens that I’ve spent a lot of time recently discovering his every movement online. I could be Xavier for a while.” She paused, her brow knitted in thought. Cian resisted the urge to run a finger over that soft skin and smooth the tiny wrinkle away. “Eventually someone will figure it out, though,” she finished.

“Of course they will,” he answered with a slow smile. “But it won’t be right away, and when they do, we’ll have already established that he disappeared, and no one will ever know if he was snatched or ran. And sure as shit, no one’s going to be calling the police. No one Xavier associated with wants to be scrutinized by the cops.”

Lila nodded, wincing as the motion caused her pain.

“Dammit,” Cian said, concern furrowing his brow. “We need to get you to a doctor.”

“We can’t.” Her eyes widened in horror. “They’ll call the police to report my assault.”

He smiled warmly at her. Her eyes were so beautiful, dark and decadent. “I have a doctor who can take care of you. He’s top notch, no hospitals, no police.”

She nodded then, and he stood, sliding her off his lap and onto her feet, but keeping ahold of her, tucking her under one arm as he walked them into the bigger room.

“Stay right here,” he instructed, then showed her Danny was standing on the other side of the front door, keeping them safe.

He strode to the back of the suite and found Finn there, supervising a couple of their guys removing the body.

“Hey,” Finn said, his face serious. “It looks like there was quite a struggle. He died from a blow to the head.” Finn pointed to a place on the doorframe of Xavier’s office, where blood and hair were still lodged.

Cian snarled. “Asshole attacked her, and she fought him off. It was accidental. She was just trying to get away. He nearly sliced her throat open first.”

“Jesus,” Finn murmured. “She’s such a tiny thing.”

“I’ll explain everything that went down later, but I need to get her to Dr. O’Reilly.”

“Yeah, of course,” his brother said, giving him a slap on the back. “Don’t worry about any of this. There’s a fair amount of blood, but it’s localized. We’ve already gotten the name of the property owner, so we can dig up dirt on him to hold on to in case we encounter any trouble, but I don’t think anyone’s going to ever know it happened here. Should clean up sparkling.”

“Good. But don’t dump him yet.”

Finn looked at him assessingly.

“We may have use for him. Keep him on ice.”

“You got it, but don’t leave him around too long, even I can’t guarantee no one will find him.”

Cian thanked Finn, grabbed Louis, left Danny to help with cleanup, and poured an increasingly exhausted Lila into the SUV. As he arranged for the doctor to meet them at his penthouse, he looked over at her pale face and drooping eyes. And for the first time in his adult life, he wondered if he might have a reason to want to survive along with his brothers.