Vance interrupted, asking quietly, “You’ve been reading the Harvest Association e-mails?”

“Mmm.” The sleepy murmur was an assent.

God fucking dammit, he wasn’t going to—

Vance closed his hand on Galen’s shoulder in a bone-bruising grip. “Sweetheart, what do you do with the information?”

“Send it to New York. Need to tell my Feds.” A crease appeared between her brows, grew into a frown, before her beautiful soft brown eyes opened.

His wife’s brown eyes had been lifeless, had unblinkingly stared at him in reproach from her broken body. Had shown terror and agony that even death couldn’t erase.

He hadn’t saved her. He’d caused her death.

And now this little imp was… He rolled to his knees. The fury expanding through him mixed with an icy fear that sliced apart every control he had. “You did what?”

At her gasp, he realized he’d shouted the question. Fucking right. “You hacked into the deadliest—” Kneeling on the bed, he gave her shoulders a shake.

Vance shoved him back. “Jesus, Galen, get ahold of yourself.”

Sally struggled to sit upright, her back against the headboard. Her face paled—but hadn’t reached the gray-white it would if she were fucking dead.

Galen glanced at Vance. “Did you hear what she said? Do you believe—” His throat closed up, and he choked on the words.

“I didn’t…” Sally’s eyes were wide. “I was careful.”

“Careful!” He saw her flinch, couldn’t stop. “You have no—”

Vance had rounded the bed and now dragged him back even as he said, “Sally, the Harvest Association isn’t”—Vance’s voice was gravel-rough and shaken—“isn’t safe. You could be—”

Raped. Enslaved. Eviscerated. Burned alive. Galen yanked his arm out of Vance’s grip and leaned over her. “By God, you are not—”

She shoved him away and scrambled out of the bed.

Galen shouldered Vance away and stalked after her.

Shaking visibly, Sally was yanking on her clothes.

Fuck, what was he doing? This wasn’t the way to handle this. He forced himself to not loom over her, tried like hell to get his voice to even out. “We need to talk—”

“No.” She had her face turned from him. “We don’t.”

“Not right now,” Vance agreed, skirting Galen to put his arm around her. “Later we’ll sit down and—”

“Only if you actually listen to me.” She pushed Vance away.

“Listen to you!” Galen stared at her. No one had listened to Ursula. His wife’s mouth had been open. Because she’d died screaming. He grabbed Sally’s arm. “I’m fucking not going—”

“Shut it, Galen,” Vance snapped. “Sally, let’s go inside and talk about this.”

“I’m leaving.” She ripped her arm out of Galen’s grip. Her expression was frozen, posture rigid.

He remembered the soft lushness of her body, how she’d accepted him inside her. She couldn’t die. He wouldn’t let her die. “You’re not leaving. You’re going to sit down and listen to me.”

Thank Christ he’d parked behind her in the drive. She couldn’t get out unless he moved his car.

As if the realization of her trapped car occurred to her, she scowled. “Fuck you, Galen Kouros.” She spun toward the door.

Galen lunged after her.

A cannonball of a fist impacted his jaw, and pain burst like fireworks in his face. He slammed into the wall. Regaining his balance, he shook his head. His vision unblurred barely in time for him to block the next punch. His reflexes took over. Block and punch. He drove his fist into his partner’s gut.

Vance grunted and laid out a set of one-twos to Galen’s torso. “You. Fucking. Idiot.” Left-right. “You. Control. Your. Temper.”

Galen lost it. “She’ll die!” He blocked, spun, and kicked Vance into the wall. “Are you fucking blind? They’ll target her.”


GOD, WHAT HAVE I done? Standing on her bedroom balcony, Sally heard the men yelling in the cabana. And fighting.

They loved each other. Were closer than brothers. Now they were hitting each other.

She’d caused that.

And Galen was so mad. She’d known he’d be upset, but he was far, far past that.

Blinking back tears, she stepped inside. On the bed, Glock sat erect, ears pricked forward. The fighting was affecting him too.

Damn them, she wasn’t going to stay and have Galen yell at her some more. Hear them yell at each other. She’d done that, broken the two apart. Made them hate her.

The trembling inside Sally increased as she shoved her laptop and her clothes in her school backpack. Her hands shook as she secured pillows around the outside with a belt.

If only she could turn back time, keep the words from spilling out. Why had she told them?

But she had. She pulled in a breath and stared down at the backpack. Was she really going to leave? Run away?

She should stay. Talk to them. Maybe if they calmed down…?

The shouting grew even louder.

What had she done? “Stupid, selfish girl. Always thinking of yourself.” Her father’s words oozed into her mind.

She’d hurt them, the two men she loved. Because she was selfish and stupid.

No. No, I’m not, dammit. I was trying to do good. To save people. Why could they risk their lives and be heroes, and she couldn’t?

A sob welled into her throat, choking her. Just go. You’ve done enough damage. She picked up Glock and kissed the pale streak on his soft gray head. “I love you too, you know,” she whispered.

He rubbed his furry cheek on her chin, marking her with his scent. Establishing ownership.

If only her Doms had done the same.

After setting the cat outside her bedroom door, she turned the old-fashioned key, removed it, and jammed a bunch of twisted-up bobby pins into the large keyhole. “Unlock that, you j-jerks.” Beloved asshole jerks.

On the tiny balcony outside her bedroom, she used another belt to dangle her pillow-padded backpack over the side before letting go. Carefully, she crawled over the railing and hung by her arms. I’m a nerd. I’m not supposed to be dropping from balconies.

With a small eep, she let go and fell the last few feet onto the grass below.

After tossing the pillows behind the bushes, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and ran down the drive to the road.

In the darkness, she frowned at her phone. Who lived close? Who wouldn’t tell on her? Jessica or Gabi.

Gabi was closer, but she’d try to counsel her. Get her to talk to the men.

Sally’s lips tightened. She’d had enough yelling to last her a lifetime.

“Jessica, are you busy right now?”

* * *

Watching Galen rummage in the freezer, Vance rubbed his aching jaw. Caught a good one. More than one. His ribs would be purple tomorrow.

Galen tossed over a pack of frozen peas. “Need more than one?”

“Probably.” Vance grinned ruefully. “I’d forgotten how much brawling hurts afterward.”

“We’re getting old.” Galen applied a bag of frozen corn to his left cheekbone, which was already swelling. “And I’m an idiot.”

He wasn’t the only one. Vance frowned. Why the hell had he jumped into the altercation like that? He’d made it worse. Hell. “She hit all your triggers.” And done it far too soon after she’d said she loved them. Nothing would have set Galen up so perfectly for a fall.

But Galen had overreacted in a fucking major way. “Bad timing all around, bro.”

He caught the flicker of a dark glance and realized what he’d said. Bro.

One drunken evening, Galen admitted he felt Vance was the brother he’d never had. They’d never spoken of it again.

Well, tough. Tonight Vance wasn’t in the mood to worry about Galen’s hang-ups. “If I can’t beat up on the guy I consider a brother, who can I use as a punching bag?”

Galen froze, then snorted. “I scored the most hits, you asshole.”

“Maybe. But mine were more effective.”

“Point.” Galen touched his jaw gingerly. “You think she’ll feel sorry enough for me to keep from killing me?”

“She has a soft heart.” And considering the way she could ignite… “And a temper. I’d call it fifty-fifty you’ll survive the next hour.”

“Thanks.” Galen pulled in a breath. “I can’t believe I lost it like that. Some fucking Dom I am.”

“Scene was over. Aftercare was done.” Vance studied his partner. No matter the provocation, Galen wouldn’t have reacted like that during a scene—he kept his control too tight. But after? Yeah, his defenses had been way down. “You didn’t react as a Dom but as a lover.”

That got a wince. “Makes it worse.”

“Nah. Lovers are allowed to explode if a little female puts her pretty ass in danger.” Vance’s gut tightened as his own anger surged.

“That in the rule book somewhere?”

“Hell, yeah. If you hadn’t yelled at her, I would have.”

“Best it was only me.” Galen glanced at the liquor cabinet but shook his head. Neither of them resorted to alcohol for liquid courage or solace. “Guess it’s time to beg forgiveness.”

Vance nodded and started to rise.

“No. Give me a minute to bear the brunt of her anger—I deserve it. If needed, you can play good cop.”

“Got it.” Vance held the frozen vegetables to his face as he listened to Galen’s footsteps climbing the stairs.

A knock. “Sally?”

If she answered, her voice was too faint for Vance to hear.

“Sally, please answer the door.”

Silence.

“I’ll give you space if you want, but right now I need to know you’re all right.”

Silence.

“Open the door. Now.”

Nothing happened. Vance frowned. When Galen punched up the power in his voice, all submissives—and quite a few others—responded.

Silence.

With a grunt of pain, Vance rose. Where the hell had they put the extra key to that room?

Not long after, Vance managed to shove out the metal crap she’d pushed into the lock, insert the key, and unlock the door.

Galen walked over to the unrumpled bed. “She hasn’t been in the bed.”

“Shower and tub are dry.” Vance glanced at her desk, worry increasing. “Her laptop is gone.”

Galen limped down the stairs.

Following, Vance held his aching ribs.

The grassy area under her balcony showed she’d jumped. And walked toward the drive. Her old red Toyota was still parked, blocked by Galen’s black sports sedan.

In the cold twilight, Galen’s face looked stark with worry. “Where the hell did she go?”

* * *

Early that morning at the airline terminal, Sally slid out of Jessica’s car. Well, this is it. Leaving. Her whole body pulsed with pain. She wrapped her arms around herself, as if the aching could be relieved by physical comfort.

How could she have been so stupid? She should never have told them about her hacking.

Should never have fallen in love.

Jessica pulled the backpack from the trunk and set it on the curb. “I’m going to park the car so I can sit with you.”

“You don’t need to do that. It’s not that long till my flight, and I still have to get through security.” Sally frowned at her watch. Six in the morning? “I… God, Jessica, I dragged you out of bed, didn’t I? You’re going to get in trouble with Master Z. I’m really sorry.” How self-centered she’d been. “I should have called a taxi.”

Jessica scowled. “If you’d done that, I’d have given you a good bitch slap. Shadowkittens hang together against all comers, even Doms.” She hugged Sally with a grin. “I just told Z a friend needed a ride. If the Feds figure it out, well, Z understands loyalty. He won’t spank me too hard.”

Tears rose to Sally’s eyes, and she blinked them back. “Thank you. For the ride. For buying my ticket on your card.”

“Pffft. You gave me a check; not like I’m out any money. But…for the trouble, you can pay me back by calling once you get…wherever you’re going. Or else I’ll worry.”

Sally nodded. “I can do that. For my…for the Feds, if they ask, can you just not tell them anything?”

Jessica crossed her arms over her chest. Braless. Barefoot. She’d obviously run right out of the house to rescue Sally. “Did you tell me where you were going?”

“No. You said not to.”

Jessica smirked. “Exactly. I won’t lie to Z, but I can honestly inform him that you never told me.”

Despite the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, Sally found a smile. “You’re a sneaky little brat.”