“Except you won’t be able to relax after you finish with Cece’s house, because you still have to finish your build.” She rests her forehead under my chin. “When you have some time off, I think we should go on a vacation.”

“Where do you wanna go?”

“I don’t care, as long as it’s just you and me.”

“I’ll make that happen.” I kiss the top of her hair then tell her quietly, “I’m gonna start the shower.”

“I’ll meet you in there,” she says, and I get out of bed, expecting her to fall back to sleep, but she joins me a few minutes later. And I make the most of that time, giving her an orgasm before getting one of my own.

“Talon, get down here now!” Uncle Asher shouts, and I meet Bax’s eye around the edge of the mirror we’re attempting to hang in Cece’s master bath.

“Yeah, give me a minute!” I shout back, shaking my head. “How many times do you think I need to tell them we’re not upgrading shit before they listen?” I ask as we place the mirror on the wall so we can finish screwing it into place. For the last week, we’ve been at Cece’s house every day, and every day, I’ve had to explain to my uncles that she is putting this house on the market, so the things being repaired do not need to be updated or upgraded.

“Since they keep asking, I’m gonna say until we finish,” he grumbles, taking most of the weight of the mirror as I grab the drill.

“Yeah, well, it’d be different if Cece wasn’t going to sell, but with everything that’s happened, she’s more determined to put this place on the market and find a place to rent.”

“I don’t blame her.”

“Me neither.” I step back and look around the master bath. I didn’t see the room before we started working on it, but with a new mirror, new glass in the shower, and fresh paint, I’m guessing it looks better than it did before the break-in, which will help when it goes on the market, much the same as the rest of the house.

“Talon!” Uncle Asher yells once more.

“Damn, what the fuck did you do?”

I don’t answer Bax. I gather the drop cloths off the floor and leave the room, passing under the scaffolding in the stairway that the painters set up. When I get to the bottom of the steps, I see my family gathered in the kitchen and my cousin Cobi with his eyes on me, his body seeming wired.

Worry starts to niggle the back of my mind, and my heart starts to pound. I’ve let my guard down this past week, having Mia in my bed when I wake up every morning and at my place every evening when she gets off work, with her parents, sister, and nieces safe in their rental. “What’s going on?”

“We gotta talk,” Cobi states, stepping around the island toward me.

“About what?” Bax asks, putting himself between me and everyone else in the room.

“Where’s Mia?” I demand with Bax pressing closer to my side.

“Mia is okay.” Cobi tries to reassure me, but the fear rushing through me is making it difficult to believe him. “Do you know Harrison Charmers, better known as Harry nowadays?” he asks, and I freeze at the mention of the man who has had my teeth on edge for weeks. I start for the door, needing to see for myself that Mia is okay, but he wraps his hand around my bicep, stopping me. “You have my promise that she’s okay. Right now, she’s on a test drive with one of my guys, and they are explaining to her exactly what I’m about to explain to you.”

“What the fuck is going on?” I shrug him off, ready to take him and everyone else out in order to get to Mia if needed.

“Corina Schmidt put out a hit on her husband, his lover, and her family a few days ago.”

“Who the fuck is Corina Schmidt?” Bax asks the question on the tip of my tongue.

“Corina Schmidt is Winston’s wife,” Uncle Asher says, and Cobi runs a hand through his hair and sighs before meeting my gaze once more.

“As Uncle Asher said, she’s Winston’s wife, and a few days ago, Winston asked her for a divorce after finding proof she’d been having a long-term affair with Harry Charmers. An affair that made their prenup null and void. The prenup being the only thing keeping him and Corina together for all these years.” His head jerks from side to side like he can’t believe what he’s about to say. “After Winston confronted her about Harry, Corina started looking for a hitman.”

“So Mia and her family are in danger?” I growl, cutting him off, my rage coming back tenfold thinking about not only my woman but her nieces, sister, and parents being in danger. I start for the door, but everyone surrounds me, making it impossible to leave. My chest heaves as I focus on my cousin as another officer enters the house, this one in full uniform.

“Let me explain,” Cobi says, holding up his hands.

“Then stop taking us on a fucking journey down fucked-up history lane and get to the point,” Bax demands with anger and frustration coloring his tone.

Glaring at Bax, Cobi then turns his attention back to me. “The girls, Cece, Mia, and their parents are all going to be locked down at their rental this evening, and tomorrow morning, after the hit is supposed to take place, our officer—who Corina believes is her hitman—will call her to let her know the job is done.”

“Jesus.” I scrub my hands down my face, not believing this shit is real. “Tell me that everyone will be safe.”

“They’ll all be safe. We have a plan in place to get the evidence we need. I just need to know you’ll be able to keep your cool while we work our case, so Harry and Corina will get the sentences they deserve.”

“You want me to be cool about the idea of my woman having a hit put out on her?” I ask in disbelief.

“I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy, but when you leave this house, you need to act like it’s business as usual, you don’t know about what’s gonna go down, and you don’t know shit is about to hit the fan. All you have to remember is that tomorrow night, when you go to bed, your girl will be lying next to you and this shit will be over. Can you do that?”

“They’re watching me?”

“From what our undercover officer was able to get out of Corina while talking to her about the hit, she explained that her lover, Harry, was supposed to win Mia over and get information out of her about the affair that Winston and Cece were having. Which would’ve given her the opportunity to divorce him and get everything. When you came into the picture, the plan went to shit, and your relationship with Mia prevented him from getting close to her. And with the pressure from Corina, he took his anger out by first destroying your build and then this place.”

“Jesus,” Bax mutters,

“Love makes you do crazy things,” Cobi says and I close my eyes. He’s right; I know love makes you do things you wouldn’t normally even think about doing, but to be a part of hurting people and killing an entire family is just insanity. “I’m just happy Corina and Harry were too stupid to actually look into the person they hired for the hit, because shit could be going sideways, and we’d be having a totally different conversation.”

I open my eyes to meet his, feeling nauseated. “I need to be with Mia and her family tonight.”