“I know.” He squeezed Cannon’s shoulder. “Hustle it up, okay? No matter what she says or does, she needs you a lot more than she needs anything else.”

With the red haze of rage still pulsing through his veins, Cannon wondered if that was true. As far as he could tell, Yvette resented needing anyone—him included.

But thinking about that right now was a major distraction from what needed to be done.

He found Armie exactly where he expected him to be: in a huddle with the other guys, making plans. They were outside together, standing far enough away from the cops not to be overheard.

Armie spotted him, looked him over with concern and said quietly, “I got the ball rolling.”

“Thanks.” Torn between where he wanted to be and what he wanted to do, he clenched and unclenched his fists. “I can’t go anywhere tonight—”

“Damn right,” Stack agreed, his gaze remarkably steady for someone who’d been drinking. “Stay with her. We’ll canvass the usual places.”

“And ask the usual questions,” Denver added. “Anything concrete turns up, we’ll let you know.”

“Otherwise, you’ll hear from me in the morning.” Armie flexed his bare shoulders. “If he’s anywhere around here, we’ll know.”

“I want a second pair of eyes on her.” Cannon knew his own considerable ability. He could handle just about any physical confrontation. But if Heath decided to start shooting, well, who the hell knew what could happen? No way did he want her left alone with the bastard.

In this neighborhood there were plenty of young guys looking for a fast buck. He’d invested a lot of time and energy into steering them away from drugs and gangs. The rec center helped a lot with that. Some of them had even gotten legitimate jobs—but not all.

When it suited his purposes, Cannon didn’t mind using them. He paid, and it kept them from doing something illegal. He would never hand over front-line protection for Yvette, but as backup? As an extra observer?

A win-win for them both.

“So.” Armie shoved his hands into his pockets. “You’re still red eyed and looking fierce.”

Hands on his hips, head down, Cannon admitted the obvious. “I’ve never been this...”

“Out of control?”

Cannon closed his eyes, dragged in a deep breath of the thick evening air. “I wanted to kill him.”

“Yeah, I was there. Saw it.” He nudged Cannon with his shoulder. “But won’t it be more fun to have the f**k rot in jail?”

“No.”

“Look at it this way,” Armie said, never one to quit. “Did you really want Yvette to witness you disemboweling him?”

A reluctant sound, half laugh, half groan, escaped him. “She’d probably act like that was nothing, too.”

“Ho. What’s this? You wanted her to start bawling and go all hysterical? Because I have to say, I hate that shit.”

“Ditto,” Stack said.

“Same here,” Denver agreed.

He cast his frown around at each of them and realized their evenings had been blown, as well. “Sorry.”

“For?” Armie asked.

“You all had hookups and now—”

“Not me,” Stack said. “I struck out.”

They all looked at Denver, but he shook his head. “No.”

“What about Cherry?” Cannon had seen her in his lap and just assumed...

“She flirted with a dozen different guys.” Denver looked at Stack. “Including you.”

“She was just joking around.”

Denver shook his head again and turned to Armie. “I saw you with a top-heavy blonde.”

He shrugged. “Either she’ll wait or she won’t. No biggie.” He pointed at Cannon. “But you already got the prize, so why dawdle out here with us? We’ve got it under wraps.”

Cannon locked his hands behind his head and paced in agitation. What did he want?

Yvette, yes. But for how long? Forever?

Probably.

Did he want her to be needy? No. Never that. He loved her strength and independence. But he needed her trust.

He needed her to be herself with him.

“One thing at a time,” Armie advised. He leaned in closer so no one else would hear. “And given how you two tongue dueled before the cops showed up, well, I’m thinking she has her own way of coping. Be the hero, man. Get her home and help her cope.”

Scrubbing a hand over his face, Cannon laughed again. “Right. Glad I can always count on you to focus on the important things.”

“You know it.”

Honestly, that was how they dealt, how they kept things in perspective. Regardless of the jokes, he knew Armie would do everything in his power to help, just as Cannon would have done for him. They relied on each other, and had total trust.

Now, if only he could get there with Yvette.

Pulling it together as much as he could, Cannon put in a few calls making arrangements, then asked his own questions of the witnesses. It all came down to the fact that Heath had tried to take her, she’d resisted and the bastard had gotten away.

Less than ten minutes later Cannon stalked back into the break room. Rowdy was just in the process of giving her a fresh ice pack.

She was in the process of telling him she didn’t need it.

“We’ll take it with us.” Now that he’d done as much as he could, he wanted to get her home.