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“Certainly doesn’t look that way from where I’m standing,” Zane says.

Presley grins at Zane. “Zane Knox. You know, I’ve heard a lot about you and your team. Have to say, I’m impressed by the way you guys took down Brenda last year. Man, she was a nightmare.”

Zane doesn’t respond.

Mav remains silent.

“Why are you here?” Ryker demands again.

This time, his brother doesn’t grin. Instead, he crosses his arms and looks straight at Ryker, his sharp gaze darkening. “I did settle down—if you can call it that. However, I still have contacts. Imagine my surprise when one reached out this afternoon to let me know that my big brother’s name had just been added to the top of every bounty list out there. Someone is offering a cool hundred grand for your head and the head of that woman just behind you. Two hundred and fifty if it’s done discreetly.”

“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars?” I screech. I can’t help myself. Someone is willing to pay a quarter of a million dollars to get rid of us? Why? What is going on? Bile sears the back of my throat, and I press a hand to my stomach. With that kind of money, who wouldn’t come after us?

“That’s right, darling. A quarter of a million dollars. Care to explain why?”

“She doesn’t remember,” Ryker snaps.

Presley leans back and stares at Ryker again. “Doesn’t remember or is choosing not to? Have we forgotten what happened the last time a beautiful woman convinced you she was an innocent victim?”

Ryker snarls. There’s no other description for the animalistic sound that radiates from him. Zane and Mav move closer, almost as if they’re preparing to restrain him long enough so Presley can escape.

This is ridiculous. Lord, grant me strength, and please keep tempers calm.

Clearing my throat and gathering what strength I can, I step around Zane to stand beside Ryker. “For the record, I really don’t remember, and I don’t appreciate your insinuation that I am lying.”

Presley cocks his head to the side to study me. “And you’ll forgive me if your claim of temporary amnesia doesn’t ring quite true for me. I find it difficult to trust people I don’t know.”

“She’s not lying,” Ryker snarls. “The hit on her should prove that.”

“It proves someone wants her dead. Not why.”

“Who put the hit out?” Zane asks.

“I’m still digging into that,” Presley replies. “Whoever did it is well connected. This isn’t just some drug dealer looking to clip a loose end. This is someone with a lot of money and a lot of discretion.”

“How kind of you to warn me,” Ryker snaps. “You can go now.”

“I’m leaving for New Hampshire in the morning. I have a job to get back to after all. If you want to come with me, I can help you keep her safe.”

“He has all the help he needs,” Mav replies.

“For now,” Presley says. “But if I found you, don’t you think it’s only a matter of time before they do, too?” He moves around me but doesn’t make eye contact. “I really would prefer not to have to bury you, too, Ryker,” he adds softly. There’s a surprising truth in his tone. An emotion that wasn’t there before.

And then he slips outside without so much as looking back or waiting for a response from the man beside me.

Ryker remains rooted in his spot, while Mav moves over toward the door and peers out the window. The deep rumbling of a motorcycle fills my ears. But it’s not until it fades away that Ryker so much as takes a breath.

“So,” Zane starts. “You have a brother?”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Cap,” Ryker replies. “And it’s smarter to keep it that way.” He moves farther into the house and withdraws a small black box from a kitchen drawer.

Size-wise, it’s about the size of a cassette tape, but when he presses a button on the top and begins walking through the room, it starts beeping.

Ryker shakes his head and reaches up into the light over his small kitchen island to remove a little black disc that had been hidden out of view.

“Your brother bugged your place?” Mav asks. “Doesn’t seem like you two have the greatest relationship.”

“It’s complicated.”