My body was on the verge of shutting down, muscles giving up, but I kept pushing. It was the only way to keep in shape.

“Ignore it,” I barked at Darren, the trainer. My phone had been going off steady for the past twenty minutes, but I didn’t bother with it. I needed to get this workout in.

“Don’t ya think you should get that? We’re done.” Hopping off the bar, I wiped the sweat from my face. Sweat always meant it was a good workout. Searching through my phone, I had a shit ton of calls from Z. What the hell did he want?

Heading into the locker room, I dialed Z. “Why you blowing up my phone?” I growled.

“Vann was almost abducted.”

“Almost?” The air left my body at his words and fear spiked through me.

“Yeah. She head-butted the guy. I assume breaking his nose ‘cause of all the blood.” His matter of fact tone had more of an edge to it than normal.

“Where is she?” I needed to get to her now.

“Home with Sawyer.”

“You catch this asshole?” Grabbing my shit as he talked, I hauled ass out of the gym.

“Nope. He got away, but we have his blood. We’re gonna run it through the system.”

“I’m heading over to Vann’s.”

“You sure about that?”

“Bye.” Hanging up with Z, I grabbed my shit and headed to Vann’s.

She hadn’t been around for days. I’d called repeatedly … and nothing. I’d talked to both Sawyer and Kinsley, but all they’d tell me was she was hanging out and didn’t want to take any calls.

I got in my truck several times to just head over there, but stopped myself, thinking maybe she needed a bit of space after everything that went down at the bar. I was done with that shit. She would see me.

Driving to her house, I never told her, but I’d been by several times since finding out she was home. I wanted to stop, but really didn’t know what the hell to say. This time, I knew exactly what to do. I would protect her from this asshole. I’d find out who he was and rip his balls off then feed them to him.

Pulling into her driveway, Vann’s house looked locked up. The blinds were closed, doors shut, and looked as if no life was going on inside. Good.

Knocking on the door, I got no answer. “Sawyer, its Deke. Open up.”

I saw the blind to the side of the door slightly open as eyes peeked through. I stood there waiting. The lock slowly disengaged and the door opened.

“Where is she?” I asked, entering the house.

“In her room.”

“Which is where?”

“Down the hall, third door on the left.” Sawyer’s voice was shaky.

“You okay?”

“Just scared.” Sawyer’s face was ashen, her eyes totally void. “She went in there when we got home. I laid with her for a while, but she never moved. She has her head buried in a pillow.”

“Lock up, I’m going in.” I’d have to worry about Sawyer later.

Walking down the hallway, the only shut door was the third on the left. Upon opening it slowly, I found Vann lying on the bed in the exact position Sawyer described. She was clutching her pillow tightly—her body falling up and down slowly.

Thinking she was asleep, I climbed in bed beside her. I knew I reeked of sweat, but I didn’t give a shit. I pulled her close, her entire body jerking away.

“It’s okay Vann, it’s me.” Her eyes darted open, staring at me as if to make sure I was real. “It’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe.”

Vann closed her eyes and pressed into my body, her hands clutching onto my shirt. Her body began shaking, and I could hear her small sobs. Rubbing her hair, I held her as close to me as I could. I kept giving her reassuring words, trying to calm her, but she needed to get it out. And damn if I wasn’t happy to be the one to hold her through it. She said before I wasn’t there for her, so I was damn well gonna be there this time.

Waking up with a jolt, I gripped onto Vann. She was thrashing around in my arms. “Vann,” I said calmly, trying to wake her up.

Nothing.

“Vann.”

Nothing, but more thrashing.

“Vann,” I said in a very stern voice, causing her entire body to stop. Her eyes flew open, and she stared at me.

“Deke,” she whispered.

“It’s all right.”

Vann’s grip tightened on me as she pulled my body even closer into hers. She began sobbing into my shirt again. “It’s okay.”

She pulled away and looked into my eyes. “Okay … okay? Are you serious? It’s not okay. He wants to kidnap me and do … things to me.”

“I know.”

“You know what?”

“I know you’re Gabriella Daniels and you have a stalker … who has apparently followed you to Alabama.”

She stared at me. “Z told you!” The anger pulsated through Vann as she clenched her fists.

“He had to.”

“To hell he had to! I trusted him to keep his mouth shut.” At least her temper was back in full force. It was better than crying. She’d be ready to take action, and even though I did like having her in my arms, I didn’t want her hysterical.

“Vann, I’m gonna tell you something.” I let out a deep breath. I was gonna get in so much shit for this, but fuck it. “I’m an undercover cop.”

“No, you’re not. You got kicked off the force. Grams told me all about it, and I Googled it,” Vann seethed.

“I did get kicked off that force. I then entered a different kind … I find the lowest scum and bring them in.”

“No, you own a bar,” she argued. I really didn’t think it would be this hard to convince her.

“I do that, too. But I’d always wanted to own one, so I did. It ended up being a great cover.”

“Really?” Her voice calmed as she stared at me. I loved seeing those beautiful blue-gray eyes of hers.

“Yeah. Really.” I began stroking her hair; it was so smooth and soft.

“So you know what I do for a living?” Vann’s cheeks blushed as she bit her bottom lip.

“Yep, and I gotta say, it’s hot.”

Vann smiled for the first time since I’d gotten here. “You don’t think it’s nerdy?”

“Vann, I’ve never thought of you as nerdy … ever.” Hell no, I couldn’t wait to read what she wrote.

Vann rolled her eyes. “That’s debatable.”

Letting that roll off my back, I moved forward, “Tell me what happened.”

“Deke,” she whispered, digging her face into my chest.

“Vann. Pretty soon Z’s gonna be here with a lot of cops. Ones that do not know I’m undercover. I need to know what happened.”

Vann’s body went rigid against mine. I wrapped my arms around her even tighter, as if holding her body from floating away. I needed to know what happened so I could rip this asshole apart.

Vann’s voice was barely a whisper. As she replayed the entire scene, the anger set in deep in my soul and all I wanted was to kill this asshole.

I didn’t think Vann’s body could get any stiffer, but it did. “What is it?”

“His blood. It’s on me.” Pushing me away, Vann scrambled to her feet running toward the bathroom. “I’ve gotta get it off!” She was in pure panic mode.

“I’ll help you get it off. Calm down.” Damn near sprinting to the shower, she turned it on full blast and began ripping her clothes off. I shucked my clothes off, too, jumping in right behind her.

“What are you doing?” she shrieked.

“Helping you. Relax.” I began rubbing shampoo into her hair, massaging as I went. I pulled her into the spray and watched the water turn from clear, to red, to clear again. I added conditioner and began to massage her head once again.

Watching the water run down her beautiful body was giving me a hard on that I couldn’t control. I didn’t want that from her, but damn if my body didn’t. Trying to conceal it would be no use. It was there in full force.

I rubbed the soap all over her body and washed her. Nothing I was doing was intended to be sexual, even though I loved touching every inch of her body.

Vann turned around staring at me, something flickering in her eyes. “Give me the soap.” I complied.

Vann began rubbing the soap up and down my body. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to turn me on, but she so fucking was. Every pass over my body sent electricity straight to my cock.