He’d figured her father out quickly. Despite the grim situation, she gave him a faint smile. “To say the least.”

“Call Heath, then. I’m going to reach out to some people myself. We’re going to figure this out. And once we do, you’re going to answer a whole lot of questions about why you lied, why you fucked me, and why you left without a word.”

*   *   *

RAKING a palm over the top of his shorn hair, Axel paced the room, watching Mystery have a trembling conversation with Heath. He’d check this guy out himself shortly because anyone who could look at Mystery and feel like her uncle had to be dead below the waist—or lying like a motherfucker.

Despite the danger, Axel’s desire to wrap his hand in her dark hair and watch her hazel eyes widen just before he captured her parting lips rode him hard. The need to have a long talk with her about the whys of her seduction today and all the reasons he found her deceit unacceptable needled him, too. But he’d handle those items once she’d calmed and he’d ensured her safety.

Cursing, he pulled his own phone from his belt, trying to decide who could best help with this situation. He needed Stone’s hacking ability again. But that would only get him so far. To keep Mystery safe, he needed to figure out who had abducted her years ago and why. He could count on one hand the number of men he thought capable of hunting down a ghost from someone’s past—but at least he knew that many. One in particular jumped out at him.

He hit the contact button and connected the call.

“Axel?” said the man on the other end with obvious surprise.

Yeah, they hadn’t exactly started off as the best of friends—accusing the guy of abduction and rape tended to make one unpopular with a new acquaintance—but they’d come to an understanding.

“Joaquin. Hey.” He winced. “I’d, um . . . start with some small talk and ask how you and Bailey are doing in Lafayette and how the wedding plans are coming—”

“But you need something.”

“Badly. You were able to solve Bailey’s past and get to the bottom of the threat that hung over her for years. I’m protecting a woman who needs the same.”

“She’s in danger?”

“Imminent.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

Axel breathed a sigh of relief. “I owe you.”

Joaquin snorted. “Hunter and Logan will probably send you a bill. They’re beasts on the shooting range and in the weight room. But holy shit, they are meticulous about billable hours.”

If the situation weren’t so dire, Axel might have laughed. He’d bet that taking over his retired stepfather’s security firm with his new stepbrothers, both former Navy SEALs, had been interesting.

“Whatever it takes,” he found himself saying.

Axel didn’t know why Mystery and her safety were so important to him. He could tell himself that he’d worked hard to rescue her once and refused to see her die now. He could say that she’d been through enough and didn’t need to endure more. He might even bullshit himself and claim he was only helping her because he didn’t like the idea of any woman in peril.

But Axel knew it was because of this sense of possession brewing deep in his gut. Right now, she was his. He wasn’t done with her—not by a long shot.

“What do you need?” Joaquin asked.

Axel filled the man in on today’s incidents. “Can you peek into Mystery Mullins’s past? See if you can find anyone who might have wanted to harm her then or now. I don’t have a lot to go on.”

“Fair enough,” Joaquin shot back. “I’ll start digging. You involving the police?”

“I don’t think there’s a way around it, but they won’t investigate the reason behind tonight’s incident. They’ll treat it as a simple B and E and move on.”

“Yep. I’ll let you know when I’ve got something.”

“Thanks a bunch. I’m, um . . . sorry I accused you of hurting Bailey when we met.”

“I was an asshole and probably deserved it.”

They laughed, and Axel hung up.

He had one more person to phone, but Mystery’s driver/bodyguard wrapped her in his arms. Axel watched, not at all happy. She might believe Heath saw her as his sweet surrogate niece. Axel snorted. No chance in hell.

She introduced them, and they sized one another up with a wary handshake.

Finally, Heath turned to Mystery. “You’re not hurt?”

“No,” she assured. “Scared, but whoever it was had come and gone before I even knew they’d been here.”

“When did you arrive on the scene?” Heath grilled him, his proper British accent unmistakable.

Axel didn’t like the man’s intimation. “If you’re asking whether I left this photo in her room to upset her enough to send her into my arms, the answer is no. I rescued her from that abduction years ago. Until earlier today, I hadn’t seen her since then. But didn’t you drive her here from my house? Haven’t you been just down the hall all this time? You have a key to her room, I’ll bet.”

Heath bristled. “Yes, I drove her here and I’ve been down the hall. And I do have a key. It’s my job to watch over her. Why would I try to frighten her this way?”

Axel shrugged. “Job security. As long as she thinks you’re necessary, Mr. Mullins will keep signing your paychecks.”

Or more likely the stiff Brit just wanted to fuck her. He understood that need completely.

“Axel . . .” She sighed, then turned to the other man. “Heath. This is silly. I refuse to believe either of you had anything to do with this.”

“I’m merely pointing out that he had opportunity and motive.” Axel stared at the other man.

Heath crossed his arms over his chest. “I suspect you had opportunity as well, since you ‘happened’ to arrive just after she found this photo in her room. I don’t know your motive yet. Maybe you were angry that she left your house quite suddenly today?”

“Stop it, both of you,” Mystery insisted. “Honestly, wouldn’t it be more productive to look for the real perpetrator instead of you two circling one another like rabid dogs?”

As much as Axel’s temper didn’t like it, his head knew she had a point. “All right. Since her kidnapping is unsolved, we’ll have to work that angle separately. For now, we need to contact the hotel’s security and see if they can find the video surveillance from the stairwells, elevators, and hallways leading to Mystery’s door.”

“Agreed. I’d like them to tell us whose key card was used to access the room.”

“Absolutely.” Axel nodded and turned to Mystery. “If you’re ever in a hotel room alone again . . .” Not that she would be for the foreseeable future. “Always throw the dead bolt home. You never know how good a hotel’s security is or the character of the people on their staff who have a master key to all the rooms.”

Heath cupped her shoulder. “He’s right. You must be careful, sweetheart.”

The sight of him touching her, even casually, rubbed Axel the wrong way. It took everything he had not to be a fidiot caveman and threaten to rip the man’s hands off.

“I know,” she murmured. “I forgot. I was . . . distracted. I feel so stupid now.”

“Never.” Heath sent her a searching smile. “Why don’t you sit again? I’ll call hotel security.”

“Do you think if I wait until morning to call my father—”

“He’ll hear about it before then,” Heath told her.

She sighed again. “Right. I’ll handle it.”

The other two both made their respective calls. Axel watched Heath warily. He didn’t trust the guy. Or maybe he just didn’t like the idea that another grown, heterosexual man got to spend so much time alone with Mystery. Axel doubted they’d slept together. But maybe that ugly truth just pissed Heath off.

Axel also wondered why it mattered so much. This morning, Mystery hadn’t been on his radar. Well . . . much. Now, he didn’t want any other man’s hands on her.

Filing that truth away as something to explore later, he made his way to a quiet corner of the room and scrolled through the recent calls on his phone again and hit Stone’s number once more.