“Weird,” she said into the mouth of the beer bottle. We ate in silence for a minute, the air around Alex seeming to get more and more antsy by the moment as she started to fidget around. “Are we not going to talk about how odd that meeting was?” she finally asked, the words rushing out and into each other like she had been trying to hold them back for a while.

Yeah. Well. We should have talked about the meeting hours ago. But I sure as fuck wasn't going to stop putting my hands on her body to talk about the sick fuck who made her voice sound lifeless.

But I guessed it was time. She was fed, fucked, and generally more level-headed than usual.

“Sure,” I said, pushing my plate aside.

“That was weird, right?” she asked, turning fully to me, her knees pressing into my thigh and she left them there.

“Yeah, doll, that was weird.”

“He doesn't know I've been keeping tabs on him.”

“No, he doesn't.” If he did, she would have been long dead. Awful thought, but true nonetheless.

“So what the hell does he want you to hold onto me for?”

“That's a good question.” And one I had been mulling over nonstop since Lex walked out of that train car. Alex, aside from me knowing her mission in life was to take down Lex Keith, was a nobody. She had no friends. No family. She kept to herself. There was nothing about her that would draw Lex's attention. Aside from her being gorgeous. But if that was his motive, she wouldn't still be in my hands. Nothing about the situation made sense.

But I knew Lex. I knew how he operated. He had plans. And then he had plans to backup his plans. If he wanted Alex, he had a reason.

“And why keep Shooter?” she went on, her brows drawn together so two little vertical lines formed between them and I got a clear image of her doing that every time she sat down at her laptop. Like it was the look she got anytime she was trying to mull something over.

Shoot was another off-issue. I understood why he took him to begin with. Lex knew he was fuckin' with me. He knew I didn't like that shit. He wanted to make sure I would do as I was told. That made sense. It was smart.

But keeping Shoot even after I obviously showed I was doing my job? Yeah, I didn't get that.

It reeked of a bigger plan.

And that filled me with something that had never been very familiar to me: dread.

At least Alex had the presence of mind to give him a knife. Fuck. Some little nobody hacker was more on her game than I was. The fuck was going on with me?

“I don't know,” I finally answered.

“Between the two of us,” she went on, picking at her potatoes, but not eating any, “we seem to know Lex pretty well. None of this fits his usual M.O.” She was silent for a minute, then said so quietly it was mostly to herself, “What the hell does he want with me?”

I sighed, turning slightly in my chair and putting a hand on her thigh. “Dunno. But he ain't gonna get you. You and me... we'll feel this out. See if we can find out anything else. We can't, we get you the fuck outta here before he can come lookin' for you.”

“What about you and Shoot?” she asked, looking anxious.

“Let me worry about me and Shoot.”

“You're in this because of me,” she pressed.

“No,” I said, lowering my head and holding her eyes. “I am in this because Lex is an asshole who took the only person who is important to me so he could use me like a puppet. This ain't on you.”

“He took Shoot because he wanted you to take me,” she persisted.

“Doll, this is the job,” I said, shrugging. “You deal with fuckheads like Lex Keith... you get used to them doing dirty shit and getting you involved. That's why I get paid what I get paid. To put up with their shit. I've always accepted this. Shoot has always accepted it. The only fuck up we have is having such a close relationship and living in the same town. That shit catches up to you. We should have been more careful. This ain't on you. This is on me. This is the life I have chosen. Don't go taking my blame on your shoulders.”

She looked down at her plate. “I like Shooter. I mean... I know I only met him for a minute, but I liked him. He seems like good people.”

“The best,” I agreed. “Better by far than me. But he's smart, Alex. He's well trained. He has good instincts. I know it doesn't seem like it because of that smart mouth he's got, but it's true. In fact, those stupid ass comments he makes... it makes people underestimate him. Which works to his advantage. As far as survival goes, he has just as good a chance as we do even though he's in the belly of Lex's operation.”

To this, she made a short, humorless laugh. “That doesn't exactly bode well for any of us then.”

“Look,” I said, not liking her tone going back to empty, “it's late. We've had a fuckuva hard day. We need to get some shut eye and talk on this when we're rested.”

Alex took a breath, shrugging a shoulder. “Alright.”

“Alright,” I agreed, standing.

“Just throw me a blanket and a pillow and I'll be all set,” she said, getting up to take the dishes.

“Leave the dishes. And what the fuck you talking about?”

Her brows drew together. “A blanket and a pillow,” she repeated, waving a hand out toward the living room, “for the couch. So I can sleep. I mean, I can do without the pillow if you don't have any extras. But I'm like... practically naked here,” she waved down at her bare legs.

I felt a smile tugging at my lips. Did she seriously think I was going to let her sleep on the couch?

“You're in bed with me,” I said, moving toward the hallway.

“No, really. The couch is fine. I don't want to be... in the way.”

I stopped by the bathroom, turning to her, expecting to see her smiling like she was teasing me or something. But all I saw was seriousness.

“Doll, you're sleeping in bed with me. And I want you to be all up in my way. Oh and,” I said, giving her a slow up-and-down, “there will be no 'practically' about it. You're in my bed, you're naked.”

With that, I let myself into the bathroom, the image of her wide-eyed surprise burned in my brain as I stripped and jumped in the shower.

When I dried off and made my way back to the bedroom, towel slung low on my hips, I found her on the bed. Still in the tee. Legs hidden underneath the covers.

My lips quirked up when her gaze went to me. And, as if she couldn't help it, her eyes went down my chest and stomach, stopping at the towel. As soon as her gaze held there, I pulled the tuck and let it fall to the floor. She looked for a long second before her gaze went to the comforter around her waist.

“Thought I made the no clothes rule pretty clear,” I said, moving toward my side of the bed and pulling back the sheets.

“You can sleep however you want to. I like to have clothes on.”

“Fuck what you like,” I said, reaching over and hauling the shirt over her head and tossing it into the hallway.

“Seriously?” she asked, eyes burning into me as her arm went across her chest, covering her breasts.

“Yup.”

“You take your bed way too seriously,” she grumbled, sliding under the covers.

I laid back for a minute before reaching out and hauling her into my side. She let out a yelp and her hand settled on my stomach, trying to push back. “Relax.”

“I will if you let me go,” she said, still pushing.

I shook my head, dragging her half onto my chest, one arm locked around her shoulders, the other around her hips, one of her legs trapped between mine. I traced my fingers across her hip and she stopped struggling, rubbing her face against my chest and making a quiet whimpering sound in her throat that went right to my cock.

“Glad to know you're up for a fuck anytime my hands touch you, doll, but I'm beat so you're gonna have to suffer through till morning.” I smiled when I felt her try to raise herself up. “Go to sleep, Alex.”