One of Jay’s medics tended to Caitlyn’s injuries in the van on the drive back to Florence under Duke’s watchful eye. Beside her, Rachel fussed over her like a mother hen, periodically sparing a brief, blatantly hostile glance towards the smirking Jay, who eyed her like a predator does a particularly tasty snack. Shell-shocked and still fighting the effects of the drug in her system, Caitlyn stared sightlessly out the rear window. Duke knew her thoughts were a private fortress of hell that she’d built to protect the rest of them, but he also knew her well enough to know he couldn’t force her out of it. He’d have to lay siege, then gently coax her into negotiations to talk through her mental anguish. Still, he struggled with her silence, particularly after what she’d experienced and witnessed. “Darlin’? You okay?” he asked gently, his voice low and soothing, the way he’d talk to a skittish horse. Her warm toffee eyes dilated and focused, and she stared at him,

Tears welled in Caitlyn’s liquid caramel eyes and he could see her flinch as the salt stung the tender abrasions and cuts in her abused skin. Releasing her chin, he caressed her hair and brushed a light kiss against her forehead. “Never mind, darlin’. Whatever it is, it’ll wait. I’m here and I’m not leaving you. Not ever again.” Swallowing around the lump in her throat, she shook her head against his chest, too afraid to look up and confront the emotions in his eyes. “Be-before you commit to those things, you need to know,” she said quietly. His heavy man-sigh penetrated all the way to her heart, piercing and sharp. “What do I need to know?” “You heard—wh-what he said.” Wrapped in his arms as she was, she felt his simple nod. Duke had heard a few things—enough. At least for his own peace of mind. He couldn’t imagine there being more. Certainly nothing that he couldn’t reconcile his conscience to about Agent Richards or his former boss, Jantzi. “You h-heard what I—what I said?” “

Duke tucked his mouth up close at her ear. “If you’re guilty, Caitlyn, then so am I.” Her pulse quickened and her toes curled, a zinging tingle sweeping over her flesh as his breath stirred her hair, tickled across the whorl of her ear. “I don’t care about the right or wrong of it, darlin’. I can’t see beyond this minute. Or next week. All I can see is you. And you’re too good, Caitlyn. Too pure of heart and intention to ever maliciously hurt someone else.” “But Duke—,” she tried urgently, but he continued, his words spilling over his lips, across her trembling flesh. She turned her head into his shoulder, breathed in the clean, warm, distinctly male scent of him. “I don’t care what you do. I don’t care what you’ve done.” His mouth closed, warm and insistent, over the tip of one breast and she shuddered, her fingers diving into his hair. “But I’m afraid to lose you,” he assured her, moving to the taut tip of the opposite breast to pay its due. “I’m afraid to lose the love of my life

Dex perched over the arm of a sofa so he could see down the long hallway that led to the bedrooms. He’d been appalled to watch Jay Ellis invite himself into Rachel’s bedroom, but was even more appalled when the man reemerged five minutes later, and after shutting the door behind him quietly, headed for the bar in the corner of the living area. “Goddamn, that woman is spicy,” Jay muttered appreciatively as he adjusted himself in his expensive slacks, a feral grin plastered over his face. Gritting his teeth, Dex suppressed his envy and watched as the other man poured himself a generous Scotch and tossed it back without so much as a flinch. Rachel was spicy—on that much they agreed—and it annoyed the hell out of him to think that this was the kind of man she’d settle for. “You want something, pretty boy?” At the bar, the other man refilled his drink. Dex arched a brow as his head swiveled towards Jay. The suit the man wore was Armani, and if he was any guess, probably as expensive as

As soon as Caitlyn woke, immediately she reached behind her, seeking Duke’s reassuring presence and warmth. Instead, her fingertips found only empty space, and she frowned, rolling to her back to look at his side of the bed. Her fingertips hadn’t lied. He was gone, and by the cool feel of the sheets, he had been for some time. She squeezed her eyes shut against the brightness of the sun against the curtained windows, then gave a soft grunt as acknowledgment of her body’s lingering pain. She continued to lay as she was, contemplating all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. All that she’d learned from Richards and Jantzi. All that she’d learned from Duke and his remarkably resourceful and strangely unnerving friend, Jay Ellis and his sister. Her thoughts strayed to what Duke had said about envying Alex. The vulnerability she’d heard in his voice when he’d admitted it made her tense and agitated, and left her feeling guilty and defenseless in an unhappy marriage of roiling