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I’m too worked up to sit. My limbs crackle with too much energy.

Outside, early morning mist rolls over the surface of the still lake, and the sky is painted peach and gold, slowly giving way to pure blue. It seems a surreal backdrop against the seriousness of this predicament.

We tell Tase everything, Aiden and I taking turns relaying whatever Gilli had said to us. And through it all, the vet listened in his solemn way, without interruption.

“What are we going to do?” he wants to know once we’ve finished.

“We’re going to protect her,” I say.

There isn’t a doubt in my mind.

How the hell did I go from hating her to wanting to burn the world down for her? It makes the least amount of sense of all of this. She’s just a scared girl. And I’m the fuckwit who wanted to hurt her to punish her for someone else’s sins. In that aspect, I’m no better than the thugs chasing her.

I’ve seen shit before. It’s impossible to escape that kind of thing in the city, especially New York.

Muggings, stabbings, they are a part of everyday life. None of those things will happen to Gilli. Not on my watch.

“She said she was sure someone followed her yesterday, but she saw nothing,” Aiden adds. His lips peel back in a thin smile, ragged at the edges. “How much do we want to bet we’re dealing with professionals here?”

“Oh, of course they’re professionals. If she’s telling the truth.” Tase scrubs a hand over his stubble.

“She is,” I growl.

“Well, well.” Tase turns to me. “You sure changed your mind now that you’ve been inside of her. Seriously, Soren? Is this the game?”

My dick swells at the memory of this morning and Gilli taking both me and Aiden at the same time. I drop down in the chair and shift back, hiding my reaction in a slow sip of coffee, looping one leg over the other in a purposely cocky move.

“No game. It’s simple. She’s mine to ruin. Not some faceless asshole who thinks that money can buy him anything he wants, including another person’s peace. If anyone is going to make her undone, it’s me.”

“How is she yours to ruin?”

My jaw flexes. The doc is getting heated. “Tase, get off my ass about it.”

Aiden exhales sharply and shoots me awarning glare.

Yeah, it’s on me. The change of tune is entirely mine because once she turned those eyes on me, once she came alive underneath me, I knew I’d do whatever it took to keep her safe. I’m a dickhead, for sure, but I can admit when I’m wrong.

It isn’t her fault what happened to my mother. Just like it’s no one’s fault but the three people involved in the destruction of a single marriage.

Gillian is her own person, and right now, she’s in trouble.

She’s also made this cabin into more than simply safe space. She’s become the light shining through the windows after a storm. Cooking, cleaning, organizing. Making herself useful like I taunted her about.

I want to make sure we have more time for her to come apart when I slide into her. Or when Aiden takes her in his arms and makes her cry out his name.

We need the time. And the only way to get it is to take out the threat.

“Has she figured out who this dude is?” Tase says.

“Not that I’ve been able to figure.” Aiden blows out a breath. “Then again, I haven’t had a chance to dig into it. The last time she used the computer, I’m sure she did some research. I should be able to look at her browsing history if she hasn’t cleared it. She was definitely worried enough to ask me about a VPN, so no one would be able to track her online activity.”

“It’s a long shot that this guy is in Jersey,” Tase continues. “I mean, what are the odds? What if he’s not even real?”

Tase has always been skeptical. It’s in his nature to question the world around him and figure things out, figure out the root cause ofwhy. Sometimes there are no answers. I’ve found out for myself that it is sometimes better to wallow in the confusion than to hurt yourself discovering the truth.

In this case, I don’t need proof to understand that Gilli is in trouble. And today we’ll take the next steps.

“So what’s your plan?” Tase asks.