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Having Jennie in her life was…precious. Something she wanted to protect.
Something else Vincente threatened to take from her.
Zach and Caleb waited in the lobby—Zach in uniform, Caleb in his jeans, white t-shirt, and leather jacket from earlier.
The look of relief on their faces when they saw her made her stomach somersault. “What’s happened?”
“We need to talk. Privately.” Caleb’s voice vibrated with restrained tension.
Zach’s stance was cool, unreadable. But the fire in his eyes told her everything she needed to know.
They were in warrior mode.
The butterflies in her stomach turned to lead.
“Let’s go into the conference room,” she said, already moving. Her legs felt rubbery. Her pulse pounded against her throat.
She took a seat at the table. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Zach leaned against the wall, arms crossed, face set in grim lines.
Caleb sat beside her, close enough that their knees brushed, the contact oddly intimate.
“The men who tried to abduct you came back. And they brought friends.” Caleb’s jaw tightened. “They followed me from Gallup.”
“Followed.” Zach snorted.
He shook his head. “What my cousin meant to say was they ambushed him. Shot up his Jeep.”
“Oh my God.” She launched from the chair, her gaze raking over Caleb, searching for evidence of fresh injuries.
He wrapped his fingers around her cold ones, his palm warm and rough. “I’m fine.”
No, you aren’t.
Because Vincente’s men wouldn’t have acted without orders.
Which meant Vincente considered Caleb a threat.
She’d been a fool even to entertain the idea that she could stay here and not endanger everyone around her.
“This is my fault. You need to leave. Go back to DC before he—”
“It’s not your fault.” Caleb, his voice a growl, interrupted her. “Sit.”
He tugged her back to the chair. “This may not even be about you. I sent a message to Lopez through his errand boys to stay away from you. But I also planted a seed that their new partner might be cutting a side deal with a rival cartel.”
Zach glared. “My cousin waved a big red flag in front of the bull.”
Caleb glared back. “Lopez started this. I’m going to finish it.”
“Oh my God.” Gia dropped her face into her hands. “I don’t know what’s worse—threatening Vincente over me or interfering in his business.”
She lifted her head and met Caleb’s steady gaze, her voice rising. “Do you want to die? You won’t win. He’s a dangerous man.”
If anyone knew exactly what her former lover could do and get away with, it was her.
“So am I.” Steady. So damn sure of himself.