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"Mmmm."

"Nash."

"Pops, you can’t toss out things like ‘third base’ and ‘grand slams’ and just walk away."

"Bad guy wanting to kill me, your sister and niece inside. Ring any bells?"

"So?" He nips at my earlobe before whispering, "I want to be inside you. Now. Don't I get a vote?"

His frustrated groan when I push him back sends a shiver down my spine. There's something powerful knowing—hell, feeling how bad he wants me. No guy has ever been this attracted to me to where they can't keep their hands off. Even now as we walk back to the house, a single finger is hooked in my belt loop just so we have some kind of physical contact.

Drake's smiling face is the first to greet us in the kitchen. "How was that fresh air, Pops?" Turning his attention to Nash, the happy expression shifts. "Let's get this shit figured out. The more time we have to plan, the more successful the outcome. Get those FBI fuckers on the phone. "

"Hey, Drake?" I cut in. Softness returns to his features with raised brows and a small smile. "The back room is an area in this underground gaming place in DC. That's where he wants to meet."

"Exits?" Nash asks, looking between us.

"Yes, it has exits."

The two glance at each other and then back to me, amusement filling their features. "How many, Poppy?" Drake says behind his coffee mug.

"Oh, right. Um, the front door and I guess a back one. Never really looked."

We pass Raider, Liza and Mya at the kitchen table talking. Mya eyes Nash as he walks by.

"Uncle Nash, your leg hurt?"

With a furrowed brow, he turns to Mya. "Nah, why you ask?"

"Then why are you walking funny?"

Raider and Liza choke back their laughs, no doubt knowing exactly why Nash is having a difficult time walking.

"It's called blue—"

"Watch it, Raider." Nash glares him down, then looks to Liza. "Don't fall for any of his shit, you hear me?"

"Damn, man, what about the bro code?" Raider pouts, leaning back in the wooden chair, balancing on the two back legs. "And I ain't hitting on her. Just talking while you and Miss Cat Burglar over there had a nice, long chat outside."

Great. I'll never live the window incident down.

"I was actually testing their observation skills,” I tell him. “Drake passed."

"You mean the security camera's observation skills," Raider says with a smile at my shocked expression. "That's right, doll, they caught it all on video."

"And what was your plan with the truck?" Nash asks, jumping on the bandwagon of making me feel like an idiot.

"Hotwire it?" I say with a shrug.

All three men burst out laughing. "Do you even know how to do that, Pops?" Nash smiles at my scowl.

Ignoring the question he clearly already knows the answer to, I plop beside Liza at the table. "Sorry to drag you into all this." Looking across the table, I offer up a regretful smile to Mya. "I had no idea it would get this far, impact you two."

"We're tougher than we look. Especially that one." Liza looks to Nash, who's deep in conversation with Drake, brows furrowed as he runs a hand over his hair. "But if you hurt him, I'll cut you."

My jaw drops in shock as she holds my gaze. Raider just huffs a laugh and engages Mya in some conversation about school.

"He... Nash...." She looks to the ceiling like she's trying to find the right words. "Once you get past the cocky, sarcastic mask, he's all heart. That mask is there for a reason, and I won’t watch someone else hurt him again to where the loveable, mushy Nash never sees the light of day."