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“The pain meds keep me drowsy. I’d rather be awake while you’re here, and the pain is tolerable.”

Maggie smiled. “That’s my boy for you. Always the tough one.”

“You should be smacking him upside the head for scaring us to death,” Zaida grumbled.

Maggie’s laugh was light with a hint of sadness behind it. “I’m too grateful he’s all right. I did get to meet your friends. All of them. I’ll never remember all of their names, even the strange ones.”

“The strange ones are nicknames, Momma, but it doesn’t matter. You can ask them their names every time you see them if you want. They won’t care.”

“Well, I’ve decided. Once you’re out of the hospital, I’m inviting them all over for dinner. Do you think they’ll like pasta? Or I could make a variety of things, so everyone has something they like.”

“All of them? Momma, it’s not necessary. They can eat a lot, and there’s no way you can cook so much food by yourself.”

“Daniel Zane Wilder, I saw how your friends care for you. And they were very sweet and supportive to your sisters and me. Cooking a feast fit for a king is the very least I can do to thank them, and I’ll not have you convince me otherwise.” Her tone was stern, but the words were said with love. It was how his mother approached everything, with a firm hand and a loving heart. She often said it was how she raised four children on her own after his father died, and Zane knew he and his headstrong sisters never made it easy for her.

“Have it your way. Those guys never turn down a free meal.”

“Hummph,” she grunted. “’Those guys?’ Seems to me there were some women in the bunch.”

Zane bit back a smile. “You’re right. I’m sorry. But even the women won’t turn down a free meal.”

“And I noticed the women were very pretty.” Zaida wiggled her eyebrows, this time eliciting an eye roll from her brother. “Especially Sydney. She’s been very sweet. I can see why you talk about her so much.”

An image of Sydney Reede crept into his mind’s eye. The beautiful redhead, with her quiet strength, sweet spirit, and sharp intellect, would fit in very well with his family, though he’d never introduced her to them before. He wanted to, but he knew the minute his mother and sisters saw him with Sydney, they’d know he felt more for her than friendship. He did talk about her a lot, and he tried to make it seem more like they were friends. Obviously from Zaida’s teasing, he did a piss poor job of hiding it, despite the fact he never gave those emotions free rein. Sydney belonged to his teammate, and Cole made her happy, which is all Zane wanted for her. Even if it meant keeping his feelings locked inside.

“Oh my God! You’re blushing!” Zane winced at his sister’s girlish excitement. “Mom, do you see it? The last time I saw him blush like this was when Angie Buckley said yes when he asked her to prom.”

“Now, Zaida, leave him be. Even Zane deserves to have his secrets.” Maggie flashed him a knowing smile, and he realized he never hid anything from his mother. He shouldn’t be surprised. He and his sisters never got away with anything when it came to their mother. She saw all and knew all.

“I don’t date people I work with, and those in the waiting room who don’t work with me are already spoken for. So whatever is in your head, forget it. I have no plans to be in a serious relationship or to be married any time soon.”

Zaida frowned. “It’s just as well. I don’t want you married before me anyway. No way am I going to be the spinster sister.”

Zaida was far from being a spinster sister. The only one of them who was close to being married was Zoe, though she wasn’t engaged yet, but she had been living with her boyfriend, Michael Gibbs, for a couple of years now. His sisters often tried to play matchmaker, and he knew his mother secretly wanted all of them to give her plenty of grandchildren. But if it was going to happen, it would be far into the future.

Zaida and Maggie stayed another fifteen minutes, and the conversation was light and easy. Maggie was the one to break up the visit when she saw her son starting to tire. She kissed his forehead and placed a hand to his cheek. She said nothing in parting, but the love which shone in her eyes spoke volumes. When they left, Zane felt his energy leave him all at once. As much as he wanted to stay alert, he could no longer fight off sleep.

Chapter Six

Jay tapped on the door before striding into Tristin’s office at Knight Security and Investigation. Since the two were more friends than co-workers, they didn’t stand on ceremony, so Jay thought nothing of barging into the office without invitation. Tryst — the nickname which was a throwback to his player days — barely raised his head from the accounting report on his desk to acknowledge Jay. He’d been reviewing the report since he’d stepped into his office that morning, and his head was pounding from the hours spent pouring over numbers.

“Hey,” Jay said to get Tryst’s attention. “I’m going to check in on Zane. I thought you’d want to tag along.”

Tristin pushed the report from him and leaned back in a languid stretch against his chair. “I need to finish going through this report from the accountant, but I also need a break. My eyes are crossing.”

Jay chuckled. “Well, I have to insist on it. I have a feeling he’s going to ask about getting back on the case, and he’s not ready. This case is too risky for him to come back before he’s one hundred percent.”

Tristin released a long breath. “It’s too risky for him to be back, period. My contacts at the ATF got word late last night that there’s a hit out for Cane Black. The De la Peñas want his head on a platter. Literally.”

“But your contacts don’t have intel indicating Zane’s cover ID was blown?”

Tristin shook his head. “No, but I don’t think we can rule out the possibility. Not until we figure out why they ambushed him at the warehouse in the first place.”

“If they connect him to Payton and Davi…” Jay didn’t voice his fears because a part of him wondered if he’d jinx the situation – say it out loud, risk it coming true.

“There haven’t been any threats against Payton and Davi. They don’t seem to be on De la Pena’s radar.” Tristin’s conviction in his answer made Jay wonder if he’d had the ATF examine the possibility as well.

“I’m not trying to borrow trouble, but why aren’t they? Why aren’t we? Armando trusts no one outside of his inner circle, and when we killed Oscar to rescue Davi, we threatened his circle. Hell, Armando’s built an entire empire in the U.S. so he can get revenge against the ones who betrayed him back in the Dominican. Why wouldn’t he come after us?”