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He took a sip of his coffee, then nodded. “I’ll take that deal. Like you guessed, Sean isn’t exactly a reliable buyer.”

“What’s he been looking for?” I asked.

“Guns,” Castille said. “That’s within my reach. He also wanted men. Muscle for whatever he was planning. I’m not a fuckin’ hiring manager.”

“You sold him the guns?”

“Half of them. I’m meant to deliver them to his compound when the money comes through. He wasn’t happy with that. He wanted more than he could pay for and offered me a trade for the rest.”

“What kind of trade?”

Again, Castille scowled. “Like I said. I’m not a fuckin’ hiring manager. Or a pimp. I didn’t want anything to do with that.”

My dragon bristled with rage and disgust. If Sean was getting involved in human trafficking out of desperation, he was farther gone than I had imagined.

“Cancel the deal,” I said. “Once I’ve got proof you have, I’ll connect you with my guy at the border.”

Castille nodded. “You’ve got some serious beef with your brother, don’t you?”

“You have no idea,” I growled. “He’ll be out of the picture soon.”

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Castille said with a slimy grin. He offered his hand to shake, and I accepted it.

When Castille left, he tipped an invisible hat to Hawk. He’d known Hawk was one of my guys but hadn’t made a stink about it. It was another reason I knew Castille would hold up his end of the deal.

Hawk joined me in the booth. “Seems like that went well.”

“Doesn’t look like Castille is a bad guy. Just a little skeezy.”

“So, similar to most of the guys we’ve worked with in the past,” Hawk said.

“Yeah. Cash motivates him. As long as we can outbid Sean, he’ll be in our pocket.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard,” Hawk said. He waved the waitress over and ordered a burger. I shook my head when she asked what I wanted. I wasn’t hungry—not for diner food, at least.

“I think this is gonna work,” Hawk said. “Ice Sean out of all his resources, and a challenge will be his only option remaining.”

“I hope so.” I looked down into my half-finished coffee mug. Ithadto work because I was quickly running out of options.

“Hey.” Hawk reached across the table and briefly squeezed my wrist. “It’s gonna work. And then it’ll all be over.”

The waitress walked over with his burger, and Hawk clapped his hands together. “Go ahead and head back home. I know you want to be with Harley right now.”

I grinned. “I really fucking do. I’ll see you later, Hawk.”

Hawk waved at me, his mouth already full of burger. I left Lola’s in a rush, hopped on my bike, and headed back home where Harley was waiting for me. The searing kiss she’d given me was burned into my memory and on my lips.

The house was dark and quiet when I arrived. I unlocked the door and stepped inside, and my sharp ears listened closely for the sounds of wakefulness. It sounded like Dylan was asleep, as was Cassidy. Striker was asleep on the couch; I didn’t wake him. His dragon would want him to stay close to Cassidy, and more security was better than less.

I crept up the stairs. All the lights in the hall were dark, save for the one at the end. Not the guest room Harley had been sleeping in, butmyroom. My dragon could sense her behind the door. Anticipation and desire thrummed through me as intensely as a heartbeat.

I pushed the door open slowly, and the sight that greeted me made my breath catch in my throat.

Harley was spread out on my bed. Her cheeks were flushed, her chestnut hair forming a gorgeous halo on my pillow. She was wearing one of my old, threadbare garage shirts. The collar was so stretched out I could see the curve of her shoulder and that tantalizing pale skin on her neck. Her legs were bare, andmy mouth watered at the thought of what awaited me under the shirt.

“Hi,” she said with a small, sweet smile, like she wasshy.

I closed the door behind me. “You look gorgeous,” I growled.