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L ily waited on pins and needles for Ana to call, but so far, it had been radio silence.

“It’s going to be okay,” Sara said, glancing at her watch.

“I know. Go to work.” Lily gently pushed Sara toward the front door. The woman had been ready to leave an hour ago, but had canceled her first clients.

“You have a full day,” she reminded Sara.

“I’ll check in with you,” Sara said, tossing a glance at Levi.

The big, dark-haired, sexy god of a guy had come in bringing the damp cold. Rather than sit on any furniture, Levi had taken up the spot in front of the window along with Max’s dog at his side.

“Do you know him well?” Sara whispered, eyeing the hunk.

“No, but I trust Max,” Lily whispered back.

“Okay, Chris will be here for a little while and Shane is coming over later,” Sara said, making her way to the broken front door.

“Go, I’ll be fine.” Lily offered her friend a smile.

Sara smirked and left the house, jogging to her SUV.

Lily pulled the door closed and glanced over at the silent sentinel standing at the window.

“I won’t leave until Max gets here,” Levi said as if sensing her gaze on him.

“Thank you,” she said. “Do you want some coffee?”

“Sure.”

“I just made a fresh pot,” Chris said, coming from the kitchen and holding a mug out to Lily.

Levi turned at that moment and ran his eyes over Chris as if suspecting the man of having ulterior motives.

Lily would have laughed if the situation hadn’t been so dire.

Who in the world had killed Blake? How was he killed and where? Was it in her apartment? Did he suffer?

She had way more questions than answers at the moment and switched the television on to watch the news to see if there was anything on about Blake. She found nothing and left it on the news channel before taking a seat on the couch.

Levi turned toward the kitchen, but Chris waved the bodyguard off.

“I got it.”

Levi scowled at Chris. “No, I’ll get my own coffee.”

“Okay,” Chris snorted, holding his hands up in surrender and walked to sit in the recliner. Chris patted the arm of his chair and gazed at the dog near the window. “Come here, good boy.”

Leo stared at Chris and refused to move from his spot no matter how much Chris tried.

“He’s not a pet,” Levi said, coming back in the room with a cup of hot coffee.

“I guess not,” Chris said.

“When do you have to work?” Lily asked Chris, trying to defuse the tension between the men.

“In another couple of hours, I told them I’d be late.”

She was grateful that Chris wanted to stay, but now that Levi was there, he really didn’t need to take time off. She was on the verge of telling him that when the door slammed open.

She had forgotten to lock the front door because it was suddenly yanked open and Shane stumbled inside, looking wild and out of breath.

Levi was in the younger man’s face before Lily could blink. The business end of the 9 MM handgun was aimed at Shane’s forehead.

“What the hell?” Shane fell back and away, hitting his ass on the front porch. He gaped up at the intimidating and beefy guy standing over him.

“No, Levi! That’s Sara’s little brother,” Lily said loudly, jumping to her feet and rushing over to help Shane up. Levi holstered his weapon and returned to the window. Lily helped Shane to his feet and closed the door. This time, she twisted the deadbolt.

“What the hell happened?” Shane asked, bewildered.

At that moment, Levi’s cell phone rang and he answered it. The bodyguard’s eyes flickered to her for a moment.

Lily cupped her hands over her mouth and waited with her heart in her throat.

Levi pulled the phone away from his mouth and spoke to her. “He’s been released.”

She held her hand out and Levi handed his phone over.

“Max?”

“I’m here.”

“Are you okay?” She could barely get the words out.

“I’m fine. I should be with you within the hour.”

His voice sounded so good and reassuring, Lily couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

“Who’s with you and Levi?” Max said.

“Chris and Shane.”

“Okay, I’m on my way,” he murmured softly. “Put Levi back on the phone.”

Lily handed the phone to Levi, who listened to Max for a moment. Levi’s blue eyes turned crystal sharp as they glanced around the room.

“Got it,” Levi said after another minute on the phone with Max and then ended the call.

“What’s going on?” Shane asked, running his fingers through his wet hair.

The sky had opened up and was still dumping buckets of rain down. Lightning lit up the sky through the window and thunder boomed in the distance.

It was an ominous sound and Lily shivered. She sank back down on the couch and pulled the comforter over her lap, gazing at Shane.

Sara’s brother walked way around where Levi was at the window and approached the couch.

“What?” Shane hissed, joining her on the cushions.

Levi turned from the window and locked his eyes on Shane. The young man gulped and scooted a bit away from Lily. She wanted to laugh. Did Levi seriously think that Shane would harm her? Or was the man just suspicious of everyone?

Levi seemed the type. Lily hadn’t seen the man smile once in the few times she’d met him and she wondered what kind of life Levi must have had not to even smile.

“Lily?” Shane’s whisper brought her gaze to him. “Are you okay?”

She frowned. “No, they arrested Max.”

“For what?”

“Blake was murdered sometime yesterday.”

Shane slapped hands over his mouth, covering his face. “Did Max kill him?” Shane’s words came muffled from behind his hands.

“No! Max didn’t kill Blake,” she argued.

“How can you know for sure?” Chris asked and Lily glared at the man.

“Because I know Max. He’s not a killer.”

“I’m sure he killed people in the military,” Shane cut in and Lily sent her glare in his direction.

“He’s not a killer, damn it!” She pounded the blankets.

A thick silence fell over the room.

When the keys rattled in the door half an hour later, Levi pulled his weapon and Leo leaped to his feet with a low growl.

“Get back,” Levi warned Chris, who had started for the door.

Chris froze.

Levi stepped to the side of the door so that whoever entered would need to take several steps inside before anything registered—much less the stealthy bodyguard lying in wait.

“Hi guys, look who I found outside,” Sara said, coming through the door.

Ryan, Jennifer’s brother, stepped in behind Sara.

“Holy shit!” Ryan cried out at the gun in Levi’s hand and Sara gasped, pressing a hand to her chest.

Levi gave Ryan a hard flat look and tucked his weapon away.

“Who’s he?” Ryan asked.

“My bodyguard,” Lily said from her spot on the couch. “What brings you here?”

“Just catching up on old times with Shane and Sara.” Ryan frowned at her and then turned to Sara. “Is now not a good time?”

“No, it’s fine. I know you’re here to play games with Shane,” Sara laughed and pointed toward the living room. “He’s that way.”

Ryan grinned and hauled ass into the living room. “Hey, have you played any more of Path of Exile 2 since last night?”

Lily snorted. “Since when are those two so chummy?”

“They’ve kept in touch through the years playing some online game.”

“Ah…say no more,” Lily teased and then eyed Sara curiously. “Why are you home so early?”

“I didn’t feel comfortable being at work while all this was going on, so I decided to reschedule the rest of my appointments,” Sara explained.

“I’m glad.” Lily linked arms with Sara and together, they walked toward the kitchen.

With a house full of nothing but men, she was happy to have Sara home.