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H oly shit . Chaz slowly set Lottie back on her feet, his attention on the X carved into the tree’s bark. “You found it, Sunshine.”

Her face lit up and she screeched for the rest of the guys. “We found something!”

Brand, Jayson, Lex and Corey jogged over and Lottie pointed up.

“Look!”

Lex swung his metal detector over, sweeping it back and forth along the base of the large tree. When it began to beep, Chaz shook his head in disbelief.

“Who has the shovels?” Lex asked, and Corey and Jayson pulled hand shovels out, knelt down and began to dig.

“This is crazy,” Chaz murmured.

“Never thought I’d be digging for buried treasure,” Corey said, a huge grin on his bearded face.

It made Chaz happy to see the man smiling. Although he didn’t know the specific details about his buddy’s time in the military and what triggered his terrible bouts of PTSD, he knew it could have just as easily been him—or any of them. They’d all served and gone to some of the deepest hellholes on earth.

Wes was a prime example of nearly giving up after he’d lost his leg and then his wife. But he’d fought hard and not only learned to walk again, but also found Ellie after believing she’d died. These days, he was happier than Chaz had ever seen, and losing the lower part of his leg didn’t slow him down. Anyone who underestimated him and believed he was any less of the strong, alpha male he was, first of all, was an asshole. And, second, they learned damn fast he could keep up with any two-legged guy. Probably even surpass him.

As much as they ribbed each other, Chaz had grown protective of his motley crew. He really hoped they could find a way to help Corey. Because if they thought he had a crisis beard, then the Grizzly Adams look Corey sported must be a catastrophe beard. The man looked like a viking. Or, maybe Chewbacca’s cousin.

“Anything?” Lottie asked, leaning forward and watching the digging closely.

They’d already dug about a foot deep. Luckily the ground was warm and the dirt lifted easily. If they’d been here in the winter months, they would’ve needed some kind of equipment to break through the frozen ground.

“Not yet,” Jayson reported, flinging a pile of dirt. “Lex, sweep that metal detector here again.”

Lex stepped between Corey and Jayson and moved the equipment over the hole. It emitted a steady whining sound.

“Keep digging, boys,” Lex said. “Something’s definitely down there.”

They doubled their efforts and, after another minute, Corey’s shovel hit something hard. “Found something,” he declared, sounding more excited than Chaz ever remembered hearing.

While everyone hovered closer, Corey and Jayson reached into the opening and used their fingers to find the edges. After a little maneuvering, they pried a metal box up and everyone let out a whoop.

“It’s locked,” Corey said, turning the box to show the small, rusted lock.

Leaning over, Chaz scooped up a rock and held out his other hand. Corey handed the metal container over and Chaz lifted the rock, slamming it down against the lock. It snapped after a few blows.

“What do you think is in it?” Lex asked, crowding closer.

Chaz looked at Lottie. “I don’t know, but you do the honors, Lottie.” He held the box out and she carefully brushed the dirt off the lid before slowly lifting it up. Inside lay a velvet pouch and folded piece of paper.

Everyone seemed to be holding their collective breaths.

“Go ahead,” Chaz encouraged her.

Lottie delicately plucked the velvet bag out with her pink-polished fingers, now sporting a few chips, opened the drawstring and tilted it. The contents of the bag—a pile of what looked like precious gems—dropped into her palm. Rubies, emeralds and diamonds sparkled in a ray of sunlight filtering in through the canopy of leaves.

Gasps and a low whistle filled the air.

“Do you think they’re real?” Jayson asked.

“We’re going to assume so until we get them checked out,” Brand stated.

Mouth dropping open, Lottie looked up at Chaz with wide blue eyes. “Now we know what those guys were looking for. But where did Andy get these?”

“What’s the letter say?” Brand asked.

Very carefully, she put the gems back into the bag and handed it to Chaz for safekeeping. He tucked it in one of his many cargo pants pockets, zipping it up while Lottie unfolded the paper.

“It’s from Andy…to Reya.” She pressed her lips together, scanning the short paragraph. Chaz could see the emotions rising in her and placed a hand on her lower back, rubbing reassuring circles.

“It’s okay,” he assured her.

She cleared her throat. “He says he’s sorry for not being there and for not knowing how to be a dad. He thinks he might be in trouble, but he’s hoping one day they’ll be able to find this box together…and that she’ll be able to find it in her heart to forgive him.”

Chaz ground his jaw, biting back the nasty comment threatening to come out of his mouth. Fuck that guy . Walking away from Lottie when she needed him most and telling her he didn’t want anything to do with her or Reya made Chaz see red. Nobody knew how to be a parent. It’s something you had to learn. Something that took time, and a commitment to try and be the absolute best example for your child. Even when you had no idea what you were doing.

The harsh truth was the douchebag just didn’t want to be bothered. But Chaz would never say that to Lottie. Besides, his girl was smart. She already knew the truth.

Andy the Asshole had fucked up and now Chaz would be the one to take care of Lottie and Reya. And despite everything he used to believe about marriage and kids, he’d never looked forward to anything more. Those two little blondes were going to be his family—they just didn’t know it yet.

Chaz planned on making Lottie his very soon, no doubt about it. He just hoped she’d have him considering all the stupid shit he’d said after being burned by his previous marital experience.

“Well, he’s not here anymore,” Lex said, turning his attention to Chaz.

“No, I am,” Chaz stated, “and I’ll make sure no one hurts my girls.”

“Thank you.” Lottie gave him a grateful smile before worry twisted her features. “Because now that we have the gems, I think we might be in trouble.”

Yeah, understatement of the year.

The thought barely finished going through his head when a gunshot popped through the air and took out a chunk of tree bark less than a foot from Lottie’s blonde head.

◆◆◆

Lottie barely had time to react before Chaz’s solid body slammed into hers, knocking her down to the ground. He rolled them behind a tree, doing his best to keep his weight off her, but it still felt like she’d been taken down by an NFL linebacker.

“Stay down,” he hissed, popping back up. Glock in hand, he peered around the tree and fired off a couple of shots.

Scanning the area, searching for the source of the attack, she noticed all the other guys positioned behind trees, weapons raised. Suddenly, several canisters flew through the air and landed nearby.

“Flashbangs!” Brand yelled.

Before she could fully comprehend his words, chaos erupted. Loud bangs and flashes of light exploded, thick smoke filling the air. Lottie began coughing, her eyes watering, but she still got a glimpse of five men emerging from the black smoke, dressed in head to toe tactical gear, and carrying machine guns.

“Fuck!” Chaz grabbed Lottie’s hand, yanking her up onto her feet. Swiping the tears from her eyes, she did her best to keep up with his long legs as they darted through the forest.

Who were those guys? She couldn’t help but worry about Brand and the others, but assumed they all scattered in order to pull the enemy into separate directions. Don’t worry , she told herself. These men know exactly how to deal with bad guys.

They’d all made a career of it.

Even so, her motherly instincts raged, and if anyone dared to touch even one salt and pepper hair on any of their heads, she’d go apeshit. Because she was willing to fight like a tiger for each and every one of them, just like they would fight for her.

Gunfire popped and she heard the distinctive spray of machine gun fire, but she didn’t pause or slow down. Just pushed herself hard, hoping like hell she didn’t twist an ankle. Running wasn’t one of her strengths, though, and her heart pounded hard in her ears, on the verge of bursting from her chest.

Chaz must’ve known she was struggling because he abruptly stopped, picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. Hanging upside down, she gripped the edge of his shirt and held on for dear life as she bounced against his back.

Lifting her head, she thought they were making good progress until she heard the roar of an engine. Her heart sank when a motorcycle came careening out of the thicket. Its rider wore a helmet that concealed his face and he was in full tactical gear like the others.

“Motorcycle!” she screeched, and Chaz dodged sideways, somehow managing to pick up even more speed. The man was incredibly fast, but there was no way he could outrun the bike.

Sending up a prayer, she tightened her grip, wishing she could help. A quick glance at their pursuer and she cried out another warning as he lifted a gun. Chaz bolted around a huge evergreen, the gun fired and, without warning, they both went down hard.

Lottie’s head hit the forest floor and she heard Chaz groan. For a stunned moment, she couldn’t move. Just laid on her back, looking up through the trees above. But when Chaz made another pained sound, she forced herself to sit up. Dizziness swept through her, but she did her best to ignore it, and crawled toward Chaz.

The first thing she noticed was the bright red blood splattered across the leaf-strewn ground. “Chaz,” she hissed. Oh, God, no. Please let him be okay.

As she reached his side, the motorcycle drove up and the driver got off. And all she could think about was protecting Chaz. He’d dropped his gun, but she reached for the sharp knife holstered around his thigh, yanked it out of its sheath, clambered to her feet and spun around to face the approaching enemy.

“Don’t you touch him!” she cried, waving the knife through the air, ready to defend him until the end. “Stay away!”

The man in the helmet paused and she could’ve sworn he seemed amused even though she couldn’t see his face. It was something in his posture, and it pissed her off. When he lifted his visor, she wasn’t surprised to see his smirk. Pointing his pistol down at Chaz, he edged closer.

“A knife is no good in a gunfight, blondie. Unless you want me to put a bullet in his head, I suggest you drop that knife and get over here.”

Two facts took root in Lottie’s mind immediately: the asshole with the bike didn’t realize they’d already dug up the jewels and they were safely stored in Chaz’s cargo pants pocket. And she loved the big, gruff man bleeding out at her feet. Loved him fiercely enough to do whatever it took to keep him safe.

Even if that meant leaving with Helmet Head.