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S ara was ready to go question her kidnapper right that moment.

She wouldn’t even need to change out of Levi’s jacket or shirt.

Shoving up from the couch, she waited for the guys to get ready, but they didn’t move. Only Ana stood with her.

“Not tonight,” King said with a shake of his head.

“Why?” Sara frowned.

“Because it’s late and we are running on zero sleep,” Levi said quietly, getting to his feet.

“Get some rest and we’ll tackle the next problem in the morning,” King advised with a tired sigh and headed down the hallway toward the bedrooms.

The decision not to go suddenly made sense to Sara. These men ran at an ungodly speed. They were always on. The job they did, protecting the innocent, was embedded into their DNA. And when they ran too close to empty, it made sense to stop and recharge.

“I’ll get your jacket and shirt back to you,” Sara told Levi softly and disappeared into the bedroom she shared with Carla and Ana.

After showering, she came out and found Ana holding a towel, waiting for her turn to shower.

“Any word from Carla?” Sara asked.

“Not yet, I’m sure she’ll call. Don’t worry.” Ana shook her head and disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door.

Ana was right. Carla would call, but it might not be soon. Carla stewed over things longer than anyone she knew. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand why Carla was dating a man who was aggressive toward her. But then again, she wasn’t one to talk.

Sara folded Levi’s shirt and draped the jacket over her arm before leaving the bedroom and closing the door.

The living room was empty. West and Rowan were still in the dining room at the table doing something on the laptop. She had noticed over the past week that the two men worked well together.

Making her way down the hallway, she knocked on Levi’s bedroom door.

It was a five-bedroom rental, and West had shifted over to bunk in with Rowan after she, Ana, and Carla had arrived on the scene.

There was no answer to her knock, and Sara hovered at the door.

Levi had his own room. If she went in there, chances were that she wasn’t coming back out until morning.

And that wouldn’t be because he kept her from leaving, but rather because she wanted to stay. She wanted to be with Levi, and she was tired of pushing him away.

At some point, she needed to have the baby conversation, but not right now and certainly not tonight. What she desired most was to strengthen their connection.

Not necessarily in bed, but that was a place to start.

She rapped again on the door; if he didn’t answer this time, she’d talk to him in the morning.

Levi opened it the next instant and pulled her inside. His foot shut the door with a slight thud. His hair was damp, he was shirtless, and water dripped down his chest. He’d pulled on a pair of jeans, but the top button was still undone.

“What took you so long?” he grumbled.

“That was my second knock. Were you waiting for me?” She arched one brow at him and walked past him to place the jacket and shirt on an accent chair by the window.

“Yes…” His voice sounded like a raspy frog.

“Why? Because you’re my official bodyguard?” She spun and shot him a challenging look.

Before Max had gone back to Seattle, the man had put Levi on the job of protecting her.

Levi hesitated, staying near the door, and frowned.

She loved the fact that she could catch him off guard.

“If you think you’re going to get into my panties again that easily, then you’re wrong.” She kept her tone light and her words clear, but he got the gist of it.

She may not be fighting with him right now, but she was far from wanting to jump in his bed. Which was a lie, but he didn’t need to know that.

“I don’t understand why you’re mad at me,” Levi said, releasing a heavy sigh.

“I know. And I’m not ready to talk about it yet. But I’m willing to get to know you better.” She crossed her arms, glad she’d worn both a bra and a shirt so her traitorous nipples wouldn’t give her away.

“Okay…” his voice trailed off.

“For starters, I have questions,” she began and lifted the jacket and shirt before sitting on the accent chair.

He came over and took both from her and hung the jacket, then tossed the shirt in a pile of clothes near the door.

“I’ll try to answer as honestly as I can,” he said.

She nodded and pulled at her bottom lip with her fingers. He held her gaze, and the honesty in his blue eyes was easy to see.

“I know you guys do some type of covert work for the government that involves…getting rid of bad people,” she said instead of saying the words “killing bad people,” she phrased it differently.

It wasn’t like they were a bunch of killers running around ending random people.

Levi walked over and sank down to sit on the edge of the bed, not far from her chair. He faced her as he spoke.

“That’s correct.”

“You called in the cleaners to make everything disappear.”

“Yes,” he rasped.

“And your organization is called Aries? I’m not sure about that part, but I overheard the name a while back.”

“Yes.”

He was giving her one-worded answers, but that was okay, she could work with that. She needed him to trust her enough to understand that she was stronger than she looked. She could handle a hell of a lot more than the average girl.

If her past hadn’t broken her, then nothing Levi did could. That wasn’t to say they wouldn’t have future arguments.

They were both hardheaded.

“I have another question for you.”

He swallowed. “What’s that?”

“Do you want a relationship with me?”

“More than anything.”

His reply gave her hope. Those words repaired some of the damage of his “no kids” comment.

“What about you?” he asked hoarsely.

“Me too.” She kept it simple.

There would be time enough later to hash out the details of what their life would be like. There would be time together to go over what their days would look like with him doing what he did.

Right at that moment, though, she no longer wanted to talk.

She wanted him, and she let her eyes slide over his bare chest. From under her lashes, she chewed her bottom lip.

His eyes glittered like blue fire beneath the light.

And without another word, she held open her arms.