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Ayla wanted to be angry at Oz, but couldn’t manage it.

Instead of looking for her sister, they were at a hotel somewhere in Trujillo.

She tried again to work up some irritation, but what could he have done?

There were no exits when she’d sensed Io and she didn’t have any information on her location.

He quizzed her, trying to get more details, but she could only shrug.

It frustrated her. Shouldn’t twin telepathy be more helpful than this?

Unlocking the door, he said, “Let me check it out before you go in.”

It didn’t take long before he returned. “Brace yourself, Pollita.” Oz opened the door wider, and while she entered, he grabbed the bags.

She stopped just inside the room and Oz gently nudged her forward to close the door. Ayla heard him lock it, but she didn’t move. All she could do was gawk. Never, not in her entire life, had she seen anything like this.

“Our baby,” she managed at last, “might be traumatized for life.”

Oz’s smile was sheepish. “It was the only available room in the hotel with air conditioning. I didn’t ask about the décor.”

“Even if you had, who would have believed it?”

“It defies description.” He moved deeper into the room, setting the bags down near the windows. “It’s one night. I’ll warn you, though, that Trujillo hotels aren’t like the US chains. We’re going to run into more offbeat stuff. Probably not this extreme, but still different than you’re used to.”

Ayla raised her brows and gave him a look. “I told you about my family’s love of adventure. I’m used to a wider range of accommodations than you seem to believe.”

“Just not like this.”

She nodded. Now that the shock was wearing off, Ayla cataloged the room. She wanted to tell Io all about it when she had the chance. Her sister would enjoy this.

The carpet was orange shag, the walls were painted bright yellow, and there were two shades of orange stripes swirling up one wall and across the next.

One stripe matched the light orange hot tub’s tile, and the second stripe matched the darker orange hot tub.

Both sat side by side on a tile floor next to the bed.

The stripes curled above the king-size bed and continued straight to the end of the wall.

The sheets and pillowcases were orange, and the bedspread—was it a bedspread?

—was yellow faux fur. On either side were two bright yellow molded plastic chairs.

They didn’t look steady, and she wasn’t about to risk sitting in one.

Above the bed was a disco ball. Pointing toward it, she asked, “Do you think that works?”

Oz put his hands on his hips. “Why don’t you focus on how cool the room is? How comfortable you are? That’s the most important thing.”

Ayla glanced around, found a control panel with switches, and started flipping them. She turned on the sconces on either side of the bed, the overhead light, the lamp, and finally the disco ball. It did work. Delighted, she watched it throw mirrored dots of light on the ceiling and walls.

With a grin, she looked back at Oz. “Do you think the hot tubs work, too?”

“Maybe, but you’re not testing either one of them. Those sides are high. You could fall and hurt yourself getting in or out. It’s too dangerous.”

“I wasn’t thinking of climbing in one. I wouldn’t risk the baby by taking a tumble.” Neither tub was sunken and they came up almost to her waist. Even with towels on the floor, the wet tile would be slippery. “Next time we’re in Puerto Jardin, after the baby’s born, we can try them out.”

“There is no next time, not for you.” A beat later, he realized she was joking. “You got me. You must be feeling all right if you’re giving me crap. Are you tired?”

“Not at the moment. Why do you think there are two hot tubs? Isn’t one enough?”

“I don’t know, Pollita. Nothing about the way this room is decorated is high on my list of things to think about. We have bigger issues to discuss.”

Sobering, Ayla nodded. “My disguise. Can I take this wig off before we begin talking about it?”

When Oz agreed, she headed for the bathroom.

After the other room, she wasn’t quite as stunned, but she did pause briefly.

The shower, sink, and toilet were bright orange, and the round mirror was surrounded by an orange frame.

The shower curtain had big, bold flowers in white, yellow, gold, and assorted shades of orange, but at least the walls were painted a mellow shade of yellow.

She turned toward the mirror. For a moment, she stood in front of the vanity, thinking about what Oz had revealed about his mother and father. She didn’t like that they’d used him in their schemes and then discarded him when he wasn’t useful to them. A nanny didn’t make up for his parents’ love.

Ayla stiffened, wondering if they might try to use their grandbaby the same way they’d used their son, but on the heels of that thought came the knowledge that Oz would never allow it to happen.

If there was one thing she knew about him, it was how protective he was.

He’d make sure their child wasn’t used like he’d been.

Pulling off the wig, she laid it alongside the sink, removed the cap and all the clips, and fluffed out her hair. It felt freeing to have that heavy weight off her head. When she realized she was primping for Oz, Ayla scowled and left the bathroom.

He’d turned off the disco ball.

Oz looked up when she returned. “I tested out one of the chairs. The thing tipped forward and I narrowly avoided landing on the floor. You better sit on the bed, where it’s safe.”

“You’re sure it’s safe?” Ayla eyed the faux fur suspiciously.

“I checked for bedbugs. There were no signs of any, but yeah, let’s get that mess off the bed.” Without waiting for her to help him, Oz folded it up and pitched it on the ledge of one of the hot tubs. “The air conditioning doesn’t run cold enough for us to need it, anyway.”

That’s when it registered that they’d be sharing a bed again tonight.

A thrill of anticipation winged through her, and Ayla pushed it aside.

Instead of sitting down—the car ride had lasted a while—she stayed on her feet.

“Can I go back to my own hair? Now that they’ve seen me as a brunette, they’ll know to look beyond hair color. ”

His sigh was barely audible, but the grimace that accompanied it spoke volumes. Scowling, she planted her hands on her hips. She was tired of that damn hair hat and if the mobsters knew she was wearing a wig anyway, why bother?

“Stand down, Ayla. We have more than one problem. Whether you wear a wig is only a small part of what we’re dealing with.”

“What does that mean?”

Oz closed the gap between them, not stopping until he stood an arm’s length away from her. “It means you were identified yesterday because of me. It doesn’t matter if we put you in a purple wig and a glitter minidress. As long as I’m with you, they’ll know who you are.”

Ayla felt her heart stop. Was Oz telling her he was leaving her on her own?

It only took a split second to reject that idea.

He’d never let her handle this alone, but was he going to pass her off to one of his friends?

Teammates. They were a Green Beret team.

Not a group of friends. She didn’t want Baggs or Kyle or one of the other men assigned to work with her.

She trusted Oz .

“What if you got a haircut and shaved?”

“I only had light stubble when I brought you to the hotel that day. Remember?”

“What if you changed your clothes? Maybe a nice suit? That could be your disguise.” Ayla could hear the note of panic in her voice.

So could he. “Relax,” Oz said, lightly taking hold of her shoulders. “I’m not abandoning you. I promised to keep you and our baby safe, remember?”

Ayla nodded. “I didn’t think you’d leave me on my own. My guess was that you would hand me off to Baggs or someone.”

“Not happening.” Oz tugged her against him and wrapped his arms around her. Ayla hugged him back, taking comfort in his warmth, in the size and strength of his body. “I trust my friends, but I also know how far I’m willing to go to keep you secure.”

She didn’t need to ask. Every time she woke up last night, Oz was sitting in the chair, facing the door of their room, gun in hand, alert and ready to do whatever it took to defend her.

She’d been able to rest because of his vigilance.

“What are we going to do then if we’re both easily recognizable? ”

Oz stepped back, took her hand, and said, “Come on. Let’s sit down and talk about things.

” He led her over to the foot of the bed, waited until she sat, and then settled beside her.

“You said your connection to your sister is affected by proximity. You told me you two ran a bunch of tests when you were teenagers. Did you figure out how to tell the general distance from the strength of the link?”

“I thought you didn’t believe in twin telepathy?” Ayla couldn’t keep the suspicion out of her voice. Oz had made his feelings on the topic clear. Was he trying to humor her?

Taking her hand and lacing their fingers, he said, “I’m not sure what I believe, but I can’t send you home. Disguising both of us is an iffy proposition. That leaves finding your sister as the best option to end this mess. I’ll take any lead I can get at this point.”

That made sense. “It’s not an exact science, and I don’t know how Io being drugged affected it.

The other thing I’ve been questioning is how fear is playing a factor in the connection.

I picked her up when I was still in LA.” Ayla shrugged.

“We’ve never been able to manage even half that distance before.

She’s terrified, and Io does not scare easily. That might be turbocharging our link.”

“So what you’re telling me is we have nothing we didn’t already know.”