“It means that you two are a packaged deal. I won’t settle for half, and that’s what I would get if I only gave myself to Burke. I would get the good and the gentle, but there’d be no balance.”

“Fuck balance. Stick to Prince Charming. I’m a ruthless bastard.” Cole’s eyes narrowed. His fists clenched.

She was getting to him.

“I don’t need gentle all the time,” Jessa assured him softly. “I need what you can give me.”

Cole sunk his hand into her hair and pulled slightly. “I don’t have gentle in me. I’m brutal. I’ll demand everything from you, then want more. I’ll want to give you a little bite of pain, then I’ll get hard at all your little cries. I’ll want to tie you up, spank your ass, and share you with Burke. You’re right; we aren’t exactly whole. And we won’t do this for fun. We’ll consume you.”

They needed to share her. They balanced each other in every facet of their lives, even sexually. As an artist, she understood symmetry completely.

She smiled at Burke who sat patiently, awaiting the outcome of their little skirmish with a faint smile. She drank in strength from his encouragement before rising up on her tiptoes and brushing her mouth against Cole’s. The kiss was a soft, sweet caress of lips that had her longing for more.

“I’m game to try every dirty, dark thing you can think of,” she whispered. “But can you ease me into it? Let me have a lover…” She grinned. “Or two. Then I’ll be ready.”

“Fuck.” Cole fisted her hair in his hand and pulled, pinning her with a wracked blue stare for a long moment. She could sense the war inside him, the need clashing with the caution. Then he took her mouth.

Jessa held on for dear life. She’d been kissed before, but not like this. She’d been pecked and bussed, and a couple of boys had thrust their tongues at her, but Cole dominated. His kiss made her really understand the word. He was in total control. Using his tongue, he surged in, not asking but demanding entry. She gave it because she wanted him inside. She ceded control to him, riding the wave. Her body flooded with a hot swell of desire as his tongue rubbed against hers in a silky slide. She could feel her pussy tightening, her folds warming and softening. Moistening. It was unlike anything she’d ever imagined before. With those hard, sinewy arms, Cole dragged her in, his chest impossibly solid and wide against her breasts. His hips slammed against hers, and she could feel the long, thick line of his erection.

He wanted her. She trembled. God, she wanted him.

He lifted his head, his lips almost a snarl, his voice a harsh rasp. “Kiss Burke. Let me watch you.”

Burke stood, smiling and open, as though something had blissfully fallen into place. “You should do what he says, sweetheart. He’s incredibly bossy.”

For all the dark passion she’d felt with Cole, a light-hearted joy stole over her as Burke took her in his arms. He kissed her every bit as passionately, but playfully. He nipped, flirted, toyed with her lips, his fingers sliding down her back to rest playfully on her ass.

Everything. She could have everything. It was right here in her grasp.

Burke’s tongue found hers and they danced, a teasing waltz of desire. When he released her, his deep blue eyes found hers, and he kissed her forehead with such tenderness it brought tears to her eyes.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Take me to your room. I want you both so much.” She reached out to Cole. He hesitated only a moment before he took her hand. She smiled brightly at him. Their circle was complete.

CHAPTER THREE

Present Day – Virginia

Cole stared at the baby in his arms. The baby peered back with blue, blue eyes. God, he’d seen those eyes in the mirror thousands of times, but he couldn’t remember a time when they’d looked so wide and trusting.

Caleb. Their son. God, they had a son. Would that fact ever just sink in, or would it constantly spark at him like a live wire?

The baby reached out, arms and legs kicking in his puppy-print footie pajamas. A tuft of dark hair covered the kid’s head. He cooed, making all sorts of strange sounds that went straight to Cole’s heart, which had been doing weird flip-flops ever since Jessa had asked him if he’d like to hold the baby when they had stopped for gas.

A big box store loomed in the near distance. While gassing up, Jessa had used the restroom. Now Burke was inside the store, grabbing everything Caleb would need for the next few days. Cole didn’t like hanging out in the parking lot like a sitting duck, but he wouldn’t leave Jessa or their son unprotected.

Thankfully, Gavin James was already on his way to a small, private airfield just outside of D.C. They had lucked out when they’d called him. The oil executive was in New York. He’d dropped everything to meet with them and take them to Dallas, where they would leave Caleb behind and start this nasty game of Marco’s.

He only had a few hours with his son. The knowledge that he might never see the boy again carved a gaping hole in his chest.

“Da!” Caleb said with a grin on his face.

“Yeah, I bet you say that to all the guys,” Cole joked grimly. Caleb also seemed big on Ma, Ba, and Na.

At his feet, the cat meowed. At least he’d stopped making that strangled choking sound. Angus didn’t travel well, but with the car stopped, he’d decided to curl up on top of Cole’s feet and purr like an engine.

How in the hell had he been left babysitting a cantankerous cat?

“Da,” Caleb said with a forceful kick of his legs.

If anyone he knew could see him now, they’d laugh their ass off. Cole had to grin. And cuddle his son closer to his chest.

“He likes you,” Jessa said as she slid back into the car. She was wearing Cole’s coat, her small body swallowed by it, but he couldn’t have her cold. Despite the chill outside, the car was still warm and toasty, so she shrugged out of the coat as she got in.

Cole had to swallow before looking up into Jessa’s eyes. “I don’t know why.”

Jessa frowned. “I don’t want to wait out here while Burke shops. I know what Caleb needs.”

“We’ve already had this argument. You’ll draw attention since you’re wearing pajama bottoms and a tank top. Without a bra. And yes, I can tell.” In fact, he could see the outline of her pert little nipples even through the near darkness, and it was driving him crazy. Cole squirmed, but he couldn’t let his dick do his thinking now.

She crossed her arms over her chest. As if that was going to stop him from looking. He snorted.

“I told Burke that if I’d gotten the ‘we’re going to try to kill you tonight’ memo, I would have dressed for the occasion.”

That sharpened his focus. “I’m sorry you got tangled up in this.”

Those words weren’t enough, but he couldn’t say or do anything more at the moment. Caleb settled his little head on Cole’s shoulder. The baby sighed, and Cole’s hand covered the baby’s back as he enjoyed the motion of Caleb breathing in and out, calming him, soothing him.

“What exactly am I tangled up in? Look, I figured out you weren’t really businessmen. I wasn’t ever sure if you were criminals or cops.”

Something in between, perhaps. “Neither. If you thought we were criminals, why the hell did you get involved?”

Her eyes rolled, weariness plain in the green depth. The gas station neons illuminated her skin. “Stupid, I guess. I was a kid. I thought I was in love.”

Well, he’d tried to tell her. She’d finally wised up, it seemed. She hadn’t called or texted when she’d had their baby. She’d just cut them out of her life. “We’re private investigators. We were on a case in New York when we met you.”

“With all the lies you fed me, I figured there was something going on. Do you want me to take him?” Jessa asked, eyeing the baby.

No. This might be his only moment with Caleb. “He’s asleep. I don’t want to wake him.”

“All right,” she replied with a deep sigh. “I think you owe me some explanations. What kind of case were you on? When did it end? And why did you show up at my house tonight?”

“We were hired by three gentlemen from a country called Bezakistan. It’s a small country just outside the Middle East.”

“I’ve heard of it.” She frowned. “Don’t they practice polyandry, multiple men with one woman? Do you guys have a network or something? A Craig’s List for sharing?”

He felt his eyes narrow. “I’m trying to explain. If you can’t give me a little courtesy, then maybe you should wait for Burke.”

She bit into her bottom lip, a sure sign that she was nervous. God, he loved that lip. “I’m sorry. I’m on edge. Please continue.”

“We met Rafe and Kade after a mission. I’d helped their brother, Talib, out of a tough spot. When their cousin went missing, they called. She was only eighteen.”

“A missing girl? Did you find her?”

“Eventually. Her name was Alea. She went to New York for college. Six months of daily phone calls to her mother, and then nothing. When we started looking into it, we realized that there was a pattern. Alea wasn’t the only girl missing. She’d been working in a club. She kept her wealth and privilege a secret. Everyone thought she was just another student living in an NYU dorm. That was what did her in. Ricardo Delgado ran coke for one of the big Colombian syndicates, but that wasn’t enough for him. He decided to start trafficking women.”

“Oh, my god.” She put a hand over her mouth and sat back. “That’s terrible.”

“He would find pretty homeless girls or foreign students and clean them up. He would display them in his club, and if they worked out, he would sell them to private owners or South American bordellos. We posed as wealthy men looking for a private pet.”

“That sounds dangerous. God, Cole, you could have been killed.”

“Almost was a couple of times. We videotaped our meetings with Delgado when we purchased a young Asian girl. She’s home with her family now. Delgado had friends in the FBI, but it didn’t matter at that point. They couldn’t risk their positions when we had everything on tape, ready for primetime news, so the fucker finally went down.”

Jessa wiped at her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me about your mission when we met?”

“And get you involved in all that danger? Hell, no! We never intended to drag you into any of this. We thought we were careful, but Delgado’s son found out about you. Do you remember the morning we had breakfast at the Waldorf? The morning after we first made love? Remember the man who walked up as we sat at the table?”

Her eyes widened. “Yes! Oh, my god, that was Marco? I heard Burke say his name when he was talking on the phone. He blew up my house?”

Cole nodded. Jessa was a sharp woman. “His father was the man we put in jail. He died shortly after, before he could go to trial. Burke and I were down in South America looking for Alea. According to the authorities, Delgado’s murder in prison was payback from another cartel.”

“And you found her?”

Cole took a deep breath, his hand going to the baby’s back. So innocent. Fuck, he would do just about anything to protect this child from the shit the world could throw. “Finally. Shortly before his arrest, Delgado had shipped Alea off to South America. We went down there and spent three months just trying to find her. It took another month of greasing the right palms so we could eventually rescue her. We pulled her out of a Colombian brothel in one of the worst parts of Medellin. She was strung out on drugs and had almost wasted away.”

He didn’t tell her how she’d begged them to kill her. She hadn’t wanted to go home, just get her next fix—or die. She hadn’t looked a thing like the vibrant college girl in the picture her cousins had given them. She’d been a shell.

“If you found her within a couple of months, why were you gone for a year?”

He hesitated. Fuck, he didn’t want to tell her how hurt he’d been after being told that she’d married. The kicker was, all that time apart—he and Burke had been almost entirely at fault. Eventually, they’d have to confess how stupid they’d been, just not minutes after seeing her house explode. “After we found Alea, we discovered there were another ten families who’d lost their daughters. We brought Alea back home, and her cousins opened their wallets to help us reunite these other women with their loved ones. The families didn’t have the money to pay us, but Tal, Rafe, and Kade did. In the end, we found seven broken women and three bodies. We gave a year of our lives to this fucking case, and we barely scratched the surface of the misery Delgado spread. I feel like we failed. It wasn’t enough.”

Jessa sat back, solemn. “I had no idea. I thought you had just left.”

“We’ve been buried in drug dealers, slavers, and pimps. I’ve felt so goddamn dirty for the last year, dealing with drug dealers, slavers, and pimps. And we didn’t want to drag you in deeper.”