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  “Hammer, easy,” she breathed.

  “Anytime you want to trade again, you just let me know. A good night’s sleep. A foot rub. Compliments, a homecooked meal, a million dollars…”

  “You can cook?”

  “No, but I’d order in just for you.” He blew out a breath. “Fuck, you make me weak. I need to sit down. Or smoke a cigarette or something.”

  “You smoke?”

  “No. But I feel I like should after that.” He sighed again.

  She chuckled. “You’re so easy.”

  “And now you know my shame.” He tried to look embarrassed. It didn’t work. “I’m easy. A blowjob and you can have anything you want. Anytime.” He batted his eyelashes and drew her hand to his chest, holding it over his heart. “Marry me, Vi. I’m yours.”

  The humorous tone he had to be striving for lost something in translation, because the look he shot her seemed serious.

  “Or, at least make a real man out of me,” he offered. “I’ll trade oral for oral, for bacon and eggs, with or without toast… I’m game for anything.”

  She felt her cheeks heat.

  He hooted.

  “Shut up. And why all this talk about food?”

  “I’m hungry.” He grinned and turned off the water before handing her a towel and reaching for one himself. After they’d dried off and ordered foot, they sat in the living area and stared at each other.

  “So, you want to get married, huh?” she asked bluntly. This was twice he’d mentioned tying the knot. In jest, but still.

  He sighed. “Maybe some day. That blowjob wrecked me. I’m still not sure what I’m saying. Sorry to disappoint you with a truth.”

  “Oh, that’s awful. I thought you meant it.” She began crying. “Hammer, I… I thought we had something real. Something worth fighting for.”

  He started, studying her with concern. Then he scowled. “Nice try.”

  She wiped her eyes and chuckled. “Sucker.”

  “Evil witch. I repudiate you!” he made a weird sign in the air.

  “Is that the cross?”

  “I’ve been told I’m no Boy Scott. No way I want to go to hell for signing the cross too.”

  She shook her head.

  “Now that you’re apparently over me while I’m still pining for you,” he said slowly and winked, “how about you come clean about how you know Angel?”

  “You first.”

  “Are we really back to this lack of faith again? Come on, Vi. We have to have trust between us.”

  “So lay a foundation. I’ll meet you halfway.” She smiled, only kind of meaning it.

  “Is Big Joe your handler?” he asked, changing the subject.

  She hadn’t expected that. “Yeah. Why?”

  “Thought so.” He looked angry. “Fuckin’ Big Joe. He told me to leave you alone, but he never vouched for you.”

  She didn’t like that. “Why not?”

  “That’s what I’d like to know.”

  “Maybe he’s gone rogue.”

  “No way.” He shook his head. “My point is, why didn’t he stand up for you? He only told me to leave you alone, that you weren’t a threat.” He snorted. “Yeah right.”

  She perked up hearing that assessment. “Maybe he was trying to keep us separate for another reason.”

  “I’m working nothing but this case—to find out who wants to kill me, Noel, and Deacon, and to find out who fathered the kid.”

  “Me too.”

  “Yeah?” His frown shouldn’t have made him look so sexy. But it did. “Officially?”

  She nodded.

  “Then why didn’t Big Joe pair you with us?”

  “I don’t know.” That bothered her too. “Maybe he doesn’t trust you guys.”

  She expected a smartass comeback, but Hammer treated her question seriously. “Maybe not Noel. He plays things close to his chest. But with him and Deacon too busy looking after their new civilian lives, I don’t think Big Joe considers them a major threat anymore.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “They’re both still killers. Still lethal. Sure. But they’re all domesticated now.” He sounded ill. “It’s pathetic. Addy or Solene snaps a finger and the guys come crawling. Deacon’s always been a pussy, but Noel?” He shook his head. “I don’t get it.”

  She would have felt more insulted except Hammer looked puzzled. Too cute for words. “You’re saying if I snapped, you’d ignore me?”

  “Huh? Hell no.”

  Why that made her feel better she didn’t want to examine.

  “I mean, if you snapped, I’d come racing. First, because you’re hot as fuck.”

  “And they say romance is dead.”

  “And second, because if you’re snapping your fingers, something’s gonna blow up or someone is going to die. And I’d rather it not be me.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet.” She blushed.

  He laughed. “Now who’s easy?”

  “Not me.” She would have said something insulting, but the food had arrived. After verifying the service, she watched the server give Hammer a second look. Not that Vi could blame her. Hammer in nothing but sweatpants was a sight to behold.

  The woman left with a generous tip, and Vi started to speak.

  Hammer cut her off by raising his hand. “Not yet. Not until we’ve eaten and I’ve had some coffee. Sorry, snookums, but I need energy to keep up with you.”

  “You ain’t lyin’.” She grinned.

  He winked. “First time for everything.”

  Six

  “Okay, now that I’m pleasantly stuffed, let’s put our heads together and figure this out.” Hammer studied Vi, glad he hadn’t screwed things up between them with sex. She didn’t act all clingy and lovestruck, the way a few prior relationships had ended.

  Hammer always went into an affair with honesty, promising nothing more than a good time. Unfortunately, more than half of his relationships ended in tears and refusals to accept what he’d promised. And the ones that did end well went away, the women clear on only wanting a few romps in bed and nothing more.

  He had told himself that was all he wanted, and then Noel and Deacon had shown him what life might be like in a committed relationship. Which fucked with his head. He didn’t want marriage and kids. Not yet. He loved his life. But lately, sex without emotional attachment had started to be not so fun.

  Until Vi.

  She raised a brow. “Well, genius, I’m waiting.”

  He couldn’t help smiling. No, Vi would never be mesmerized by his swagger, his bank account, or his size. “Genius. I like that.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “So, we did the recap, and now we need to know where to go from here. The guys are stuck in Bainbridge keeping guard on their lady loves and the baby.”

  “Lady loves?” She smirked.

  “Well, they’re not engaged yet, and fuck bunnies is crass.”

  “True. You could have said lovers or girlfriends.”

  He shrugged, feeing a hint of envy and not sure why. “Whatever. The point is the baby, Addy, and Solene are covered. No one’s made a move on the guys either, not in the three months you’ve been away. And no one’s yet come after me.”

  “Huh.”

  “Yeah. They seem too interested in you.” He paused and grabbed his laptop then sat next to her on the couch and shared his information on the screen. “The guys and I have gone over and over our suspects. To figure out who the hell wants us three dead.”

  “That’s gotta be a long list.”

  “You’d think, right?” he agreed, grinning. “But no. We’re clean when we work. We’re covert and don’t leave witnesses. The bad guys die, the good guys live, we go on to the next target.”

  “Well aren’t you all white hat.”

  “Uh, no. Not at all.”

  She huffed. “It was a joke.”

  “A bad one. I’m not claiming to be a saint, but I have never tagged anyone who didn’t earn it. And I’ve never taken out
an innocent party. We all have our crosses to bear, codes to live by. That’s mine.”

  “Ever hit a woman?” she challenged.

  “I’m thinking about hitting one right now,” he muttered. “And yes, I have. I’m an equal opportunity assassin.”

  She studied him. “But you didn’t like it.”

  He flushed, annoyed with her and himself. Big Joe had often chided him to let chivalry be a thing of the past if he wanted to live long enough to see the age of forty. Though Hammer agreed, it still bothered the hell out of him. Hurting women went against everything his parents had once taught him. “Since when did this conversation become about me? We’re trying to find out who wants us dead.”

  “Testy.” She shook her head. “Well, I can tell you that I’ve exhausted my end of possibilities. The only people I can think of are dead. Romero Burleigh, Jonas Hood, Michael Scoria, for starters.”

  “Scoria’s not dead.”

  She straightened in her seat. “He’s not?”

  “No. But he’s sitting in a cell in Vologda, Russia and will be lucky to see the light of day. Ever. That contract in Moscow didn’t end in his death. Though I’m sure by now he’s wishing it did.” He winced, knowing he’d rather be shot than do time in Petak Island Prison. The Russians didn’t play.

  “I had no idea.” She regarded him with fascination. “How the hell did you find that out?”

  “I know people.” Amused she seemed a bit annoyed that he knew something she didn’t, he continued. “But the guys and I keep circling back to one name, someone we all had a connection with regard to the baby and some real problems. Jonas Hood.”

  “Who’s presumed dead.” She rolled her fingers over the arm of the couch, thinking.

  He all too clearly remembered her rolling those fingers over him.

  Hammer cleared his throat. “So, ah, yeah. The guys have been doing more research, and Hood fits. This is what we know: Jonas Hood—the Prince—had an incredible track record. Never missed a mark, never made a mistake.”

  She nodded. “Until he did. And come on. The Prince? Who named him that? Had to have been himself.”

  Good to know Vi hadn’t liked the handsome player much. Jonas Hood had earned a reputation as an aggressive contractor who always got the job done. But he had a history of leaving broken hearts and broken bodies in his wake.

  “Well, Noel did the math. Little Dee was around four months old when we got him, putting his conception at about the same time the three of us—me, Noel, and Deacon, were in Culiacán—the Sinaloa contract—destroying the Diablo Blanco Cartel. There haven’t been that many ops with all of us together. In fact, that’s the only one. The others involved me and Noel, me and Deacon, or Noel and Deacon. But not all three of us together.”

  “Right. So that’s why Noel called you and Deacon in when he found the baby.”

  Hammer nodded. “Noel knew he wasn’t Little Dee’s dad, so it had to be either me or Deacon. We’re all tall and dark-haired. His thought was maybe the mom confused Noel for me or Deac. What’s interesting to me is that according to Big Joe, the Prince died in Mexico at the same time.”

  Vi frowned. “Yeah. Rumor floated that he burned to death in a fire, but I could never get concrete evidence that anyone ever saw a body.”

  “That’s what bothers me.” And the fact Big Joe continued to push Hammer’s questions aside, disregarding the fact Jonas Hood fit.

  “What did Big Joe say when you mentioned that to him? Because I know you must have.”

  Like she’s reading my mind. He sighed. “He dismissed it. Said Jonas is dead and we’re looking in the wrong direction.”

  “He refused to look into it at all?” She sounded as surprised as he still was. “You know, I always had a problem believing Jonas’s covers were solely work-related. A prostitution ring, selling arms, drugs… Too many people mentioned that he seemed to enjoy his work a little too much. I’m always picking up info, and his name stood out as becoming problematic.”

  “Yeah, I thought so too. Big Joe’s got a reputation for not tolerating any blips. None of his people are known for being anything other than professional and deadly. Jonas was too showy. I always wondered about that.” And still wondered now. What the hell was his handler hiding?

  “You need to talk to Big Joe face-to-face.”

  He snorted. “I wish.” Handlers handled from a distance. They never met their contractors in person, though they knew all about them. It put them at an advantageous position when dealing with folks who could kill all too easily. “You ever meet him?”

  “Yeah, right. He tells me what I need to do, I do it. That’s about the extent of my relationship with Big Joe.”

  “Do you think he knew you and Angel were connected?”

  “No. No way. We never told anyone. I have no history before I joined, as far as the Business is concerned. Leon isn’t the last name I was born with. And no, I’m not going to tell you.”

  Damn it. He’d just been going to ask. “I’d never tell you mine either.”

  She grinned at him. “Honey, I know for a fact you really are Hamilton Ashton Montgomery III. A rich boy once upon a time.” Her smile faded. “It was common knowledge your entire family died in a car accident, the family legacy parceled out to charities since the family had no one else left to carry on the name.”

  He shrugged. “That was a long time ago. And yeah, poor little rich kid with no one left got snagged by the Business. I was happy to go. I had nothing left.” The lies he’d told so often now felt like the truth, and he had no problem continuing to tell them.

  She reached between them to squeeze his hand.

  And damn it, that emotional connection he hadn’t wanted to form blazed into life once more. He’d be smarter to end things before they could begin. But he didn’t want to. For once, Hammer wanted something for himself. He held her hand and refused to let go.

  She didn’t say anything about it, returning to their discussion. “No way Big Joe knows about me and Angel.” She paused. “You know, when I asked him about Jonas Hood after rumblings grew particularly loud—and this had to be a few years back—he told me to leave it alone. His contractor, his job.”

  “We know Big Joe worked with the Prince, Ice, Shadow, Destroyer—me—you… What is your designation anyway?”

  She winked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  “You are such a pain in my ass.”

  “For the record, Pain in My Ass is not my code name.” She was so cute when she wore that devilish grin.

  “Too bad. It fits.”

  “I know our handler typically deals with half a dozen contractors in his stable at any time. With the Prince dead, and Ice and Shadow recently gone, he should have more.”

  But Big Joe didn’t. What the hell did that mean?

  He let her hand go, a whisper of a caress that set his pulse racing.

  “The more you mention Big Joe, the more I think he needs to be on the list,” Vi said. “He’s another person you all have in common.”

  No way in hell. But Hammer nodded to keep her happy. “Makes sense.”

  “I remember Big Joe told me they had the Prince under control. The next thing I heard, Jonas Hood was dead. But…”

  He saw an odd look on her face. “What?”

  “Angel completely disappeared soon after Jonas died. I never put it together, but maybe… No. She wouldn’t. Not for him.”

  He’d had enough. It was time to know the truth. “Okay, let’s lay it all out, Vi. How exactly do you know Angel? And before you ask, I knew her from training, years ago.”

  “Bullshit. We never share names. We all go by numbers in training. That you, Ice, and Shadow are suddenly pals is just odd.”

  Not to mention what she and Hammer had shared. Sleeping with a fellow contractor was like having a death wish. But Hammer liked living on the edge.

  “She and I were friends,” he insisted, sharing a truth only he, Angel, and Big Joe knew. “I was twelve when I met her. She w
as seventeen and a major badass, but she still took time to help me. I was having a hard time and she took me under her wing.”

  “Angel helped you during training.”

  “I hear the doubt, but it’s true. I have no reason to lie. Angel was cool, and then she was gone and making a name for herself in the field.” He paused, deciding to tell her what had been bothering him from the start. “That code on Little Dee’s locket means something to me, something she’d know I’d know.”

  She blinked. “Seriously? What?”

  “Uh-uh. Your turn. How do you know Angelina Vasquez?” More proof that he’d known her. He’d known the name she’d gone by in the real world.

  Vi watched him for a moment then let out a long breath. “You mean Angelina Leon Vasquez. She was my sister.”

  * * *

  The lack of surprise on Hammer’s face said it all.

  Vi glared. “You knew.”

  “No, but I wondered why you seemed to know more about her than you admitted. It was a distant possibility. You look a little bit like her, not much, but it’s there in the eyes.”

  “You seriously knew my sister.”

  He said slowly, with exaggerated patience, “Yes, Violet. I knew Angel. We were friends. Over the years, we’d reach out to each other. A hello here or there, a subtle warning to steer clear of certain places. Nothing major.”

  She gaped. “Oh my God. Did you sleep with her?”

  He blinked. “What? No. Where the hell did that come from?”

  Giddy with relief, she swallowed and tucked away the stupid emotion. “Angel had a way with men.”

  “So? I was just a kid. And later, we had a mutual respect thing going on. We weren’t lovers.”

  She nodded. “Okay, I believe you.”

  “I’m so glad,” he said, sounding snide.

  “Look, Hammer, I loved Angel. But she was damaged. She took a lot of abuse growing up, and her relationships with guys never seemed healthy.”

  “That sucks. I really liked her.”

  “Yeah.” I loved her. “She was a great sister, but we drifted apart. When I was little, she ran away. She was smart to leave. Our dad died a few years after.” Thankfully. “And that was that.”