She smiled. “Since you came into my life, I see things differently. I was in such a dark place before. The lack of trust, the pain and fear. But being with you has shown me another way.”

He pulled her close to him. “I worry that this ordeal threatens to take you back to that very dark place, and I don’t want you to go there.”

She sighed. “I don’t either, but if I’m forced to go, I know that you’ll be by my side this time.”

“Always. If you’ll let me.”

She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. She didn’t think he was making a real forever statement, but she did have hope that one day they would get there. As long as her past didn’t overtake her.

After the ordeal at her house, Cass had welcomed the DEA safe house. Zane was pacing around the kitchen, trying to figure out their next move. The target still didn’t seem to be on his back, and his top priority was keeping Cass safe.

He’d never seen real, true fear in her eyes until she was in the arms of her attacker. He hated that he’d had to kill the guy—one, because he never liked to take a life, and two, because that meant they had no leads. Zane felt pretty confident that he could’ve gotten some actionable intel out of the hit man, but if he had to go back and do it again, he would make the same decision. Cass’s life was paramount.

His phone rang, and he saw it was Mason. “Hey.”

“All secure on your end?” Mason asked.

“Yeah. Cass is resting right now.”

“Let me guess—you’re stewing.”

“Wouldn’t you be?”

“I always am. We’re alike in that way.” Mason chuckled. “But I have an update for you.”

“Good.”

“We got a hit on the perp who attacked Cass. His name is Rod Gaynor, and he’s a known mercenary. Works for the highest bidder and has cartel contacts.”

“And you think the cartel hired him for this job?” Zane asked.

“I can do you one better. We were able to trace a couple of his offshore bank accounts, and he was wired money from one of the Cayman banks that is a favorite of the cartel. It’s not conclusive evidence, but it points that way.”

“That makes sense. All the more reason why it’s good Cass is in the safe house. They’ll just send someone else. We have to figure out how to get the kill order removed.”

“If you have any ideas, I’m all ears,” Mason said.

“Not yet, but as long as that order is out there, Cass is in danger. Layla too. Although there seems to be a lot of other stuff going on with Layla, and I’m not sure it’s all related to our op.”