God save her from men and their egos. She kept her gaze on Raider but spoke to Agent Fields. “You’re up-to-date on all of the escapades, especially since you’re the ones who secured my dad from the hospital. I have nothing new to report on Angus Force’s search for Lassiter, Wolfe’s craziness, Mal’s PTSD, or Nari’s snooping. Now go away so Raider and I can fight.”

Raider’s chin lowered, giving him the look of a sleek tiger about to pounce. “The last guy I fought was knocked out. You sure you want to play?”

Heat pooled in her abdomen and her breath quickened. Yeah, his sense of control and obvious intelligence, not to mention the sexy good looks, had intrigued her from the beginning. But this sense of danger, of a rebel just beneath those nice clothes, had drawn her quicker than a calf to its first salt lick. She could sense the fiery deadliness at home in him, and deviant that she was, she wanted to feel the flame. “Oh, I want to play,” she murmured.

Fields cleared his throat and clapped his partner on the back. “I think that’s our cue to leave. Like, right now.”

Raider’s gaze met hers, those black eyes blazing. It was as if the other two men had disappeared.

Until Rutherford opened his mouth again. “Banaghan? Don’t forget I could have you back in a cell on an island in the middle of nowhere with the snap of my fingers.”

Raider pivoted in a purely graceful arc and punched the agent in the middle of his face as if aiming for the refrigerator behind him. A loud crack echoed, the man fell back, and Fields caught him before he could impact the tile again. “You ever threaten her again, and I’ll rip your throat right out,” Raider said. The threat was all the more frightening for the calm and centered way it was delivered.

Brigid took a step back, her heart pounding from slow to painfully fast.

Rutherford struggled to stand on his own, both hands covering his nose. Blood dripped down his lips and through his fingers.

“Let’s go. Now.” Fields dragged his young partner to the door, opened it, and quickly disappeared.

Brigid wanted to follow. Oh, she’d thought of challenging Raider, but right now, he wasn’t himself. At all. “You just assaulted a federal agent,” she snapped, heat sliding up her spine.

“You should leave, or I’ll assault another one,” he snapped back, his lids half-lowered.

“You’re in my apartment,” she snapped. Then she blinked. “You’d hit me?”

Slowly, so slow and sexy, he shook his head. “No. I definitely wouldn’t hit you.” Then he cocked an eyebrow. “Or maybe I would.”

Her breath caught. “What do you mean by that?”