Her presence calmed him like no one else’s could. He’d even conquered his idiotic phobia of white lab coats, just to be near her without a panic attack. And in the end, he hoped his patience would be rewarded.

He hoped he could be hers, for just a little while.

It was pathetic. He knew that. But he was okay with it.

Michael stared at him for a long moment, clearly considering a visit to Dani’s clinic. “She’s Greg’s sister?”

Diesel was surprised. “You know Greg Novak?”

A nod. “He goes to my school. He’s a senior.”

That made sense. Greg lived with his older brother, Deacon, not far from Joshua and Michael’s house. “Yes. Dr. Novak is Greg’s sister. Can we take you to her?”

He held his breath until Michael reluctantly nodded.

Relieved, Diesel smiled. “Good. Mrs. Moody, can you get up into my truck?”

She chuckled. “I might need a boost.” She held out her hand. “Joshua?”

Joshua trustingly put his hand in hers and walked to Diesel’s truck. Diesel turned to Michael. “Ready?” he signed.

Michael’s nod was sullen, but at this point Diesel didn’t care. He’d get the kid stitched up, then he’d get Dani to find out why Michael had been so terrified.

Diesel had seen terror like that before, and it was never caused by something small. A man who looked like him had hurt that boy. Or threatened to hurt him.

He was going to find out who that man was. And he’d make sure that Michael and Joshua were safe.

Indian Hill, Ohio
Saturday, March 16, 12:25 p.m.

Finally, for fuck’s sake. Cade rolled his eyes. If his leg wasn’t cramping, he might be impressed with his boss’s stamina. But his leg was cramping and he needed to piss something fierce because he’d been hiding in Richard Fischer’s bedroom closet for the past four fucking hours, listening to his boss grunt and moan as he’d pounded into whichever one-night stand he’d brought home from the casino the night before. Every time he thought they were finished—or unconscious—they’d start back up again.

Cade didn’t know the woman’s name. He didn’t care. He just wanted her to leave. Luckily Richard wasn’t one to cuddle. His boss was already trying to get rid of the woman.

“But I thought we could have lunch,” the woman whined.

“Nope.” Richard’s flat refusal was followed by a slap.

The woman yelped. “That hurt!”

“You know you love it,” Richard said with a lewd chuckle.

“I’d love it more with lunch,” she grumbled. Her tone went sly. “Come on, baby. We can go out to eat, then come back and fuck some more.”