At least he had a blanket tonight. She made a mental note to give him the inflatable mattress tomorrow night. If he was going to keep sleeping on Joshua’s floor, he should be comfortable.

She found Stone in the kitchen, eating a plate of lasagna while Delores quietly beamed at his side. All conversation stopped as soon as Dani entered.

“I’m ready to go,” she said and suddenly everyone’s eyes were on her and she was fighting not to drop her gaze to the floor.

Great. Just great. They all knew she was going to Diesel. There was not a single shred of privacy in their circle. But then Jeremy gave her a small nod of approval and her heart settled. Faith’s uncle—and Marcus’s dad—had become a surrogate father to them all, especially sweet as most of their circle of friends didn’t have the best parental relationships.

They’d made this family together, and it was every bit as strong as a family connected by blood.

The silence in the room was about to become awkward when the doorbell rang. Dani started to quiet the dogs when she realized they weren’t barking. Because Delores had sent Marcus, Decker, and Greg out to walk them.

Troy went to open the door. Dani didn’t miss the way his hand rested on the weapon on his belt, and a cold shiver ran down her back as she was once again reminded of the dangerous predator who wanted the young man asleep on the floor upstairs.

Over my dead body. She looked at the faces around her kitchen, taking comfort in the confidence that any one of these people would protect those boys with their lives. It was only that knowledge that was allowing her to leave them.

The front door closed and Troy reappeared, his expression an odd mixture of annoyance, fierce determination, and . . . something else Dani couldn’t identify. But her attention was captured by the man pushing the jacket hood off his head as he followed Troy.

“Agent Taylor?” she asked, eyes widening at the disheveled state of the man who ran the crime scene lab for the local FBI field office. She only knew him slightly, but he was a friend to both Deacon and Adam, so he was okay in her book.

“Quincy?” Kate asked, her surprise clear. “What are you doing here? And what the hell happened? Are you okay?”

Because the man was clearly upset. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his hair looked like he’d repeatedly run his fingers through it.

“Yeah,” he said to Kate, then turned to Dani. “I’m so sorry to intrude at this hour, but I saw the lights on and all the cars out front and knew you were awake. I was hoping to talk to Diesel. Is he here?”

“Not right now,” Dani answered warily. “Can I help you?”