The Lady of the River was the smallest of all the riverboat casinos along the Ohio River, and Diesel was surprised—and suspicious—that Richard Fischer was making enough of a profit to finance his lifestyle.

He’d started to dig into Fischer’s background when his cell phone buzzed with an incoming text. He glanced at the right-hand monitor, hoping for a miracle, but the program was still churning.

The text was from Stone and read TALK TO HER, in all caps. Diesel typed WTF?, and hit SEND when there was a knock on his door.

No, not a knock. Someone was banging on his front door.

What the hell? He shoved away from his desk and ran to the door, his pulse jumping from normal to stratospheric as panic set in. Thoughts of Dani and the boys tumbled through his brain as the banging on the door got louder.

I should have stayed. Goddammit. What if—

He threw open the door and gaped. Dani stood on his welcome mat, her fist raised as if poised to bang some more.

She glared up at him, then released her fist, pressing her palm flat to his chest and shoving him backward. Stunned, he stumbled, regaining his balance in time to see a black Escalade driving away.

Stone. And then the text made sense.

His phone buzzed in his hand and he glanced at the screen as Dani slammed his door shut behind them. It was another text from Stone.

You’re welcome. Don’t fuck this up.

Diesel tore his gaze away from his phone to Dani’s face. She was furious, her mismatched eyes narrowed and shooting sparks.

God, she was gorgeous like this.

“Don’t even,” she snapped when he opened his mouth—to say what, he had no idea. So he closed his mouth and followed her as she strode into the kitchen and pointed at one of the chairs at the table he’d built himself.

“Sit,” she said curtly.

He sat obediently and watched as she took the chair closest to his. Folding his hands in front of him, he waited for what would come next.

She assumed a similar pose, then drew a breath and slowly released it. Lifted her chin. Held his gaze, hers boldly challenging. “I’ll cut to the chase. You will not go after this bastard Scott King all by yourself.”

He blinked. “Okay,” he said simply.

She frowned, obviously not expecting that answer. “Okay? Just . . . okay?”

He fought a smile because he valued his life. “Of course. I never planned to. What made you think . . .” The thought trailed off as the truth became crystal clear.

“Stone,” they said together.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “He said you were going after him by yourself.” Then her lips flattened, her shoulders sagging. “No, he didn’t. I asked him if you were and he said, ‘Diesel’s gonna do what he’s gonna do.’”