She laughed and kissed his shoulder. “I see. So what is Scott King’s password?”

He looked back at her, rolling his eyes. “GoodToBeKing666.”

She sighed. “Of course it is. What will you do now?”

“I’m going to get his address, phone number, and every other piece of information the casino’s admin stores.” His hand shot out to clasp her neck, pulling her face close. “But first I want to kiss you again.”

“Please do,” she murmured, then startled when his phone played a few bars of a song she couldn’t place.

He stiffened. “It’s Scarlett.”

Dani sucked in a breath. “The boys.”

“Don’t worry yet,” he said, then hit ACCEPT and pushed the speaker icon. “Scar? What’s up?”

“You need to go outside right now,” Scarlett said, her voice tense. “Stone’s out there somewhere in your yard. Scott King shot him.”

Diesel shot to his feet. “What the fuck?” He shoved the phone at Dani. “Get the details. I’ll get dressed.” He set off for his bedroom at a run.

Dani headed for the front door. “What happened, Scarlett?”

“You’d just gone into Diesel’s house. Stone pretended to drive away, but he doubled back. He’d seen a vehicle tailing you all the way to Diesel’s and figured he’d investigate on his own.”

“Stupid man,” Dani muttered. “I’m on my way outside.”

“You are not,” Diesel declared. He’d put on jeans and a faded Bengals jersey and was shoving his feet into his boots. “King might be out there still.”

“No, he’s not,” Scarlett said. “He’s here.”

Both Dani and Diesel froze. “He’s where?” Dani demanded.

“King’s here, but don’t worry. He’s waiting outside. He thinks we don’t know he’s there. But we have it covered.” She drew a breath. “Deacon’s here and he’s explaining everything to Michael. Just take care of Stone. He told Marcus that he already called 911, so help is on the way. Tell us how bad it is as soon as you know. Poor Delores is about to lose her mind.” Scarlett hesitated. “He told Marcus to tell her that he loves her.”

Shit. Everyone knew that Stone loved Delores, but saying it that way made it sound dire. Diesel met her eyes and she could see that he’d assumed the same.

“Okay. We’ll call you back.” Diesel ended the call. “If I tell you to run, you run.”

“I will. I promise.” Diesel had already saved her life once. She wouldn’t ask him to do it again.

Chapter Nineteen

Cincinnati, Ohio
Monday, March 18, 2:45 a.m.

Michael jerked awake. There were hands on him. His heart went into overdrive and he rolled away, his fingers finding the kitchen knife he’d hidden under the bed. He popped up into a crouch, ready to fight, his pulse thrumming hard in his head.