I smile, more pleased than I’d anticipated that he seems to understand why my work, which probably looks to someone on the outside like something I could do for any exec in any industry, is important to me.

“What about you?” I ask. “How’d you end up on a SWAT team with my dad? Were you following in your own father’s footsteps?”

“No,” he says. “Honestly, I don’t know why. I just know that it’s what I’ve always wanted. I like order. I appreciate respect. And I like to live in a world where there are rules. You break them sometimes, sure. But for the most part, the idea is to mold a world that makes sense. That’s sane and safe.” I feel him shrug. “I guess the bottom line is that I want to help people. And by doing that I go a little ways toward making the world that I want to live in.”

“That makes sense,” I say.

“Bottom line, I’m selfish.”

I laugh. “Bottom line, you’re one of the best men I know. You didn’t have to help me. You could be off in China right now.”

“But I’m not,” he says. “I’m here right now. And at least for the moment, I’m not going anywhere.”

I sigh, then I break my own rule and turn to face him. “Hold me,” I say. “Hold me, and then find me in your dreams.”

Chapter Nine

Thank God for friends, Riley thought as he shook Zac Tyson’s hand. And for Ian Taggart.

“Not sure how much help I can be,” the burly man with the shaved head and Chicago Cubs T-shirt said as he greeted Riley in the now-deserted reception area. “But if Taggart says you deserve the open door policy, then you got it, my friend.”

“Appreciate it.” Riley had texted Big Tag with a quick and dirty summary of the situation, then asked Tag to reach out to Jared for an intro to The Firehouse’s owners so that he could get access to the security set-up. Instead, Tag had gone one step further and hooked Riley up with the club’s security guru. Apparently Zac had done some surveillance work for Taggart. Which Riley probably should have anticipated. Never underestimate Ian Fucking Taggart, after all.

Riley and Nat had slept until eight, when Pumpkin had decided she was hungry and had taken to batting Riley’s face until he woke up. He and the cat had bonded over tuna and coffee, and then he’d returned to the bedroom where he’d very methodically kissed his Sleeping Beauty awake.