Guilt flared up immediately, but that didn’t seem to matter. As he ate, images from last night kept cycling through his brain. It was almost impossible to get those hours with Tia, naked in his arms, out of his head. But he was glad she didn’t mention it. They made small talk instead, which felt much safer. She asked how it’d gone with his brother, and he said that Gavin would be cool about everything and took the time to explain why he had stopped by. He didn’t want the conversation to become awkward. One night was a random encounter. A second night was...

He refused to finish that thought. Two nights said something more. That was all.

“But even if Lois wants to help Kouretas, how can she do that?” Tia asked, once she knew about the meeting Gavin had witnessed at the coffee shop. “It’s not like she can call me up and ask me to meet somewhere Kouretas can ambush me. She doesn’t even know me.”

“She knows me.”

“You think she’ll try to get you to buzz her in and then hold the gate for him or something?”

“No, he doesn’t need her for that. It wouldn’t be hard to jump the fence. I’m guessing she’ll try to invite me over for dinner one night—under the pretext of talking through what’s going on between us or something else—so that I’ll leave you here alone.”

Tia drew her coffee closer to her. “You really believe your mother-in-law would do that? I mean...I get why she might not be happy to see another woman living in the house with you. She’s probably concerned that could change everything, make you less attentive to them, but—”

“Desperate people do desperate things,” he broke in.

“They need money that badly?”

“Apparently.” He took a drink of his juice. “Maybe I should take away Kouretas’s power by giving the Iveys the money they want,” he mused.

Tia wrinkled her nose. “No. I don’t want you paying his gambling debts—not for my sake, anyway. He needs to get help with the addiction. Otherwise, you’ll just enable him.”

“But it would be the easiest and quickest way to outmaneuver Kouretas.”

“It would also be the most expensive way. I can’t afford it, and I won’t let you do it for me. Besides, you don’t know that’ll solve the problem. If they’re that down on their luck, they could always go for the money he’s offering, too. Besides, thanks to Gavin, we don’t need to go in that direction. Now that we know they’re in contact, we’ll be prepared.”