“I’ll be back soon,” Ronan murmured. “You’re safe here.”

“But will you be safe out there?” I countered. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Zeke snorted. “King can take care of himself.”

“And Zeke used to work for a government organization that he’s not legally allowed to tell you about,” Ronan added, caressing my cheek with the pad of his thumb. “We’ll ask some questions and be back to you in no time, okay?”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’d better.”

“I promise I’ll get your lover home in one piece,” Zeke said.

My eyes shot to him. Lover?

Neither of us had said anything about that.

Ronan rolled his eyes. “Don’t mind him. He’s digging for dirt. It’s what he’s best at.” He bent and brushed his lips over mine, then he straightened, all business. “Zeke, we’ll go to the office first to gear up, then you can tell me where to next.”

His friend saluted irreverently. Despite myself, I laughed. He might have been a bit of an ass, but he was a funny one.

“Bye,” I whispered as they gathered their things and headed for the exit. “Be safe.”

When the door closed behind them, Kade slid the lock into place. “Finish your breakfast and change into activewear if you have some. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

I gulped, wondering what I’d gotten myself into. “Okay.”

Chapter Twenty

Ronan

Zeke and I geared up and checked our perp’s location. Apparently, Mark Orlov was at church.

“Maybe he’s praying for forgiveness?” I suggested, unlocking the car and loading a supply bag into the back. Zeke programmed our destination into its GPS, and I slid into the driver’s seat while he claimed the passenger side.

“I don’t think he’s getting it,” he said. We sat in silence for all of two minutes before he cleared his throat. “So what was that wonderfully domestic scene with Willow about?”

I sighed. “You’re a terrible gossip.”

“Do I look like I care? Let me hear it.”

I wondered how much to say. “I like her. She’s beautiful, smart, and loyal. It’s just a shame that her loyalty extends to her brother.”

“You going to let that stop you?”

I shook my head. “I’m planning to date her. But before you ask, nothing happened last night. Not that it would be your business if it had.”

He wound down the window and rested his arm along the frame. “I burned all my bridges to join you, King, so it is my business. I just hope she isn’t part of some long con Tom is running. This could all be a setup.”

“It’s not.” Of that, I was certain. Willow’s fear was genuine.

He hummed in the back of his throat. “Just because you believe it doesn’t make it so. I don’t want to believe it either, but she’s been sticking her nose into places it doesn’t belong. We can’t be certain she’s trustworthy.”

“Recently?” I asked, recalling he’d mentioned previously that she’d been digging around.