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“I’ll come tomorrow, how’s that?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I can make it work.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Cici said, sounding slightly happier.

I chatted with her for a while and then hung up. Crap, it was going to be a challenge to get there tomorrow on public transportation. That was what made it take forever. Could I just take a taxi?

I was considering it when a noise from the hall sent my nerves leaping.

I flinched hard and got up softly. My socked feet were almost silent on the hardwood floors.

I looked along the hallway toward the west wing. Along there was the stairs down to the gym, the doors to the pool, and the entrance to the garage. Could someone have entered through thepool doors, or maybe the garage? Did the alarm even cover those areas?

Sure, it would. What would be the point of an alarm system that didn’t cover all the external doors? John Sinclair would pay for top-of-the-line security. I had to believe that.

Then the day I’d first met Officer Fuckface at the house returned to me. I’d stood there on the front doorstep while Arthur had talked about giving authorization of the security codes for the police department. What if Preston had somehow gotten into the system? What if he could disable the alarm?

Fear swarmed me, blocking out rational thought.

It became hard to breathe, my heart accelerating until it was thumping so hard it hurt.

I skirted around the kitchen island and grabbed my backpack, rummaging in the depths. My hand emerged with my pepper spray and a small, discreet taser. Which one would be most useful?

I decided I needed both and kept one in each hand, then went back to peer down the hallway.

The noise had stopped, but I knew I hadn’t imagined it. I needed to check it out, or I needed to leave the house. I didn’t have a car, though, so I couldn’t just drive away. I wasn’t sure if it was best to confront someone in the house, or out on the dark and winding driveway that sat between the house and the road.

No. I’d stand my ground, here, in my home. If nothing else, Cal and Brody would be back at some point. I took a step toward the dark hallway. I could call Brody. He’d come. Somehow, I knew with a bone-deep certainty that he’d come if I called.

But then I remembered my overreaction in the library. He’d hurried over there, and nothing had happened.

I took another step down the dark hallway. Outside, a shadow moved across the gleaming blue of the swimming pool, and I jumped about a foot in the air.

There was someone in the pool.

What the hell?

I stared out the window for a moment, making out Brody’s strong figure cutting through the water, doing punishingly fast lengths.

Motherfucker.

Relief flooded me, even as annoyance sparked. He couldn’t give even the smallest sign that he was home?

I stormed down the hall and pushed open the glass doors to the pool area.

“Hey—bellend!” I called out as he dove underwater to turn at the end of the pool, then pushed off and shot back toward me.

He came to a stop mid-stroke to stare up at me. The low pool lights glinted off his wet hair and the rounded muscles of his strong shoulders.Why am I even noticing?

“What have you been up to?” he asked, his gaze fixed on my hands.

I realized belatedly that I was still holding the self-defense stuff. Okay, so no way to look cool now. When in doubt, attack.

“I didn’t know you were here. I thought it was someone else,” I accused.

“And you had plans for that person?” Brody teased. He swam toward the edge of the pool. “You look like you need to relax, and we’ve not had our workout all week. Get your arse in here with me.”