Brodie hadn’t been able to let go of that home.

“You’re treading into some dangerous water with her,” Davis said as he looked out at the lake.

“I’m not afraid of rough water.” Since when did a SEAL fear that?

“Maybe you should be afraid. The fire in those stables...That was a damn near thing. Mark could have died. You could have died—”

“He didn’t. None of us did.” While Davis was staring at the lake, Brodie was staring at his brother’s profile. “He almost took her away from me.”

Davis glanced at him.

“If I hadn’t heard her scream...” He shook his head. Davis had been so sure that she’d run off on her own, but Brodie’s gut had told him otherwise. “I don’t know what I would have done.”

Davis stepped toward him. “You’re not saying—”

“I never forgot her. I couldn’t. Six years... Hell, I should have put her in my past. But she kept staying in my head. I’d catch myself wondering what she was doing. Who she was with.” He’d hated the flashes of jealousy. “Then she walked right through my door. She came back to me.”

A frustrated snarl slipped from his brother. “She’s tied up with our parents’ death!”

“She didn’t kill them—you know that.”

“She could have led the killers right to them! She—”

“Jennifer is a victim.”

Davis shook his head. “By her own admission, the woman is a trained agent. Her livelihood was lies. Lies. How can you believe anything she says? Anything she does?”

He just stared back at Davis. When it came to Jennifer, Brodie wouldn’t back down, not even for his twin.

“This isn’t like you.” Davis regarded him with a puzzled expression. “You don’t get involved with women this way. You hook up. You move on. You—”

“You ever wonder why I moved on so much?”

“What?” Davis appeared lost.

“They weren’t her.”

Davis squeezed his eyes shut. “No. Do not tell me this stuff. Do not.”

“I’m not moving on this time.”

“Hell.” The word was both dismayed and resigned.

But Brodie wasn’t done yet. “Whatever happens, whatever we find out...I want you to back me up. I want you...I want you to protect her.” In case something happens and I can’t...

Davis turned away and went back to staring at that water. “Don’t I always back you up? Hell, I joined the Navy, I became a SEAL, just because you needed someone to watch your back.”

Surprise pushed through Brodie. “But...but I thought you—”

“You’re my kid brother,” Davis muttered. “What else was I supposed to do?”

Davis was older by all of five minutes.

“Protecting my family—that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. But it’s the one thing I just can’t seem to get right.”

Brodie strode forward. He caught Davis’s shoulder and swung him around so that they faced off.

“I don’t trust her,” Davis said flatly. “She’s not the innocent you think. She’s not—”

“The first time I saw her, Jennifer was tied to a chair in a dirty, dark room. Her wrists were bleeding. Her face was bruised. The men who had her...they had left for just a few moments, and I knew that I didn’t have long to get her out of there.”

A furrow appeared between Davis’s brows. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I made my way to her. She whispered one thing to me. Just one thing.”

Davis waited.

“She told me to leave because there wasn’t time to free her. To go because she didn’t want anyone dying for her.” He shook his head. “Bleeding and beaten, and she was still trying to protect me.”

Maybe that was when it had happened. When the ice around his heart had cracked and she’d first slipped inside.

“The alarm sounded before I got her clear of that place. My men had to engage the enemy, and I had to run like hell with her.” He could still hear the thunder of gunfire. The screams. But none of those screams had come from Jennifer. “She didn’t make a sound, not the whole time we were escaping. She didn’t have on shoes, her clothes were torn...and she ran for miles with me without saying a single word.” His mouth hitched as he remembered. “And when the enemy almost got a shot at me, she was the one to shove me out of the way. I was there to save her, but she...she saved me.”

Davis rocked back on his heels. “She had your back.”

Yes, she had. “Now I’ve got hers,” he said simply.

Davis looked away.

“I made love with her when we were safe. I... Damn, I knew better. Knew that one move could have cost me my career and a hell of a lot more, but nothing could have kept me from her then.” He waited for Davis to glance back at him. When he did, Brodie finished, “And nothing will keep me from her now.”

Nothing...no one.

After a moment, Davis nodded. “I understand.”

Davis always had understood him.

“Whatever happens,” Davis told him quietly, “she’ll be protected.”

Good. That was what he’d needed to hear—

“Brodie?”

He glanced over at the soft call and saw Jennifer walking toward them, her steps slow, uncertain. She’d dressed in a pair of his sister’s jeans, a loose shirt and a pair of brown boots. Jennifer had removed the bandage near her forehead, and he could see the bruising from her attack. She hesitated as her gaze darted between him and Davis. “Is...everything all right?”

He nodded. Brodie thought everything was perfectly clear to Davis now. “I want to head over to the Montgomery ranch and see if anyone saw anything before the fire.”

“I want to come,” she said quickly.

Like he would have left her behind. That wasn’t an option for him any longer. The memory of her scream would haunt him forever. Until they caught that fire-happy SOB, Brodie intended to stay as close to her as possible. “Then let’s go.” He walked forward. Took her arm.

“Jennifer.”

She glanced over at Davis’s call. So did Brodie.

“Watch his back,” Davis told her.

She inclined her head toward him. Her hair slid over her shoulders. “Always.”

* * *

JENNIFER DIDN’T KNOW who he was. After all she’d done to wreck his life, the woman had truly forgotten him. Walked away, never glanced back and gone on to destroy other lives.

He could barely contain his fury. He’d been right in front of her, touching her, hurting her.

And she still hadn’t known who he was.

Sure, he’d changed in the years. He wasn’t the polished millionaire any longer. He didn’t wear three-piece suits and go to the gym four times a week. He didn’t drive fancy cars or dine at the best restaurants.

He hunted. He killed.

She’d taken that other world away, turning him into someone who lived in the shadows. Someone who’d fought for his very food, his survival. Someone who’d lost everything...someone with nothing to lose.

Before she died, Jennifer would scream his name. She would know exactly who she faced in those final moments. She’d beg forgiveness. He would make certain of it.

I will not be forgotten.

Perhaps it was time to involve the other player in this game a bit more. The man had been in the background so far, slowly setting up Jennifer... But, yes, now it was time for him to earn his money.

Time for him to deliver Jennifer on a silver platter.

Put a knife in her back, and let her see how that betrayal feels...

He lifted up the phone and called the man who’d been hiding in Austin, the man who’d first led him to Jennifer.

* * *

THE REMAINS OF the Montgomery stables were a charred black mess. Jennifer slammed the door of the SUV and stared at the solemn sight, her body trembling.

She’d taken off the bandage on her head. The bump had gone down, and now there was just bruising along her hairline. She still had the bandage on her shoulder, and every time she thought of that knife...

I can’t let him get close to me again.

His voice replayed through her mind again and again, so familiar but—