Chapter 12

Lena glanced over her shoulder a few days later, unable to shake the feeling that she was being watched. She shifted the bags of groceries in her arms, moving more quickly across the parking lot toward her vehicle.

The past several nights had been amazing—a whirlwind of sex, sleep, and repeat. Gray had taken to staying over at her house every day, their easy dinners and conversation after work followed with nights of lovemaking. She was shocked at how easily Gray always got her body to respond to him, but she was also loving the feeling of being in Gray's arms. Of him thrusting inside her, filling her in a way that made her heart want to explode right along with the rest of her senses.

Just thinking about all the ways that Gray made her come had her blushing. And while she loved sleeping beside him, she knew there was another reason he wanted to be there at her home.

Ivan Rogers.

Gray had informed her that the sex-trafficking ring kingpin was missing. Vanished. Gone without a trace. While he typically jetted off on private flights, staying at his many properties and conducting his dirty business dealings at nearby locations, the man was simply gone. Her kidnapping weeks ago had changed things. She knew that. Ivan Rogers had been directly involved with Lena and Kaylee's abduction. With that development, including Rogers literally driving the getaway vehicle and drugging Lena himself before trying to assault her, the Feds had moved in. Raided his homes. Seized his computers and files. Frozen his bank accounts.

But Ivan was nowhere to be found.

She'd discussed the situation with Jett and Gray multiple times already, unease washing over her. While she'd surmised that Ivan Rogers had simply traveled under a false identity, making him untraceable, Jett didn't think that was the case. No falsified documents had been found at his homes. No records of flights booked under aliases had been documented in the papers they'd unearthed. He'd prided himself on being one step ahead of the law, and that included traveling under his own name, knowing that he'd been untouchable.

Jett believed he was still in New York. Ivan had come here for a reason, inserting himself directly in Kaylee's kidnapping and wanting a piece of the action.

Except Lena had been there, too. Taken. Held hostage. Hurt.

And Ivan had sworn that he'd never let her go.

Inexplicably, she shivered, looking around once more. The empty cars near her car felt almost ominous. Threatening. There were people around the parking lot, rushing to and from the store on the way home from work, but if someone jumped out at her, could she really be saved? Her car felt almost secluded at the end of the aisle, and she was eager to get out of there.

Lena popped the trunk of her car, setting the bags of groceries inside. Her fingers slid into her coat pocket, clutching her car keys. She had a new canister of pepper spray attached to her keychain. Gray had offered to train her in firing a weapon. Lena didn't want a gun though, knowing it would most likely be used against her. She didn't have any of Gray's training, expertise, or strength. She'd be cautious but otherwise had to live her life.

Steeling herself, she scanned the parking lot again. No one would jump out at her. There were cameras. Witnesses. And Gray would've told her if simply running errands was unsafe. Still feeling uneasy, she shut the trunk and then climbed into her vehicle. Lena had groceries to deliver and other tasks to get done before Gray came over tonight.

Twenty minutes later, Lena pulled up to the gate of Jett and Anna's large home, the transponder in her vehicle allowing the large wrought iron barrier to slide open. She'd picked up some things at the grocery store for them since Anna hadn't been feeling well and Jett had been in briefings all afternoon. Pulling up the long driveway of the tree-lined property, her gaze swept over the area out of habit.

The sun had nearly dipped below the horizon, and the winter chill in the air made her shiver. Even bundled up and inside of her vehicle, it felt like she couldn't get warm. It had been a long week, and something about the evening just felt ominous.

A lone car passed on the secluded road, driving right by the house. She watched it go from her own vehicle, knowing Jett had cameras everywhere. Lena pulled up and parked outside of the big garage just as her phone buzzed with a text.

Jett: I just got home but am on a call. Let yourself in.

"Of course he's working," she murmured quietly to herself. How different things were now that Jett had a wife and child. She used to spend countless hours alone at his home filling his fridge and cooking meals while Jett worked late at the office. He now had priorities just as important as his career. Lena and the nanny would come and go from the large property, but it wasn't like Jett's bachelor days in the least. He tried to work from home when he could, but she couldn't very well barge in unannounced and accidentally scare Anna. Their cameras had no doubt picked up her arrival, but Lena knew Anna didn't watch them closely in the way Jett did. He was the type of man who was always aware, just like Gray. Most men wouldn't want to cross them, but she knew plenty had tried. Inexplicably, she shivered.

Lena walked into the kitchen a few minutes later, her arms full of groceries. She set the bags on the counter, slid off her winter coat, and was unpacking when Jett stalked in. "Damn it all to hell," he muttered.

"Problems?" Lena asked lightly, moving around him to put a few things in the fridge.

He let out a sigh. "West is still trying to track down that bastard Ivan Rogers. It pisses me off that we don't have him yet."

"Gray looked stressed earlier," Anna commented, walking into the kitchen to stand beside her husband.

Lena rearranged a few things in the fridge and shot Anna a look. "He's worried about me."

"Well, I'm sure big, bad Gray can keep you safe. He's barely let you out of his sights," Anna teased. "Don't think I haven't noticed you two arriving at the office together every morning."

Jett's lips quirked as he ducked down to give Anna a quick kiss. "It's not like we took things slowly, sweetness."

"That we did not," Anna agreed, flashing him a knowing look. She glanced down and lightly rubbed her belly. "And you sure have trouble being good and keeping your hands to yourself."

Jett barked out a laugh, then glanced at his phone as another call came in. "Can you blame me?" he asked, his eyes sparking with heat as his gaze raked over his pregnant wife.

Lena knew her cheeks were turning pink as Jett strode out of the room. She really didn't need to hear anything about Jett and Anna's sex life. Given the racy lingerie and other gifts Jett sometimes requested she pick up, Lena had no doubt they were quite amorous. Plus, Anna was pregnant. Again. Clearly, they were a couple who couldn't keep their hands off of each other.

That didn't mean she needed Anna speculating about what Lena and Gray did every night.

Anna winked at Lena as Jett left the room. "What?" she asked innocently. "Gray was always watching you before. He's certainly quite attentive now, making sure you're safe every morning before work."

"And you thought you'd point this out to my boss?" Lena asked dryly, moving to unpack the rest of the groceries.

"Oh please. You're like family to Jett. And I love that you're finally getting some with the last single guy on the team," Anna teased, coming over to help unpack some of the groceries. "Gray sure looks like he knows how to please a woman in bed."

"You're incorrigible." Lena tried to bite back her smile, failing miserably. Gray did certainly know what he was doing in bed, and Lena had absolutely no complaints about that.

"That's why everyone loves me," Anna declared, her eyes twinkling.