Chapter 1

Angelo “Angel”Donatello, shifted in his chair as he read through the report from his latest job. The office was quiet, as everyone had headed out for the night. Even Cass, who usually was the last to leave, had gone. Irish had basically pushed her out the door when he’d heard she had another headache.

Those two just needed to kiss or fuck or something.

Everyone could see something was brewing between them. They were just too stubborn to acknowledge it.

Angelo shoved those thoughts aside. Relationships seemed to be popping up everywhere around him, and he wanted to stay as far away from them as possible. Although his mother would be happy if he settled down. She was itching for grandchildren, and as her only child, it was up to him to provide her with chubby bambinos.

Shit, he was thinking about babies when he should be focusing on the report and making sure he got everything down and correct before he closed it off and got ready for the next job.

After leaving the Navy and his life as a SEAL, he enjoyed the freedom of not wearing a uniform. Of ridding himself of the regimentation being in the military brought to his life. Angelo had loved being a SEAL, but he found the rules and regulations difficult to follow. It was a miracle he’d gotten through BUD/S, considering his aversion to being told what to do and when to do it.

Working for Alliez—and particularly, when they did the specialized jobs for the FBI they’d started doing recently—fulfilled his need to protect and make the world a better and safer place.

As he added a final note before changing the status of the job from open to finished, the office phone rang.

Who the hell was calling after hours? Did they think the business was open twenty-four/seven?

Angelo could let it go to the voicemail Ox had set up, but the back of his neck tingled, a sure sign his instincts were telling him he needed to answer the call.

“Alliez Security.”

There was a beat of silence before the person cleared their throat. “Ang-Angelo?”

He sat up, his senses going from prickling to alert at the sound of the fear in the woman’s voice, and the fact she recognized his voice. “Yes. Who’s this?”

Another pause and what sounded like the rustle of fabric drifted through the connection.

Who the heck is she?

“Teresa Carter, we went to high school together.”

Teresa Carter?

It took a few seconds for the name to register, but Angelo remembered her. Teresa had been the classic shy girl who’d gotten bullied by the mean girls. He’d helped her one day to pick up her books when they’d been knocked out of her hand and had skidded along the corridor until they’d stopped at his feet.

Teresa was a couple of years younger, but after that brief interaction, he’d noticed her everywhere.

They’d even shared a couple of conversations after that. Conversations that’d been fun and, at the time, had lingered in his mind for a little while after.

There hadn’t been anything remarkable about their relationship then. Angelo had been the typical arrogant jock. He was good looking and enjoyed the attention the girls gave him. Had a date every Friday night. Life was easy. Life was good for him.

He’d been such an ass back then.

One good thing about being in the Navy—and more importantly, being a SEAL— he’d had a major wake-up call that not everyone had lived the privileged life like he had.

“I remember you. What’s up?”

“I-I’m in trouble. I need your help,” she whispered.

The fear Angelo had heard earlier deepened. “Where are you?” He stood and moved away from his desk. The sound of his phone dragging across his desk drew his attention. “Dammit.”

“What? What’s wrong?”

He took a moment to compose himself and calm his breathing. What Teresa needed was for him to be the level-headed SEAL he’d once been. Go back to being able to shut down his emotions behind a reinforced steel door and not let them cloud his actions. “Nothing, I forgot you called on a landline and not my cell. Give me your number, and I’ll call you back.”

She rattled off her number.

Angelo punched it into his phone and hit connect. “That’s me calling.”

The office phone went dead against his ear, and the ringing in his other ear ceased.

“I’m here.”

“Right, tell me where you are,” he demanded as he replaced the receiver and this time, headed toward the exit without any impediment.

“I’m at my home, locked in my bedroom. Someone was messing with my front door, trying to get in. I heard my neighbor’s door open, and then there was silence. My bedroom door has a lock on it.”

“Good thinking. I’ll be there as soon as I can, Tre, but I need your address.”

Like she had with her phone number, she quickly relayed her address. Fortunately, it wasn’t too far from the Alliez office, but there was always the LA traffic to contend with.

Dammit. Too bad there wasn’t another one of the guys in the building he could bring along, but there wasn’t. Growler and Ox were home with their women. Irish was probably with Cass.

Although if he called any one of them, they’d drop everything and help him.

The new guys Ox had hired hadn’t started yet, so it wasn’t like he could contact any of them because he didn’t really know them.

“Hang on. I won’t be long. What’s been happening over the years since I last saw you?” Angelo hopped into his car and pulled out of the car park, his tires squealing on the polished concrete.

He needed her to remain calm and on the line, despite what might be going on at her place. So small talk should do the trick until he could get there.

“College. Job. The usual.”

Well, that was short and to the point.

He’d hoped she’d expand a bit more.

“Did you like college?” Angelo pulled into traffic and blew out a breath in relief when he the road in front of him was clear.

The need to get to Teresa as soon as possible had him depressing the accelerator and going faster than he normally would. If there were police patrolling, hopefully they weren’t prowling the route he needed to go.

“College was fine. I got through it.”

Angelo hated the sound of that. He’d never gone to college, much to his parents’ dismay. He’d enlisted the day after he’d graduated.

From what Teresa had said, it sounded like college wasn’t the fun time he’d known other people had experienced. It sounded like she’d got through it like he imagined she’d gotten through high school.

Shame hit him as he recalled that he’d been one of those kids who everything came easy for. He’d made friends. Was popular. Made good grades.

BUD/S had been a nightmare, but he’d gotten through it. Even when he’d been on a mission, Angelo had been able to get information that others had tried to get but had been unable to extract from the people.

Everyone said it was his angelic looks that went with his name, Angelo, which was, naturally, the reason he’d ended up with the designation, Angel. As he’d been called that most of his life, he’d been okay with it.

“I’m almost there,” he said. Pressing her for more information about her college life wouldn’t achieve anything.

“Okay. I think it’s safe to leave the bedroom. I haven’t heard any noises for a while.”

“Stay where you are!” he commanded. “Do you have anything you can use as a weapon?”

Why hadn’t he thought about asking her that before?

“No.”

“Quick question. Why did you call me and not the police?” He should’ve asked her that way earlier than now.

“Because I don’t know if I can trust the cops.”

Whoa, there was way more to going on. There had to be.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t.” Her tone was clipped, and the fear he’d earlier had all but disappeared.

Was it because he was almost there?

Was it because the person who was attempting to break in had gone?

Or was it because this had been a ruse and there was nothing wrong at all?

While Angelo didn’t want to think his last thought was a possibility, he needed to consider it. Be on alert. Which meant him coming there by himself was a mistake.

Silently cursing, he hit mute on the phone and hit a button on the car’s computer screen. A microphone symbol popped up on the screen. Pressing it, he gave a quick rundown of what was happening and then hit end.

Thank God for Cass and her tech skills. At least if something happened, and they found his car, there’d be a record of what he’d been doing. At first, he’d balked at reporting his position in the company’s system log, but he’d gotten used to it and it had helped with some of the jobs he’d been working when shit had hit the fan.

Angelo turned down Teresa’s street and slowed until he got to the front of her apartment complex. The lighting around it sucked, but he snagged a parking spot out front. The area she lived in wasn’t the best, but the building didn’t look like it was about to fall down from neglect.

“I’m here. I’ll be up there in a few. Don’t hang up.”

“I wasn’t going to,” she murmured.

“I’m going to put my phone in my pocket so I have both hands free, but I’ll still be here. If you need anything, scream loudly.”

“Okay.”

Angelo would much prefer to be able to keep his phone in his hand, but as he’d told Teresa, he didn’t want to be impeded should someone decide to jump him.

He got out of the car, scanning the surrounding area and noting that nothing looked out of place. Not that he could see much, considering the lack of decent lighting.

Angelo touched his hip and found the welcoming weight of his firearm. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use it, but better to be safe than sorry. He unclipped the holster to allow him easy access should he need it.

He made his way inside, and instead of taking the elevator, he took the stairs to the third floor where Teresa’s apartment was. At least she had an internal entry door and not one that faced the street, although that hadn’t stopped someone from trying to get into her place.

It didn’t take long for him to hit her floor. He paused, slowing his heart rate to listen to see if there were any noises that didn’t belong in the building or that indicated something untoward was happening.

All was silent except for the muted sounds of someone’s television.

On light feet, he moved out of the stairwell and into the hallway. The first thing he saw was someone slumped on the ground.

“Fuck,” Angelo muttered and rushed over.

Blood seeped from a wound on the back of their head. This had to be the neighbor that Teresa had heard.

Angelo placed two fingers on the victim’s neck, relaxing a fraction when he caught the reassuring feel of a pulse.

“Angelo! Are you there!” Teresa yelled loud enough that he heard it through her door and from his pocket.

He pulled his phone out. “I’m here at your door. I’m going to come in now. Okay?”

“How? The door’s locked? I’ll come and open it for you.”

“Stay where you are. There could be someone inside.”

“And they’d know where I am now because I screamed out your name. Yet here I am talking to you.”

Angelo bit back a smile at her sassiness, and he could admit he preferred hearing that instead of the fear that had colored her voice when he first picked up the company phone. Was she feeling more confident because he was nearby?

Angelo didn’t have to time to unpack how she’d gone from fearful to confident, but he’d be cautious around her. He needed to get inside and see what the hell was going on and why Teresa was scared and wary of the cops. “Just a warning before you open the door, but there’s someone on the ground out here. I’m assuming they’re your neighbor.”

“Oh my God! Are they dead? Oh no. What have I done?”

In a flash, the sassiness had gone, and the fear was back.

He’d caused that, and he’d hated that he had, but she needed to be aware of the situation. “It’s okay, Tre. They’re alive. Just unconscious from a knock on the back of their head.”

There was no answer, only the sounds of locks disengaging. He was about to come face to face with Teresa, a woman he hadn’t seen in over a decade.

A flutter of nervousness hit Angelo. The same feeling he’d gotten on his first day of BUD/S.

Why?

And why was he anxious to see Teresa again?