“Sorry,” Zy said. If anyone understood wanting a woman he couldn’t have, it was his buddy. Zy had lived through nearly a year of look-but-don’t-touch torture with Tessa.
Trees shrugged. “I’ll deal. What do you want to tell me?”
“Some friend of Walker’s has temporarily joined the team to help with Kimber’s recovery. Name’s Matt. You probably won’t see much of him. I met him. He seems okay.”
“Even though he’s a friend of Walker’s?”
Zy nodded. “Trust me. I was as shocked as you.”
“Why wouldn’t I like that news? It’s fine by me. Hell, whatever the bosses need to do to bring Kimber back…”
“Keep that in mind because what I say next might make you blow a gasket.” Zy’s apologetic glance told Trees this was going to suck. “They’re thinking about using Laila as bait to help get Kimber back. Pretend to set up a hostage swap and—”
“No. Fuck no!” Were they crazy? Did they not grasp what Laila had been through? “Over my dead body. Absolutely not. End of conversation.”
“It’s not my favorite plan, either, but I think they’re running out of options and getting desperate. Maybe they’re thinking that Kimber is a wife and a mother with two small children who need her, and Laila is—”
“Expendable? That’s fucking bullshit! She’s a human being and she’s”—he clenched his fists—“fragile.”
“I know.” Zy sounded sincerely sorry.
Trees was too pissed off to care. “You don’t know! She’s been bullied, abused, and raped since she was fourteen by the very people who want their hands on her now.” At least he deeply suspected that’s what had happened. “You’ll have to kill me before I let anyone dangle her in front of a bunch of cutthroats. I’m dead fucking serious.”
“Is there any chance such a plan will allow for the capture of those who wish to hurt my sister?”
Trees spun to the sound of Laila’s voice and found her at the far end of the kitchen. When the hell had she sneaked up on them?
He cursed, doing his best to glare her into taking those words back. Her stubborn expression said she wasn’t budging. Son of a bitch. Then he zipped around to Zy. His buddy understood that plan was a no-go for him and would bury that shit, right? Laila was his responsibility.
No, she was his.
But Zy gave him a regretful shrug since he was merely the acting boss and lacked real authority. “It’s possible, but it’s risky.”
She scoffed. “Breathing around these people is risky—and certainly not a guarantee. My sister has endured too much, and she has her son to consider. I will do it.”
Trees whirled, towering over her possessively with bared teeth. “You will not.”
She stood unblinking and undaunted. “You cannot stop me. You brought me here safely, and for that I thank you. But I owe you nothing beyond my appreciation.”
“I didn’t ask you for anything. But I would consider it a personal fucking favor if you would please give a shit about your safety.”
She cocked her head, and the sadness there nearly took him out at the knees. “Unfortunately, Emilo never gave us that choice. And I am certain his father, Geraldo, who is probably running his organization now that he is gone, will be even less interested in such things.”
Unfortunately, from what Trees had heard, she wasn’t wrong. “Fuck.”
“If the Edgingtons or Muñoz ask me to help set a trap for Geraldo and his goons, I will say yes. My mind is made up.”
Trees gripped her shoulders. “Laila, you’ll be bait. Chum. Something my bosses will skewer on a hook and use to reel these bastards in. And if they lose you?” He shrugged. “Oh, well. Not their problem. Do you understand that?”
“Yes. But do you understand I will have no future if I refuse? No one in my family will.”
With that, Laila turned away, then looked back at Zy. “I cannot pay you for the clothes on my bed. Please return them.”
“It’s not a problem,” his buddy assured. “You left your house in a hurry and you weren’t dressed for our winter.”
“I will not accept your charity.”
Then she was gone.
As soon as he heard her bedroom door shut, Trees lost his shit. “See what I mean? She’s going to drive me crazy.”
Zy shook his head, his face full of sympathy. “Take a breath. One day at a time, okay? You’ll get through this.”
Right now, it didn’t feel that way, but arguing wouldn’t change a thing. “Let’s talk about something else. What’s up with you and Tessa?”
“I don’t want to bore you. I don’t understand it enough to explain, anyway.”
“She’s pushing back?”
“She’s pushing me away.”
What the hell? “I would have sworn that woman loves you.”
At least in her way. But maybe money had become more important to her than love.
“I thought so, too, but she’s never said that in so many words. And now she’s barely answering my texts. Something is…weird. Something is wrong.”
“Well, that’s definitely not right.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I pushed for too much too fast. I told her at Christmas that I love her. About three minutes after we got the all-clear to have more than a working relationship, I asked her to move in with me. She said she needs time to think. But it doesn’t feel like she’s thinking; it feels like she’s just putting daylight between us.”
“So what if you’ve moved fast this week? I don’t think you rushing her is the issue. After all, you two have been eye-fucking and exclusive for months. You wanting to start a life with her didn’t come out of left field. It’s something else.”
And Trees could only think of one thing. She was guilty.
“Yeah. I was at her place a little bit ago. She actually begged me to leave.” Clearly, it was killing Zy because he was so in love. “And she’s been lying to me. Sure, about little things like her headache. But still, lying.”
“Any chance there’s someone else?”
Zy pondered, then shook his head. “No. I think it’s me.”
“Or…she’s guilty and she has something to hide.”
“I don’t see it.”
“Because you don’t want to. Keep pursuing her, man. You’ll never be happy if you just walk away from her. But while you’re doing that…look into her. Take her seriously as a suspect. Do your fucking job.”
Zy sighed. “I don’t have a choice. I guess that’s priority one.”
“Sorry, man. It’s better to know than not.”
“Roger that. You need anything else or are you two set?”
Wasn’t that a good question? Honestly, Trees wasn’t sure. But if Zy wasn’t staying to spell him, then he might as well start dealing with Laila on his turf and figuring out what came next. He had a feeling they were in for a battle.
When Laila hung up with Valeria, tears streamed down her face. Jorge’s condition had not improved. That worried her a great deal. So did her sister’s exhaustion. If the boy wasn’t better tomorrow, supposedly Kane would take them to a doctor. That was good news, but Laila hated not being there to tend to her nephew and support her sister. And she hated that, just like Trees had told her, Valeria refused to let her come there and help because she feared it wasn’t safe. Arguing with her sister had done nothing to change her mind.