I waved my hands in the air. They'd been going strong since Broadrick ran three miles with me over his shoulder, dumped me in my car, and then drove us to my apartment an hour ago.

How was he not dead?

I'm glad he survived the run because we had a fuck ton of stuff to discuss.

Like, where the hell did he get a set of my car keys?

The enemy in question took up a position next to the fridge. He leaned up against it like nothing major had just happened. Like we hadn't just run for our lives after he rescued me from a life in a criminal harem. "Are you going to calm down soon?" he asked.

"Are you serious right now?" I waved my hands around some more and completed another pacing circle, stopping a foot from him. "No."

I'd just stumbled on a weapons exchange where Broadrick was most definitely working for the bad guys. Well... They were both bad guys, but I saw him help someone steal ammunition from the military.

Who did that?

Not Brent watched me from his perch on top of Katy's stupid box. He lay down, putting his little head on his paws, and growled at Broadrick.

Good dog.

"Where were Not Brent and Samantha while you were out betraying our government?" He promised to babysit. You just couldn't trust men.

Broadrick tilted his head to stare at me from a new angle. "Who's Samantha?"

"The box!" I threw my hands up again. Wasn't he paying attention?

He leaned back to the ceiling and did that annoying counting thing, like he had any reason to be frustrated with me.

I did another circle and stopped beside him, using our closeness to poke him in the chest with my finger. "Also, I can't believe we're missing the action."

Right now Ridge Freaking Jefferson was out there catching bad guys, and Broadrick had practically locked me in my apartment.

The big jerk grabbed my shoulders and squeezed. It should have pissed me off, but for some stupid reason, I liked it. "Vonnie, that is not the action you want to be involved in."

I pushed away from him. Broadrick didn't have the right to tell me what to do. "So why can't you be there?"

The accusation of his involvement flashed heavy in my eyes.

He dropped his head and stared at my kitchen floor. "I can't get caught there."

He couldn't get caught there? I stuck my finger back at his chest, poking my nail against the fabric and hoping it dug into his skin. "I haven't forgotten about you! What were you doing there?"

We both knew what he'd been doing-selling government weapons to nongovernment people-but I wanted to hear it from him.

How could he?

I trusted him. Broadrick was a good guy. I only dated good guys. It was a rule. I was an impeccable judge of character, so why did I pick so wrong with him?

It had to be the biceps.

They were dazzling. They dazzled me right out of my common sense.

"Well!" I yelled and poked him again.

Broadrick covered my mouth with his hand.

The nerve.

Red flashed before me. His actions bathed the entire room in blood. His blood. I'd never been so angry.

"I was..." he started speaking, but it was too late for explanations. He missed out.

I bit him.

"Fucking eh, Vonnie," Broadrick said, tearing his hand away from me.

"Don't 'fucking eh' me. You're a bad guy!"

He ground his teeth together. "I am not. I was helping on a mission."

My mouth popped open. "You said you left the military."

He dropped our eye contact. "It's complicated."

"You're a liar!"

It wasn't complicated at all. Broadrick lied.

"Shhh," he tried to cover my mouth again, but I moved away. "All your neighbors will hear you."

The room flashed red again. My neighbors were not the people he needed to fear.

Broadrick stepped back, his back hit the fridge and the cereal boxes on top clattered. Fear flashed in his eyes as if he finally realized he didn't have an escape.

"Well, what are you going to do about all this bullshit?"

And trust me when I said there was a lot of bullshit. Him selling government weapons, lying about leaving the military, and all the other crap he'd pulled regarding me and our relationship. What happened to being the honest, good guy I needed?

His only clue lasted less than a second. The corner of his lips tipped, and then he lunged for me. Broadrick wrapped his arms around my middle and slammed his lips against mine. I should have struggled, but I didn't.

I grabbed on to his shirt and let his tongue slip past my teeth. He was just as strong and tasty as every other time. My toes curled in my shoes and I moaned.

Shit.

No.

My common sense came rolling back in a blur and I bit Broadrick's lip, giving myself time and space to get away.

He had nowhere to go but rested his back against the side of the fridge. "I love when you draw blood," he said and wiped his bottom lip.

I pushed him again, shoving him and causing the cereal boxes to tip precariously before falling back into position.

Violence wasn't normally my thing, but I was just so angry I couldn't handle my fury. I wanted to hit him. To yell. To throw something. Broadrick needed to hurt the way he'd hurt me.

I wrapped my hands around his arms and squeezed, wanting to dig my nails into him, but having different results. As I clutched his biceps, he flexed, and the muscles pushed against my fingers.

Damn it.

He had great arms. Why did he have to have such great arms?

I stared at them, remembering how I used to make him flex while we lay in bed together.

He flexed again, and I shook my head, falling out of his trap.

What an asshole. Making me all swooney for his arms. How dare he?

There was one other area I hadn't inspected since Broadrick turned back up in my life. He smiled at me as I dropped my attention to his chest and my hands found their way under his shirt.

My fingers splayed against his bare chest as Broadrick pulled me closer. He was all defined muscle and body. I missed running my tongue over his pecs. Fuck, I missed so much about Broadrick.

Why did he have to be a liar and a breaker upper?

I tweaked his nipple in anger. I'd feel him up, but I didn't want him to enjoy it too much.

He chuckled and brought me closer, kissing my neck.

"I missed you, Vonnie," he whispered in my ear after tugging on my earlobe with his teeth.

Ugh. His words hurt because he lied. Everything about him was a lie. I laid my head on his shoulder.

"Shhh, no talking," I said to his shoulder, squeezing my eyes tightly.

I didn't want any more reminders of his betrayal. Couldn't we just spend a few minutes pretending everything was perfect? Let me live the lie before it came crashing down around me.

Broadrick's hands found my breasts over my light sweater. His left hand cupped my breast tenderly, but the right pinched my nipple. It was the perfect supposition of Broadrick.

Hard and soft.

Truth and lies.

Love and hate.

Vonnie and Broadrick.

He squeezed harder and kissed my neck again. I moaned and fell into the touch, using his chest to keep me standing.

Like always, he fit. Everything about Broadrick worked so well against me. It always had.

"If you want more, take it off," he whispered in my ear.

"No," I said, but I put a fraction of distance between us and slipped the sweater over my arms, letting it fall to the floor beside us.

Broadrick chuckled, and in annoyance I jerked his shirt off him. So we were even. My days of taking orders were over. I wasn't the same woman he left six months ago.

His neck kisses rose to my jawline and then, before I considered protesting, his tongue was back in my mouth. In one sweeping motion, Broadrick switched our positions and pushed me back against the fridge. The cereal boxes tittered.

I really needed to eat that cereal before it went stale.

"Focus here, Von," Broadrick said, and nipped at my lip.