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“Alright, Rambo. Scar face,” I drawled. “Let’s go to our separate corners.”

All the men in the room looked at me.

“What?” I asked Drew, who happened to have the largest frown on his face.

“Don’t you have any self-preservation?” Drew asked softly. “You’re in a room full of some dangerous men. I’m pretty sure any of them could kill you in about fifteen different ways with just their hands. Have some respect.”

I laughed in his face.

“There’s a difference,” I informed him. “If you weren’t here, I wouldn’t be half as outgoing and would probably still be waiting in the car. You’ll protect me, won’t you?”

I meant it as a joke, but he obviously took it more seriously than that.

“I’d try, baby. I’d likely get killed, but I sure as fuck would try,” he promised, whispering into my ear so only I could hear.

The other men in the room found it humorous, though.

From that moment on, however, I was distracted.

He’d give his life to protect me?

Did that mean I’d do the same?

The longer I thought about it, the more I realized that what had started out as a fun little tryst to pass the time had turned into something much stronger and deeper than anything I’d ever felt before in my life.

What I had with Danny didn’t hold a candle to what I felt for Drew.

There was just no comparison.

“So the man that stole the girl…” Sam started. “How’d you get him?”

Raphael’s mouth tightened. “I’ve been working a case for months. A child sex trafficking ring that’s taken me through fifteen states and thirty different cities.”

“And?” Scar Face barked.

“And,” Raphael drawled. “I’ve been here for a while. Monitoring and regrouping. Using the city as a jumping off point to take me to the next drop when I had a call come in—presumably from someone you contacted the moment the kidnapping happened—telling me to be on the lookout. One of my contacts heard the word that I was searching for a girl, and then hooked me up with Darius who thought I was going to be able to help him unload the girl.”

“Darius being the guy you shot in the head?” Scar Face guessed.

Raphael nodded. “The one and the same.”

“Why didn’t you kill the bastard?” Sam muttered.

“Dead bodies don’t talk.” Raphael said calmly.

A full body shiver took me over at the coldness that seeped into his voice.

“Well, for once we’ll agree on something.” Scar Face muttered. “But after what Sam got out of him today, I don’t think we’ll need to worry about any more kidnapping or sex trafficking coming through the city of Kilgore. Jack uncovered three more men that you’d yet to find, and is currently sending the info we were able to procure to your office as we speak.”

Raphael’s grin was mutinous.

“Excellent.”

I had the feeling that everything was excellent. Just not for the men that ever planned on kidnapping young children ever again.

There was not a single doubt in my mind that these men standing around me would hunt down each and every man that they deemed responsible for the incident, and enjoy doling out punishment.

“You okay?” Drew whispered.