Page 80 of Even if It Hurts

“How are you so silent?” I asked before ever looking up at where Asher was rounding the couch.

“Because I’m better than Jack Ryan?” When my eyes rolled, a hushed, hoarse laugh left him. “Military training.”

“I don’t think they teach people to walk without making a sound in the military.”

“Special Forces teams are different.”

My eyebrows lifted as I glanced from him over to where Cameron had been standing, only to find the space empty just as thatdingsounded. “What kind of things did you do?”

“That’s not something any of us talk about,” he said as he sank to the couch just past my feet, then listed his head as he added, “But nearly everyone who works for me now was on my team in the military. We only have one new member.”

I studied him as I put what he’d just told me and what I’d seen him do together. “And is that why you still haveJack Ryanmoments?”

Something dark passed over his face. “No.”

I was sure he was going to leave it at that, as he so often did, but he surprised me by leaning forward to rest his arms on his legs, his mouth parting as if he wasn’t sure where to begin.

“I told you, it’d be safer if you hated me. A big part of me will probably always think that and maybe even try to force that because we’ve made a lot of bad people angry over the years.”

“Bad like from the coffee shop?”

A breath of a laugh left him. “Lainey, the guys from that day...they’re mafia.”

I wasn’t sure my stomach had ever dropped as fast as it did in that moment.

The instant, sickening feeling it created mixed with my intense denial and left me on a perilous tipping point of getting sick right then and there or hysterically laughing because—just,no.

Miraculously, I ended up just sitting still as stone as Asher continued.

“You know we’re a private security company. The majority of what we do is for extremely high-profile clients, which has its own threats, but those don’t blow back onto us once we’ve taken care of them. However, from time to time, we help other people out of dangerous situations, and sometimes those threats do come back to us. And Rush and I had already been on the mafia’s radar since before we ever got out of the military because of a mistake.”

A frantic laugh burst from me. “How do you mistakenly get put on the mafia’s radar, Asher?”

He lifted his hands before letting them fall between his knees. “Came back from a deployment and found Wyatt totally strung out. And I just...I lost it on his dealer because I knew I wasn’t getting through to my brother, and I had to take it out on someone. Found out a few hours later what family he belonged to.”

I stared at Asher in horror as I quickly put together the few pieces he wasn’t saying out loud.

He nodded solemnly as if he’d expected my reaction and had worried over it. “We helped a mafia wife escape recently, and even though they don’t know it was us, they have their suspicions because it isn’t the first time we’ve done it.” He gestured to me before letting his hands fall again. “We’ve been watching the husband, but someone tried getting into my company’s systems today. I got the alerts about it when Kaia and I were almost back here. Could be anyone, but...”

“You think it’s them.”

An affirming grunt rolled up his throat.

I sat there, trying to digest everything he’d just told me while knowing it was only the beginning of what we had to talk about, before asking, “If you’ve been on their radar for so long and had already known they might be looking to retaliate, why do you always leave Kaia and me here alone?”

“Because they shouldn’t be able to find me here,” he explained as he sat back against the couch. “I have this place rented out under a name that has nothing to do with me or my company.”

“But the managers here know your name,” I said, the words coming out slow and unsure as I tried figuring out how that worked.

“I don’t like lying,” he said in way of answering, then tilted his head just slightly. “We have the staff flagged so we’ll know if they ever link up with someone they shouldn’t, and their employment contracts have them under heavy NDAs anyway.”

“But?” I prompted when his eyes took on a faraway look.

“But the mafia can find anyone anywhere, and that knowledge makes all of this hard.”

“Like thinking you’re what’s best for Kaia?”

His eyes bored into mine, saying so many things that had nothing to do with Kaia before he agreed, “Among other things.”

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