The kid type and a good dad. She was already screwing with his brain. He tapped his fingers on his thigh. What he wanted, what he was good at, was all things Titan, which was very much like Sugar's push to make GUNS her world. But she was making room for Asal. Was she making room for him, too?

Clara ran over to him and held up her hand. High five. He gave her hand a tap, and she giggled, running off at top toddler speed. Yeah, I could handle kids. I'm good with them. They certainly weren't an easy gig. But so what? That didn't give him permission to start questioning himself. The trouble was Sugar. Getting wrapped up in her equated to complications.

Winters's dog came out of nowhere, and Clara squealed, breaking his concentration. He had no time to think about anything other than what was right in front of his nose.

Sugar was armed and had the start of a plan. She would make up the rest along the way. The weight of the gun balanced perfectly in her hand. Her touch warmed its cold metal. Measuring every step, ensuring each was the quietest one possible, she inched closer to the mark.

The room was dark. The air conditioner hummed. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. God, she loved a good game. Tonight's might be the best. Ever.

She crept closer, scaled the bed, then straddled the snoring man. The move was pure power.

She nuzzled the business end of the gun against his lips. The snoring stuttered, then stopped. He blinked. Brain waves and synapses fired. His body stiffened.

"Wakey, wakey, you sly motherfucker." She dragged the barrel over his teeth, watching his face in the dim light coming through the window. "Kip Pearson, we meet again."

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"That's right. Think very carefully before you speak." Rage and vengeance coursed through her blood.

Scratchy-throated, he murmured, "If you're going to kill me, do it."

"Nah, I'm here for two reasons. First, where's Asal? Second, you'll deliver my message."

He laughed into the barrel. "Not a chance."

She reared back and pistol-whipped him. Kip gave a satisfying sound of pain. Blood trickled out a nostril. "I have no problem killing you, Kip. Like you had no problem killing me. But you serve a greater purpose. For the time being." His torso shifted under her, and Sugar pulled the slide on the gun, then shoved the barrel under his chin. "Careful. I'm easy to underestimate, apparently. One slip of the finger, and well, you can guess."

"You'll kill me anyway."

"I won't." She tapped the gun against the soft fleshy spot under his jaw. "I told you. I have a message you need to deliver. Be a good sport, Kippo. Tell mama where her girl's at."

"Hell, whatever. Doesn't matter." The wheels were turning behind his dimly lit face. "He's expecting you anyway. Buck Baer has a place outside Charlottesville. In the mountains. The kid's there. That's all I know."

She pushed the gun into his throat. "Do you know how much will power it takes to not pull this trigger? Give me a reason not to pull the trigger."

A light sweat broke out across Kip's forehead. "There's more than one kid. Consider it a peace offering." He licked his lips nervously. "Come on, Sugar. You know it was just business in Afghanistan. Nothing personal. There's another kid or two with Buck. That kind of intel's worth giving me a break."

Another kid or two? Why would GSI have children? "Not sure I believe you, but it's a start."

"Like I said, he's expecting you. With or without Titan. Good luck."

"I don't need luck, Kip." She pulled a pair of handcuffs from her waist and slapped his hands together. "I just needed you to know that I could get in here and that we're not finished."

"Oh, come on."

"Someone'll come looking for you, I'm sure." She slid off the bed, grabbed a second set of cuffs, and shackled his ankles to the bedpost. "You'll be okay, until you aren't. Don't forget to tell Buck Baer he fucked with the wrong gal. I'm gunnin' for him."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

Her hands tight around the leather steering wheel, Sugar slid her car into her driveway, with the radio blaring. Her high beams caught a mass of man, all anger and crossed arms, standing in her way.

Shaking her head, she put the car in park and pocketed the keys. Why am I surprised? Why wouldn't Jared be waiting for me? It was the middle of the night, and he hadn't been there when she'd left. Sugar sighed and climbed from the driver's seat. Slowly, for good measure. Just to make her favorite brooder wait.

"Fancy seeing you." Her boots crunched in the silent night as she walked past him toward her front door. A growl rumbled behind her. She guessed he wasn't in the mood for the old blow off. "I'd invite you in, but it's late. I'm tired." And I don't want to play twenty questions. She had too much research to do to find Buck's place. She was sure she would need a couple of hours to drive there. Never one to wait for the fight, she thought it seemed like a decent idea to bring the fight to Buck. She could take Asal and make sure he knew she was in the mood to stay alive.

"Where have you been?"

The coldness in his voice would've stopped a lesser woman. "Running errands."

"Sugar-"

"Jared." She turned, smirking beside her front door. His face was pinched tight. "Gotta get my beauty sleep. I promised we'd talk about Buck tomorrow after he's contacted you."

He took a step forward. Enraged energy poured into the night. "I can tell when you're lying."

"But I'm not. We'll talk about Buck tomorrow. I swear." She made a cross over her heart, then blew him a kiss.

"You're up to something."

Well, hello, Captain Obvious. What gave it away? The one foot in the door, the other kicking away a man who makes my heart pound double-time? Good job, J-dawg. "Always am. If you want any future relationship between us, that's a mantra you should come to terms with, real quick."

He rubbed his hands together and unsuccessfully tried for an unaffected look. He relaxed his shoulders, and removed the upset snarl across his face.

Such a plotter. A negotiator.

"Two heads are better than one." He took another step forward.

Oh, bullshit. He only wanted to know what she'd been up to, but it was true enough-two of them working on a Buck plan was better than her working alone. Mr. Master of Everything was good at tactics and strategies. Basically, all she had was: load up on explosives, find Buck, then go home with Asal. Her plan had holes.

"I'm good." She bit the inside of her lip. Really, that should've been: "I'm stubborn."

He took a step forward. At that rate, he would have inched inside her door sometime just before dawn. "Then let me in. We'll sleep on it."

Even when he was all motives and persuasion, he made her throat constrict and her blood pound in her neck. The idea of him in her private domain gave her shivers. "I don't think you have any intention of sleeping."

"You don't know that." He took another step forward in his kill-me-slowly ambush.

Exhaustion and the start of self-doubt screwed with her the longer she remained outside. Tucking her arms across her chest, she sucked in a slow breath and prayed he didn't notice her internal battles. "I know you better than you think, Jared. I know that you're worried about me. I do crazy shit without thinking. I get it." She inhaled another cold breath to strengthen her assessment. "I know you're pissed that I'm out in the middle of the night."

His demeanor shifted. A knowing look creased his brow, and his eyes narrowed like he'd sighted his target. "I know you smell like gunpowder."

Unconsciously, she stepped back. The back of her heel hit the porch lip. He had her cornered. Jared was good. But so was she. "Back off. I always smell like gunpowder. Hazards of being a gunsmith."

"You're an ATF agent. GUNS was your cover."

"I was an ATF agent." Sugar unlocked the door, readying to give him a final boot. "GUNS was a bonus, and it'll be around for a long time. Can't say I care about losing my badge. Can we continue this discussion tomorrow? I've got a lot-" Two hundred pounds of muscle pushed past her. "Well come on in, asshole."

He walked down the hall, eyeing her place. "Nice digs. Different feel than GUNS."

Did I expect anything different? Her head dropped back, staring at the ceiling. "Since you weren't invited-"

"Show me around, or I'll give myself the tour."

"You can't stay long."

"Got something to do tonight, baby cakes?"

Frustration poured into her fists, and her nails dug into her palms. "Maybe I do. So if you wouldn't mind. Let's wrap this up and say our goodnights."

He spun to stare at her, then kept walking. "Not used to a woman kicking me out."

"Get used to me." She tossed her purse on a table. "Or get over me. Two easy options."

He flipped on a light, then another. "I'm going to ask you one more time. Where were you?"

"Time for you to go." She kicked off her boots and wiggled her toes on the cold floor.

"You went looking for Asal?" He tilted his head, and his eyes shone in the darkness as he studied her.

"Looking for Asal? Not quite. So, if that's all, you can go anytime now. I'm saying my goodbyes and goodnights. Not sure I can paint a better picture. Maybe I need a Titan map and a mission objective?"

"You'll go out again." He folded his arms across his distractingly broad chest. "Soon as I'm gone."

"Maybe." That wasn't a lie. He didn't need all the details. "If you don't mind, I'll check in with you tomorrow."

"No go, Lilly Chase." He plopped onto the couch. "You have three choices. First, you go to sleep. Most reasonable of the choices. I'll assume you'll ignore this one. Second, we forget it all and head to your bedroom. You'll nix that plan, too, but there's my vote. And third, you tell me what you did, what you're doing, and we'll hash something out together. I hate lone ranger shit, so cut it."

Fine. He wants to know. Let him handle it like a big boy. "I cuffed Kip Pearson to his bed. He told me where Asal and Buck are."

A wave of shock crossed Jared's face. She could've bet on that reaction, and it made her smile. Surprising him was fun.

Jared scrubbed his hands over his face. "Goddamn, woman." He blew out a long breath. "Fuck me."

She tapped her bare foot on the ground. "I chose option three. Are you going to use that giant Titan brain of yours and concoct a plan for me, or should I slip out after fucking you senseless?"

A low rumble of a laugh erupted, and he rubbed his temples. "Let's combine the best of those suggestions."

The foot tapping stopped. The nails-into-palms digging ceased, and she slammed her hands to her hips. "I'm serious, Jared. I'm after my girl-"

"And GSI's after mine!" He strode forward. "What are you going to do? Threaten Baer? Tell him to back off?"

She shrugged, trying to ignore his possessive outburst. "Not if you come up with something better."

"You're killing me." He cracked his knuckles, then his neck. "How about a compromise? Can you handle that?"

His expression wasn't as much annoyed as...

What the shit is he feeling over there? Concern? "Maybe." She followed him farther into her house and ignored the tingle that she got from the idea that he cared.

"Maybe doesn't work. Either yes or no. Otherwise, you'll be tied to the bed if I don't think you'll behave. Let's try again. Are you capable of compromise?"

"If that's what it takes to get tied to my bed..."

"Sugar," he growled.

She was exhausted and losing steam quickly. And if there was a chance he could come up with a plan better than her non-existent one... "Explain the terms of a compromise, then I'll consider."

"Sleep on your attack-dog approach. We'll catch some z's and head in before Baer contacts us. You and I will bring the fight to him. Just let me figure out the logistics, get the team ready, and gather your back-up."

"I dunno..." She needed him, and she hated needing anyone. Maybe that was the problem.

"Look, Sugar. You've got me by the gut strings. I'll protect you, whether you like it or not. Let me do my job. Stand down for a goddamn minute, and then you'll have one of those happily-ever-after endings. You'll get the kid. No bull's-eye on your head. Every day, you can run GUNS. Whatever your dreams about the future are, you'll have it if we play by my rules."

He began checking her windows and investigating her security measures without waiting for an answer, looking confident in her response. A tremor of rejection prickled up her arms, tightening in her throat. He'd made no mention of himself in the future. But what had she expected? Outwardly, she tried to make everything about sex, constantly kicking him out or evading him.

As if she could ball up and choke off any emotion, Sugar reflexively threw her arms across her chest again. "Fine."

He stopped and turned. "Now what's wrong?"

Great question. Her waffling emotions had to be exhaustion. Feelings like those shouldn't crop up in her thinking. "Tired. Fine. You win." She tried to act relaxed and put on a show of being reasonable. "Sleep, then kill."

Jared laughed. "Sleep, then kill? Something like that." He paced to her, then dragged her toward the couch. "Sugar, wasn't that long ago a woman joined my team, and I quickly learned that the word fine means anything but."

"Wise counsel you've got from Nicola."

"Wanna tell me-"

"What's the deal with you and Buck? GSI's personal." She pushed his chest, knocking him easily back onto the couch as if that'd been his plan. "It's not just me."

"Old history."

"All history is old." She stood awkwardly above him as he leaned back, relaxed. All her muscles were tight. Her mind was anxious, bouncing from one thought to the next.

Jared looked positively comfy, sprawled on her couch like he was about to watch a game. "Agree to a compromise, then I'll answer your questions."

"That's blackmail."

"More like coercion." He tapped the cushion next to him on the couch, inviting her to sit. If she sat, her guard would be gone. Maybe that would be good. Clearing his throat, he brought her back to the moment. "Which neither of us has a problem with, Sugar. Agree or not?"

She took a deep breath, momentarily sidelining her night's plans. He was right. "Fine, yes. I agree. Coerce away."