They were too busy working on the fire.
His jaw ached, and he realized that he’d been clenching his teeth. Gunner shouldn’t have been there. He’d watched Gunner drive away before. Had followed Gunner out there, then waited until he had left.
It had been easy enough to sneak into Sydney’s house. She’d been in the shower. She hadn’t even heard him.
Not when he’d poured the gasoline all over the ground floor of her home.
Not when he’d lit the matches and started that blaze.
He’d escaped, running to his shelter in the woods to watch the flames, but then he’d seen Gunner running into the house.
Always playing the hero.
Always screwing up his plans.
So Sydney was safe now. Or so she thought. But this wasn’t the end. Not even close.
He watched them. Her and Gunner. Their bodies brushed against each other as Gunner led Sydney around the truck and opened the passenger door for her.
Where would Gunner take her? Back to his place?
Bastard.
But he was going to make Gunner pay. By hurting Sydney, he’d be striking blows against Gunner.
He knew Gunner’s weakness, and he was ready to use that weakness against him.
He slipped deeper into the woods. He would attack again, and the next time Gunner wouldn’t be in time to ride to the rescue.
* * *
“DON’T WORRY,” GUNNER told Sydney as he unlocked the door to his third-floor condo. “The EOD will find out what happened at your place.”
She brushed by him as she headed inside. She was still wearing just her shorts, T-shirt and sneakers. There was ash on he
r cheek. Her hair was tousled. Her eyes were huge.
She was so beautiful that he ached.
Gunner squared his shoulders, then shut and bolted the door. “You’ll be safe here. I promise.”
“Are any of us ever really safe?” The quiet question caught him off guard. “You know as well as I do that this world is a very dangerous place.” She turned away from him and paced toward the large glass window that overlooked D.C. “Safety is what we make of it.”
He stared at her back, at a loss. He knew he’d do anything possible to keep Sydney safe, but—
“Why did you come back?”
He took a cautious step toward her. “Because there was more to say between us.”
“More?” She wasn’t looking at him. “Yes, you’re right, there is more.” Then she turned to face him. “There’s something that I need to tell you.”
He braced himself. There’s something that I need to tell you...usually didn’t foreshadow anything good.
What was she going to say? He hoped she hadn’t changed her mind and decided to go back to Baton Rouge. He knew Mercer had been pressuring her to remain in the area.
Gunner needed to stay close and keep an eye on Slade, but he couldn’t just let Sydney go off on her own when someone as threatening her.
“I’m pregnant.”