The Hit (Team Zulu 1)

“Shep?”

“Yeah?”

She looked up at me from under long lashes. “Will you tell me your real name?”

She already knew enough to report me to the authorities after I let her go, but I didn’t think she would. Plus, I sensed this was important to her. A leap of faith and something that could strengthen our mutual trust.

“Elias Shepherd. Asshole extraordinaire, kidnapper, hitman, and fucked-up knight in shining armor at your service.” I raised the brim of my cap and gave a nod in her direction.

Cam chuckled and shook her head.

I wasn’t used to it, but I enjoyed making her smile. Perhaps it was because she’d been having a shitty time, or maybe it was because she looked even more beautiful when her eyes lit up. Either way, I wanted to see it more and be the one responsible for putting it there. I was a goddamn fool.

“Thank you, Elias,” she said with a tilt of her head and a cheeky grin.

“My dad called me Elias. People who don’t know me call me a bunch of different names. Everyone else calls me Shep.”

She nodded once, a smile still on her face. “All right. Shep it is.”

Something tightened in my chest while I loaded the last pieces of timber into the trailer and tied the chainsaw to the rear rack. Cam wiggled so she faced forward, straddling the seat of the bike as I moved to sit in front of her.

Her hands went around my waist without me forcing them there, so I took that as my cue to start the engine and head home.

We made a slow descent to the cabin. I told myself it was to make sure the logs didn’t fall out of the trailer. The truth was that I wanted to have Cam like that for as long as possible—holding on tight, thighs spread around me, and hitting every bump along the way.