Before now, I was chalking my suspicion up to paranoia, but knowing my girlfriend had come to the same conclusion made it feel like a much bigger threat. I’d have to be more careful around her family from now on. And I definitely needed to do whatever was necessary to stay on Nico’s good side.

I smoothed Aly’s hair back from her face, wrapping my fingers behind her neck so I could drag her closer. She came willingly, lips parting like she was subconsciously preparing for a kiss.

I dipped down and pressed my forehead against hers, feeling coldness steel up my spine as I remembered how afraid I’d been when she said she was staying behind. “You should have gone with them, even if it put me at risk.”

Her eyes flashed with stubbornness, and she tried to pull away, but I tightened my grip and held her where she was. The breath she released was ragged, and I didn’t miss the fact that even though she looked pissed, her nipples had tightened.

“That isn’t how this works,” she said. “You don’t get to sacrifice yourself for me. This isn’t the medieval times, and I’m not some damsel in distress.”

“The whole point of you staying in the van was so there was no sign of you at the house, Aly.”

“I know that,” she said.

“What if a neighbor saw you? What if a piece of your hair fell out, and the cops find it?”

Fast as lighting, she tipped forward and turned, breaking my grip on her. “My hair was in a braid,” she said, stepping as far back as the shower would allow. “And the closest I got to the house was when I helped you off the patio floor. The likelihood of them finding any sign of me is much lower than them finding some sign of you.”

I shook my head, closing the distance between us. “My hair was covered, and I had gloves on.”

“You might have left behind fabric strands.”

I tilted her chin up to make it easier to meet her eyes. “Fiber analysis is about as reliable as blood splatter these days, and all our clothes were generic polyester for a reason. Any fibers left behind could have come from anything.”

She huffed out a breath. “Fine. I’m sorry I broke my word to you, but I’m not sorry I stayed behind.”

I spun her around, wrapping my arms over her shoulders so I could lean down and speak my next words directly into her ear. “I wasn’t trying to sacrifice myself for you, and the last thing I think you are is a damsel in distress. I just want to keep you safe. And I’m sorry if I’m overbearing about it, but I care about you, Aly. I’m sure Tyler warned you that I tend to go overboard when it comes to the people I care about.”

“He might have mentioned it.”

Noticing that her skin was starting to pebble, I pulled her back beneath the water with me. “I guess we’re at an impasse then. We’ll both do anything to keep each other safe, even if that means pissing the other one off.”

She gripped my forearms and dropped a kiss onto the nearest one. “I’d rather have you care too much than too little.”

I squeezed her tight. “Same.”

We stayed like that for a few moments, the water running over us and heating our night-chilled skin until I felt like the warmth had finally soaked all the way to my bones, chasing away the last of the cold.

Aly hadn’t cleaned herself off yet, so I pulled my arms free and snagged the soap from its tray. I’d take any excuse to touch her, make her feel good, so I took my time rubbing it into her back, making it as much about loosening up her stiff muscles as it was about getting clean. The suds trailed down her skin, and I watched them slip all the way to her perfect ass.

My cock stirred to life as the sight of my naked girlfriend finally drove the lingering darkness away. We’d made it out. We were okay. We were safe. I didn’t know how long it would last, so I planned to make the most of whatever time we had, whether that be weeks or years or the rest of our lives.

I stroked the soap back up, my free hand trailing after it, following a long line of muscle.

Aly let out a soft moan and tipped her head forward. “That feels amazing.”

“Good,” I said, my voice rougher than I intended.

She turned toward me, lips parted as her gaze started to dip from mine to my straining cock. It jerked to a stop halfway there, landing on my side. “Okay, I cannot ignore your ribs any longer.”

The next five minutes consisted of us chronicling our injuries. After some painful poking and prodding, Aly finally agreed that my ribs probably weren’t cracked, just bruised. My shoulder and shins were in the same shape, and Aly, in full nurse mode, said I’d have to ice everything once we got out of the shower, which made me want to delay that moment as long as possible. The thought of pressing anything cold to my skin after how cold I’d been earlier was abhorrent, but from the stubborn look on Aly’s face, if I tried to argue with her again, I would lose.

Luckily, none of the scratches on our faces or necks from all the rogue tree branches were deep or long enough to require stitches. They were unsightly, though, and it made me glad for another excuse to stay locked up in Aly’s house for the next two weeks while we healed.

She stepped back after looking over the last of my scrapes, worrying her lower lip between her teeth in the way that drove me crazy. “Do you feel like we got off too easy?”

“Too easy? No,” I said, indicating my ribs. “But part of me is still waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

She frowned and started soaping herself up. I did my best to maintain eye contact, but goddamn it, her tits were right there, dripping with suds, and I could already feel them filling my hands, warm and slick and sensitive to my every caress.

“Maybe it’s because we didn’t handle it ourselves,” she said, unaware of my plummeting thoughts. “At least, that’s it for me. I’m used to being in control all the time. The fact that I’m just supposed to trust an estranged uncle and cousins after they said they did their part isn’t sitting well with me. I want to know where the body is, who they’re going to sell Brad’s car parts to, exactly how they plan to trick the cops into thinking he’s fled to Canada.”

“Maybe you can butter Nico up with wine at family dinner and ask him then.”

She nodded. “It’s not a terrible idea. I really want to know how Junior had all those details about the investigation already.”

“Dirty cops,” I said. It was the most logical answer.

Her expression turned contemplative. “That’s what I was thinking, too.”

Unable to help myself, I reached out and stroked my hand over her shoulder. “As much as I hate the idea of dirty cops, having someone on the inside could benefit us. If they continue leaking the investigation to Junior, we’ll know if they find anything pointing to your family or us. Depending on how dirty they are, they might even hide evidence.”

Aly grimaced. “I don’t like benefiting from this kind of thing. It feels too close to what Brad was doing.”

I squeezed her shoulder. “Would you rather go to jail?”

“No,” she said. “I just don’t like it, and yes, I realize that probably makes me a hypocrite.”

I grinned. “Huge hypocrite.”

She slapped my hand away.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. “But a hot one.”

Her response came out muffled because of the way I’d smooshed her face into my chest.

“I’m going to assume you just called me hot, too.”

She reached behind me and pinched my butt hard enough to make me jerk forward, which pinned my dick between our slick skin. I expected her to pull away and say something snarky, but she writhed against me instead. My need for her returned in a rush, all other thoughts drowned out by the memory of how good it felt to shove my cock inside her tight, wet pussy.

“Aly,” I said, stepping away from her. “I want you so bad right now, but if I don’t eat something soon, I’m going to pass out.”