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wasn’t his fault. Not directly, anyway. But he’d always known his work with Eclipse might catch up with him one day. He’d known it could place the people he cared about at risk. It was one of the reasons he avoided close relationships.
    But those dangers hadn’t been enough to keep him from his work. It sure as hell hadn’t been enough to keep him from getting involved with Lily.
    Lowering himself onto the cot next to hers, he put his elbows on his knees and rubbed at the ache behind his eyes. “What a mess,” he muttered.
    Remembering the cell phone he’d commandeered from the Asian man, he pulled it from his pocket and again dialed his half brother, Shane Peters. When it went to voice mail, he left another message and dialed Ty’s number. Another layer of uneasiness washed over him when Ty didn’t answer. It was unusual for either man not to answer. What the hell was going on?
    Chase forced his mind back to the ambush in the limo and tried to think of who might be responsible and why. A frightening number of faces and names came to mind. Vicious men he’d played a role in bringing to justice. Had one of them targeted Lily in the name of revenge? If so, who had the resources for such a well-orchestrated attack?
    Chase racked his brain, but time and time again he found his eyes straying to the woman a few feet away. In the shimmering yellow light of the battery-powered lantern, her face looked angelic. She lay curled on her side with both hands tucked beneath her pillow. Her knees were drawn up slightly. She was so beautiful it hurt just to look at her. The pain twisted like a dull knife between his ribs.
    He could just make out the soft curves of her full breasts and the bulge of her belly. The reality that she was pregnant hit him like a sledgehammer. He couldn’t get that out of his mind. He still couldn’t quite believe it.
    “Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered.
    But Chase knew why. She’d never approved of his penchant for risk taking, the secret work that took him away and sent him home battered and bruised. In the past he’d always written off her lack of support as a lack of understanding, or an over-reaction based on emotion. Now that he’d brought danger into her life, he knew he’d been wrong. He’d placed her baby— his baby—in jeopardy. The only question that remained was how he was going to keep them safe and make things right.
    Chase didn’t have a clue.
    He’d been half in love with Lily Garrett from the moment he’d laid eyes on her three years ago. She was everything he was not, his polar opposite in every way. While he liked being on the road, bouncing from one city to another, one foreign country to the next, she tended to be a homebody. She preferred routine and familiarity. He thrived on danger and living life by the seat of his pants. She had a level head. He was as reckless as a storm-tossed sea.
    He’d always believed those contrasts were one of the reasons they’d been drawn to each other with such power and passion. While that was true in many ways, those stark differences were also what had ultimately torn them apart. The truth of that hurt more than he wanted to admit.
    Raised in a series of foster homes since the age of ten, Chase had never known the familiarity and comfort of family. The series of families who’d raised him had been virtual strangers—and they’d treated him as such. He’d grown up alone with a chip on his shoulder and no close ties. Then he met Lily and for the first time in his life he knew what it was like to connect with another human being.
    He met her when a mission left him with a broken arm. His brother had taken him to the New England Medical Center emergency room. While Chase sat on the gurney, Lily walked in and began treating him. He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her. He liked to laugh about it now, but he’d always secretly thought that was the night he’d fallen in love with her.
    It took six tries in the