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the SUV toward the rear. She controlled her breathing and worked hard to look unconscious.
    The back door opened. Fresh air, tainted with exhaust, flowed over her. Andi bristled. Someone was watching them. KT shoved her into the background.
    “Good. She’s still out.” The hard tone of satisfaction in Massey’s voice held no trace of the warmth he’d shown in the foyer of her apartment building. “I’ll go ahead and finalize things with Parker and the client. You get her packed up for transport.”
    “Right.” Peyton’s voice sounded flat and bored.
    Footsteps moved away from the car. Hands gripped her ankles and pulled her toward the bumper.
    “He’s gone,” Peyton said, his voice just above a whisper. “Are you with me?”
    KT opened her eyes. Peyton stood beneath the lifted rear door. Harsh light coming through the windshield of the truck sharpened the angles of his face and darkened his eyes to black. A shiver slid up her back and her hands flexed against the plastic ties.
    Had she made a mistake? Had she allowed Andi’s instinct and her own frustration about Aunt Patricia’s disappearance to override her own reason? Yes, he was Protector-trained, but he was working with a Collector. All she had was his word.
    He’s Alpha, Andi insisted. Trust.
    “The team’s here, waiting on my signal.” He leaned over and pulled her closer to the bumper of the SUV, concern mixed with strain in his expression. “You good?”
    She took a deep breath and caught the scent of weres; a lot of weres. Her pulse calmed and Andi’s “told you so” huff melted the last of KT’s momentary panic.
    “Yep.” She jerked her chin in the direction Massey had gone and strove for a light tone above the pounding of her heartbeat. “Man, he sounded cold. I really thought he and I shared a moment back at the apartment.”
    Peyton’s mouth curved in response, softening his face and further soothing her. “Not any more. He really holds that whack with your laptop against you.” His smile flattened out. “I barely managed to keep him from giving you a taste of your own medicine while you were out.”
    “I guess we won’t be picking out china patterns,” KT said. She tried not to imagine what might have happened.
    Peyton rolled her onto one side. When he bent over her, she noticed, again, his scent of jaguar and male. Andi purred and KT squashed that down hard, again. She wouldn’t fall into that trap again.
    Peyton grasped the plastic tie around her wrist. She felt something metallic touch her skin. Snick . “I’m going to cut through the ties just enough so you can break them if you need to. But leave them in place until we’ve got things under control in there.” Snick. “Now, don’t exert any more pressure on them than you have to and they should hold.”
    He rolled her onto her back and helped her up into a sitting position. Taking hold of her shoulders, he bent down to stare into her eyes, his expression stern. “Remember, don’t move until we’ve got them under control.”
    KT tensed, uncomfortable beneath the restriction of his hands or the authority of his voice. However, he was the professional. “Right.”
    He glared at her. “I’m serious. It could get dicey in there and I, the team doesn’t need any distractions.”
    Speaking of distractions, KT found herself way too aware of his hands cupped over her shoulders, fingers splayed over her shoulder blades; his thumbs just brushed her collarbone. The heat of his palms, were-warm, soaked through her shirt and into her skin. Startled, KT took another deep breath, and his scent rushed to her head.
    Without thinking, her gaze dropped to his mouth as she relaxed beneath his hands. When his lips tightened, she imagined moving forward to test those lips against hers. Startled, she blinked and looked away, but not before she saw the pulse in his neck quicken to match her own. He let her go and straightened up.
    Not wanting to think about what that might mean, she