Bash felt a marked surprise at the sudden constriction around his throat, one of his pursuers having latched onto his sweater. Fortunately, though, momentum carried Bash forward, and twisting, he slipped deftly out of the knit trap.

Just like a thousand times before, he assessed his surroundings as he ran, searching for the perfect spot. He spied a small attached shed that sided on an outdoor staircase. If no one saw him enter the space, no one would suspect he had hidden there. If they saw him go in, though, he was doomed – trapped. Still, he knew his own speed – he calculated it so instinctively that he found himself ensconced in the little spot before any of his pursuers had cleared in his view.

He curled into the smallest ball possible, leaning his back against the shed as he listened to the footsteps pound past and echo off into the distance. As the familiar sensations enveloped him, Sebastian reverted instantly to five years before, the hollow vacuum that sapped his strength and rendered him completely powerless. Maybe if the group had found him, his adrenaline would have kicked in and he would have found the strength to run. He felt no certainty in that fact, though. At the moment, his strength failed him completely, and if someone had told him to move, he would have stared at them as if they had asked him to sprout wings and fly. Managing shallow breaths, he resigned himself to timeless waiting until he could find the strength to get up, whenever that might be.

Staring after the speeding car, Mitch huffed out a breath. Tarin had given an order, and though Tarin wasn’t any kind of major officer who commanded the region, he was pretty high up in Providence. If he had set the order to kill Piper, someone would do it, for initiation or just favor.

Mitch sprinted to his own car. He couldn’t believe he even cared, would try to help the girl. Of course, it wasn’t really about her. It was about who Mitch had let himself become. For all he cared, Piper herself could rot – or not. He just couldn’t be responsible for her death if he could prevent it without too much cost to himself. Besides, maybe he would throw suspicion off himself if he helped her.

As he crossed the bridge, Mitch peered around for the small silver SUV, hardly a conspicuous car in any neighborhood. Once he neared downtown, he caught sight of the car as it passed down a well-lit road lined with restaurants and shops. The driver pulled to the curb and hopped out, moving to the passenger side and pulling the door open. When he tugged Piper to her feet, the girl looked as sick as Mitch would have imagined. The mewling creature of guilt that had recently birthed in Mitch’s mind squeaked a rebuke at him. When he realized that they had left one of their number behind, the sensation grew. He would watch outside to make sure no one had followed them.

+++++++++++

Luke huffed a sigh at the sight of the nearly catatonic Piper as she stared out the windshield of the car. Most likely, she would not stand on her own strength, so he leaned down and released her seatbelt, sliding his arm behind her back and basically lifting her out the door.

“Come on, girl,” he urged, setting her on her feet and leading her through the yawning door into the cozy bar. He found a booth in the corner that faced a wall, and he slid into it, his arm still wrapped tightly around Piper’s waist. “Take a deep breath, Piper. You’re safe.”

Taking strength from his warmth, Piper turned her face to his shirt and forced the last few tears to slow. Luke brushed his hand across her hair comfortingly, and she was able to sit up after only a few minutes.

“I’m okay,” she claimed as she turned back to place her hands on the table.

Luke gestured to the server and ordered drinks. He typed a quick message to assure Molly that her friend was safe, then he informed Isaac that he was on mission, about to proceed. Even though his mind accepted the reality, his chest tightened in stress.

“I don’t drink,” Piper countered reflexively.

“You do tonight,” Luke insisted, pressing the drink into her hand. “This is mild. Sip it and you’ll be fine.”

Obediently, Piper took a sip. She could feel the liquid slide down her throat and pool warmly in her gut, and her panic receded to the back of her mind. She had drunk before, and the beverage didn’t seem overly potent. Instead of panic, though, Piper now sensed an indignation rear its head in her thoughts. “Where is your cousin?” she demanded.

“Don’t worry about Bash,” Luke ordered. “He and I have done this a thousand times. We have a plan, and I should be hearing from him in the next half hour.”

Though her conscience upbraided her, her fortitude had melted in the past hour, and the alcohol eroded her usual stubbornness even farther. When he slid his arm behind her shoulder and leaned into the corner of the booth, she didn’t protest. She did manage to ask the question that his declaration had elicited. “What are you talking about? Why have you and Sebastian done this a thousand times? Who runs from gang thugs a thousand times in a lifetime?”

“Two kids from the barrio,” he leveled without preface.

The shock of the words pulled Piper to a seated position, and she turned to face Luke where he leaned against the booth, his arms resting atop the adjacent sides of the seat. “The barrio?” she wondered dubiously. “You and Sebastian are not from the barrio.”

Luke shrugged, and she thought she read a hint of shame on his face. “Believe what you want. It’s where we came from.”

“It’s just that…Bash plays the role so well, like he’s some blue blood, born into the Narragansett crowd. And you seem…”

“I seem what?” he demanded, and Piper cringed at the seeming slight.

“You seem like someone I would have grown up with, just a middle-class suburbanite or something.”

For the first time since she had known him, Luke’s eyes ceased their incessant shifting, the constant darting around to infuse every possible piece of information available. Instead, a vulnerable insecurity lit the smile he flashed at the room in general, rendering him as charming as Bash, if more cynical.

“I did not grow up like you. Neither did Bash. We didn’t grow up in wealth. We know how to dodge pursuit because we did it our entire lives. It was my job to protect Sebastian, and my sis…” Luke didn’t know if he could use his sister to manipulate someone.

“Your sister?” Piper wondered, and she could read his reluctance. She turned her whole body to him, and she gripped his hand. “Nevermind,” she relented. “It’s okay.”

“No,” he insisted. “I said it. My sister was taken by the gangs, probably sold by a cartel. It’s why a signed up for the Agency. Bash and I got each other out of the neighborhood. I fought hard to resist the higher ups. I wouldn’t have made it, though, if I hadn’t needed to protect Sebastian and Mariana. The gangs made everything sound so intriguing, but the thought of Sebastian or Mariana engaging in the behaviors I had considered? I knew I had to refrain if I wanted them to. It’s why I understand you so well.” With the words, he looked up into her face and read all the compassion he had imagined in her. If he had been a different person – more like Bash, more innocent and idealistic – he would have found her incredibly attractive. Instead, he just used his imagination to accomplish what his job needed him to accomplish. “My role in life is to protect people, like it’s yours. It’s not because I signed up for some random job. It’s because it has always been my job to protect the people I love. Since I failed Mariana, I decided that I had to dedicate the rest of my life to protecting other people in her name.”

Piper bit her lip, pained at his disclosure. He was right – she did relate to his need to protect everyone. But she could not claim his elevated motives. For Piper, the need just sprang from an instinct, not from some right of fate that had uniquely suited her to the cause. She knew the alcohol had softened her usual defensiveness, but staring into the strain of Luke’s thoughts, she couldn’t regret the fact. In a swell of emotion, she lifted her hand to his face.

“You have made something so amazing of yourself,” she asserted, and Luke turned his face to the warmth of her touch.

This is easier than it should be, he complained internally as he mirrored her movement, raising his hand to her cheek. “You don’t know me,” he offered in a moment of honesty. He cared about her, whatever that meant, and he had almost caused her death. The realization open a desperation in him, to hold her in his arms. To know she was safe. He wasn’t even sure that he still needed to seduce her, but he wanted to – at least for a moment. To bring himself some relief.

Surprised at his touch, Piper didn’t register the words. Instead, she closed her eyes. Did she want him to kiss her? Somehow, she knew that she didn’t hold the capacity to make the decision at the moment, but her body ignored her mind. She leaned into him, reaching with her other hand to his face as he pulled her to him. When their lips met, Piper’s eyes popped open in surprise despite the fact that she had intended to kiss him. She closed her eyes again, suddenly desperate to take in his strength, a strength she was sorely lacking at the moment. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she let go of her usual restraint and kissed him harder than she remembered kissing anyone.

Fortunately for her, Luke had meant the words he had said. Luke felt the responsibility to protect everyone – Piper and Bash included. Luke would only go as far as necessity demanded, and no farther. When his fingers knitted themselves into Piper’s hair to press harder into the kiss, his mind kicked in again, and he forced himself to soften the touch. As soon as he could do so without seeming to reject her, he turned his head and caught his breath.

“Piper,” he hummed, his voice barely above a whisper, “You’ve drunk too much. I like you too much to let you do this.”

Piper groaned, irritated at first at his restraint, but as reason seeped slowly into her alcohol-soaked brain, she slid her head down and laid it on his shoulder. “I’m not really sure how you did that,” she laughed, “but I know that tomorrow I will be glad you did.”

“I didn’t want to stop.” That much was true. “But Bash should have called me by now, and the fact that he hasn’t has distracted me.”

Guilt clutched at Piper, and she leaned back into a fully upright position, peering at Luke with doe eyes. “Oh my gosh. What if I’ve killed him? I did this! I went there by myself. I put you in danger.” Tears threatened again, and Luke reached for her face again, just a gentle brush across her cheek in comfort.

“He’s fine, Piper. I know Sebastian. He might be stuck, is all, not dead or injured. Sometimes he freezes.”

“Freezes?”

“He gets away from danger, he hides, and then sometimes his mind locks up.”

When she realized the significance of the words, she quelled internally. “I can’t go back there…”

“Don’t panic yet, Piper,” Luke comforted. “I’m going to call him, and if he’s safe, he should answer even if he’s frozen.”

Luke stood to his feet, clasping her hand reassuringly as he stepped away with his phone raised to his ear. With bated breath, Piper listened for the sound of conversation.

“Hi, Sebastian.”

Piper blew out a breath but sucked it in almost instantaneously.

“I’m not going to leave you a long message. I’m just doing the checkup thing. I’ll try again, then I’ll come look for you.”

Standing to her feet, Piper joined Luke where he paced. After a second call, Luke turned back to her, his brows knit in concern.

“I have a dilemma,” he asserted. “I need to go look for Bash, but you aren’t comfortable going back. I’m not really comfortable taking you back there, either. Would you be okay for fifteen minutes sitting in here – if I ordered you a little food? Will you be okay? The neighborhood where we left Bash is only five minutes away.”

“I’m fine, Luke. I’m much more nervous for Sebastian – stuck in that horrible neighborhood – than I am for myself, sitting in this very obviously nice place. Go get him. I’ll order food and wait for you.”

Luke wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. “I’ll be back. I know Bash is fine, and I know pretty close to where he is – we have a protocol.”

“Go,” she commanded, hugging him back. “I’ll be here.”

Nodding, Luke kissed her on the head before passing through the restaurant and out the front door. Despite her bravado, the alcohol had begun to wear off, and Piper’s memory began to throw flashes of fear across her vision – every brush of air against her skin renewed her shivers. But she couldn’t regret sending Luke after Sebastian. Even if she had wanted to, she had no idea how to help anyone.

When she returned to her seat, a bowl of soup on order, she found herself almost near slumber. At least, until she felt the hand on her shoulder. Without turning, her chest pulsed with terror.

“It’s me,” a familiar voice intoned, and Piper calmed as she turned to find Mitch.

“Mitch! What are you doing here? I was so worried about you!” she exclaimed. “Sebastian wouldn’t let me go get you.”

“He did the right thing,” Mitch insisted.

Blowing out her breath, she offered him the seat across from her. “Why are you here?” she wondered.

“You wouldn’t answer your phone. When I realized I had given you the wrong address, I knew you would run into trouble. Molly wouldn’t answer, and I knew she’d be farther away anyway, up in Jamestown. So, I jumped in my car to come find you. I kept trying you.” Something about his countenance spoke nervousness or anxiety, and Piper couldn’t put her finger on it.

“How did you find me here?”

“I saw you hop into the car with that guy. Where is he, anyway?”

Suddenly nervous, Piper decided she needed to portray more security than she possessed. “He ran to the restroom. He should be back any minute.”

Mitch didn’t know why she felt the need to lie to him, but he guessed it showed some sense on her part. Certainly, he wasn’t trustworthy. “Well, I can give you a ride home,” Mitch offered.

“I have to find my friend,” Piper nodded toward the front of the store. “If I left without telling him, he would have a stroke.”

As she stood to her feet, she noticed Luke pull up outside with Sebastian, and her heart started beating again.

“You’re sure?” Mitch pressed.

“Positive,” Piper replied, clasping Mitch’s hand for a moment before heading to the front door. “Thanks for checking on me.”

Before she could exit, Luke had stood up out of the car and seemed to signal her to stay inside. Noticing the expression on Sebastian’s face, she decided to do just that. Sebastian simmered, a mix of fury and insecurity, and she worried tacitly whether Luke had told his cousin about his earlier exchange with Piper.

True, the kiss had been alcohol-fueled, but she couldn’t exactly claim that she regretted it. From almost the first moment she had met Luke, he had seemed drawn to her, and she had grown attached to him in some way. If she were completely honest, she now stood torn between the two cousins. I see some cousin rivalry in your future, `Molly had predicted. Piper had thought her crazy, but now the men vied at least in Piper’s mind.

When she saw Bash, though, the competition faded between them. She really liked Luke, even cared about him, but her heart throbbed with concern for Sebastian, as if she needed to help him or her own heart would explode. It was why she had pushed him so far away. Certainly, Luke seemed safer, despite his broody, questionable persona. She could hold Luke at arm’s length even when she was kissing him with abandon. When she had stood in the hall with Sebastian? Even before she kissed him, she worried that she would lose herself.

She needed Molly! The whole “playing the field” vibe did not lie well in Piper’s chest, and she couldn’t casually play with people she cared about. Molly would know how much risk Piper had laid on herself and everyone around her.

When her eyes met Luke’s, she noticed the quick pulse of his glance to take in Mitch, and she bit her lip guiltily. Of course, Mitch was nothing to her beyond a source for the Prados, but Luke wouldn’t know that. And whether Luke were irritated for himself or for his cousin, the weight of it pressed down on Piper.

++++++++++

From the corner seat of the bar, Isaac stared at all the players in his little case. The newcomer confused him – Piper had called him “Mitch.” Isaac would want to check him out for sure.

On the bright side, Luke had done everything Isaac had asked. Not only had he found and corralled Piper Hayes, he had successfully seduced her – even left her disoriented and confused, both positive conditions for manipulation purposes. Isaac couldn’t wait to get her in his custody.