But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. – the Apostle Matthew

I knew all I had to do was apply pressure in the right direction. – Drew to Amélie

Jase smiled at the cold night. As the evening had passed, a front had pushed through and the temperature had dropped ten degrees in a half an hour. For the last week, a goodnight kiss in Nessa's doorway had set the course for his nights, and Jase had slept soundly, still undisturbed by his recurrent nightmare. No eerie eyes, no Belizean sea, and no hint of Felicity Miller. Somehow his very genuine affection for Nessa had eradicated his shallow obsession with Felicity.

Though he couldn't know for sure, Jase guessed that he would never dream of the tropical torment again. The eyes still bothered him. Even from the first, they had seemed unconnected somehow from the dream of Felicity. As the weeks had worn on, his suffocating terrors had replaced the island dream as his most dreaded occurrences. Felicity's gun had grown passe in light of the fear of asphyxiation. With stubborn resistance, Jase refused to remember how he had pulled the trigger of that very same gun on Nessa.

In the preceding week Jase's concerns and his conscience had grown insensible under the drug of Nessa's presence. He had ceased asking himself if he had made a mistake in rekindling his relationship with her. Sure, he had asked her to keep his presence a secret from Drew. The secret imposed a pretense on Nessa that Jase would have despised only a week before. He had come so close to losing her, though, not just metaphorically, not just by abandoning her. He had faced the very real possibility of her death. With that thought in mind, Jase had indulged himself more than he no doubt should have.

“I can't believe all I brought was this sweater,” Nessa broke into his thoughts, cowering into his arms. Her warmth erased his underlying melancholy, and despite his compassion for her, he couldn't regret the circumstance quite as much as she.

“We're only ten minutes from shore,” Jase assured her. “You'll survive until then. Come here,” he commanded, pulling her onto his lap.

A covert smile curved her lips. “You're not feeling enough regret for my suffering,” she accused petulantly. Jase found her newly easy demeanor as enchanting as all of her generosity and selflessness had proven before. “I think I spotted a nice niche over there between that tall man and the cuddy. I should find plenty of warmth there.”

Pausing to ascertain her meaning, Jase glanced toward the barrier that provided scant relief from the barrage of wind, and he grinned at her conniving. She had obviously picked the most physically imposing man on the boat with which to threaten Jase.

Though she tried to rise, he gripped her waist and yanked her back down on his lap. “I doubt he would appreciate it,” Jase insisted. “If he attempted to warm you up, I'd have to remove the offending limbs.” With that, Jase trailed his lips up the nape of her neck to her ear and began to whisper his own ideas for keeping her warm.

“Behave yourself,” she chastised, surprising him by stamping her foot onto his instep. If the deck had proven less crowded, Jase may have unleashed some form of pleasant torment on her, but she played her cards well and managed to just tease him enough to drive him crazy by the time they reached the shore.

The play, though, soon morphed from casual to intense, her closeness ramping up his need for her. The car ride back to Nessa's apartment involved little conversation. As soon as he opened her car door, he lifted her physically from her seat and grasped her firmly in his arms. His hands roamed immediately up her back beneath her lamented cardigan, and Jase could sense the rapid rise and fall of her chest as her breathing sped. Heat radiated through the thin knit of her shirt and teased his sensitized fingertips.

In an instant, his hand found her hair and his lips met the silk of her neck. In response, she began an intense exploration of the ridges of muscle on his back, her hands caressing and groping along his skin as if trying to memorize every line.

Just outside her door, he fell back against the doorframe crushing her to him in a vice-like embrace, and his lips trailed fire over the skin of her face and neck. Without warning, though, his mind reengage, and the current of his excitement shattered. When Jase wrenched his lips from where they had found anchor against hers, Nessa gasped for a cooling breath.

“Nessa, I...” he panted, unable to form a coherent thought. As soon as he broke the contact, Jase could feel a new tension grip Nessa's form.

“Oh, no, Jase. I didn't want to...” she moaned. Though he was breathing hard, a smile teased his lips as he realized the meaning of her words. Nessa seemed shocked at her own lack of self-control.

For several seconds, the pair stood in the hallway, and Nessa refused to meet his gaze. Jase couldn't lament the embarrassment that pulled her eyes downward, because he didn't trust his self-control if he looked into her eyes again. He had to wonder about his sanity. How many times had he stood, poised in the exact situation with another woman, but without a single pang of conscience? Perhaps with Felicity, he had resisted his more primal urges, but not as much for conscience as from a fear of rejection - he had doubted his chance of success. Nessa had offered no such lack of response. If he had pushed, Nessa would have given in to him from her deepest soul. Yet Jase had forced himself to refrain. He couldn't find an explanation for his mindless restraint, but so many forces had battered him lately that he had begun to feel at the mercy of an arbitrary hand of chaos, not a purposeful touch from Providence. Jase had almost given up looking for a reason. After a moment of recovery, he extended his arm to wrap gently behind her back, pressing her to his chest.

When she turned to stone in his arms, he tried to reassure her, even though he knew she had every reason to feel confused.

“Shhh,” he comforted her. “It's okay. It’s my fault.”

The unexpected words drew a deep, steeling breath from Nessa, and Jase could feel the rise and fall of her shoulders before she spoke. “No, Jase. It's not,” she insisted, still unwilling to meet his eyes. “It’s mine.”

Jase chuckled at her innocence and reached into his pocket for her key. If he stayed that way, caressing her silken skin, he might cave in again, and he held no desire to press something that seemed so painful to her. “Was kissing me such a horrible experience that we need to lay blame?” he teased, hoping by levity to ease some of her stress. “I mean, we may be glad we stopped, but it had certainly been a pleasant journey so far.”

“But we haven't talked about this,” she continued, not following his example of lightness. “I kind of got lost for a few minutes, and I really can't let that happen. We need to talk about what I expect from you and what you expect from me!” After Jase led her by the hand into the foyer of her apartment, a deep sigh escaped her lips. “I have my suspicions about what you expect, and I'm not really sure that I will live up to your usual standards.”

“You mean come down to them, Nessa? I hope you know that I haven't exactly used a lot of discretion in my love life.”

“Regardless,” she shrugged at the floor in front of her, “you and I have to talk. I might have given you the wrong impression. I mean, if you hadn't stopped, I'm not sure I...”

At this, Jase shushed Nessa before she could say the words. No woman should ever admit that, he chastised silently. He place a hand on either side of her face and gently lifted her eyes to his. “I love you, Nessa. I'm not going to take advantage of a moment of weakness.”

Jase hadn't intended to say the words, and he wished them back as soon as he had said them – not because they weren't true, but because the words carried with them too much vulnerability. He had admitted that he loved her. In doing so, Jase had relinquished more power than he ever intended to give anyone.

To her credit, Nessa seemed to absorb his expression of vacillation, and she did not answer in kind. Instead, she acknowledged the admission only by the slightest softening of her eyes when she looked up into his. A moment later, she carried on as if nothing had passed between them.

“What about your weaknesses?” she begged. “Should I not make allowances for those?”

“I don't have any weaknesses,” he smiled.

“Be serious, Jase. You don't know a lot about me,” she asserted mysteriously, searching the ground at their feet once again. “There are things you need to know before you commit to this relationship for the long haul.”

“Too late,” Jase leveled. “You're stuck with me, and barring the revelation that you're of another species altogether, there is little that could make a difference to my commitment.” He pulled back from her, assuring himself that she had given him her full attention. “We have time to talk, Nessa. Don't worry; I'm not pushing you into anything, because I plan to be around for a long time.”

“Thanks,” she gazed back at him, her relief apparent. She closed her eyes and leaned into a brief hug before stepping away a few inches.

“I think I need a little space,” she breathed sheepishly, rubbing her hands on her arms. “I'm feeling a little warm now.”

“Probably a relief after the freezing boat ride,” Jase joked, stepping another few inches from her, back into the main living room of her apartment.

The change in her demeanor appeared instantly, and the fear on her face almost made Jase expect impending doom. If he turned to see, though, he might expose Nessa to whatever danger lay behind him. Instead, he rapidly probed her face for a clue to the cause of her distress as his right hand reached automatically for his gun. With his free arm, he pressed her back to the door, shielding her with his body.

“It's okay,” she assured him in a quaking voice as she raised her hands to stop him. “I don't think there's any immediate danger. Just look.”

Slowly, Jase twisted to take in the room. Even before he completed the turn, a tangle of objects danced before his eyes, and when he took in the entire room, Jase could make out the form of perhaps a hundred of his belongings casting fluttering shadows around Nessa’s living room. The under-cabinet lights cast just enough glow to reveal the silhouettes of the numerous objects in relief where they dangled on strings in the breeze from her overhead fan. The resulting shadows toyed with the light and flitted around the room like moths. Among the objects, Jase spotted several familiar articles: a clip-on book light he had recently purchased; a small replica sword from Urbino, a gift from Amélie referencing both an erotic medieval painting and a group of mercenary soldiers; a half-drunk bottle of his favorite Chardonnay. Also suspended were several less dramatic items such as toiletry bottles, coffee mugs, and even his spare toothbrush.

“Can I assume you're not so obsessed with me as to decorate your ceiling with my belongings?”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Nessa managed a weak smile. “That's safe to assume.”

Behind his cool demeanor, Jase tried to rein in the warring forces of fear and rage. Someone had violated his possessions, even if he had abandoned them. Not only that, but they had utilized their violation as a tool to terrorize Nessa. If he had to watch her return to the state in which he’d found her – restless, nervous, sleep-deprived – Jase couldn't consider the thought without seeing an accompanying haze of red fury.

As he watched the shadows distort the beauty of Nessa's face, Jase realized how the last week had changed him. Before Liam died, when Jase had believed Nessa in trouble, Jase had worked like a madman, determined to find a way to protect Nessa. Since Liam had died, though, Jase had subconsciously relegated his problems with ProtoComm to the past, content to soak up every moment he had with Nessa. He had assigned blame for the appearing objects to Liam, to the man’s delusion of vengeance. Apparently, Jase had assumed incorrectly, and he should have suspected the stupidity of such a premise. He should have known better than to expect the best. Liam was dead, and someone still targeted Jase at Nessa's expense.

Now Jase stood facing a very ugly probability: most likely, Liam had, as he claimed, worked for Bill, and whoever had contacted Jase on the computer had evidently done so at Bill's bidding as well. Perhaps, too, every event that had occurred in the previous few months had stemmed from Bill's maneuvering to ensnare Jase. When Liam had said it, Jase had dismissed the possibility outright, but he had done so in a delusion.

True, Briel had cost Bill a lot of grief, and Felicity had started the ball rolling toward ProtoComm's destruction, but Jase had felled the fatal blow. Not only that, but Bill knew how much damage Jase could cause if he turned against his former employer. He had enough insight and ability to whittle away at ProtoComm until it ceased to exist entirely – no one knew anything compared to Jase. And when Bill had gone up against Felicity, he had threatened those she loved.

Under normal circumstances, Bill would have known better than to play a game of intimidation with Jase. Unfortunately, Jase had created unusual circumstances when he had turned his back on his characteristic ambivalence and decided to work against that which he had always allowed. How could Bill know about Nessa, though? No one of Bill's acquaintance had really observed Jase and Nessa together, so under no circumstances should Bill possess the knowledge that Jase would respond to a threat against Nessa. Yet, somehow, Bill knew.

Bill, though, had made a serious error. Bill or someone in his organization seemed to think that fear would emasculate Jase, force him to stand down. Contrary to Bill's expectation, the magnate had picked the one way to ensure Jase's aggression. If Jase waited to “whittle away” at ProtoComm's foundation, how long would Bill refrain from snuffing out Nessa altogether, as he had attempted to do with Felicity? No, threats didn't dissuade Jase; they called him to action.

Though he had lagged behind in his planning for the past week, Jase still held enough information to move forward, if not to make a decisive battle plan. Thailand waited a half a world away, and Bill Henry sat there vulnerable in his imagined security, a security scheme that Jase had managed to procure. Unfortunately for the CEO, Jase had never met security that he couldn't subvert.

Staring around the room at the shadows of his past, Jase could not ignore a very harsh reality. In order to protect everything he loved he had to risk losing it. He knew that he deserved nothing more, considering all the years he had spent enjoying an easy life at others' expense. Still, letting Nessa go felt like ripping out his heart. Looking down into her strained expression, he realized that a rapid extraction would work best - if he tried to draw things out, he might falter in anticipation of the pain.

“I have to go,” Jase declared abruptly.

The panicked look on Nessa's face gave him pause as the initial ache of the amputation took form in his chest. She grasped him by the arm. “You can't leave now!” her voice exploded. “You just told me that you planned to be around for a long time! This can't change that.”

Though he understood her distress, she had misjudged his motive. He quickly turned to face her completely. The doubt he saw in her eyes broke his heart. Perhaps the most transformative words she had ever said to him seemed to have lost their validity. I never doubted you, she had assured him so many weeks before. Apparently, he had managed to undermine her trust in the ensuing time.

“No, Nessa, I don't mean it the way it sounded.” He reached up to comfort her, stilling his vitriol and cupping her cheek gently in his palm. “I'm not leaving you. I just have to take care of...” he gestured around the room with his hand. “...of this. When I came back, so did your troubles.”

“Your threat to leave me caused me more distress than if they had burned my apartment down with all my belongings in it,” Nessa glared at Jase from beneath her lashes. “You'd better have a good explanation of what you meant, or you're going to regret saying it!”

Even in the tension of the moment, Jase had to smile at the threat as he pulled her into another kiss.

“Look, I'm sorry. Let's sit down for a few minutes, then we'll scope your apartment for evidence and clean this up,” Jase commanded.

Jase watched as Nessa seated herself and then leaned her head back onto the back of the couch, closing her eyes to the ceiling. For several seconds, he just listened to her breath.

“I'm afraid you'll have to move again, Nessa. I know you just settled in here.”

“I know. I don't care, really,” she sighed resignedly. “You think this place has many pleasant memories? I spent most of my time here hating you.”

Though the words sounded harsh, they actually made Jase smile. He would guess that her hate had grown from frustrated love, and her easy acceptance of him meant that she had not held her resentment deeply.

“You're almost infallible,” she stated solemnly, reaching up to retrieve Jase's old access card which hung a few inches from her face. “But someone seems to have found your one imperfection.”

“What is that?” Jase couldn't discern her meaning.

“Me.”

Jase huffed in disbelief. He would always consider her his one virtue.

“Nessa!” he chastised. “Don't be insane. You are the only good thing about me.”

Instead of responding, Nessa turned back to the key card and started to yank it down.

“Wait,” Jase grasped her hand.

“I don't want to leave this here. It infuriates me.” Her breath pushed out in a hiss through her teeth.

“I agree,” Jase assured her, “but I think I have a better idea.” He knew she would think he’d gone crazy, but Jase did it anyway: he picked up Nessa’s phone and scrolled down to Drew's number. “Call him,” Jase commanded.

“Drew thinks that my phone call to you set off the perpetrator,” Nessa explained as she paced her new living room the next day. After she and Jase had scoured the apartment, Jase had left to open the way for Drew's arrival. Nessa's fair-haired protector needed to know what had happened if he were to continue his guardianship. “He seems to think that you actually did this, and that my call instigated it.”

“That's convenient for him,” Jase insisted, “if he wants to turn you against me. The perpetrator didn't do anything for a week after your phone call, though, so his premise makes little sense.”

“Do you think Drew cares whether he's being rational? He will find a way to blame you however he can.”

“He can blame me all he wants as long as he keeps you safe.”

Nessa stamped her foot surreptitiously. “He shouldn't have to keep me safe! You are supposed to be here with me, and we can keep each other safe. Or at least let me go with you. You can't expect me to just sit here and look pretty while you run off and throw yourself into a death trap. You're worse than Briel!”

For a moment tears dance in her eyes, and Jase wanted to relent. He had known he would cause himself pain, and he had no problem with the idea, but he hated to cause her any more unhappiness. Her next words came out as a hoarse whisper. “Don't you remember Aaron? The whole reason I went into this business was...” Her voice strengthened with her ire. “...was so I would never have to sit back and watch this happen again!”

Nessa began a now-familiar pace back and forth across her living room, occasionally stopping to glare at Jase where he sat on the sofa.

“And even worse, you want me to pretend like nothing ever happened between you and me. You want me to convince Drew that I've forgiven him. I don't even think I'll be able to look at Drew, and he’ll expect me to go on dates with him, talk to him, kiss him.”

“No kissing!” Jase nearly shouted, and the words propelled him from his seat.

Nessa turned, her mouth pursed coyly, and Jase actually laughed out loud. “No kissing,” he repeated, though he wore a smile as he pulled her to him.

“Well, I might have to sell him on our reconciliation...”

Instead of letting her finish, Jase devoured her mouth with his for a moment, smothering all possible thought of kissing Drew. Instead of teasing Jase, her comment had sent home the reality that he had to leave her again. Of course, he had an even more compelling reason for concern, one which he couldn't tell Nessa.

She was right. Never in his life had Jase faced odds quite as daunting, and he faced the very real possibility that he wouldn't make it back alive. True, he could possibly beat Bill at a game of full-on battle, but Bill had the resources to make up a new game in the middle of the playing field. Jase only went forward with his decision because of Liam's words. It's all about you, the man had said only moments before a bullet ripped his life from him. If it were really all about Jase, then either result would achieve his end: Bill's death or Jase's. As far as Jase believed, one of the two occurrences would happen.

Jase released Nessa, trying to mask any depression on his face, any reflection of the sudden melancholy that had overtaken him. The thought of her kissing Drew had brought back all the memories from San Antonio, the interview with Drew where they discussed what served Nessa best. Circumstances had changed, but Jase’s premise hadn't. Could returning to her really serve her best interests? Never. Sadly, he couldn't even claim her interest in staying with her for the past week. He could only claim selfish pleasure, and with the burgeoning weight of Bill's wrath bearing down upon him, Jase realized that he had acted the fool. He could only ever bring Nessa harm.

“Don't worry,” Nessa called Jase back to his surroundings. “I would never kiss him again, even if you left forever...”

“That's not going to happen,” Jase interrupted, hoping the lie didn’t choke him.

“Because,” she continued as if he hadn't spoken, “Drew hasn't exactly acted the gentleman since you left.”

“Did he hurt you again?” Jase begged with a measured tone as he suppressed a surge of violence.

At Jase's dramatic response, Nessa dropped her shoulders in exasperation and looked like she wanted to roll her eyes. Still, she lost her angry mien and stepped over to him.

“Always the testosterone,” she sighed. “Of course he didn't hurt me,” she comforted him, touching his arm. “Do you still know so little of me to think that I would put up with that for a minute? I'd go move in with Briel in Canada first.”

At that, Jase smiled, pulling Nessa back into his arms. “I imagine Briel would be glad of the company at this point. She's been stuck at the North Pole for weeks now.”

“Yes,” Nessa agreed. “But stuck with Nick, so I imagine she doesn't mind too much, and I would just be intruding.”

“True.”

“You're just trying to change the subject,” Nessa accused petulantly. “Tell me again this brilliant plan of yours so I can 'feel better.' How exactly are you going to take on an entire corporation of criminals?”

“From what I've gathered, Bill's contingent will consist of only a few people, basic security, and this will be the perfect opportunity for me to find him in a vulnerable position. In France, he travels with an entire entourage, but if he plans a covert operation – which the calendar entry seems to imply – then he will travel relatively light. It's the safest time for me to seek him out.”

“Relatively. Maybe just ten men on one instead of twenty? You're right,” Nessa oozed sarcastically. “I feel much better now. And then when you find him, you're going to what?” she begged petulantly. “Kill him?”

Jase glared at her. “If I have to,” he answered calmly. “…but he's already wanted in the U.S. If I can detain him, I won't need anything else but to get him back to the States. I have some friends in the state department who can pick him up once I have him in custody. If I find more incriminating evidence on my trip, it will just provide a more solid case.”

Turning back to him, she gazed at him with desperation. “So take me with you, and I can help,” she insisted.

Jase refused to look at her, “I'm sorry, Nessa. Maybe after I've watched you work more, and I know your capabilities better, but right now you would be a constant distraction for me. That's how Liam ended up trapping me in the courtyard. I can't risk that you would end up in the line of fire, or that I would lose my concentration.”

“Excuses,” Nessa mumbled. She pursed her lips, turning away from him and beginning a slower version of her earlier pacing. Despite her contrary demeanor, Jase could see that she had begun to accept his reasoning. “So, you're going to spy on Bill at his place near Chiang Mai and just try to 'figure out' if something is going on. That's your plan.”

“Not exactly. I know something is going on. Nick and Briel confirmed that. My contact on the computer confirmed it. I have the dates, some names, a radius of probable location; you and I have both gone into missions with less intel to start with.”

“Not convinced,” she insisted petulantly.

“I can't access the computers again because I've been compromised, so I can't do any more research from here. Spying on him in Thailand is the only way I can gather information, and what I already have provides me with a definite advantage. I promise I am excellent at thinking on my feet; that's how I've done what I have for all these years.”

“And you can't let me know what's going on while you're there,” Nessa accused, “because communication might compromise your security. How convenient for you!”

Jase frowned at her reproachfully. “You think I want to make you worry, Nessa? You know I would do anything to avoid leaving you again.”

Nessa sighed, a sound of both exasperation and concession. “If I don't hear from you by Friday, I'm getting Briel and Nick, and maybe even Drew if he's willing to come along, and we're going to come after you.”

“Fine,” Jase conceded. “Though I doubt Drew will participate. You can hardly act as if you don't care while you're begging him to help rescue me. He'll know for sure what he has always suspected.”

Nessa smiled, seemingly to herself. “Oh, he's known. He's known since the first night that we all went out; he knew before even I knew.” She turned to gaze up coyly at Jase. “I wonder what you betrayed that first night that got him so up in arms. Something he hadn't seen in you before.”

“You know what it was,” Jase grabbed her again, trailing his lips down her cheek to her ear. “I was destined to love you from the beginning. I just didn't know it.”

The knock on the door tensed Nessa's body beneath Jase's arms. When he pulled away from her to answer the summons, his heart clenched at the tears that had begun to well in her eyes. All levity evaporated.

“That would be Thomas,” Jase announced without enthusiasm.

“Right,” Nessa agreed morosely.

Jase opened the door to his darkly mischievous friend, and by the time Jase turned back to Nessa, any sign of melancholy had left her countenance.

“So we've worked out the landing,” Jase quizzed his associate, “and you're sure our arrival won't be registered by the local authorities?”

“Jase,” Thomas seemed almost insulted. “You act as if I've never done this for you before.”

“It's never been this important before, Thomas.” Jase couldn't keep the intensity out of his tone.

“I took care of everything,” the pilot assured Jase. “My plane is waiting at the private airstrip south of town.”

Turning to Nessa, Jase took in a deep, steadying breath. “Have you called Drew?” he probed her eyes deeply.

She returned his gaze, infusing hers with subdued defiance. “He's probably on his way over now,” she assured Jase. “I can't believe you're giving me a babysitter again.”

Jase took her by the shoulders. “It's not because I don't trust you to look after yourself. I would suggest this course for any vulnerable agent. Remember Briel? I would have bet my right arm that no one could handle her, and yet Liam nearly killed her before we could get to her.”

“Liam's dead,” Nessa sassed.

“Liam isn't planting my stuff in your apartment anymore, and whoever is doing that is all too alive. I have to take precautions.”

For one moment, Nessa glared at Jase as if she wanted to slap him, but an instant later, her demeanor melted and a look of pure misery washed over her.

“Please don't die,” she croaked as he pulled her against him. He wished he could squeeze away the agony on her face.

“Not gonna happen,” he asserted nonchalantly. Though he felt no great confidence in his statement, he soothed her as best he could. “I'll call you by Friday, and be back before Sunday.”

The look on Nessa's face when he pulled back to kiss her betrayed her disbelief. In no way had he comforted her, but he couldn't admit the truth aloud, especially not to her.

Jase slipped one arm behind Nessa's back and used his other hand to cup her head. Though their lips barely brushed, the surge that pulsed through his flesh clouded all his philosophical ponderings. For years, Jase had built up powerful defenses, arming himself against all vulnerability. In a few short weeks, Nessa had disarmed him, stripping him of every protective layer that he had so carefully cultivated. Now, success mattered only for the purpose of keeping Nessa alive and whole.

“I love you,” he whispered, pressing her to him once again. For a protracted moment, he simply held her in his arms, feeling the warmth of her skin beneath his grasp, then he turned and walked out the door. He paused for a moment outside her apartment, catching another steeling breath before turning to Thomas who had found a seat in the elevator lobby.

“I want you to go on ahead and get the plane ready,” Jase instructed. “I'll meet you there in an hour and a half.”

“Sounds good,” Thomas agreed, patting Jase on the shoulder before turning and striding to the elevator.

Though he lifted his foot to begin his egress, something inside of Jase squirmed at the thought of leaving Nessa entirely to Drew's care. What if she had minimized Drew's behavior? Jase knew he couldn't expect Drew to guard Nessa with equal care to his own, but all Drew had to do was stay with her and treat her with common decency. Rather than leave Nessa's future to chance, Jase set up post in a large, open-air atrium in the top floor lobby of her new apartment building. He had to make sure.

Drew showed up only ten minutes later. Though he had known what he would see, Jase gripped his hands into fists as he watched Drew approach Nessa's door. When she answered, however, Jase received an abundance of gratification at the look of disgust on her face; she should probably play her role better, he snickered. Her expression bore such reproach that Jase almost pitied Drew.

Within a minute, however, all compassion for Drew had fled. As soon as she opened the door, Nessa strode out of her apartment, purse in hand. Jase couldn't hear the conversation from the other side of the glass, but the expressions on both Drew's and Nessa's faces bordered on hostile.

After several unpleasant exchanges, Drew stalked to the glass door to the patio and threw it open. Jase ceased breathing for a moment to ensure they couldn't sense him.

“Because I don't want to argue with you in the hallway where everyone can hear us,” Drew insisted irritatedly.

“Oh, yes,” Nessa agreed sarcastically. “The great outdoors is so much more private.”

“At least someone would have to look over a banister to see who's fighting. You're going to get the police called on us for disturbing the peace if you keep yelling in the hallway.”

“You could just leave me alone,” she barked, pushing past him onto the terrace.

Jase huffed silently in frustration. Was she trying to sabotage her guard?

“You called me remember,” Drew reminded her.

“That's because I didn't know you would be such a jerk. All I wanted was to leave my apartment. I always hate staying alone when something of Jase's shows up.”

“Do you hear the way you say his name?” Drew mocked. “One would almost think you wanted him to come back.”

“Well, he certainly never treated me like you do,” she turned on him, crossing her arms in defiance.

Though Jase stayed frozen, his muscles clenched in anticipation of Drew's response. Why must she challenge him so overtly? When Drew grabbed her by the arms again, Jase forced himself to react rationally, to wait and see if a repeat of Drew's previous roughness would occur.

“He's so great, is he? Is that why he left you?” Drew insisted hotly. Again, Jase tensed, but though he sensed a deep intensity to his friend's words, he did not note any violence. “I never left you,” Drew continued. Jase cringed at the validity of the man's words; and they would prove even more prescient if Jase failed to make it back.

Nessa twisted angrily away from Drew, but, to Drew's credit, he seemed to soften as he released her arms. He stepped up behind her until only a breath rested between them. “You haven't even let me kiss you in a month, Nessa,” he asserted. Jase saw Nessa stiffen in shock in simultaneity with his own sudden tension.

From his new position behind her, Drew gripped Nessa gently by the shoulders, closing the space between them. Jase held his breath. Though he couldn't hear the whispered words Drew spoke, Jase could see how closely the man's lips rested against her ear. For one pregnant moment, time ceased its motion.

The silence rendered Drew's whispered words all the more terrifying.

“He was here.”

Nessa seemed to freeze to her spot. The imposing man took a step back from his ex-girlfriend, and his anger painted the space between Nessa and him. “Jase was here,” he clarified. “I can smell him on you!

“Smell him on me? What are you? Some kind of bloodhound?”

“Either Jase or some other man, but I smell man's cologne. You wouldn't disrespect me this way if you could help yourself, and since only Jase upends a woman's free will like that, he must have come back to you. He probably shot Liam.”

Though she balked at the accusation, Nessa recovered quickly and managed a good cover of indignation to mask her guilt. “As if I were so weak,” she spat, her eyes flashing indignantly. “I shot Liam. Do you really think that I am somehow powerless, against Liam, or even against ‘the force of Jase'? Once again, we run into your utter lack of respect for me. Not to mention for all women! As if we are helpless little creatures who can't resist the allure of such a 'manly man.' You are truly a sexist, Drew. I would never have known.” Disgusted, Nessa marched toward the door. “I thought you might provide me with some backup,” she chastised, “since obviously someone has targeted me, and I don't really have anyone else I can trust, but you seem more concerned about your challenged manhood than about my safety, so, nevermind.” With the words, she strode back through the door and headed to the elevators.

For a moment, Jase considered going after her, unwilling that she remain vulnerable for any length of time, but Drew followed upon the heels of the retreating woman, pleading with her all the while to calm down.

Jase had to give Drew credit; the rejected lover seemed in complete self-possession and intent on sticking with his girl. Smiling ironically to himself, Jase abandoned his perch. With her last tirade, Nessa had not only accomplished the task of putting Drew on the defensive, but had also distracted his observations regarding her encounter with Jase. Though Jase felt no assurance that she would successfully avoid the topic in the future, he did approve of Drew's levelheaded responses. If Jase had feared some violence from Drew, he did no longer. Maybe the man was a jerk, but he wasn’t a violent jerk.

After pausing long enough to ensure that the pair had left, Jase returned to his own borrowed apartment and grabbed the few belongings he had dragged to Boston. Then, he turned his back on Nessa, turned his back on the Team, and turned his face to Thailand.