Callie pushed them aside and made for the door. The keys dropped to the floor because neither would take them from her. She was left with one. The key to her room. “I’ll see you when it’s time to go back into town for the meeting.”

Callie practically ran down the hall.

* * *

Zane watched as Callie slammed the door behind her. Damn it. He’d screwed up on every level possible. He’d meant to keep her safe, and all he’d managed to do was break her heart. His every instinct told him to chase her down, get her under him. She wouldn’t listen to a word he said, but maybe he could show her. Or maybe, another voice said, maybe he should try to work everything out with Nate and present a united front.

“I hope you’re happy.” Nate’s frown covered most of his face. His nose was still a nice shade of red and pronouncedly swollen.

“Why would I be happy? You’re the one who fucked up. You’re the reason we’ll sleep alone tonight.” As much as he wanted peace between them, he wasn’t about to take the blame for this debacle. Zane wasn’t the one who had made Callie feel self-conscious. Zane had just made her pissed. That he could deal with. Callie thinking she was less than she was made him mad.

He wasn’t sleeping alone tonight, he decided. He’d meant every word he’d said. She’d made her choice. She hadn’t let him walk. She would deal with the consequences, and one of those consequences was putting up with him in bed. He thought back to that moment when he realized just how far Callie had gone to keep him here. He’d yelled at the time and moaned over the temporary loss of his bike, but damn she looked pretty when she got mad. Only the thought that he’d really hurt her had kept him from tossing her over Nate’s desk and having his way with her again. Her brown eyes had dulled, and he hadn’t seen them flare back to life yet. He had some serious damage control to do, and he couldn’t do it by sleeping in another room. He glanced down at the key on the floor, but made no move to pick it up. “I was trying to save her, Nate. What’s your excuse?”

Nate reached down and palmed both keys. “I have no idea what you mean. I’m not trying to hurt Callie. I told her I loved her and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. How could that hurt her?”

Now who was being obtuse? Zane sank back into the couch. “You don’t get her. You walk around insulting everything she loves and then wonder why she thinks you’ll regret marrying her. And where exactly do I fit into this white-picket-fenced McMansion dream of yours? Am I supposed to slither off and let you keep the girl?”

Nate sat down beside him and a tired sigh escaped his lungs. “I wasn’t trying to force you out. I think we can make this work, all three of us. I want that. I just want a career, too. You have to see that we can’t stay here. There’s no future in Bliss.”

God, that was Nate’s father talking. If only he could hear himself, he might see it. Nate’s father had pounded ambition into Nate. He hadn’t been happy when Nate went into the DEA, but Nate had been ruthless in pursuing advancement. And now Nate’s father was a shell of a man because ambition was all Peter Wright had. When his money was gone, so was his life. Zane had no intention of living that way.

“Maybe there’s no future for you, but me? I don’t know. I like it here.” Maybe he shouldn’t make such a big decision based on one day of following Callie around, but it was the way he operated. Zane made decisions based on his gut, and his gut told him that Bliss was a good place to be.

“Where are you planning on working? Or, are you going to let Callie support you?”

That was something Zane had been thinking about ever since last night. Bliss was rural. It relied on tourists, but there were enough people to support a few businesses year round. From what he could tell, there were tourists coming in and out all year. They came in the summer for the beauty of the high plains and the mountains. They came in the winter to ski. What did every tourist need? A drink.

“I’m going to open a bar, one where Callie doesn’t get nearly murdered.” He’d seen a little place near the diner that might work. He’d tended bar a little in college. Surely he could figure the rest out. Now, money was another issue, but he’d cross that bridge if he lived long enough to actually get to it. “You didn’t answer my question, Nate. Where do I fit into your perfect suburban paradise? You think I can just pretend to be your roommate? Am I supposed to be some pathetic ass who lives at his friends’ place when he’s forty? Do I ever get to hold her hand in public, or might that ruin your career path?”

Nate’s face went white, and Zane had a sudden feeling that was exactly what Nate had planned. He meant to stroll off with the girl, and Zane could come and go, as long as he did it quietly. Maybe their fight wasn’t over yet. His left fist tightened.

“Damn it, Zane. I don’t know.” Nate fell back against the sofa, his head lolling back and his hands over his eyes. “I haven’t figured it out. I just know that I can’t move up the ladder here. Can we shelve this for now? As far as Callie’s concerned, we can go jump in a lake. She’s not wondering how our permanent threesome is going to work.”

There was a short knock on the door before Bill Hartman entered, followed by two men Zane had hoped to never see again. Special Agents Ben Leander and Marcus Worthington strode behind the director of the community. They were dressed in what Zane liked to think of as upwardly mobile asshole wear. Suits, ties, expensive shoes, and sunglasses they often wore whether or not they needed them. They were friends with Nate, or more importantly, they had been friends with Nate’s father’s contacts. Nate was one of them, an agent who could have a stellar career. Zane was not. Zane, as far as they were concerned, was just a fuck-up who’d blown his cover. It didn’t matter that he’d done nothing wrong. It didn’t matter that he’d just walked in one day and Ellis knew. No one believed that he hadn’t screwed up. Not even Nate.

Ben Leander slid the shades off, and there was no mistaking the contempt in his baby blues as he looked around. “Wright? I almost didn’t recognize you in that costume. It looks like Halloween around here.” He briefly inclined his perfectly coiffed head toward Zane. “Hollister. I should have known you would be here.”

Bill looked around and seemed strangely comfortable being the only man in the room with his dick hanging out. Zane respected that about him. “Please feel free to use the office as long as you need to, gentlemen. If I can be of any assistance, I’ll be out on the lawn.” He closed the door quietly behind him.

Worthington shook his head. The sunglasses came off, and he smoothly slid them into his pocket. His eyes narrowed on the closed door. “Why the hell was that guy naked? Wright, what kind of place is this?”

“Hell, as far as I can see,” Leander replied, giving the office a once-over. It was obvious to Zane that Leander didn’t care for the homey surroundings.

“Welcome to rural Colorado, city slickers,” Zane said, throwing Max’s earlier words out. It felt good. Finally a place where he fit in and these jerks stood out like sore thumbs. Zane couldn’t believe Nate had called these guys in. Nate sure hadn’t thought outside the box on this one. “Shouldn’t the two of you be kissing someone’s dress shoes in El Paso?”

Leander rolled his eyes and then pointedly ignored him. It wasn’t the first time. Zane wasn’t stupid. These two put up with him because they thought Nate was going places.

“The director wanted us on this as quickly as possible. So Ellis is causing trouble?” Leander asked.

Nate reached in his pocket and pulled out the note from earlier. He passed it to the tall, dark-haired agent. “He had some men jump Zane last night. Apparently there’s a bounty on his head.”

“I didn’t think it was Hollister’s head he was interested in,” Worthington murmured. His lips curled slightly in distaste. Zane was pretty sure the agent was offended by the scars on his face.

Nate went a pale white. “Damn, you know that already? I didn’t put that in the report.”

Worthington raised a single aristocratic brow as he looked the note over. “You didn’t have to put it in. I have my ear to the ground. When you called in, it didn’t take long to get a snitch talking. Ellis still has men in Texas willing to work for him. I was surprised they managed to track you down, though. Hollister fell off the grid. He isn’t even pulling a paycheck. The Barbarians must be very serious about him. The word on the street is that Ellis is offering a lot of cash for him.”

“Where is he getting the money?” Zane asked the question with an exasperated sigh. “The man’s in jail. We shut down his operations. I know he still has followers, but where is he getting the kind of cash he needs to put a hit out on me?”

Leander shrugged. “You didn’t find all the cash. According to the forensic accountants, there’s millions missing. We just can’t figure out where he put it. It has to be in accounts somewhere, but there’s no paper trail. We’ve taken apart every computer associated with the Barbarians and can’t find the account numbers. He must have them memorized. We aren’t allowed to torture him, so we’ll probably never know. He kept everything hidden, even from his own lieutenants.”

“Son of a bitch,” Nate growled in obvious frustration. “Everything else is in the report. I want this guy taken down. I want to prove he’s running his gang from prison and get him shut in solitary for the rest of his freaking life.”

“That’s not going to be easy.” Worthington stared down at Nate. “We’re going back the motel to call the Denver office, and then we’ll be at the meeting tonight. We just wanted to check and make sure you found…suitable arrangements.” A smirk lit the agent’s face. Zane wondered if he’d still smirk if he broke his nose. “Obviously no one will look for you here.”