Roman lifted Zara and plopped her down on the sofa next to him. His eyebrows furrowed and lips flattened to a thin line. An unsettled storm formed on his face. "That's not the question that you want to ask me, and you know it." He snatched up from the sofa, jaws clenched. "Damn it."

With wide eyes, she stared at him. Now hating that she'd upset him. He was right, but she wasn't ready to admit that. Parts of her wanted to know the dark side of Roman. Yet, the other part of her wanted sparing. It was hard trying to balance the two. The man that she loved was kind. The man the protected national interest was apparently a lethal. How can I wrap my mind around this? Things spun out of control in her head. He masks his life so perfectly. I know I just need to deal with this.

"I told you that I would reveal details about Gray Enterprises as the need arose. Is that not good enough, Zara?" He paced the floor, raking his hands through his hair. There were a lot of things in his life that should remain with the lights off. "No, you want to know if I've ever killed someone. What good would that do? What would it change?"

She had her answer without asking. His sharp tone and body language spilled it out. It made the breath freeze in her lungs. Oh – my – God! This side was so much different from the man that she'd known and loved her entire life. She sat, sucking air in gulps, not able to look at him. Why did I start this?

"My job is to protect people. Not just people, but nations. And out of those you are my priority." He folded his hands across his chest, boring a hole through Zara with darkened eyes. He wrestled within. She was the woman that he wanted to make proud. Would talking about that part of his life ruin her image of him? Zara had him hemmed to an uncomfortable spot. Without the Ethan encounter, she wouldn't have ever known about his dark side. Roman was damn good at his job and kept undercover. He glared at her, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking into the abyss. His stare sent chills down her arms. Zara eased off the sofa and stepped towards him. "I didn't mean to upset you. You've already given me an answer. We won't discuss this any further."

"No one becomes a billionaire without blurred lines. But the government and authorities sanction all my lines. What I do is completely legal. If you can't live with..."

"Don't say it, Roman. You're still the man that I've loved my entire life. You've always wanted to help people. For me to wrap my mind around it, I will think of you as I would the police. Then I can deal with what you must do from time to time."

"That's fair enough," he said, pulling her into an embrace. He kissed the top of her head. "I've got to go back upstairs. It takes my crew a while to get all the logistics worked out. We'll be using your home in Marietta for the headquarters to the operation. Trevor and his crew will be in housing near the cabin that you an Ethan share."

"That will be fine."

"To answer your question, if Ethan harms one hair on your head," he said, twirling strands of Zara's hair around his finger. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. The tone of his voice iced over, "...just one single hair - he's as good as dead."

***

Ava rolled over, hearing Zara's ringtone at 2:30 AM in the morning. She knew that something was up for her to be calling at that time of the morning. She slipped from the bed trying not to wake Trevor and the baby that slept between them. She had a temporary case of colic; they kept her close until her little system settled down. The way that she laid sprawled between mom and dad let Ava know she'd get spoiled being in their bed. They have to only allow that on rare occasions. She smiled at the little one, crashed on her back. Glory's lips moved as if they were sucking something.

Ava yawned while slipping on her robe. "What's got you up in a dander?"

"I can't sleep. I keep thinking about, Roman."

"Where is he?"

"He's in his office with the staff. They're finalizing the mission."

"You should be happy that they will get this in motion and finish it. Don't you want to get on with your life?"

Ava listened while Zara poured out her soul. She told her how Roman's line of work had some disturbing aspects. As she discussed things her mind began to piece things together. Roman would always avoid direct questions about Gray Enterprises when it came to the surface. In their times together she never questioned anything, just settled for the few facts that he'd given her. That was, he worked in computer technology and had large government contracts. He would also say that he kept people safe. But she took that to mean safeguarding their online activities – a shield against hacking. Though he did do that, this was a much larger scale.

"Trevor must have told you what Roman did."

The momentary silence on the phone confirmed Zara's thoughts. She wanted to be angry with Ava but knew that she couldn't. Ava's loyalty could never be questioned. If she kept silent, it was Zara's protection.

"Yes. Trevor is always teamed up with Roman over something."

"Then why didn't you tell me, Ava? He's a mercenary. I'm shocked shitless right now."

"Listen, girl, he wears the white hat. There's a lot of crap that goes on in the world that he stops. Roman is tough. You better be happy that he can handle his business."

"You should have told me, Ava."

"And have you worried every time that he goes out the front door? I knew what I was signing up for with Trevor being a Navy Seal before going into special ops. But with you and Roman it's always been different."

"How do you cope with all this?"

"I pray a lot and I love him every moment that we have together. I don't waste time arguing or fighting with him because I never know when my last moment with him will be."

"Like, Calista?"

Ava sighed. "Yeah. I don't focus on death though. I only focus on loving him every chance that I get. You can do this. Roman has only tried to protect you. Let him keep doing that."

"All right. All right."

***

After speaking with Ava, Zara tipped up the stairs to Roman's office. She peeked through the door and could see him still engaging with his staff. It made her feel safe, yet, she hated she'd brought them into the matter. She eased down the stairs, and though she knew he wouldn't like it, the pull to watch the video drew her. This time she streamed the video from the TV in their bedroom with the door shut. Zara had it all planned; he wouldn't sneak up on her this time. If the door opened she'd flip to something else. She climbed under the blanket and hit the remote. The video streamed from where it had left off.

***

"Ethan framed me, just simply framed," said Melissa Andrews as she spoke with Allison. "I lost my baby. If I ever see that man again I might be in for a real crime – murder."

"You're getting recorded. I need your permission."

"You have all the permission that you want. I'm glad someone is finally doing something about Ethan."

Allison logged into Gray Enterprises and began uploading the conversation. She looked over at the woman heavily moved by the grief in her eyes. The haggard lines on the woman's face indicated heavy stress. Puffy-black lines were under her eyes from lack of sleep. "We're going to take him down, Melissa, and will do everything that we can to get you out of here."

"I have no child! Do you know what it means to have your child taken from you! I was thirty-six when I had her. My husband had died of cancer two years before and I had nothing. I was so broken and needed something to focus on. When I found out about a private organization where I could have a child, it seemed the perfect solution for my grief."

"So you got involved with Ethan."

"Yes."

"Who was your Ethan?"

Melissa began to tear up. Her fingers trembled as they tapped against the desk behind the glass window. Thoughts flowed to a dark-distant spot in her mind. "He was the most incredible man that I'd ever met. Charmed me from day one. The whole Ethan network is for arranged relationships, so I wasn't supposed to fall for him as fast as I did. It was supposed to business - first. But I did – I fell completely in love with him. His name was Eric Rubenstein, the third."

Allison arched her brow - flabbergasted. That man's name was part of the high-end retail culture. The family name as far as she'd ever known was spotless. This was wild. "Of Rubenstein Department Stores? They're a piece of Americana – been in operation for over 125 years."

"Yes. He was one of the Rubenstein's and of course I didn't find that out until we went to court. Until that time he was my perfect Ethan Gains. With him, it wasn't In Vitro. He was my lover, and I got pregnant rather quickly. It was so good to have a man in my life," Melissa said. "We got married 3 months into the pregnancy. If you can call it a marriage – he scammed me. Anyway, we did. Everything was heaven until the baby was about one year old."

"That's when you got a call from the school district?"

"Yes, I was the head test administrator for the school district that I worked in. Somehow, Ethan Gains created a test - cheating scandal. All the evidence pointed to me."

"How do you know that it was Ethan Gains?"

Melissa snarled, slamming her fist against the desk. "I found out about his wife and confronted him. We had a terrible blowout. He yelled, "I won't have to deal with you too much longer." In less than two weeks I was accused of falsifying national test scores across the district."

***

The click of the door jarred Zara from the TV. She quickly flipped to the HGTV channel when Roman entered the room. He frowned at her still being awake. His dark eyes sent a direct message that he wasn't happy with her not being able to sleep. He glanced at the clock. It read 4:30 AM. Roman huffed. "Why are you still up?"

"I was waiting for you," she lied.

Roman shook his head and laughed. "I've known you my whole life and you're lying. You've been watching the video." The sheepish grin on her face was confirmation. He piled into the bed, dragging her onto his chest. The day had been exhausting. Zara's hair cascaded around him. He cupped her face, pulling her downward. "I need you to put me to sleep." Roman slipped the gown from her shoulders, sliding his hands over her full breasts.