The ringing of his phone woke him up from an incredibly vivid erotic dream. No wonder he’s been talking in his sleep. With a groan, Steve rolled over, checked the time—almost two a.m., and rolled his eyes at the caller ID.

“What is it now, Danny?” If his partner had woken him because he couldn’t sleep and wanted to talk about Rachel again, this time he would shoot him.

“Chin got a call from a buddy in dispatch. There’s been a 911 call from Sabrina’s house. A B&E gone bad, two people dead.”

Steve was halfway down the stairs when Danny finished. “I’ll meet you there,” he snapped, disconnected, grabbed his keys, and was out of the house barely three minutes after waking up.




Sabrina Logan’s rental house

The flashing blue lights illuminating her face, Reena was giving her statement to an officer, when a black Harley, a red Chevy Cruze, a silver Camaro, and a blue pick-up roared to a stop at the curb almost simultaneously.

“Oh great,” she muttered sarcastically, “the cavalry is here. Are we done here?”

The officer nodded and moved away.

She turned toward the Five-0’s charging toward her. “What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded. “I called 911 not you.”

“We’ll talk about that later. Are you okay?” Steve asked softly, his eyes running from her mused hair, the faint smudges appearing on her face, down to the bruise on her chin, the rumpled T-shirt, scrapes on her legs laid bare by her shorts, bruises on her feet, then back up.

His soft tone got to her, and she knew that was precisely what he wanted—get her off her fighting high—but she couldn’t let herself soften. “I’m fine, as you can see. You can leave. There’s been no murder, just self-defense.”

“We’re not leaving,” Danny said. “Nice T-shirt, by the way.”

She wore the gag gift she had bought for Marc’s birthday two years ago. A T-shirt with the inscription ‘MARINES DO IT AGAINST THE WALL’. Needless to say, Marc refused to wear it. And not, he’d been adamant, because Marines didn’t do it against the wall. It was just tacky.

“Thanks. Don’t try to change the subject. Go away. Everything’s under control.”

Steve crossed his arms over his chest, a strange apprehension curling in his stomach. “You’re a Five-0, now. We don’t abandon our team.”

Reena rolled her eyes at his obtuseness. “That’s precisely why I want you out of here. This shouldn’t be categorized as team work.”

Now a scowl accompanied the arms-crossed pose. “Meaning.”

“Meaning I just killed Jelena Zagorinskaya and one of her goons for breaking into my house. You shouldn’t be involved.”

“What?” Steve saw red. Letting his arms drop to his sides, he got into her face. “You were bait?!”

She shrugged.

He clamped his hands on her shoulders, shook her. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“That we needed to get Wo Fat out of hiding.” She slapped his hands away. “Now, get out of here.”

Danny shook his head. “We’re not moving.”

“Jesus!” she snapped. “Are you really that dense? This cannot be linked to you guys!”

“Why the hell not?!”

“Because Zagorinskaya was Wo Fat’s fiancée. His family. And he’ll go after the families of those responsible, or those he deems responsible.” She looked straight into Danny’s eyes. “Do you want to risk Gracie? Rachel?” She then turned to Kono and Chin. “What about your entire family?” She’s saved Steve for last. “Do you want to risk anything happening to Mary? Catherine might be able to take care of herself, but not against someone she doesn’t see coming.”

Danny looked a little green around the gills, but still asked. “What about you?”

She shrugged. “I have no family.”

“You do now,” Kono replied.

Reena needed to get them away, needed to get Steve away. “I don’t have time for this. Please, please, leave.”

They looked at each other. Their loved ones could be protected. Would be protected at all cost. But that didn’t mean they would abandon one of their own.

“No.”

“No way.”

“We’re a team.”

Steve just looked at her.

“Fine.” She threw her hands up in surrender. “Whatever. It’s not like I can order you to leave.”

“Exactly,” he murmured with a satisfied smirk.

“She can’t, but I can,” a deep voice added.

Reena scowled. “What are you doing here? I told you on the phone. I’m fine.”

“And I wanted to see for myself,” Marcus Hawthorne replied. “And I’m not letting you stay at a hotel tonight.”

When he reached her, she poked him in the chest. “I’ll be fine,” she hissed. “Now get out of here. I don’t need one more stubborn idiot to contend with. I’m covered. Besides, you’re the governor, if he knew, he could easily come after you.”

He shrugged. “And I’ll be waiting.”

“Stupid grunts,” she muttered.

“Oorah,” he replied with a smile. “Get a few things together, you’re sleeping at my place tonight.”

Reena rolled her eyes, but knew it was pointless trying to reason with Marc when he was in full protective mode. “Give me a couple of minutes.”




“There was no friend, was there?”

Busy stuffing her laptop and a change of clothes into a duffel, the quiet question startled her. She slowly turned to see Steve at her bedroom door, leaning with one shoulder against the jamb, his eyes bleak.

“You were talking about yourself. You developed that program.”

Silent, she walked to her dresser, pulled a T- shirt out of the second drawer.

“Who did they threaten if you don’t have any family?”

She flinched.

“Who, Sabrina? Your boyfriend?”

Her heart in her throat, she turned to look at him. Did he know?

Steve looked into her wide eyes and his heart sank. “They threatened Hawthorne.”

Reena blinked. What? He thought that she and Marc were...She swallowed, decided to tell the truth. “Yes, they threatened the man I love.” Not the man he thought, though.

He nodded, feeling like he was dying on the inside. She’s used the present tense. “And what did you do?”

“What was necessary.”

“What did you do?”

“I killed them.”

She sounded so matter of fact yet so lonely, he wanted to hold her close so badly he could taste it. But he kept his distance. Because now he knew the truth.

Reena picked up her duffel, brushed against him as she left the bedroom, refusing to let him see how much that small contact reassured her she’d done the right thing five years ago. That she was doing the right thing now. He was alive because of what she’d done. There was nothing more important than keeping him alive. No matter the cost.

“I’ll see you later,” she murmured and walked down the hallway to where her brother waited to take her home.