I pushed at him until he eased up. “What’s going on? You’re freaking me out.”

Val exhaled in a whoosh of breath. “It’s Mani’s place. Somebody’s demolished it. The door was ripped from the hinges, and what was left of his stuff was shredded. Your things were torn up too.”

Dizziness washed over me. I swayed, and Val caught me. “Why—why would anyone do that?”

“To give you a warning,” Thorin said. “Or ‘threat’ may be a better word. I told you that coming here was going to stir up trouble.”

Thorin’s smug accusations sobered me. I straightened and pushed Val away. “I’ve done nothing to threaten anyone. Who would want to hurt me?”

“Who have you been talking to?” Thorin asked.

“Just the police.”

“And tonight, when you were with Skyla?”

“You were with Skyla?” Val asked. “She’s halfcocked about Mani’s murder. She’s going to get you mixed up in some bad stuff if you don’t watch out.”

“It looks as though she’s already mixed up,” Thorin said. “Who else have you been talking to?”

“I’ve been talking to Nunya,” I said. “As in Nunya Business.” Their stony expressions didn’t waver. I blew out an exasperated breath. “Skyla’s trying to find an old contact. His name was Adam something.”

“Adam Skoll?” Thorin growled the name.

“Yes.” The people closest to Mani knew more than they let on, to me or the police. I intended to change that. “We talked to some old roughneck at this bar outside of town. He said he thought Adam ran off to a fishing crew with Harold Hati.”

A livid tint of fuchsia pooled into Val’s cheeks. A vein throbbed in his forehead. “What do you know about Harold Hati?”

“Just what I read in the police report.” I didn’t mention Skyla’s story about Adam Skoll’s fight in the bar’s parking lot and the similarity between his victim and Mani. If they didn’t already know, then the story was Skyla’s to tell.

Val leaned forward and met me eye to eye. “This is as far as you go, Solina. No more Nancy Drew for you.”

“Nancy Drew?” I said. “I think of myself more as Stephanie Plum.” Judging by the look on his face, Val had never heard of her. “How did you find out about Mani’s apartment anyway?”

“What?” Val was thrown by my diversion tactic, as I had planned.

“Why were you at Mani’s apartment?”

“I was coming to check on you,” he said. “Last I knew, you had a debilitating headache.”

“Why didn’t you call first?”

Val leaned back. A look of hurt streaked across his face. “Are you accusing me of something?”

“No,” I said and sank into the kitchen chair. The coffee steam enticed me, so I picked up my mug and sipped. “I appreciate your concern, Val, but I can take care of myself.”

“Oh yeah? How are you going to do that with no place to stay?”

Damn. Hadn’t thought of that. Nisha Hemmings’s face flashed before my eyes. I wondered what she thought about the attack, if she even knew about it yet. Maybe she was working and had missed the whole thing. “I’ll rent a room… or I’ll call Skyla and stay with her.”

“No,” Val said, stepping close to loom over me. “You’re coming with me.”

I rolled off the chair, ready to run if necessary. “Aren’t you supposed to club me over the head first before you drag me to your cave?”

Thorin had the gall to snicker, but his face went flat when Val shot him a dirty look.

“This isn’t up for discussion,” Val said.

“Oh,” I said. “You are so right about that.”

Val and I glared at each other, neither of us willing to back down. Fear incited my stubborn streak, and I loathed admitting the need for help. Val was probably frightened for me. He had lost his best friend. Watching that best friend’s sister wade through the same dangerous waters likely inspired his protective nature, but I learned a thing or two from having a male for a twin. Give a guy reason to think he has control and kiss your independence goodbye. “I can’t go home with you,” I said, trying for diplomacy. “You have roommates. They should have a say.”

“I don’t give a damn what they think.”

“If I’m in so much danger, then why do you want to bring it to your doorstep?”

Thorin watched our exchange like an umpire at a tennis match. He wore an amused smirk, and that pissed me off even more.

“I’d be happy for the asshole who trashed Mani’s place to show his face. Then I’d know exactly where to put my fist.” Val took my wrist and dragged me closer to him. “Don’t fight me on this, please, Solina.”

“Look, Conan,” I said. “Go beat your chest somewhere else. I’m going to call the police, and then I’m going to call Skyla. If she doesn’t have room for me, I’ll find a hotel. Now let go of me.” I yanked my arm, and Val dropped his grip.

I turned and started for the door leading to the stairway, but a huge and impenetrable figure stepped in front of me. Thorin. What the hell? Why is he getting involved? I stopped and folded my arms over my chest. I tapped a toe, implying impatience.

“The danger that has targeted you and your brother is no inane threat, Miss Mundy. It is fierce and brutal and very real, which I’m not sure you fully appreciate.”

I opened my mouth to disagree, but Thorin held up a hand to silence me. “If you care for Skyla, I must ask you not to involve her in this matter any further.”

“He’s right,” Val said. “You just asked why I would have you stay with me when it would bring danger to my doorstep. But you would bring that same trouble to Skyla without a care for her safety?”

“Miss Mundy, the way I see it, you have two choices. You will either go with Val, or you will go home, to North Carolina, and never come back.”

There were so many things wrong with Thorin’s statement that I didn’t know where to begin. “What’s behind door number three?”

“There is no door number three.”

“I’m not going home. I can promise you that.”

“Fine, then it’s my place,” Val said, not bothering to hide the gloat in his voice.

I wanted to whine like when I was a kid—You can’t make me, you can’t make me—but unless I wanted to fight the mountain of a man barring the doorway in front of me, then it seemed as though Thorin and Val could very well make me do what they wanted. Sure, I knew some dirty tricks, but they worked best on unassuming drunk barflies, or twin brothers who never really meant to harm me in the first place. Something about the way Thorin held himself, the attitude he exuded—my survival instincts insisted this was a man who didn’t succumb to dirty tricks. This was a man who knew how to fight.

“Are you going to play nice?” Thorin asked.

Fine. I would concede to letting them have their way, lull them into a false sense of male superiority, and then return to doing things my way at my first chance. I would not, however, agree to play nice. “Kiss my ass.”

“That sounds like defeat to me,” Val said.

Val reached out for me, tentatively this time, the way one reaches out to a skittish dog. My bravado was quickly fading, but the dread was still there, simmering in my gut. I leaned in and let Val draw me into a hug. His lips brushed my ear as he whispered, “Nothing’s going to happen to you on my watch.” I shivered—not so much from Val’s touch but from the dark and unfathomable glare of Aleksander Thorin.