“What happened?" Wyatt asked Crystal, and stood back so the two of them could come inside out of the oppressive heat."Why are you asking her?" Reed thumped past him. "I'm the one on crutches.""She'll tell me the truth," Wyatt said. "You'll just give me some bullshit story that will end with 'You should see the other guy'.""You wound me, bro" [Reed]"He tore his ACL the day before yesterday trying to do a stunt on a skateboard." [Crystal]"Mendoza dared him." [Luke Colter]"No one held a gun to the fool's head" [Mendoza]”

“This is so my favorite time of day to make house calls," Mendoza announced from the backseat of Wyatt's SUV as they cruised the Soyopango gangland territory. "Nothing says sneak attack like waltzing in under the cover of the noon-fucking-sun.”

“Bastards have pissed me off," Reed snarled, out of breath, as he backed into the open armory door. "They hit me in the face."Lang grabbed Reed's jaw, turned his face toward him. "It's just a scratch."It's just my fucking face," Reed sputtered. "It needs to look good on a book jacket when I write my memoirs someday.”

“That cowboy had heartbreak written all over him and she'd be damned if she knew why every time he blew into town she ended up naked before he ended up gone. Reed always ended up gone.”

“Which is your bad shoulder?"His brows knit together. "The left," he said carefully.She slugged him in the right.He staggered. Steadied himself. Grinned. "Is that like some weird Wyoming mating ritual thing I should know about?""Damn you," she cried, flying into his arms. Finally. "Damn you, damn you, damn you!"He wrapped his arms around her, held her tight. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was such a coward.”

“The door to the situation room door opened, drawing her attention to a tall, lean man with eyes as sharp as razors.The sound of a metal chair scraping on the tile floor filled the room as Reed shot to his feet, stood at attention, and saluted crisply.The man stopped, scowled, and heaved a heavy sigh. "All right you clown. At ease. It hasn't been that long since I've been here.""Just showing my respect, sir," Reed said with a smart-ass grin. "It's not often we're fortunate enough to be in the company of such greatness.”

“Nose to nose with her, he gave her his best bad dog snarl. "You've forgotten who and what you're dealing with here, princess. So let me jar your memory. I'm not on your father's short list of men you can bring home to dinner. I'm not a nice man. So if all you're looking for is sex...just keep this up and you're liable to get it. And don't expect some polite little in-and-out and 'oh darling, that was lovely.' You come to my bed, I'm going to fuck you, and there won't be anything polite about it.”