It was imperative and demanding.

Especially when we hadn’t had any contact in weeks.

My return texts of Are you okay? and Sebring, answer me received no response.

So I took off to do as he said.

Worried.

He had a brother. His brother had a family. Nick also had employees.

Other than that, he’d asked me if I had anyone but I’d never asked him. And our relationship was such he didn’t share about all his friends, buddies he might meet for a beer, high school sweethearts he still kept in touch with.

He might not have anyone either.

In fact, in our world, there were very few anyones you could truly trust.

And he might need someone.

Especially if he needed someone because something had happened to his brother or his brother’s family.

Knight Sebring kept himself and his business to himself.

That didn’t mean there wasn’t danger to his business. If anyone hurt any of the girls he provided protection for, it was known his retribution was swift and brutal.

That might mean enemies.

But it could just be life. A car accident. An illness.

Anything.

Life happened all the time and my experience was most of what happened during the living of it sucked.

So yes, I was worried. I hadn’t heard anything but that wasn’t unusual. Even back in the day when I was directly involved in the life, with my position in it, news reached me slowly. Now, it might not reach me at all.

God, what if someone went after Knight’s Anya?

Or one of their daughters?

This was a terror of mine. It made no sense. After what had happened with Tommy, I decided never to have children.

But sometimes I woke up at night in a cold sweat, having dreamed some enemy of my father or Georgia had decided they should pay through my babies.

Or that I’d done something and my father or Georgia used my babies to pay.

No, I never intended to have any children.

I was also worried because Nick’s text could be construed not as upset, but as anger.

I’d bought him that painting. It had been days ago now and I’d heard nothing.

But maybe he didn’t like it.

That said, he had a right to refuse it and I’d told the handsome Ralphie who worked at the gallery to be certain Nick knew he had that right. So it wasn’t like I was forcing it on him.

But maybe he didn’t want memories of me. Maybe when he found the girl he couldn’t build in a dream, he didn’t want to look at a five thousand dollar painting and remember me. Maybe he thought I was being clingy by giving it to him after he’d ended things so definitively, even if my note didn’t say clingy.

However, none of that prompted an angry Come over. Now. just so he could share that with me. He could simply tell Ralphie he didn’t want it and continue to ignore me.

So no.

I didn’t think that was it.

I just hoped whatever it was—Knight, Anya, one of Nick’s nieces—that it would be okay.

And I tried not to think about how much it meant that if it was Knight, Anya, anything, he had called on me.

By the time I swung in the spot beside Nick’s Jag, I was so frantic, it didn’t register I was back at his place. A place I never thought I’d be again. But even so, it was a place I thought of daily, even hourly, wishing I’d have the chance to go back, just once more, but better, whenever the spirit moved me because in the perfect world of daydreams, it, like Nick, belonged to me.

No, I didn’t think of that.

I just quickly got out of my car, closed the door and felt my heart slam in my chest when I looked up to Nick’s unit and saw his door already rolling open.

He always knew when I arrived, probably heard my car, but he never opened his door before I hit the stairs.

This made me do that: hit the stairs and fast, running as best I could in skirt and heels.

Nick met me halfway up.

And the pain in his face sent a slice of terror through my heart.

“Nick,” I whispered, stopping on the step beside him, lifting my hand to rest it on his chest, my eyes glued to his. “Oh God, sweetheart. What’s happened?”

For some reason as I spoke, I watched the pain score deeper.

But he didn’t answer. He tore my hand from his chest, his fingers closing around mine so hard they hurt. He then dragged me up the steps so fast, I tripped and almost fell.

He didn’t seem to notice. He just kept dragging me until he’d pulled me into his unit. He stopped abruptly to slide the door closed.

The jerk his sudden stop sent through my arm made me fall into him, but I didn’t care.

I was all about Nick.

When he bolted the door and turned to me, I yanked my hand from his, lifted both to his chest and leaned in. So intent on him, I didn’t notice him walking forward, hands to my hips, shuffling me back.

I just begged, “Talk to me.”

He didn’t talk to me.

He stared down at me, the blue of his eyes openly turbulent, the frank honesty of emotion something he’d never given me.

Which meant it had to be bad.

“God, honey. What’s happened?” I whispered.

He didn’t answer.

“Is it Knight?” I asked cautiously.

Vaguely, I noted him stopping us so we were just standing there, touching but unmoving.

“Anya?” I pressed carefully.

“You don’t intend to do it,” he stated.

I stared at him, confused.

“Sorry?” I asked.

His fingers dug into my hips and he declared, “You want me to be happy.”

I felt my head twitch, now more confused.

“I…I don’t get it.” I shook my head. “I mean, yes. Of course. I want you to be happy. Though, I don’t get—”