“And,” I add, “he’s off running around the country with her and I need to reach him for about ten different reasons.” I don’t give her time to dig for more. “Send me the reports and estimate the timelines you talked to Sofia. I need to check the phone records.”
She nods. “Is Gio okay?”
“Only until I get my hands on him,” I assure her.
This draws her laughter. “Right. I bet. You two are always squabbling.” She seems to relax and motions to the desk. “I’m back because I forgot my purse, by the way. Don’t ask me how. I never do that. It’s like I had to come back to look in on you and my subconscious did it, but clearly, I was wrong. You’re pretty darn good from what I can see. Anyway, I’m going to grab it and head home. The neighbor has my son but she has a houseful of kids on her hands with her own. She needs me to hurry back home.” And so, she does hurry. She hurries behind the counter. I follow to stand on the opposite side, across from her.
“I’m going to be traveling with Kace so I’ll be away more than here. And,” I add, “I’m in talks to form a new partnership that will be great for the store. For now, I need you to work from home.”
Before I can blink, she’s on this side of the counter, standing in front of me, lowering her voice. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong. Everything I just said is good.”
She presses. “What partnership?”
“With a large auction house. And it could very possibly represent real, much needed, growth for us.”
“Oh. Okay. I—guess. I hope.” She frowns. “Are you sure everything is okay?”
I hate lies, but this one is about keeping her safe. “Absolutely. Now, hurry home. And get me that report.”
“I will.” She rotates but instead of heading for the door, she pauses directly in front of Kace. “You musicians break hearts. Break hers and I’ll break you, well, if Gio doesn’t beat me to it.”
“Nancy!” I chide, shocked at her behavior but maybe I shouldn’t be. She cracks a whip on Gio when he’s here. “Kace I’m sorry.”
Kace laughs and flicks me an amused look. “It’s okay, baby.” He returns his attention to Nancy. “I promise you, I would never hurt, Aria. If anyone is going to end up with a broken heart, it’s me.”
“Really? You’re that into her?”
“Are you serious, Nancy?” I demand.
“I am, in fact, that into her,” Kace replies.
I facepalm and recover to find her still staring at him. I’m about to just end this myself when she says, “Your version of ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ is so damn good.” And on that note, she steps around him and walks to the door. The minute she exits the store, Kace crosses to the door and locks it behind her.
The minute he turns to me, I say, “I’m so sorry about that.”
“No need to apologize, baby,” he says, joining me at the counter, where we both lean an elbow on the counter. “Friends are supposed to be protective of each other. But I didn’t miss the obvious. You’re worried about her.”
“Yes. I need her out of the middle of this. That auction house stuff was real, though. Crystal wants me to do some work with her. And I might. I’ll listen to her ideas.”
“Crystal told me she was plotting to get you involved over there,” he says. “How do you really feel about that?”
“I don’t yet, and sorry, I’m jumping subjects right now. My mind is on Gio. We know Sofia must have talked to him on his cellphone, but I can’t find his cellphone records. Or rather, I can’t get to them. I don’t even know his carrier.”
“Walker can get to all of that information and quickly,” he promises. “Which speaking of, how did you feel about the meeting with them, after talking to Savage one-on-one?”
“About that. You didn’t have to send him here to prove you were telling the truth. I believed you, Kace.”
“It was about more than that, but yes. I wanted you to know I told you the truth. I want you to know when I tell you something, it’s the truth. How did it go?”
“I’m afraid to trust them. I’m afraid to not trust them. I’m afraid of pulling you into this and putting you in harm’s way.”
His hands settle on my waist, and he steps closer. “If you’re there, I’m going to be with you.”
My hand flattens on his chest. “You don’t understand. They will come for me. I don’t know who they are, but they will come. My mother always knew they would come. Maybe Sofia, maybe she was the beginning. Maybe she came for Gio.”
“We don’t know that. Let’s not assume. We know how they met. That helps, but we have to trust Walker to help. I trust them. And when I talked to Savage this morning I told him I want only him and his boss Blake in on the first meeting. We need them to know just how tight we need to keep this circle. Okay?”