Nick understood where Milek had found the inspiration for his family portrait as he gazed around the condo living room at everyone gathered for the Payne Protection Agency meeting. Nikki wasn’t there, but since he was, that wasn’t unusual. And Logan usually excluded her from the bodyguard business meetings, anyway.
It wasn’t a family meeting because the spouses weren’t there, at least not the ones who weren’t bodyguards. The children weren’t there, either—just his baby, his son—inside Annalise’s belly.
She had insisted on being included in the powwow. And since she was stuck in the condo, too, it would have been hard to exclude her, even though she had no real reason to be there. The attempts on their lives had nothing to do with her.
But Logan, who was always thorough, interrogated her, anyway. “No disgruntled clients?” the former River City PD detective asked.
She shook her head.
“No jealous ex-boyfriends?”
She laughed—as she had when Nick had asked. She glanced at him before shaking her head.
Logan looked at him, too, as if considering that he was a jealous ex. When it came to Annalise, Nick was jealous and possessive. But he wasn’t an ex, not yet.
He would marry her so his son’s parents would be married when he was born. But Nick doubted Annalise would want to stay married to him. She deserved more. She deserved someone who could love her as she loved—freely and affectionately.
“This is stupid,” Gage said. Since returning from his last bodyguard assignment, he had been sticking close to Annalise. And of course he had insisted on being included in the Payne Protection meeting. “You’re wasting your time questioning my sister.”
“He’s right,” Nick said.
Instead of looking grateful for the confirmation, Gage glared at him. He had not forgiven him for crossing the line with Annalise. Ignoring his remark, Gage continued, “She has no enemies—unlike Nick.”
“They’ve only been going after Annalise to get to me,” Nick agreed. Gage had no doubts about that, just as he didn’t. The others had been more hesitant because they didn’t know Annalise. They didn’t understand how she was like Penny and could have no enemies.
“You have too many enemies,” Garek said.
“We’re narrowing it down,” Nick reminded him. Garek had ruled out Chekov. And while Candace wasn’t certain his daughter had nothing to do with it, Nick was.
The break-ins at his places and at Annalise’s had started before he’d taken down the Chekovs. Until he had, they’d had no reason to want vengeance on him. They hadn’t even been aware they had been in his sights.
He trusted few people. Only Garek Kozminski had been aware of that plan, and Nick had brought him in only because he’d needed his help. He needed all of their help now—for Annalise.
“We’re narrowing it down to people you’ve pissed off more than six months ago,” Gage said. “That’s still a hell of a lot of people.”
Nick couldn’t agree more. He had compiled a list. And even to him, it was overwhelming. He had passed out copies to the others, and they riffled through the pages.
“Seriously?” Garek Kozminski asked. “You’ve pissed off more people than I have.”
“And that’s saying something,” his brother Milek added.
“Are these all professional enemies?” Parker asked.
When someone had been trying to take him out, everyone had thought it was personal. That he had pissed off a lover’s husband or something.
Nick had never been the playboy his half brother had been rumored to be. He nodded. “Of course.”
“Why?” Logan asked. “You could have a jealous ex-lover, too.”
Like Annalise had, he laughed at the far-fetched notion. “That’s ridiculous.”
“It makes sense,” Candace said. “A jealous woman is more likely to go after a man’s girlfriend than a professional enemy would.”
“I’m not his girlfriend,” Annalise said quickly, defensively.
She wasn’t his girlfriend. What was she? Lover. Mother of his unborn child? Fiancée? He hadn’t put a ring on her finger. Not yet.
But he had no doubt Penny was planning their wedding. The professional wedding planner had probably started planning it the moment she’d heard about Annalise showing up in River City. Pregnant with his child.
Hell, Penny had probably known before he had.
Would he know if Annalise hadn’t been in danger? Would she have told him? That was why he’d trusted few people—because few people had proved worthy of his trust. Gage.
And as a reward, he had betrayed that trust when he’d crossed the line with Gage’s sister. Why should he expect trust when he’d done nothing to earn it himself?
“We need a list of ex-girlfriends,” Logan prodded him as he waved those pages around. “So this is complete.”
“You don’t think the list is long enough as it is?” Garek asked with a weary-sounding sigh. “There are already too many to check them all out.”
“You need Nikki’s help,” Parker said.
“She doesn’t work for me anymore,” Logan reminded them.
And from their faces Nick could tell, they all doubted she would help. They didn’t know how much she’d already assisted him. Not that the crime lab had found any prints in Annalise’s stolen car. As Nikki had surmised, it had been wiped clean.
Cooper said, “I’ll put her on the case.”
Nick had already emailed her a copy of the list. He suspected she was working on it—checking alibis, known associates, everything Nikki checked.
But even as good as Nikki was, he doubted they would be able to whittle down that list to the right suspect anytime soon. He could only hope that they stopped the person before it was too late, before he lost Annalise.
* * *
Annalise was lost. And it wasn’t because they all spoke at once that she couldn’t understand what they were saying. It was their reasoning she couldn’t follow. They were brilliant bodyguards. Every one of them had been something else before creating or joining the Payne Protection Agency.
They’d been police officers or detectives, soldiers or FBI agents. Or thieves.
And all of these brilliant people believed someone was using her for revenge against Nick. Even Nick thought so.
But it made no sense to her. Why?
Nick would have to have feelings for her—beyond responsibility—for her situation to really affect him. And he didn’t have feelings for her. He didn’t love her.
He hadn’t even made love to her again since that dawn they’d escaped the shoot-out at the hospital. As she’d suspected, she had awakened later that day alone. And he hadn’t shared her bed since.
For the past couple of nights, he’d planted himself on the couch, as if anyone could bypass Milek Kozminski’s security system. Nick was just running, as far away as he could while still being close enough to protect her.
And since that dawn, he hadn’t mentioned marrying her again. He obviously had no intention of following through on a wedding despite her brother’s proverbial shotgun threat.
So how would hurting her cause Nick any pain?
She was the one suffering. She was the one living with a man she loved but knew she could never really have. She was the one who’d put her career on hold while she lived in relative captivity. With a twinge of regret, she glanced at her brother.
He’d been through far worse than what she was going through. So she had no right to feel sorry for herself. No reason to sulk. Because she couldn’t stand inaction, she moved to the kitchen. She would cook or bake, depending on the ingredients available. She would do anything but pine for Nicholas Rus. She’d spent too much of her life doing that.
* * *
Gage had spent most of his missing six months in pain. And it hadn’t all had to do with his captivity. It had had to do with the kind of pain he saw on his sister’s face.
Heartache.
It was worse by far than anything anyone could physically suffer. It left a gaping hole where a heart should be. And there was no filling that hole with anything but love.
So when that love wasn’t returned, the hole just remained open and gaping and sore like an untreated wound.
He’d seen that pain on her face in a vulnerable moment. But she was doing her best to hide it now. She bustled around the room, offering food to everyone present. The house was warm from the heat of the oven and her personality. It was fragrant from the smells of the feast she had thrown together.
“She’s so much like Mom,” he heard Parker Payne murmur.
Logan nodded in agreement. “Nick’s right. This is about him. Not her.”
Gage had been telling them that, but they’d had to see for themselves the magic that was Annalise.
Nick had seen it. He’d tried turning a blind eye to it for years. He’d tried to ignore her. But she had been persistent. And if she had a flaw, Annalise’s only one would be her stubbornness. She’d wanted Nick for so long.
Gage shouldn’t have been surprised that she’d finally worn him down. But he was disappointed. Nick had always been his hero—the man he had hoped to become someday. Strong. Smart. Honorable.
This time, he’d crossed a line with Annalise that he would never be able to uncross. Marrying her wouldn’t make him honorable. It would probably only put her in more danger.
All the Paynes looked alike, but he knew it was Nick who settled onto the couch next to him. “I was wrong,” he said.
“No, you weren’t,” Nick said. “It’s all my fault. You should have hit me harder.”
Gage grunted. “Yeah, I should have.”
“So you’re not talking about hitting me?” Nick touched his jaw as if it still hurt.
But Gage knew he wasn’t as strong as he’d once been. Before he’d gone missing, he would have broken Nick’s jaw had he hit him like he had. But before he’d gone missing, he had never wanted to hit Nick.
“You know what I’m talking about,” Gage murmured.
Because he was Nick, he always knew everything. That was why he had come to Nick when he’d gotten back to the States. Because he hadn’t wanted to talk. He’d just wanted someone to know—without his having to say a word. But now he wanted to make sure Nick understood, so he said, “You can’t marry her. It would put her in more danger. Then whoever’s after you will know she’s important to you.”
Nick grunted his agreement. “You’re right.” He understood. He knew what he had to do—or actually not do.
He couldn’t make Annalise his bride. Marrying her wouldn’t just put her in more danger physically, though.
She would also be in more danger emotionally—because while she would have Nick’s name, Gage doubted she would ever have his heart.
He suspected Nick had had that gaping hole in his chest for a long time.
Maybe he’d never even had a heart to lose.