I finally did use the big, walk-in shower in Kian’s bathroom.

And he joined me.

While there were some antics of the erotic kind, we kept it mostly businesslike, or as businesslike as it could be when two people who were attracted to each other showered together.

While I’d never regret intimacy with Kian, sometime during the past thirty minutes, my brain had kicked on. Maybe it was the food. Maybe it was the brief nap or even the hot bath. I didn’t know.

But we needed to move.

Kian seemed to sense my urgency, and while his eyes would lazily roam over my figure, he behaved himself while we finished up showering, and even mostly behaved himself as we dried off.

That was all good because my brain was hard at work.

I had to make plans.

I had to think.

Joelle would be at the house tonight. I knew she would be. It was a custom in my clan for the older women to come to a bride’s house in the early morning to help her prepare. If the wedding was tomorrow – and my gut said it would be – then tomorrow morning, women would descend upon the house for Joelle.

She had to be at the house.

Gypsies didn’t part with customs easily.

It was considered bad luck and even my idiot father didn’t want to court bad luck.

More, Ephraim’s family wouldn’t want to, and Papa wouldn’t want to run afoul of them. Ephraim’s mother and his two sisters would be part of the party that came to ‘prepare’ Joelle.

We’d have to get her tonight. After that, it would be too late.

“What are you thinking about?” Kian asked as I pulled the borrowed sweats up over my hips.

“Plans,” I said vaguely. I didn’t have anything concrete yet. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. I checked the time and calculated how long it would take him if he’d come to help. It would work, I thought. It would have to. “Can I use your phone?”

Nicco answered the phone.

To my surprise, he recognized my voice immediately. “Suria. How are you? We’ve been thinking about you a lot. Are you well?”

The concern was almost my undoing, but I braced myself and managed a level reply. “I’m hanging in there, Nicco. I need to ask you…you offered to help with Joelle before. Are you still willing?”

“Anything you need,” he said without hesitation.

I sucked in a breath and tipped my head back, staring up at the ceiling. Kian had let me use his home office, leaving to give me some privacy, but now I wished he was in there. I could use a hand to hold.

“Papa came and got Joelle,” I said in a tight voice. “She called to talk to our cousin and Papa overheard. He was able to find out where she was, and he came and got her, forced her to go back. I have to get her out of the house before the wedding happens. I need help.”

He was quiet a moment, clearly thinking. “He got her after you came to see me?”

“Yes.”

“The wedding is likely to be tomorrow then. They’d need the time to get everything ready,” Nicco said.

“Yes,” I responded, more than a little stunned at his insider knowledge.

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Nicco laughed a little. “I don’t belong to a clan, but I’m half Romany, Suria. I’ve done what I can to know about that part of myself. I’ve made a study of it.”

“I see.” I didn’t, not really. He got out. Why would he want to know anything about this life if he was able to get out? But that wasn’t anything that mattered now.

Joelle was what mattered.

“Are you in LA now?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“It will take me about five hours to get there if I leave now – and I can. Do you have any sort of plan?”

I laughed weakly. “Nothing serious. We go in, we get her out. That’s about it.”

“So…we’re winging it. Is it just you and me?”

“No.” Clearing my throat, I said, “I’ve got a friend. Kian. He’s helping us too.”

“Okay. I’m going to get on the road. I’ll call you soon, and we’ll start to plan things out.” He paused a moment, then said, “We’ll get her out, Suria. Okay?”

I found Kian standing by the big, plate-glass window that had fascinated me so much last night. The view was as beautiful as I’d expected it would be, and for a few moments, we just stood there, staring out at the mountains in silence.

“I called my brother,” I said softly.

Kian looked down at me. I could sense his surprise.

“I didn’t know you had a brother.”

Weakly, I laughed. “Neither did I until a few days ago. I met him after Joelle and I ran away. He wanted to help us then. I should have let him. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

Kian covered my shoulder with his hand, squeezing gently. “You can’t blame yourself, baby. You’re doing everything you can to help her.”

But it hasn’t been good enough.

I didn’t say it out loud though, just offered him a tight smile. Turning into his body, I leaned against him and felt some of the bands around my chest loosen as his arms came around. Just having him here made things easier to handle. Since when had that happened? Since when had I let myself rely on anybody other than myself?

I didn’t know, but it felt…good.

“Nicco is coming to help us. He’s going to help us get Joelle out,” I told him.

Kian stroked a hand up my back, then down. “Then maybe we had better come up with a plan.”