“I’m sorry. We understand your worry but there’re no updates yet,” said the officer on the phone.

Mia sighed and pressed her hand to her cheek. At least this officer hadn’t come across as rude and uncaring like the last. Although, to be fair, this was her fifth call to them since last night. The second since this morning, and it was only ten. She made her first call for the day to the Florida Capitol police after Glenn came in.

She was still in Nick’s room. Mia had been in a much needed slumber but was still aware when Glenn came back.

She could hear him, had recognized the way he shuffled around, and the panic she felt over the art collection returned to her. It woke her up immediately. Since Nick wasn’t there she made her way back to her room.

“Thank you. I understand,” Mia told her.

“It’s also best to wait to hear from us. We do always get in touch the minute we get updates,” the officer offered, still with that calm voice, even though she was essentially telling Mia not to call back.

It was the “don’t call us, we’ll call you” message that Mia was also dreading to hear. It took away what little control she had left. All she wanted to know was if they could confirm that the paintings were safe, and if they’d tracked Alan down with the money. She knew the latter would be truly difficult but thought they’d be able to help more with the collection.

She’d been trying to contact the storage facility since she discovered the passwords missing but had no luck in speaking with anyone. It wasn’t the kind of place that had someone on site to deal with customer queries. Anything query-related was dealt with by appointment of a week in advance, or they’d respond by email within the same time frame if the query didn’t warrant a face-to-face meeting. It was a terrible set up to give any form of heads up.

She thought of driving down there herself, but the reason why she’d written down the passwords to their unit was that it was one she would definitely not remember. And it wasn’t as if she could ask Glenn for assistance because he’d know straightaway that there was a problem. On this matter, it would either be the police or the facility staff that could help.

“Okay, I’ll wait to hear,” Mia replied. It was best to agree and act like it was fine, even though really she wanted to scream.

“Good bye.” The officer hung up the phone and Mia threw hers onto her bed. It bounced off and dropped onto the floor, making a loud thud.

She rested against the wall, not bothering to go over and pick it up.

What the hell was she going to do?

She was so worried about the art collection, so damn worried. She should have told Nick about it. Or Glenn.

Yesterday, when she said the inheritance was gone, she should have voiced her worries over the collection, too. It would have been natural at that point to follow up what she said with the fact that Alan took the passwords to Hamptons as well.

Her fear silenced her, and now her anxiety was making her see that she looked like she’d hidden it from him. Which yes, she knew she had.

Looking like you were hiding something and actually hiding it were different. Hiding something without anyone knowing or suspecting still came with the chance to share what was going on. However, when you looked like you were hiding something and you were, it made the situation a hundred times worse.

Glenn was already furious with her and hurt. She knew that by keeping something so important as the collection away from him was only going to cause more trouble.

Mia made her way to the window and sat on the chair beside it.

She remembered this being her thinking spot as a child and through her teens.

Everything in here was the same as she left it. She hadn’t slept in this house for a long time, and last night she still didn’t sleep in her room.

The last night she spent in here was the night before she left for Florida. She was so excited, although she’d had the biggest argument with her parents, who’d tried to get her to stay.

They believed she’d struggle to make it on her own and build up a client base. They threw all manner of worries at her to give her something to be concerned about but hadn’t managed to shake her faith in herself. Glenn had been adamant but supportive at the time. He’d pacified the situation enough to diffuse it, and then she set off to Florida with the hope in her heart that she’d do well.

Who would have thought that it would all blow up in her face years later?

The day when she realized she wanted to be a beauty therapist was still clear in her mind. It was that light-bulb moment for her when it suddenly became obvious to her that it was an area that she was naturally good at and could pursue with no trouble at all.

Apart from practically living at the salon and spa in town, she loved making up her own natural treatments and remedies for her skin and hair. That was something she did effortlessly and knew exactly what ingredients to combine to achieve a desired effect.

Heck, she even went a little deeper and knew specifics that no one thought of. Like how making a banana-and-oat mask with a banana that was just about to go rotten has certain enzymes that not only worked great as an alpha hydroxyl but also a fantastic moisturizer. It was the chemical reaction that took place at that point that made the banana very sweet to taste, but also slightly sour.

Back in Florida her blissful banana-and-wild-rolled-oat facials were a best seller, and the fact that it could be used across all skin types kept people coming back for more.

That was just one thing. She knew a number of treatments like that that were all amazing, and the best thing was that they were made up from her own devices and imagination. She had the ability to enhance something that was average and well known into something that was remarkable.

It made her sick to close her business. Stella, her business manager, was kind enough to wind it down for her, and made arrangements to sell what could be sold to gather the funds to pay the staff and other trade accounts she had. She also liaised with the insurance company to get what they could, too.

She’d seen Mia’s distress and thankfully decided to help out. At that point it fell apart, all her hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future simply faded before her eyes. The loss on capital was too extensive to regain, even with the abundant client base she had. Stella estimated that Alan stole over a hundred thousand just from the business. There was no way that they would have been able to make that all back, and the only reserve money she had was the inheritance, which was taken.

Closing was the only option because that would also kick start the insurance claim, with business closure being one of the key criteria to start her claim.

The debts would be covered with the payout, but that would be all. Mia couldn’t bring herself to stay and lock down her shop. It was hard enough to leave her apartment and pack everything she’d set up as her home.

Stella took care of that, too, and arranged for what she couldn’t take with her to Chicago to go into storage. She’d encouraged Mia to go and be with Glenn, for the support.

It seemed like the best idea at the time because that was the very thing she needed.

She wondered if Glenn would ever forgive her for this. Would he hold it against her forever?

Nothing like this had ever happened and he’d never acted so…bizarre with her. Sure, she’d be the first to agree and accept that in the past she’d done all sorts of things that would make anyone crazy and think that she didn’t have a clue as to what she was doing. But this incident was different. Alan had worked his way into her life so he could steal from her and destroy all that she’d built up.

That was different to anything they’d ever encountered where he had to help her out. And those instances where he’d stepped in all came from her parents forcing her to go to college. That had been a disaster. And he made it sound like she slept around with anyone who showed her attention.

That had been a horrible thing to say to her. She didn’t do that, and had never done that.

Her massive breasts attracted a lot of male attention, but that didn’t mean she encouraged anything further than a few stares.

He knew that she’d had a few bad relationships, but it didn’t give him the right to say that to her. And saying it in front of Nick made it worse.

She continued to look through the window and caught sight of the one thing that could take her mind off of anything.

Nick.

He just walked out of the front door wearing a low-slung pair of Levi’s that drew her eyes to his long, muscular legs and the firmness of his behind.

His Range Rover was parked in the driveway. He walked over to the garage and took out the long garden hose.

She then watched him hook it up to the spigot and turn it on. When he shrugged out of his t-shirt and revealed ripples of fantasy muscles, she had to stop herself from drooling.

This window and view had been great for this very thing when she was younger. Nick spotting. Back then, though, she’d watch him coming up the drive with Glenn or washing Glenn’s car.

Just like then, she couldn’t stop herself from staring. That spikey hair glistened in the sun as the rays picked up the lighter parts and made them look almost like highlights.

She ran her eyes over the tattoos on his body and thought back to last night.

God, she still couldn’t believe that she told him she had her nipples pierced. But she’d definitely do it again to see that spark of something in his eyes that resembled desire.

Just for a few minutes she pushed aside her worries and gave in to the attraction she felt for him. It reminded her that she was a woman. One who would have loved to run her hands over the gorgeous man below her and indulge in him.

It was crazy, and the thoughts were ones she knew she shouldn’t be having.

But it helped, all the same. If only for a little while.

She got the feeling she should take the time for the break, because today, like yesterday, held any number of outcomes, which could all be bad for her.

* * *

Nick watched Glenn with keen eyes.

He was sitting on the large sofa in the living room mindlessly flicking from one channel to the next. He’d been doing that for the last hour. Prior to that he’d buried himself in work, going through various files of past cases that were done and dusted.

Glenn had come back in the early hours of the morning. The sound had woken Nick up.

He’d gone to see him but Glenn didn’t want to talk. He looked exhausted, like he’d been up all night and drained out.

Now he was in this catatonic state where no one would be able to reach him until he was ready to let them in.

The last time Glenn was like this was when he’d broken up with Jenna, his long-term girlfriend of six years. He caught her cheating on him. Glenn had stayed like this for months and shut everyone out.

Nick knew this was a little different, but Glenn’s behavior was the same.

“I’m going to investigate this,” Nick said, breaking the tense silence that filled the room.

He’d just been sitting here with him, trying to figure out what to say and how to make things better.

The situation was bad and anyone could understand the anger Glenn felt. The guy had just lost his inheritance.

“What’s the point? You and I both know that money is gone. We won’t get it back.” Glenn looked over at him.

Well, at least he was talking.

“That doesn’t stop us from trying. I can look into it and see what I can find.”

Nick was hoping that this Alan guy wasn’t as clever as the criminals he’d encountered in the past. One of the first cases Sawyer put him on was to help him track a bunch of cyber criminals. They’d used sophisticated devices to make it difficult to find any trace of them.

“I don’t know, Nick. I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that I thought I had a million dollars I specifically didn’t want to touch because I wanted to give it to the children I hope to have in the future, and now some piece of shit has it. Just like that.” Glenn tossed the remote control on the floor and threw himself back into the cushions behind him on the sofa.

“I’m sorry.”

“Everyone’s sorry, but nothing can be done.” The expression of worry deepened on his face and he sat forward again. “What if this guy gets his hands on everything else?”

“It’s a possibility. That’s why I want to investigate.”

The door opened slightly, drawing their attention over to it, and Mia came in. She had her hair down and it flowed about her, curling slightly at the ends where it touched her elbows. It sparkled in the bright morning sunlight, emphasizing her beauty.

She brought her dainty hands together and rested them in the center of her cleavage, which he couldn’t help but notice in the camisole top she wore. She looked from him to Glenn and kept her focus on Glenn.

“Morning guys, I…” Her voice faltered and her hands started shaking. “Is there anything I can do?”

Glenn looked like he would breathe fire at her. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough? I mean, come on.” He smirked with heavy sarcasm.

“I want to fix this,” she said in a small voice.

“Then leave it alone. Leave it all alone, and go back to Florida,” Glenn cried.

The horrified look on Mia’s face got to Nick and made him feel bad for her.

“Glenn, I don’t have anything left in Florida. Everything is gone. I have nothing left.”

“Wow, well you should have thought of that before you gave your opportunist accountant access to everything.”

“Glenn, this was a mistake. I trusted him. I knew him for years and he just took advantage of me.”

Nick felt his fist clench. He couldn’t imagine anyone using her and it angered him that some guy had.

“I don’t care about that. You should have exercised more caution. This is really fucked up, Mia. The guy stole two million dollars.”

“Yes, and my business. I have nothing because of him.” Tears spilled down her cheeks.

The anger and tension was too raw to talk to either of them and their arguments were just getting worse.

“Find somewhere else to go, Mia,” Glenn declared, shocking them both.

Nick looked at him as if he was mad. “Glenn,” he attempted.

“You’re throwing me out?” Mia cried in disbelief. “I don’t have anywhere to go, and I need you.”

“Find somewhere—”

“That’s enough, Glenn. Stop it,” Nick said, standing up. Glenn stood, too, and squared off with him. “You aren’t thinking straight, and that’s understandable given the situation, but this is her house, too. You can’t throw her out.”

Glenn narrowed his eyes at Nick, seething.

Nick ignored Glenn and turned to Mia. “Mia, just leave this to us. I’ll come and see you in a little while and we can talk.”

She nodded, looking grateful, and thankfully left.

When Nick looked back to Glenn he saw that his face was so red he looked like he was going to explode.

“You need to stay out of this, Nick.”

“No, you’re acting crazy. Were you seriously going to throw her out?” He couldn’t believe that.

“Yes. The reason why she keeps doing these stupid things is because there are no consequences. She’s never had to really work hard for anything. She’s the damn pampered princess. She needs to be out on the street to learn some sense, and learn that I can’t keep saving her.” His nostrils flared.

“Glenn, nothing has been this big.” Nick shook his head at him. He tried to recall the past events and couldn’t summon anything this bad to memory.

“It doesn’t have to be this big. The fact is she’s always doing something and I have to fix it. Me, I’m tired of it.”

“You can’t throw her out. She’s your sister,” Nick reminded him.

“Yes, my sister, and you’d do good to remember that.” Glenn eyed him fiercely.

Nick rocked back on his heels and gazed back. He didn’t have to wonder what Glenn meant by saying that. He knew, but he’d still ask.

“What are you trying to say? Why would I do good to remember that Mia’s your sister when I was the one that just reminded you?” Nick smirked at him.

They didn’t play games so he went straight in for blatant. If Glenn was going to tell him again to leave Mia alone, then Nick wanted to hear it. He was surprised yesterday when Mia told him she didn’t know Nick was home from the Marines and living here. It seemed something the general person would have mentioned considering this was their family home, and something you would share with family members who were likely to come by.

It was odd that she didn’t know, but thinking about it, Nick thought it implied that Glenn didn’t want her to know.

“Drop it, it’s fine. I don’t want to argue with you,” Glenn replied with a frustrated sigh.

Nick gave him one last look and then he left, deciding he would go and talk to Mia. He went up to her room to find her crying on the bed, the sight of which saddened him further.

He stood in the doorway wondering if he should go inside. She did a lot of crying yesterday, too much. She’d only resembled the girl he once knew last night when she’d gone to see him.

Nick looked about the room as he stood by the door. It had been closed off this whole time, but seeing it now brought back memories of their childhood. Memories of her, of them all, and how they used to be. This room had evolved from a princess’ chamber covered in pink everywhere. She’d had curtains with lace and bows on them, a wall for her dolls and stuffed toys, and a walk-in wardrobe that was filled with what she called her princess dresses.

Now it looked like something from one of those post-romantic paintings she loved from the Victorian era. Instead of pink, the colors splashed about the room were cream and burgundy. The wrought-iron-framed bed had replaced the child’s bed with tassels, and the medieval-looking chandelier hanging over it carried off the look. The princess was all grown up, had been for many years, but she was still the same girl.

And Nick knew the girl would have needed him again now. So he went inside.

The sweet fragrance of her filled him as he got close and sat on the bed next to her. The smell would be vanilla. He knew she liked that. She loved anything with that smell in it, so everything—her shampoo, perfume, hairspray, everything she could get her hands on—smelled like that.

As she sobbed, her shoulders shook and all that silky hair sprawled out behind her. He couldn’t help but stare at her tiny frame, perfect in all the right places. He could see just a little more cleavage and the swells of her breasts from the angle at which she lay, and the deep curve of her waist only enhanced those shapely hips and thighs.

She hadn’t been in the house and back in his life for two full days yet, but already she had him consumed with thought, thinking about her nonstop. He couldn’t even acknowledge the scary thought that no other woman had ever managed to do this to him.

Swallowing hard, he forced himself to focus. When he rested his hand on her shoulder, she responded by reaching across and lightly placing her hand on his. It was a small gesture, but the touch spread heat through him.

“What am I going to do, Nick?” she asked on the edge of a labored breath. “Glenn wants me gone. I don’t have anywhere to go, I have no money, and I can’t fix this,” she cried, rolling over onto her back.

“This is your house, Mia.”

“He told me to leave. If you weren’t here I’d be on the street.” She wiped at the tears that ran down her cheek.

Nick wanted to tell her things wouldn’t have gotten that far, but he didn’t think he could. Glenn looked serious, and probably would have done it.

“I could still be on the street.” She sucked in a breath.

“I wouldn’t let that happen to you.” He smiled.

“He might throw you out, too. Then we’d both be outside.”

He laughed at that, because from the way Glenn looked Nick didn’t doubt the possibility, but if it happened he’d be cool.

“Sounds like the perfect chance to get that gingerbread house we talked about years ago.” He was trying to cheer her up, but it didn’t work. She frowned at him, knitting her perfect brows together and pursing her lips.

“You still think of me as a child.” She said it with a sort of disappointment that showed a slight hint of hurt.

“No.” He shook his head.

“Gingerbread house, Nick? Like Hansel and Gretel.” She frowned even more.

“Hey, I’m doing my best here. If Glenn throws us into the street, I’d definitely take an edible house over…” He was still trying.

“Over a regular one?”

“Not so much. It’s cool, though, right?” He smiled down at her and there it was, the smile he’d been waiting for.

It was faint and brief, but there. The smile spread across her pink lips and reached her eyes. She sat up and adjusted herself so she could hug her knees to her chest.

“Thank you,” she breathed.

He shuffled over so that he was closer to her. “I haven’t done anything yet.”

“You always stop him from really ripping into me when he gets mad.”

“I don’t like him shouting at you.”

Even though her face was blotchy from her tears, her cheeks still warmed into a blush. “Thank you, I don’t have anybody who looks out for me like that.”

“I’ll always take care of you, Mia.” Maybe that sounded too forward, but on account of the fact that he always did look out for her he thought it was okay to say.

“Thank you, but…you shouldn’t have to.” She wiped away fresh tears.

“Why not?”

“Because I really messed up big time. You must think I’m stupid, too. I should have shown better judgement. I just didn’t think Alan would do that to me. He took care of everything right from the start. I knew him for years, and he helped me build my business into what it was.”

Nick didn’t bother to tell her that Alan was most probably grooming her. That was standard with con artists. They’d get to know their victims, get them to trust them, and then strike when all defenses were down. The length of time she’d known the guy told Nick that he would have been stealing from her long before she noticed anything.

“Unfortunately, that’s how guys like that work,” he offered.

“And I practically had stupid stamped on my forehead.” She winced.

“No, he could have done it to anyone.”

“I just wish that it wasn’t me.” She wiped her tears. “I feel like such a fool. I feel like he looked at me like I was some dumb blonde with no sense. The rich princess.”

“Mia, you can’t feel that way.”

“I can’t help it. I moved to Florida to get away from here. I wanted to show everyone that I could be successful by myself. My family looks at me like I’m a lost cause; I wanted to show them that I could take care of myself and that my ideas for how I wanted to live my life work.”

Nick was surprised to hear that. Very surprised, because he didn’t know she felt that way.

“Babe, I don’t think your family is like that.”

“Yes, they do. You weren’t here to see it,” she pointed out. “My parents forced me to go to college and study law like Glenn, and I dropped out after the first semester. Then they tried to get me to go back and change courses to economics. That was even worse. Come on, can you imagine me doing either of those? I never finished college and that made them crazy. My dad was furious when I used my trust fund to pay for beauty school and set up my business, but that was what I wanted to do. Finally I knew what I wanted, and now look at me.”

Nick kept his focus on her as she poured out her feelings. “I’m going to look into it all for you guys,” he told her. “I don’t know what I can do, but we’ll see. Don’t worry about your family and what they think. And don’t worry about your business, either. What’s happened is in the past, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t rebuild and start afresh. You just have to get through this part first. Okay?”

“Okay.” She nodded slowly, accepting, but then worry filled her face again. “Nick…um.”

“What, babe?”

“I’m worried about something else. In fact, I’m terrified about it.” Her eyes widened and she brought her hands up to her cheeks.

“Tell me.”

“It’s really bad.”

From the look of her, he got the feeling that things were about to get a lot worse.