"Can we go to Jacob's bakery?"

"Sure, maybe on Saturday," I responded as we stepped into the stairwell leading up to our apartment. "When you don't have school and homework."

"Okay," Omari said, running up the stairs before me as I went up at a slower pace.

Probably I should start controlling his sugar more. Though it felt really hypocritical when my own diet wasn't exactly stellar. I mentally sighed. Maybe I was going to have to start eating healthier to set a good example for him. That sounded terrible.

I made it to our floor just as Omari let out a surprised cry. I jerked my head up, immediately alert, my eyes scanning the hall for something dangerous.

They clashed with light blue ones.

I froze.

"Ashur?" I said, a question more than anything. It was so unexpected to see him here, I couldn't fully process it for a second.

"Ashur! What are you doing here? Are you going to stay longer? Why did you leave then?" Omari asked question after question, jumping up and down in excitement, a big smile on his face, his glum mood completely gone now.

"Hey, Omari," Ashur said, smiling at him and ruffling his hair. "I missed you guys so thought I should spend a little more time here before I left," he explained, his eyes rising to meet mine again.

Something was going on, but I didn't want to ask in front of Omari. I walked past Ashur to get to my door and opened it.

"Omari, why don't you go inside and put your things away? Make sure you wash your hands."

"Aw, Mia!"

I looked down at him and jerked my head towards the apartment. "Go."

He sighed. "Fine," he grumbled, trudging inside. "But I'm going to hurry!" he warned. His trudge immediately turned into a run, his little legs carrying him as fast as he could go.

I closed the door most of the way to give us a little privacy as I heard him hurrying into the bedroom.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in a low voice, turning to Ashur. "What's going on?"

"I heard that something else happened," he said in a tight voice. "I came to make sure it was the last thing that happened."

"You heard . . . " I trailed off. "You heard from where?" I demanded, doubt and irritation creeping into my mind and my voice.

Ashur looked over my shoulder as I heard a door open behind me. Jacob's door.

Oh no he didn't.

I turned to glare at Jacob, but he wasn't exactly quaking in his boots as he just stared back at me.

"Did you call him?" I demanded.

He shrugged, crossing his arms.

"I might have," he admitted. "Something's obviously going on and you're not telling me what it is." He looked at Ashur. "I thought maybe you'd tell him."

I turned back to Ashur. "Is this the 'business' you guys were discussing before?"

I didn't like feeling so . . . managed.

"I thought something more might have been going on," Ashur explained. "And I wasn't sure you were going to tell me if it was." He gave me a hard look. "And I was right."

I threw my hands up in the air, beyond frustrated.

"I thought you two didn't even like each other!" I exclaimed, not touching what he'd said earlier. "Now you're talking behind my back and tag teaming?"

"Maybe if you spoke to our fronts we wouldn't have to go behind your back," Ashur returned with a raised brow. "And no, I'm not sorry. Not if it means I can help keep you safe."

I muttered to myself as I swung the door open and stepped inside my apartment.

"Well? Are you two coming in or not?" I asked, letting all the irritation I was feeling color my voice.

They looked at each other and followed me into the apartment. Omari decided to come out right then, his pants wet from where he dried his hands off after washing them, no doubt.

"Jacob!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Omari, can you do your homework in the bedroom for a few minutes please?" I asked, turning to him.

He stomped his foot, scowling.

"But—"

"How about a cookie if you give us five minutes?" Jacob interrupted, coming up with a cookie from somewhere in his cargo pants. It was almost the size of his palm and looked delicious.

Omari's eyes went right to it, widening as he took in the treat. I could see the internal struggle. Take the bribe and capitulate? Or stand his ground and then end up having to go into the room anyway? He was a logical, reasonable kid. He took the cookie.

"Okay," he said, holding his hand out. "I'll go inside. For five minutes only!" He looked over at me. "Then I'm coming back out, Mia."

"Thank you," I said solemnly. "I really appreciate your patience."

He looked at me suspiciously as he took a bite of the cookie, his round cheeks rounding out even more with the bite. I resisted the urge to smile. He would think I was laughing at him.

"You're welcome," he said around the cookie. He marched back into the room and closed the door.

I wished I could trade places with him. But I obviously couldn't keep this from Ashur anymore. Or Jacob.

I strode over to the couch and sat down, but then popped back up, needing to be on my feet to get through everything. I had too much energy to stay still.

"It started with an email," I said, bracing my hands on my hips as I turned to them.

"An email?" Jacob asked, frowning.

"From an anonymous source. Telling me to watch my back."

"Vague and not very helpful," Ashur observed.

"Yeah," I agreed, running my hands through my hair. "I dismissed it, figuring I couldn't do anything about it. It was too vague. And, truthfully, I've encountered some pretty shady characters." I shrugged. "Threats usually amount to nothing, especially if I don't engage. So I didn't get too worked up about it."

"Didn't get too worked up about it," Ashur repeated slowly. I could tell he wasn't thrilled with that. "Right."

I moved on. That wasn't really a question, so I didn't have to respond.

"But then someone tried to run me over with a car."

"How rude of them," Ashur said, his voice dangerously low. "They probably didn't realize your head is so hard they'd just dent the car."

I gave him a wary look. This was only going to get worse.

"And then someone followed me. The area was terrible, so nothing out of the ordinary there. Figured I'd just lose him in the crowd on the next street over. But then he had three guys waiting to ambush me in another alley when I tried to cut through. You know about that. That was when I called Jacob."

"Yes," Jacob agreed. "But what happened today?"

"I was going to tell you." I looked at Ashur as he gave me an unreadable look. "I was!" Probably. Maybe. "But I had to go pick Omari up."

"What happened," Ashur asked calmly, not budging an inch.

I sighed. I couldn't really blame him. I had deliberately kept all of this from him.

"I went to a hotel for a standard pickup. It was a nice area of town so I figured I was safe, you know? And the meeting was supposed to happen in the lobby, nice and public. But when I got there, the receptionist gave me a room key and told me that she was instructed to have me wait there for who I was meeting."

"And you went to the room?" Jacob demanded incredulously.

Ashur just watched with that implacable stare that I really didn't trust. He was definitely wound tight.

"Of course not," I snapped back. "I'm not an idiot. I took the key up and pretended I was going to the room. But I broke into the room across from it instead so I could see who showed up."

A small silence.

"You should have left when the terms you set out weren't met," Ashur said, his eyes narrowed. "Not gone up to another floor where your exit routes were more limited."

"But then I wouldn't have known if this was related to everything else," I returned, just as irritably. "And I had to know."

"But then how were you hurt? Did they find you out somehow?" Jacob asked, frowning.

"Not exactly," I hedged.

"What exactly," Ashur demanded.

"Well, I called the police and told them there'd been a break-in at the hotel."

Ashur went even more quiet. If such a thing were possible. "You called the police?" he said.

Jacob looked over at him in confusion. "Why is that bad?" he asked, glancing between me and Ashur. "Sounds like it was a good idea given the circumstances."

Ashur just glared at me. Jacob didn't know why I shouldn't draw attention to myself here, especially from the authorities. But Ashur did.

"Yes, I called the police. However, I didn't use my own number—I used the room phone. And I didn't wait around for them to get there. I went out the fire escape to avoid them," I continued. It had been a good plan. Up until I ran right into the guys I'd been avoiding. "The plan went wrong when I went down to the same alley that those guys who showed up had apparently decided to take on their way out."

Also trying to avoid the police.

"How many were there?" Ashur asked, his hands clenched into fists at his side.

"Two. And they were familiar. One of them was definitely the guy who followed me before."

"Tell us what they looked like," Jacob said, his expression intent.

I relayed their descriptions as best as I could remember them. All the times I'd seen them had been with a full adrenaline dose and while running. Not ideal circumstances to commit descriptions to memory, but I knew I had at least the one guy down right.

"Anyway. That's everything," I said, winding down.

"That's everything?" Ashur repeated, his face hard. "That's everything?" He shook his head. "You're coming back with me to my territory. Where it's safe."

That tone put my back right up.

I didn't do well with orders.

At all.

I was a grown woman and had been making my own decisions for quite some time, thank you.

I crossed my arms.

Here we go.