Nikki Payne,” the woman said.
“Nice to meet you,” Annalise said as she took Nikki’s hand, which was small but callused. And her grip was surprisingly strong. Maybe having all older brothers had made her tough, whereas Gage had always tried to coddle and protect Annalise. Even Nick had, when he hadn’t been ignoring her. But Nick wasn’t her brother.
She’d always known that, but until six months ago, she’d thought Nick had considered her a pesky little sister. He hadn’t ignored or coddled or protected her that night. Instead, he’d broken her heart.
But he’d done more than that...
Much more. She flinched as a little foot struck her ribs, and she pressed her hand over her stomach. That was probably why Nikki had assumed she was Gage’s wife. Because she was pregnant.
Maybe coming here—even to see Gage—had been a mistake. He would want to know who the father was. And she couldn’t tell him. She couldn’t tell anyone.
“Gage isn’t here,” Logan said. “He left for an assignment this morning.”
Even as disappointment flashed through her, she breathed a little sigh of relief. She wanted to see her brother—wanted to see for herself that he was all right. But she didn’t want to have to answer his questions any more than he probably wanted to answer hers.
“When will he be back?” she asked. Eventually he would have to know that he was going to be an uncle in a few months. But that wasn’t the reason she needed to see her brother. She wasn’t even here to make sure he was all right. He was back. He was working. He was probably fine.
Annalise was the one who needed help.
Logan shrugged. “It’s hard to say. Days. Maybe weeks. As long as the person he’s protecting is in danger.”
For her, it had been months. She’d been in danger since that night Nick had showed up in Chicago. That couldn’t be a coincidence. He must have gotten her in trouble somehow—in more ways than one. Because someone had spent the past six months stalking her.
* * *
Logan Payne had been running Payne Protection long enough to recognize when someone was in trouble. Annalise Huxton was in trouble. The fear was in her pale face, her wide green eyes. She was scared.
He silently cursed himself for sending her brother away. He could pull Gage off the assignment, though. He could bring him back and send someone else.
A small hand squeezed his forearm. “Let me take Gage’s place,” Nikki said. She must have recognized what he’d seen. She was intuitive. But she was too little, too young, too fragile to do their job.
“You don’t work for me anymore,” he reminded her. “You went to work for Cooper.”
She thought she could manipulate Cooper more easily than him or Parker. But he doubted Cooper would hand her any assignments more dangerous than the desk jobs Logan had given her.
His sister glared at him, and he was used to it. She hadn’t been happy with him for a while. So he wasn’t surprised that when he split up the protection agency, she’d chosen to leave the franchise he was keeping.
“Annalise needs to see her brother,” Nikki said. “He was missing for months.” She glanced at Cooper then—and there was no glare on her pretty face.
Maybe that was why she’d asked to work for him—because she’d missed him so much when he’d been deployed.
“It’s fine,” Annalise said. But the crack in her voice made it sound as if she was anything but fine. “I’ll see him when he comes back.”
“Will you stay in River City and wait for him?” Nikki asked.
“I—I could check into a hotel,” Annalise said. “I haven’t yet.”
Logan wondered why. Had she worried about her reception from Gage? Or had something—or someone else—made her afraid of staying?
“I don’t know how long he’ll be gone,” Logan reminded her.
“Maybe I could stay at Gage’s place,” Annalise murmured.
“He’s been staying with Agent Rus,” Nikki said.
Would his sister ever accept that Nick was their brother? Logan hadn’t been happy, either, to learn their father had betrayed their mother. But he hadn’t blamed Nick.
Annalise’s face paled even more, and she quickly said, “I can’t stay there.”
From what Logan had been told, Gage had grown up next door to Nick in Chicago—making them as close as brothers. Obviously Annalise hadn’t felt any more like a sister to Nick than Nikki did.
“You can stay with me,” Nikki offered. She must have recognized what Logan had—Annalise was scared. Or maybe she just liked that Annalise wasn’t a fan of Nick’s, either.
But the blonde shook her head. “I couldn’t impose.”
“No imposition at all,” Nikki assured her. “Did a cab drop you here?” She glanced around as if looking for bags.
Annalise shook her head again. “I drove my car. It’s not that far a drive from Chicago.”
“So you’re parked out front?” Nikki asked. “I am, too. You can follow me back to my place and we’ll get you settled in.”
“And I’ll see about sending a replacement for Gage so he can come back early,” Logan offered. If Annalise was as scared as he suspected she was, she needed family. She needed her brother.
Nikki held open the door for her, and Annalise walked out with his sister. They were gone for only a moment when he heard the scream and the squeal of tires.
As usual, his instincts had been right—Annalise was in danger. And that danger had followed her to River City. He drew his weapon, just as his brothers had, and the three of them rushed out to the street. But they hadn’t reacted quickly enough—because gunshots rang out.
They were too late.
Nick’s heart hammered against his ribs as fear and panic overwhelmed him. He flashed his shield and hurried past hospital security—into the ER waiting room. Logan and Cooper rushed up to him.
“Where is she?” he asked. “And how badly is she hurt?” She had to be hurt or they wouldn’t have brought her here. His panic intensified and pressed on his lungs, stealing his breath.
Logan shook his head. Was it so bad that he couldn’t answer him?
“We don’t know yet,” Logan said. “A doctor is checking her out.”
“What happened?” he asked. What was she even doing in River City? Gage hadn’t called her, and it sounded as if his email to her had been brief.
