“Hey! Wait up.” Slowing as he neared us, he flashed his white teeth. “You two got paid?”

“We did.”

I let Mark do the talking.

The guy bobbed his head up and down, seeming to mull something over. “Well, okay. Have a good night.” He held a hand out in a wave, walking back to where he’d come from.

“That was weird,” Mark said as we got in the car.

“Yeah.”

But the guy wasn’t on my mind. Mark’s new protectiveness was. Mason would be waiting for me when I got home, but I didn’t know if I wanted to tell him about this change. The job, yes. Mark’s concern for me, no. Not yet, anyway.

MASON

The day had been…not as I’d expected. Quinn wasn’t half bad when it came to offering ideas, and he no longer had that look he had in high school—like I had something he wanted and he hated me for it. I wasn’t feeling the need to punch him at the end of the day. That lasted until we headed out to the parking lot and a girl with dark red hair greeted him, tipping her head back for a kiss.

I recognized her. Becky Sullivan, the chick who’d backstabbed Sam on more than a few occasions.

As they kissed, my phone started ringing. I turned my back on them, headed to my vehicle as I raised the phone. “Yeah?”

“You want to tell me why the fuck I’m getting messages that Sam’s covered in bruises?”

I looked at the ID. “Funny. My phone says this is my brother calling, not Samantha’s boyfriend.”

“Fuck you.”

I grunted, getting into the Escalade. “No, fuck you. You don’t call and chew my ass out, like I’m supposed to report to you or something.”

He groaned. “You’re kidding me, right?! Why is Samantha looking like she got drop-kicked on her head, and why am I hearing this from Mark and not you?”

“Mark?”

“Yeah,” Logan bit out. “You get why I’m a little pissed right now? I’m finding it out from Sam’s stepbrother. What the hell is going on?”

“Nothing we can’t handle.”

He grew quiet for a moment. His voice was low when he spoke again. “Why are you shutting me out?”

“Because you’re in Paris with Mom and with your girlfriend. I don’t want you coming back early because you don’t think I can handle things.”

“That’s not what—”

“That’s exactly what you’d do.” I sat back, the keys dangling in the starter.

“You don’t have backup.”

“I called Matteo in. He was heading home for a few weeks. He said he’s happy to stay a while instead.”

“Nate’s not there.”

“Nate will be here in two weeks.”

“Then you’re alone for those two weeks.”

“Logan,” I growled. I reached forward, starting the engine. “We’re fine. We got into one sticky situation. Channing and his crew were there. They helped us out. We’re fine. You think I’d let Sam be put in danger again?”

“Why was she put in danger in the first place?” he growled back.

Because she wanted to be somewhere her mother wasn’t. Because she didn’t want to feel afraid that the woman who gave birth to her might cross the street and potentially hurt her again. Because… I sighed to myself. Because maybe she just wanted to be normal and go to an event with her friend.

I said none of that.

“Because a situation got out of hand. I didn’t read it right quickly enough. That’s why.”

“You weren’t going to tell me—”

I was growing tired of this, real fast. “Stop it. You’re acting like this is personal against you. It’s not. I’m trying to be a decent brother. If you were here, you would’ve been there with us. You know that. I didn’t tell you—I would’ve at some point—but I hadn’t yet because I’m trying to let you enjoy your time away.”

“Right,” Logan grumbled. “Enjoy my time with Mom, you mean? It’s like she’s got a GPS strapped to Taylor’s ass. Every time I get near her, Mom’s coming into the room.”

I relaxed, grinning now. “You’re in the same hotel room as she is?”

“Mom got these big suites—you know, the type where it’s a main living area with three bedrooms attached. She says I should respect her presence and ‘refrain from inappropriate behavior.’” He snorted. “Her exact words. And what’s worse is that Taylor is buying all her shit.”

“Taylor’s just trying to be nice. You’re forgetting that Helen likes Taylor. She’s not been given the ice treatment like Sam always has.”

Logan swore under his breath. “That’s just because of Analise. Mom’ll get her stick out of her ass once Sam starts pushing out babies.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” I had other things to tell him, but I glanced out the window and saw one of those things approaching. This might be a good time to shelve Quinn for a longer phone call. “I gotta go,” I told him. “I’ll call you later.”

Once Logan hung up, I turned the Escalade off and opened the door again. Adam had stopped a few feet away when he saw I was on the phone, but he closed the distance now.

“Uh, hey.” The project partner who’d showed up at the country club eight hours earlier hadn’t been cautious or reserved, yet he was exactly those two qualities now.

I narrowed my eyes. Whatever he was about to say, it was going to be on the personal level.

He jerked a thumb toward his truck where his girl was leaning. “Becky just got a text from Cass. I guess Mark showed up with Sam. They’re talking about a barbeque. Would you want to—”

“Sam’s there?”

He nodded.

“She’s not planning on leaving?”

“Probably, but Mark’s her ride, and he wants to stick around a while. I thought maybe—”

I waved him off. I didn’t need to know any more. “Text me the directions. I have to pick someone up first.”

“Oh.” He blinked a few times. “Okay. Yeah, I can do that.”

After picking up Matteo at Helen’s house, we headed farther north in Fallen Crest. We lived on a good street, but this was another one, and Matteo whistled as he checked out the house.

“Is money just in the water or something? Is getting rich contagious here? Because shit, who do I kiss to get sick?”

I grinned, getting out and circling to his side. “Not these people.” I filled him on the history with Quinn when I first picked him up.

“Why’s Sam here again?” he asked, following me to the front door.

I didn’t answer because I was wondering the same damned thing.

I rang the doorbell.

SAMANTHA

I was having déjà vu from high school, except it was Matteo behind Mason and not Logan.

“Hey!” Mark approached them, his hand raised for a fist-bump. Mason frowned, but lifted his hand, and Mark threw his arm around my boyfriend’s shoulders. “You’ll never guess where Sam and I got a job today.”

Mason’s narrowed eyes moved in my direction. I shifted on my feet, tugging my shirt down. I’d been doing that since we arrived. It was my nervous habit—that and smoothing a hand over my stomach. I always tried to calm the nerves in there, but it never actually worked. I caught myself doing it again and cursed under my breath, letting my hand fall away.

Mason made his way to me, leaving Matteo and Mark to do their own fist-bumps. Matteo had met my stepbrother on a few visits, and the two had loved each other at first sight. Add Logan to their mix, and they were too much to take sometimes. Their bromance was on steroids.

“What…” Mason started, taking the chair next to me.

We had settled around tables surrounding Cass’ pool.

“Mark said he just wanted to pick something up. That was an hour ago.” I didn’t share how that “something” had turned out to be his girlfriend. They’d been in a back bedroom until twenty minutes ago when Mark came out and told me Becky and Adam were coming over. I cast Mason a quizzical look. “I almost fell off the chair when Mark said you were coming. I was getting ready to run home when he told me that.”