Erik had the day off, so Scott was walking behind us. Fitz was in the car, and Liam was going ahead of us, as he’d taken to doing since that first trek to lunch with everyone.

  “Kash”—Melissa blushed saying his name—“didn’t tell you?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “He lit into your dad that day. You know.” She moved closer, her head ducking. “The bathroom incident.”

  That was her phrase for it. Now I knew.

  “Your dad was freaking out, saying, ‘My daughter has barred herself in the bathroom,’ and he was getting hysterical about it, but also kinda pissy about it. Like it was Kash’s fault or something. Then suddenly your guy rounded on him and was like, ‘She was kidnapped. By your wife.’ And I swear to God, everyone stopped what they were doing. It got eerily quiet in the hallway, but he didn’t care one bit. He went on talking about how you and someone named Cy had been taken, and it didn’t matter it was only a few moments, because you were taken. You were helpless, and you knew you were dead.

  “When he said that, something happened. I don’t know what. I don’t think he noticed, but I looked back and Hoda was standing just inside the lab’s door. She heard, and her eyes were so big, they could’ve swallowed a bat if a bat had flown at her. You weren’t here the next day, but she came in different. Me. Liam. All of us. And Ms. Wells. Her, too.

  “I guess just hearing about you being kidnapped was enough. The dangers you deal with … It all got scary real, and you’re no longer the cool and exciting Peter Francis’s daughter to us. You’re Bailey. You’re one of us, and I don’t want to lose you. Not like that.”

  She cursed under her breath. “Not that you’re not one of us, but you know. Or. Maybe you don’t. I’m messing this all up. I’m just trying to say, all the dangers, the reasons you have these guards in the first place, got really real for us. We’re in. You’re ours. Dax. The guys were pissed about what Hoda did to you. They were just mad before. Now they’re scared. We’re all scared.” She looked at me, stopping in the sidewalk. “We’re all scared for you. And I need to stop repeating myself. You get my drift.”

  Oh.

  Jesus.

  I didn’t know how to take any of that.

  She might’ve seen my struggle, because she just mustered a smile. “Not trying to freak you out. I was trying to comfort you. I’m messing that up, too.”

  “No.” I relaxed. I really did. “You’re fine, and thank you. I think.”

  Her grin was crooked.

  “Bailey.”

  We looked back. Ms. Wells was coming out of the door. She raised a hand. “We need to talk about your upcoming schedule. Come to my office next week.”

  I nodded, relaxing even more.

  I loved this. Schoolwork. Talking about my schedule. A boulder of unease moved aside and my smile wasn’t forced. “I will, Ms. Wells.”

  She grinned back, a small one, and her eyes narrowed on me a second.

  Then Scott cleared his throat behind me. “We’re holding up traffic, Bailey.”

  I shot him an approving look. He kept calling me Miss Bailey. I kept not responding unless he dropped the Miss part. My job was done.

  “Be there in a second.”

  He moved for the door handle.

  “What are you doing this weekend?” Melissa asked.

  I thought about it. “I don’t know. Kash hasn’t mentioned anything. What are you doing?”

  “I don’t know if you’d be interested, but um, some of the others talked about going to the football game. I know we’re grad students, but the game is a big one. Liam knows some of the players on the team. It’s homecoming, too.”

  Crap. It was?

  I hadn’t paid attention. Life in our graduate hall was different than it was for the rest of the students. We dressed the same, but it was different with us. We were on the cusp of our next move into our future, into the jobs that we’d have for the next twenty years. Or so we hoped.

  Since this summer, I was focused on family, on school, and on Kash. Nothing else got in there—except the longing to remember what it was like to be normal. It surged back up in me with a renewed fervor.

  Homecoming.

  Wow.

  A football game. A college football game.

  I never went during my own undergraduate years.

  Suddenly, that was the only thing I wanted to do.

  It would be different. We were in graduate school, but I wanted to go. I wanted that normalcy.

  “You want to go? I mean…” She was scanning my face. “Our team is D1. It’s not just a student thing, you know? People all over come for the games. The team is a big deal. We could make you incognito. I exchanged numbers with that Torie girl. She talked about ‘doing you over’ one time. She and her friend looked real savvy with hair and makeup. I bet they could make you look like a totally different person if they wanted.”

  God. I really, really wanted to go.

  Feeling eyes on me, I glanced over my shoulder. Erik was there, his gaze locked on me.

  I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but I didn’t care.

  I told her, “I want to go.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

  “Yes. Really.” I nodded, and I nodded some more. I really wanted to go. “Be at your place, tomorrow?”

  “Yeah!” Her eyes were dancing. Her cheeks had flushed. “Game’s at three. Come over at half past one. Plenty of time to get over there.”

  She was functioning as if I wouldn’t have guards. I knew I wouldn’t be able to give them the slip, but I didn’t tell her just yet. Tomorrow.

  “Great. See you tomorrow.”

  She gave me another grin before tugging her backpack over her shoulder and saying her good-byes. Veering down the sidewalk, she even waved to Scott, who only looked at me.

  I approached the SUV. Before he opened the door, he said, “You know you can’t go without us.”

  “I know.”

  He nodded. “I’ll tell Mr. Colello. He’ll start making plans.”

  That was the crux of my life. Now.

  I couldn’t go somewhere without security measures and protocols put in place. The only thing is that I didn’t care at that moment. I was hoping to go incognito, get my guards to be as incognito as possible, and pretend I was normal for a day.

  That was the hope. I was excited!

  Scott opened my door—and I stared at Chrissy Hayes, sitting inside.

  She put her magazine away and arched an eyebrow. “Hello, my daughter who has been avoiding her mother for way too long.”

  I was busted.

  THIRTY

  Kash

  My phone rang at the same time that Matt walked into my office.

  I hit the Accept button, putting it on speakerphone. “Yes?”

  “Bailey just accepted her classmate’s invitation to attend Hawking University’s football game tomorrow.”

  I rolled back in my chair. “She did what?”

  “Yes!” Matt pumped his hands in the air. “Finally my sister is doing something normal.”

  I glared at him.

  He ignored me.

  Scott continued, “She’s supposed to be at her classmate’s apartment tomorrow at one thirty. Game is at three p.m. The other male student knows some of the football players.” He paused. “It’s homecoming, sir.”

  Of course it was. Homecoming.

  I scowled at Matt, who was still pumping his hands in the air, but at least he was doing it silently.

  “Call the university. Start security talks.”

  “On it.”

  I hung up with him and amped up my scowl at Matt. “You could pretend to be concerned.”

  Matt waved his hand in the air, dismissing me, and dropped into the seat across from me. He threw a leg up over one of the armrests, twisting his body so he was more sitting sideways. His arm went up on the back. “Whatever. Act all pissy. You and I both know this is a good sign. Bailes is getting normal again. A football game. That’s good, Kash. Plus, I’m pretty sure my dad has season tickets for the company. They’re always reserved. I tried getting them last year and it was a no-go. Some of the shareholders are greedy football alum from Hawking.”

  He was right.

  Some of my scowl faded.

  Shit. He was right.

  “You couldn’t get even one ticket?”

  Matt smirked. “I didn’t try too hard, but Hawking football is big.”

  “There’s thirty different angles my grandfather could use to have someone hurt her there.”

  Matt’s grin turned knowing. And wicked. “Like you’re not going to call and secure a private box to help eliminate twenty-eight of those ways.”

  I sighed. My hand was itching to do it, but I knew I couldn’t. Because unlike Matt, I knew the real reason she said yes to the game.

  “She’ll want to be in the stands.”

  He caught on, real quick. “You’re right. She’ll want to be as normal as possible.”

  Which meant I couldn’t call for security protocols, but I wanted to. And I might anyway.

  “If she goes in as normal as possible, word might not get to him until the game is done.” Matt was following my wavelength.

  Exactly.

  My scowl came back. It just wasn’t directed at him. “I don’t like it.”

  “But you’re not going to stop it.”

  Dammit. I wasn’t going to stop it.

  I eyed him instead. “Want to go to a football game tomorrow?”

  That wicked grin popped back up. “Only if I can use the family’s private jet to go to Aspen later. I know you can approve that.”

  “What?”

  THIRTY-ONE

  Bailey

  “Mom.”

  She glared at me as I got inside the SUV. “Don’t ‘Mom’ me. I’ve been ‘Chrissy’ for the last ten years. Don’t try to manipulate me by being all sweet and lovey.”

  Yep. She was here for a fight.

  And once I was settled and the vehicle was pulling forward, she started.

  “You’ve been avoiding me. I don’t like when my daughter who went through a recent trauma is avoiding me, and I don’t care how big and bad your boyfriend is. A girl always needs her mama.” She turned for the window, sniffling. “Or maybe her mama needs her girl? Either way, there was a whole bunch of need happening and my girl isn’t picking up her phone.” Those eyes turned glacial again. “Stop avoiding me.”

  Okay. I wasn’t going to beat around the bush, either. “I know you’re sleeping with Peter.”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “You’re my mom. He’s my dad. It’s going to mess up my mind, and I avoided your calls because I didn’t know how I felt about it.”

  “You know now?”

  I nodded.

  “Well?” Her eyebrow arched up. “You going to keep me in suspense? I had to be all ninja-like and sequester myself in your vehicle. You think that was easy?”

  I hid a grin because man, I’d missed my mom.

  “I don’t want him to hurt you. That’s what I decided.”

  She sucked in more breath, her head rising. She blinked a few times. “Damn. Damn.” A pause. “You tell him that?”

  I nodded again.

  “When?”

  “What?”

  “When did you tell him that?”

  “Uh.” I had to retrace the days to my bathroom meltdown. “Monday.”

  Her eyes grew sharp. “He was here on Monday. Said you got upset. I was waiting all week for you to call, but my phone never rang. Not from you.”

  “I was out all week. I didn’t go to school.”

  “What’d you do?”

  I frowned at her.

  “Right.” She was nodding now, glancing back out the window. “You got that man of yours. With him all week. With him all the time, but I know you. I know my daughter and I know you’ve buried your head in your studies and in him. Am I right?” Her nostrils were flaring. It was costing her to say these words. “I know I’m right. I know you better than anyone.”

  “Yes. You do.” I said those words softly.

  “A mother knows her child. Always does, even ones that at some point had to become the adult in the relationship. Even ones who have a brain that’s special, and especially ones with a mother who is up at all hours of the night worrying because she knows, she knows that that special child can’t stop thinking about what happened to her, because she’s got a brain that’s on constant replay.” She broke, her top lip trembling. Her voice grew hoarse. “Tell me you haven’t been reliving what happened to you over and over again. Tell me that and I’ll ease up on you a bit.”

  My mouth parted. “No.” That’s what she thought? I scooted forward, laying a hand on her arm. “No, Mom.”

  Her hand grasped mine, holding it tight.

  “You were right the first time. I buried my head in schoolwork and in Kash. And I’ve been getting to know my classmates.”

  “Good.” She swiped at her cheek, sniffled, and still holding my hand in a cement grip, she looked out the window. “Good. They’re good kids?”

  I knew what she was really asking. “They’re normal.”

  They weren’t like Matt or Tony or Chester. Or Victoria.

  “You need normal right now.”

  “I’m going to the football game tomorrow.” I curved up a corner of my mouth. “That normal enough?”

  She barked out a laugh, still not looking at me, my hand still in a vise grip. “You never went before. Good you’re going now. I’d like these classmates?”

  I thought of Melissa. Liam.

  “You would think Melissa was funny and you’d try to get me to date Liam.”

  A second laugh barked from her. “Good then.” She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. “And that’s not happening? You and this guy you think I’d want you to date?”

  My smile turned soft. “No. It’s not happening. I love Kash.”

  She closed her eyes, bending her head a little. “Right. You love someone whose grandfather is wealthy beyond wealthy and trying to hurt his grandson. He’ll take aim through my daughter, and I’m not okay with that. I’m not okay with that!” Her eyes opened and they were piercing me. “I didn’t keep you all my life without having a father only to have you smack in the line of fire. I am not okay with that.”

  “Mom.” My throat was seizing. Emotions were clogging it up.

  “I’ll leave him. You leave yours. We’ll go back to Brookley. The hospital’s waiting for me to decide if I’m staying or coming back. You can remain at Hawking, like the original plan, but we’ll forget them. We can still do it.” Her voice was trembling. Her hand was shaking. “We can still go back. Let’s go back, honey. Let’s go back to being normal.”

  So I wasn’t the only one struggling with the changes.

  But it was too late.

  She saw the look in my eyes and closed hers again. Her hand let go of mine, and she faced the window. “Right.” Her head hung down. “Right.”

  There were no other words that could take away what she saw in mine.

  She was scared. She wanted to run, but I couldn’t. I loved Kash too much. I loved my siblings too much.

  I scooted over to her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and pulled her to my chest.

  I cradled my mom like she was my child, and she wrapped an arm around me, hugging me just as tight. I rested the side of my head against hers, and as her eyes remained closed the rest of the drive, I was the one who watched the outside world passing us by.

  THIRTY-TWO

  On game day, I texted Melissa I was outside.

  She wasn’t prepared for the vision she got when she came down to the SUV.

  Me, in full Hawking garb. I was decked out in jeans, a gray Hawking hoodie with the maroon letters spelled out over the front, Hawking gloves, and a Hawking stocking hat.

  Next to me was Kash, in jeans and a Hawking University black blazer. He had a Hawking ball cap on and pulled low, which made me swoon when I first saw him. The cap hid his eyes, but not that square jawline. And his jeans and blazer made me want to jump him. Kash was hot on a normal day, but he was sizzling dressed as a normal person. He even had a different posture, which I don’t know if he was aware of doing, but it worked. His shoulders were lowered a little, bunched down, so his athletic frame still made the mouth water.

  Still so damned gorgeous.

  And we weren’t alone.

  Matt joined us, too. He went all out even more in Hawking apparel.

  A maroon Hawking hoodie with the warm-ups that players wore before a basketball game, maroon colors and “Hawking” stretched up the side of his leg. He had a maroon stocking cap on, a Hawking maroon scarf wrapped around his neck, and he waved the Hawking colored pom-poms. Maroon-and-gray-colored fabric ribbons attached to two sticks of wood.

  “Whoa.”

  The front door of the SUV opened and Scott came out, looking similar to us except he was in jeans and a gray sweatshirt. No Hawking letters anywhere. He would blend in with everyone.

  Fitz was dressed similarly, too.

  “Well, get in.” Matt was impatient, waving a pom-pom at me. “We have a game to scope out, blend in with, and in no way at all draw any extra attention to ourselves.” He waved that pom-pom again, giving Kash a wicked grin. “Right, bud?”

  Kash scowled at him, lounging back in the seat next to me. “Keep talking, Matt. I’m sure we can do something else to make you ‘blend.’”

  Matt scowled back. His tone was amused, though. “Not fun, Kash. Not fun.”

  “Going to a game with two guards, not having a full meeting ahead of time with the security staff, is not my idea of fun.”

  I leaned into Kash’s side.

  He might be tense, but he was going for me, and we’d had a full conversation the night before about whether we should notify campus security or not. Somehow it was decided to go and try not to draw much attention to us. I didn’t know if it would work, but we were going to try. Skating under the radar was the plan.

  Matt, on the other hand, had no idea how to not draw attention to himself. The pom-poms were a prime example. Melissa climbed in and took the seat next to Matt. She glanced to me. “Liam was going to save us seats by him and his friends.”