“Going to tell me?” Asher asked as he slid in behind him and his driver shut the door.
“Nope.” Knox laughed. He appreciated his friend’s help, but what happened next was between him and Jade.
Leaning back, he patted the box in his pocket. When he got home, he’d put the ring in his safe until he was ready for the big moment.
***
Jade walked outof her apartment at seven thirty Thursday morning. She smiled at the doorman and turned right, deciding to walk for a few blocks before hailing a cab for her eight-thirty a.m. appointment with a therapist in Midtown. Jade had gotten a referral from Aurora’s psychologist because Jade’s doctor only handled medication and light conversation. After her talk with her family, Jade needed more than that.
It would feel good to unburden herself to an unbiased third party. The suppressed anger she held on to about her birth parent and her feelings about becoming a mother weren’t healthy. Serenity had a point. These emotions should have been handled earlier. Even Jade’s therapy for anxiety hadn’t delved that deep.
She glanced up at the blue sky and drew in a breath of morning air, her nerves about the appointment bubbling up. This new psychologist was normally booked, but she’d had a cancellation and been able to fit Jade in this morning. After they met and if they decided they were a good fit, the therapist would work out a more regular schedule.
Jade’s parents, as well as Asher and Knox, knew about her decision to get help. They were happy. To her surprise, she’d also shared the news with Holly when she’d called to congratulate Jade about the baby. Somehow, they’d gotten into deeper conversation, and once Jade made the appointment, she’d texted Holly the details because she knew the other woman would understand. Holly’s bouncy personality hid a serious girl who possessed a well of understanding about life. She ought to, given her own past.
Holly told Jade that she’d met Theo for lunch this week and had come away disappointed. Holly could use some therapy, too, Jade mused. She needed to talk about losing her parents in different ways and to stop seeking anything from a biological brother incapable of giving love.
Jade knew therapy took time, but just the fact that she was trying to understand her heredity before the baby arrived made her feel like she was already taking steps toward a happier life. Tomorrow was her first ob-gyn appointment, and she was becoming more excited about the baby and less panicked.
The short week since she’d come home from the island had been a good one. Knox called periodically during the day to say hi, and he arrived at her apartment each night after work with takeout dinner in hand. He’d stay to eat and clean up, refusing to let her help, then he’d kiss her until she was vibrating with need and say good night with a gleam in his eyes. The man was up to something. She just didn’t know what.
Her cell phone rang and she scrounged through her handbag. Lauren had an early meeting with a new vendor, and Jade wanted to make sure she didn’t have any questions.
She pulled out her phone, answering before she glanced at the screen. “Hi,” she said, hoping she caught the call before it disconnected.
“Jade? It’s Celia.”
Jade stood in the middle of the sidewalk, stunned. “Celia? What do you want?” She couldn’t imagine she and Knox’s ex, the woman who’d slept with Jade’s ex-fiancé, had anything to discuss.
“Listen, I know we’ve had our issues…” Celia said.
“You think?”
Celia blew a breath in her ear. “I know. I do. And I’m sorry but I don’t have time to explain anything now.”
“Then what do you want?”
“If Theo comes by, do not go anywhere with him,” Celia said, her tone urgent.
Jade narrowed her gaze. “What? Of course I won’t go with him. But what are you saying? What do you know?” Before Celia could answer, someone grabbed Jade’s wrist and yanked her phone from her hand.
She spun around and came face-to-face with her ex. “Theo?”
He dropped the phone and slammed his shoe heel onto the cell, shattering the screen, before bending to retrieve it and placing it in his pants pocket.
“Theo? What’s going on?”
He had the same frenzied look he’d worn that morning he’d come to her apartment and argued with Knox. “Come on, Jade. Let’s go.” Theo grabbed her forearm and tipped his head toward a row of cars parked behind him.
Her heart picked up speed. “What? No.” She tried to wrench free, but he merely tightened his grip and attempted to pull her along with him.
Recalling Celia’s warning, she dug in her heels. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“I just want to talk,” he said, facing her, his eyes wild.
Who was this man she no longer recognized? Knox had said Theo was spiraling, and she saw now he was right, making her wonder if she ought to be afraid of him.
“We can talk here,” she insisted.