Page 4 of Memories of You

The corner of her mouth twitched. “Oh, it did. For the caseand for the two of us. Always nice to reconnect with the one you love, youknow?” She nodded toward Winston, her expression a mixture of softness lacedwith heat.

“Yeah,” he lied. “I know.”

“Speaking of,” she continued, “I’m going to go mingle withhim. I just wanted to say that I’m glad we’ll be working together.”

“Me too,” he said sincerely. In truth, there wasn’t anyoneat Stark Security who wasn’t completely up to snuff. Except possibly him.

He drew in a breath, squared his shoulders, and orderedhimself to get the hell over it. Then he let his gaze roam the room.

The workday was wrapping up, but everyone in town was in theoffice, along with a few spouses and friends, and all to welcome Linda to the fold.He’d had a similar welcome gathering when he’d officially joined the team, butLinda’s had an energy that his party hadn’t, primarily because thecircumstances of her arrival at Stark Security were so unusual, what with thefact that—until a few weeks ago—her husband, Winston, had believed she wasdead.

So it was a celebration of not only her new job, but herrenewed life. And love, too. Because as he watched the two of them together—theheated glances, the shared smiles—it was clear that those two were meant foreach other.

That’s what it looked like, anyway. But Renly had workedlong enough in Hollywood to know that things weren’t always as they seemed.

Hollywood? Hell, his own life was a study in things notbeing what they seemed. Or at least his life was concrete support for the adagethat good things never last.

He hoped Winston and Linda were the exception to that rule.He really did.

“Renly?”

He blinked, then realized that he’d been staring at thecouple, Linda’s hand tucked into Winston’s, her expression so full of love itmade his heart ache. “Sorry,” he said. “I feel like a voyeur.”

They both laughed, and he mentally kicked himself as heturned toward Nikki Stark, who was standing right by the couple. Talk about anexception. As far as Renly could tell, Nikki and Damien Stark weren’t just inthe top one percent for wealth, but also for passion. God knew those two had beenthrough a lot, all played out in the tabloids, and they were still—

“Sorry,” Nikki said, the word interrupting his thoughts asshe caught Linda’s eye. “There’s an emergency. I need to run.”

Winston stepped toward her. “The kids?”

She shook her head as her eyes scanned the room, presumablyfor Damien. “No. No, it’s my assistant. Sorry. I mean my partner.”

Renly frowned as that tidbit clicked into place. “Abby?” Hetook a step forward. “Is she okay?”

A few days before, he’d learned that his childhood friend,Abigail Jones, worked with Nikki. He’d planned to look her up right away, buthe’d been busy following up on a corporate espionage investigation with Leahand just hadn’t done it yet. That and the fact that he treasured the memory ofthe friendship they’d had in their youth, and he didn’t want it to be taintedby the very real likelihood that they no longer clicked.

Nikki frowned at her phone and then looked up at him. “I—I…I’m not sure.” She swallowed, fear shadowing her lovely face. “Sorry. I really needto run,” Nikki continued, lifting her hand to catch Damien’s attention.

“Of course,” Winston said as she started to pass.

Renly didn’t even hesitate. This was Abby, after all.“Wait,” he said. “I’m coming with you.”

* * * *

Renly raced to the scene behind Nikki and Damien, the rumbleand roar of his 2019 Ducati Panigale surrounding him. The sound was loud,almost numbing, but it damn sure wasn’t enough to erase the worry that wascrawling through him like a parasite.

What the hell had happened to Abby?

He wished he’d asked for the address. Damien Stark knew howto handle that Bugatti, and he was definitely pushing the speed limit, butRenly would have left him in the dust by now if he only knew where they weregoing.

One turn, then another, and too many damn stoplights, andall the while his mind was spinning with fear.

In the end, the ride took less than ten minutes, but it feltlike an eternity. Then, when he saw her standing there by a little blue Fiatthat was so very Abby, he actually had to take a moment to breathe, shocked bynot only the intensity of his relief, but also by the flood of joy that burstthrough him simply from seeing her again.

Nikki was already at her side, having tumbled out of theBugatti the moment it stopped, and Damien was just a few steps away.

Renly, however, felt frozen.

She was okay.