Page 66 of Too Guarded to Love

“I think Natalie, who used to live in Arrow Place and swore revenge on me, is behind more than that. And I think she’s punishing the four of us who were with Rachel Matthews the day she died.”

Olivia gasped. “The dead reporter.”

Nic looked at Chris. “Remember when we met for Italian in DC, right after you and Scarlett got engaged? I was upset because Will’s wife had been killed in an alleged drive-by shooting. Natalie randomly showed up at the restaurant that night. I saw her again the day we buried Brian’s wife, who was allegedly run off the road. And then she appeared at the hospital after Olivia was shot.”

Chris cursed under his breath. “Which was also the day of Joe’s sister’s funeral.”

Realization flashed in Olivia’s features as she caught Nic’s gaze. “That’s why you looked so sad at the beach.”

Nic ignored the sympathy in her voice. “Natalie was in the waiting room while I was talking to Jonathan with some story about her friend being in a motorcycle accident. And she showed up outside the coffee shop today.”

“The woman with the bright-blue hair, right?” Kane’s leg jittered. “That’s too many coincidences. How the hell did she find us?”

Ryan loosened his tie. “We’re working on that, along with trying to track Jonathan Garrity since he left the coffee shop, but can’t pinpoint him. Someone is jamming the surveillance. The bigger question is, what motive does Natalie Durham have for avenging Rachel Matthews’s death?”

Nic raked his steel hand through his hair. “I have no idea, but she said we’d both paid the consequences of my actions and need to put the past behind us.”

“Your actions? Seriously?” Olivia’s voice rose with each word. “What about her actions? And you didn’t earn any consequences to pay.”

Linc rolled his head to the side and cracked his neck. “Earned or not, looks like he’s paying those consequences now.”

Olivia tried to catch Nic’s gaze, but his attention seemed to be in a place far away from the war room. Gripping the seat of the chair, she restrained herself from throwing her arms around his neck and kissing away the pain etched on his beautiful⁠—

Patience rushed into the room. “Gran’s awake.”

Nic bounded to Olivia’s side and kept his hand in hers as he guided her to MedLab. A few tears escaped despite her attempts to blink them back as scenarios rushed through her mind.

Was Gran coherent? Was there any brain damage? She stopped outside Gran’s room and spun to Nic as Kane rushed past her. “What if she’s not okay?” She choked on a sob. “What if she’s…”

Nic cupped her cheek. “You know when Edgar gets something done and you ask him how, and he shrugs and says, ‘I’m Edgar.’”

She sniffed and nodded.

He wiped away tears with his thumb. “Well, Gran is the female version of him. If she’s not one-hundred-percent okay now, she will be, because she’s Gran. It’s as simple as that.”

“You’re right. She’s going to be fine.” Somehow, saying it out loud with Nic squeezing her hands in agreement calmed her fears. “Thank you.”

He pulled her into him. “No, thank you for sharing Gran with me. I’m so sorry you two got caught up in my past.”

“It’s not your fault.” She tugged him toward the door.

He let her go. “You and Kane should spend some time with her alone.”

She held out her hand. “Please…come. You’re family too.”