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She breathed out a choked sigh, her body trembling all over.

“Mia,” I said softly. “Do you want to leave?”

She shook her head and I sighed. I walked around to my seat, but I didn’t miss the way her fingers clenched around the edge of the table.

I sat down and looked at her, my gut aching. She’d always been a pillar of strength, someone I often looked to when things got too frantic.

To see her like this…

Like she’d been visited by a ghost.

Her eyes glazed over, and she stared right through me, her lips parted a little.

“Mia,” I said quietly, reaching across the table to lay my hand over hers. She flinched and I pulled away.

“Sorry,” she murmured, glancing around but not seeing anything. “I’m sorry, I just need a second.”

“That’s okay,” I said, setting my hand on the table, where it would stay until she needed it. “You don’t have to apologize to me.”

She shook her head again, murmuring a soft string of “I’m sorry” and squeezing her eyes shut.

The more she apologized, the tighter the icy bands around my chest got, threatening to collapse around my lungs. Whatever the situation, whoever he was, it affected Mia so much more than she was letting on, which said a lot.

It terrified me.

“Mia,” I prompted, and she looked up at me, the brightness in her eyes dulled. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, Reid, I swear,” she insisted, forcing a smile.

I hated myself for it, but all I could see was Daniella swearing there was nothing going on. Swearing that she still loved me. I shook the traitorous thoughts from my mind and focused on Mia. I focused on the tremble of her chin, the terror in her eyes, and the way she looked at me.

Like she was begging for help.

“Who the hell was that?” I asked, trying hard to keep my anger and panic in check.

“Just an old friend,” she said, clearing her throat. My jaw ticked. “From school.”

“Then why are you on the verge of a panic attack?”

“H-he just surprised me, that’s all,” she insisted, and I sensed that I wouldn’t get much else out of her.

The restaurant was hardly the place for a conversation as sensitive as this one might turn out to be.

“All right,” I said, deciding not to push for the answers I was ready to rip out of Donnie. “Are you ready to finish your lunch?”

“I’m, uh, not that hungry, actually.”

She’d been starving when we finally found the restaurant, but I nodded anyway. I didn’t want her to be more uncomfortable than she already was. “I’ll get the check.”

I left her there, hating that I had to be away from her at all when she looked like she was about to fall apart. No matter how hard I thought about it, I had no idea who that man could have been, or why she’d be so shaken up by him. Maybe he was an ex? That didn’t make sense; Mia wouldn’t have beenthatscared of an ex.

God, I needed to find out. I had to make it better somehow.

“Ready to go?” I asked her, keeping my voice low so that I didn’t startle her.

“Sure, yeah,” she said, sniffling quietly. She grabbed her purse and got to her feet, refusing to meet my eyes.

I led her outside, careful to keep the hand at her lower back from touching her but close enough that maybe, just maybe, it would help, even a little bit. Besides, my chest cracked with anxiety over the whole situation, and I wanted to get her somewhere safe.