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Taking a deep breath, I force my lips into a wide smile before turning to face Charles and Taylor again.

“Watch me kick some ass next time you guys visit.” I wink.

Charles’s brows furrow and Taylor is wiping her eyes.

“You got this, Firefly.” Charles gives me a hug. “You’re a Vaughn. Nothing can beat us.”

A lump forms in my throat. I’m getting emotional again. “I miss Grandma and Uncle Ian. It’s not fair I didn’t get to say goodbye to them.”

He stiffens and pulls away. A pulse batters against his temple and his eyes cool to a glacial glint.

The same dread I felt earlier reappears.

“Charles?”

He flinches, the chilly expression on his face disappearing. Squeezing my shoulder, he whispers, “I miss Grandma too.”

What about Uncle Ian? Why is no one talking about him other than to tell me he died? Why do I have a feeling something bad happened in those four years?

“My best friend’s going to destroy those boxes. They won’t know what’s coming,” Taylor quips and traipses over.

She rests her head on Charles’s shoulder, and he relaxes before handing me a small bag I didn’t notice he was holding.

“What’s this?”

“Ethan told me to give this to you. Thought you might be bored.”

I frown. This time, I can’t shove the thoughts ofhimaway.

The man radiated intensity and coiled tension. I still remember how every muscle inside me seized when he crushed me into his arms after I woke up.

I couldn’t breathe. The fear. The panic. The need to scurry away because everything felt too much. Too overpowering. The blistering headache, followed by a sharp throb behind my rib cage when he pulled away.

Then there was the flash of pain in his eyes before a stony mask fell over his face—the same mask I see every time he comes around with my brother.

Nova.

That’s what he called me. But I must’ve misheard.

Because I don’t know him.

Later, he apologized for being too forceful. He told me Liam was distraught when I was in a coma and he was happy for his best friend that I woke up.

He’s shown up time and time again, usually with Liam, but he’s kept his distance, and likewise, I’m wary.

Something about him seems…strange.

“What could he have gotten me? It’s not like he knows me.”

“Go easy on him, Lexy,” Charles murmurs. “He’s not an easy person to know, but he’s a good guy. He also has a lot on his plate—a financial investigation is taking over his life.”

“You have a lot of stuff going on too, Charles, but you aren’t an ass.”

Charles chuckles and shakes his head as I peel off the wrapping paper.

A gasp tumbles out of me when I see the DVD.

The Notebook.Collector’s edition with commentary from the director. A small piece of paper sticks out from the box. I open it to find a Post-it note: