Page 2

Trevor

" D o you remember that time Henry fell down the stairs?" Kai wheezes and my chest bubbles with the beginnings of laughter. "Like, from the top fucking step!"

Ridge chokes on his beer. "With all the pizzas!"

"It's been seven years, assholes," Henry grumbles, but he's not doing a good job of keeping the humor out of his voice. "Let it go."

Kai doubles over and Ridge has his head thrown back, adding detail after detail of Henry's descent down the staircase. Pizza sauce all over the walls...Mozzarella on the banister...Sausages rolling from step to step...Henry shouting and sitting up with a pepperoni stuck to his cheek.

With each addition, Henry and I lose our stoic battle. Soon my throat aches from all the random bursts of laughter and too many seconds without sucking in a gasp of air. So similar to that night, we can't not laugh every time we look at each other. Fuck, I love these guys.

"Christ," I croak, rubbing my face. "I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I still wish Nina could have been there that night. She would’ve loved to have seen it."

"Ah yes. Still upset about the no sleepover rule she had." Ridge pouts and takes a sip of his beer.

"Wait," Henry glances toward the house, "where is Nina?"

"Cooking," Kai answers, but he frowns and taps his phone. "I figured she would have come out to get us by now though."

My chest spasms, and my gut cramps. The only explanation I have for jumping out of my chair and yanking the sliding glass door open so fast is instinct. Something is screaming at me to get eyes on my woman.

I've learned to trust my gut from Henry. Leaning into the bone deep dread, I rush through the hallway and barrel into the kitchen with Nina's name exploding from my lips. Empty. The kitchen is fucking empty!

"NINA?!" My entire body revolts—basically fucking convulsing as Ridge rushes past me and grabs a sheet of paper off of the counter.

" Need peanuts. Didn't want to disturb you. Be back soon! xoxo, " he reads with a trembling hand.

Kai curses and drags a hand through his hair. "Shit. Shit! When did she leave?"

Ridge turns on Kai. "How the fuck would I know?" Now's not the time to snap at each other, but Ridge is quickly losing control of his emotions. "She'll probably be back soon. Right?"

I'm already whipping my phone out of my pocket. I can't answer my cousin right now, because by the look on Henry's face and my thundering heart, I already know the answer, and there's no way I can say it out loud. Something's wrong .

"Speakerphone," Henry pleads, reminding me of the night Meg called me to tell us Nina was alive. Why does this feel so much fucking worse?

Because we had her, we got to love her and cherish our girl again only for—Fuck! No. Not had . We have Nina!

"Pick up, baby girl." Clutching my phone in a death grip, I stare at Nina's contact photo in complete desperation. God, please, please, please, plea ? —

A scratchy male voice shatters every last ounce of my patience. "Hello?"

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" Who in the goddamn hell is with Nina?! Is this him? Mr. M? I'll track that fucker down and kill ? —

"Whoa, man. Calm down. How do you know the owner of this phone?"

Ridge is trembling and if I weren't so pissed off and terrified, I would try to calm him.

"She's mine. My girlfriend." That doesn't sound like enough though. Shit. "Where the hell is Nina?!"

I have half a second to cringe at my thoughtlessness at giving this stranger her name, but it's quickly dashed away by his mumbled cursing and wailing sirens.

"You motherfu?—"

The guy either doesn't hear Kai, or doesn't care because his urgency overpowers the incoming threat. "You need to get to the gas station off of 97th and Richmond. Now."

Bolting for the front door, I snatch my keys from the entryway table and scramble to get my shoes on. The guys struggle in my periphery, but all my focus is on Nina. "Be there in two minutes. What happened?! What's happening?!"

"Shit, dude. I don't know. I watched her—fuck hold on—It's okay, little one, your boyfriend's on his way."

The relief of knowing she's alive is staggering, but I manage to pull the car out of the driveway. Stamping down the rage at this guy giving her a nickname is hard though.

"PUT HER ON!" Ridge screams from the backseat, making me jolt, but I keep us on the road.

More cursing, then a female voice sounds through my phone as I'm taking the final left turn. "Ma'am? Ma'am, can you hear me? Unresponsive."

"She opened her eyes a second ago," the first guy says.

The utter fear coursing through my veins is debilitating, but the flashing lights in front of me urge me on. I barely register putting the car into park before I'm jumping out of the SUV.

"NINA!" I bellow, my phone forgotten as I shove bystanders out of my way.

Then comes the blue shirts and a gurney trying to beat me to the small body lying on the concrete. A strangling sensation overtakes my windpipes until I’m not sure if I can't say anything at all or if all I can utter is Nina's name.

I see her freshly painted pink toenails between two sets of calves with her flip-flops missing. Someone else must force these people to move because suddenly, she comes into view and all I see is red.

Blood.