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M andy stared at the man in front of her with wide eyes, and she was thankful she’d dropped the kids off an hour ago at the daycare down the street.

She didn’t know how much to really tell the asshole in front of her, but she knew enough to know that she didn’t want to get on his bad side. Nor the two men who’d come with him.

They were big, heavily muscled, with ruggedly handsome faces and no-nonsense attitudes.

She wouldn’t have let them in, but she was worried about Sara, too. Maybe they could find her. And just maybe she might take the opportunity right now to speak up for Sara with a few hard truths to Levi.

“So, you haven’t seen her since Sunday night?” Levi asked again, and Mandy rolled her eyes.

“I told you no. She rents a room from me, I’m not her keeper.”

“But you are her friend.”

“Yeah, and as such, I’m not obligated to tell you shit.”

“We come in peace,” Levi said, keeping his voice soft and calm even though he wanted to throttle the perky, smart-mouthed woman.

“Why don’t you just leave her alone?” Mandy glared at him, and Levi was beginning to suspect that the woman was angry about something he didn’t know about.

“Mandy, I care about her. I’m worried.”

Mandy scoffed and squeezed her hands into fists. “Is that why you slept with her when you’re already in a relationship?”

Floored, Levi gaped at Mandy for a few long moments before he could formulate words.

“I’m not in a relationship.”

“That’s not what Rebecca told Sara.”

“Sara met Rebecca?”

Levi looked shocked, and Mandy squinted at the guy.

It could be that Rebecca had lied, and she figured she’d get to the bottom of it for Sara. That way, when Sara did come home, she would be relieved.

They had spent several hours after the mall on Sunday gazing at the pregnancy test that showed a positive result. Mandy didn’t know what to say to comfort Sara other than hug her and support her. When Sara said she needed time alone and left the house, Mandy figured she’d be back in a few hours.

Now, it was Tuesday, and Sara still wasn’t back.

“Mandy?” Levi’s voice dragged her back to her living room and the big beefy men inside of it. They were all looking at her.

“Yes, Rebecca met Sara on Sunday at the mall, and Rebecca told her that you guys have a long history. Childhood sweethearts. That you two had a tiff and that’s why you slept with Sara.”

Of course, Rebecca hadn’t said those exact words, but Mandy was smart enough to know why the woman had hunted them down in the first place. She’d bet money that Rebecca had deliberately befriended Missy to get to Sara.

“We didn’t have a tiff,” Levi said. “I broke it off with Rebecca two years ago when she took money from my family and flew abroad.”

“What?” Mandy stared at the man.

Rebecca was turning out to be a skank.

“She told Sara she’s pregnant with your baby.”

“What?” Levi’s blood boiled, but he took a deep breath and held onto his anger.

“Is it yours?”

“No,” he growled, squeezing his fists. There would be time later to confront Rebecca.

He turned to Nash. “I think we need to ping Sara’s new phone.”

“Are you asking for permission this time?” Nash said.

Levi grimaced. “Spencer helped me last time.”

“You used Spencer?” Rowan looked offended that he’d used another Aries techie.

“I didn’t want to get you in trouble,” Levi admitted, and Rowan looked a bit mollified.

Nash made a phone call, trying to get the process started because King’s access was screwed up.

Levi knew it could take days, and he gnashed his teeth.

Reaching a dead end almost paralyzed him.

The only thing that helped was the thought that the two men who’d hurt her were dead.

But Chester Miller wasn’t.

And the man could easily hire two more.

Levi pulled his phone out of his pocket and stepped out of Mandy’s house to make the call.

This time, it wasn’t his dad he called, but his mom’s cousin.

“Levi? What’s going on?”

“Will…I need your help,” he said gruffly.

“What’s wrong?” the SecDef growled.

To say that Will was livid would have been an understatement. Heads rolled, and Levi was pretty sure that one Aries leader had been put on notice.

King’s access was restored and Rowan started the search for Sara’s phone.

Levi’s own phone buzzed, and his heart slammed when he grabbed it.

It wasn’t Sara, but rather his father’s number.

Damn it. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to his dad right then. He swallowed down the disappointment that it wasn’t Sara and answered the phone.

“Hello,” he said.

“Son?” Edwin Huxley asked.

“What’s up?”

It must be time to pay the piper, and Levi wondered what his father had in store for him. It could be anything from working for him at the office or marrying some socialite from a friend’s family.

“Can you come home?”

Levi frowned and walked away from the guys. He stepped outside the back patio doors and slid them closed.

The breeze rustled the trees in the backyard and the sun glinted off the patio furniture.

“Why?” He gazed at the water glistening on the green lawn and yellow summer flowers in brick beds.

“No reason. I haven’t seen you in years.”

Something sounded off and he walked over to sit at the glass top table.

“Every time I come home, we fight the whole time,” he reminded the man.

“Time…can bring about change.” His father seemed to struggle over the words.

So, had his father softened? Levi couldn’t see that happening. Was this a trap to come home and then sneak attack?

“You haven’t seen your brothers in a while.”

Levi gripped the phone when his Dad’s voice cracked. There was something his father wasn’t telling him. Were they in trouble?

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “I can make home. I’m in the middle of a case, but when it wraps up, I’ll fly in.”

His dad released a breath as if he’d been holding it.

“Let me talk to Mom,” Levi said softly.

“Okay. Take care. I’ll…see you soon,” his dad said, and that was the closest he was going to get to actual words of affection.

“Levi? Oh, honey,” his mom said over the phone.

“What’s going on?”

“Hold on,” her mother said, and then spoke to his father, he presumed. “I won’t. Don’t worry. Levi, I’m back, hang on.”

There were doors shutting and her footsteps, and he pictured her like him going into the backyard for privacy.

“Mom?”

“I’m here,” she said, a touch out of breath.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s cancer.” Her voice was thick with tears.

“Who?”

“Your father.”

He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his forehead, trying to ease the building pressure.

“I’ll be home after I close this case. It shouldn’t be too much longer,” he promised her.

After a few more moments of talking, she hung up and he stared out over the manicured lawn. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked.

He didn’t normally do regrets, but in the face of his father’s illness, it was another story. And while he didn’t regret standing his ground, he did regret the growing distance between them.

It was sad that it took his father getting sick for him to realize he could never make up for missed time.

Neither of them could.