I opened my mouth to say no, that I didn’t need to worry him, that I could handle it myself. But I stopped the words from tumbling out of my mouth. I needed to take the baby steps Kennedy had talked about. Let him in, let us be more of a team.

I tapped a few icons on my screen and then put the phone to my ear. It rang and rang before Mason’s voicemail picked up. I’d never heard it before because he always answered when I called. “Hey, Mason. It’s Anna. I got another picture text. I just wanted you to know. I’ll forward it to Dante and let Keisha know.”

“Try his office line.”

“I don’t think I need to.” I was already feeling all sorts of exposed.

Kennedy leveled me with a stare. “Call.”

I sighed and tapped the other number I had programmed in my phone for Mason. His secretary picked up on the second ring. “Mason Decker’s office.”

“Hi. It’s, um, Anna. I was wondering if Mason was in?”

“Hello, Anna. He’s in a meeting right now and asked not to be disturbed. Can I have him call you back, or is it an emergency?”

“No. No emergency. I left a message on his cell, so you don’t even need to tell him I called. Thank you.” I hung up before she could say anything else. It was silly. Logically, I knew that, but I still felt so incredibly alone in that moment. I’d reached out, and he wasn’t there. Just another reminder of why letting myself fall was the stupidest choice of all.

And I had promised myself I’d never be that dumb again.

29

MASON

“Earth to Juliette.”

She looked up from her phone, blushing. “Sorry. Grades posted for an exam from my summer classes.”

“How’d it go?”

She looked down at the screen again and shoved it into her bag. “Fine.”

“Which means not as well as you wanted it to.”

Juliette gave me a sheepish grin. “You know me. If I’m not at the top of my class, I’m not happy.”

Understatement of the century. Jules brought perfectionism to a whole new level. I’d never forget her fourth-grade hysterics over getting a B on a spelling quiz. “Maybe it’s time to cut yourself a little slack.”

My cell phone rang, and I moved to answer, but Juliette cut me off. “Can’t we just have some time? You and me, without distractions?”

Anna’s name flashed on my screen, and I itched to answer it, just to make sure everything was okay. But I knew she was safe. Locked behind the Fort Knox of Cain’s security system. If it were truly urgent, she’d call back. “Okay. Where do you want to go to lunch?”

She grinned. “How about that cute little café we went to the last time we were here?”