He was damn right about that. And I’d do every form of groveling necessary if it meant that I could make this right. “Can you give me a ride?”

Cain gave me a shit-eating grin and slapped me on the shoulder. “Of course.”

As we rose to head for the garage, the front door opened. Kennedy appeared. She strode over to me and smacked the back of my head. “What is wrong with you?”

“Shit,” Cain muttered.

My gaze went from Kennedy to Cain and back again. “What did I do?”

“Made Anna cry. And she never cries.”

Everything in me locked. “When was she crying?”

“Just now. I stopped by to give her some paperwork for Hope House. You were a real asshole to her, Mase. You need to fix that immediately. If I didn’t like you so dang much, I’d bar you from the house.”

Cain grinned at his wife. “You’d bar him from his own house?”

Her hands went to her waist. “Don’t underestimate me. And don’t annoy me right now. I’m so pissed at men and their idiocy, I’m tempted to make you sleep on the couch.”

He couldn’t hold in his chuckle. “There are like six guest rooms in this house.”

“Nope. The couch. So don’t mess with me right now.”

Cain crossed to his wife, giving her a long, slow kiss. “Never.”

She came away a little dazed. “Good. Now get Mase home so he can fix this.”

I followed Cain in a sort of trance, climbing into the passenger side of his SUV. But all I could hear was Kennedy telling me that Anna had been crying. All I could see in my mind was her tear-streaked face. And I’d never felt lower in my life.

42

ANNA

I groaned as I struggled to open my eyes. Everything hurt. But the worst of it seemed to emanate from my head. The pulse through my skull felt like daggers.

“Finally waking up? It took you long enough.”

That voice. The timbre of his tone had me jerking upright as if my body recognized danger before my mind could.

Everything came together in flashes. I was in a car. My hatchback. I couldn’t move freely. My right hand was taped to the door handle. Derek.

“Uh, uh, uh,” he said, pointing a gun in my direction. “Don’t even think about it.”

I itched to lash out. A punch. My nails. Whatever I could use. But my mind was still catching up with what my body knew. Trying to put the pieces together.

I looked around. We were parked on the dirt road at the edge of the lake. I could just make out the bench we’d put in place for Chelsea.

“Did you miss me at all, Anna?”

My gaze snapped back to Derek. “Did I miss you?” I only seemed capable of parroting his words.