Sam sat up slowly, not wanting to disturb Angela who was pregnant or Tracy who was asleep on a blow-up mattress on the floor. Reaching for the zip-up sweatshirt she’d left at the foot of the bed, Sam put it on and slid her feet into Tracy’s plush slippers.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Tracy whispered.

Startled, Sam said, “Downstairs to get some water.”

“You’re such a liar.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“You’re going to see him.”

“I am not!”

“Liar.”

“Be quiet before you wake up Ang.”

“Too late,” Angela muttered.

“She’s going to see Nick,” Tracy said, sounding scandalized.

“I am not! I just want something to drink. Sheesh, Trace, when did you become such an ass pain?”

“Right around the time Brooke became a teenager.”

Angela snickered at that. “Leave her alone, Tracy. If she wants to see him, let her go.”

“It’s bad luck to see him before the wedding,” Tracy reminded her.

“Since we’ve been together, we’ve been nearly blown up, shot at, had a few concussions between us, survived a rollover, had broken bones, stitches and staples.” She reached up to touch the healing wound in her scalp. “We’ve used up our share of bad mojo.”

“When you put it that way,” Tracy said, gesturing for the door.

“Thanks, Mom. Get some sleep, ladies.”

“Don’t be late for the hair appointment,” Tracy said. “She’ll be here at eleven.”

“Got it. Sleep tight.”

“Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” Angela added.

Sam laughed and closed the bedroom door behind her. Feeling like a teenager sneaking out of her parents’ house in the middle of the night, she crept down the stairs, found her keys and headed out the door. She was halfway to their place when a shadow emerged from the darkness. All at once, Sam remembered why she never stepped foot out the door without her weapon. Figures the one time she did…

“Going somewhere?”

Shit. “What’re you doing here, Peter?” At the sight of her ex-husband, her heart beat fast and her breath came out in white, puffy clouds in the cold. She began to shiver.

“I want to talk to you.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“I have something to say to you, and it’s high time you listened to me.”

“Get out of here before I have your ass thrown back in jail for violating the no-contact order.”

She started to push past him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her tight against him.

“Let go of me, or I swear to God I’ll cripple you.”

He pushed something hard against her ribs. “Don’t make any fast moves, sweetheart, or your family will be attending a funeral rather than a wedding.”