Once they assured me they would take extra security measures with Ciana, I opened the app on my phone to check in on Nova. Since I’d left her back in California after spending a few days following the new year, I’d been constantly looking at the live feed of the hidden security cameras that had been placed not only in her room and around her house, but at her school as well.

The first camera I checked was her locker, but other than a few people passing, I didn’t see my little angel. It was just after eleven in California, which was lunchtime for her, so I scanned the cafeteria for her but couldn’t spot her beautiful blond head. Finally, I found her in the library, which had been remodeled after her attack a few years ago. She was seated at a table in the back corner of the room, her favorite spot. A sandwich wrapped in a napkin was on the table, an open book in front of her…

And some douchebag sitting far too close to her as they both looked over a notebook. His shoulder brushed against hers, his lips moving as he said something that made her laugh. I couldn’t hear either of them since the camera feed didn’t have audio. Jealous that he was getting to hear her precious laugh when I couldn’t, I tightened my fingers around the phone in my hand until it cracked in protest.

Gritting my teeth, I called Nova, putting her on speaker so I could return to the CCTV feed on my screen. The picture was a bit blurry around the edges now from the slight damage I’d caused the piece of technology, but I could still see her and the guy beside her.

As she pulled her phone out of her backpack, her face lit up when she saw who was calling, and she swiped her thumb over the screen. “Hi.” Her sweet voice filled my ears. “Did you eat lunch? How is work going?”

I tried to rein in my jealousy and leaned back in my chair to enjoy the view of her, attempting to ignore the asshole beside her. “It has been a long day, so I haven’t eaten yet. It’s only been a week since I left you, and I already need to hold you again.”

Fuck, I’d needed that from the moment I’d stepped foot back on the jet without her. It took all my strength to stay on board and fly back to New York alone.

“Maybe you can come back for Valentine’s Day,” she suggested, a smile teasing at her lips. “It’s on a Friday this year, so we could spend the entire weekend together.”

“It’s a date, my heart.” The guy seated beside her shifted closer, pretending to look over the page of the notebook, but while Nova’s head was turned away, I was able to see the way he sniffed her hair.

My hand slapped down on my desk, hard. The unexpected loud clap caused Nova to jump, her head snapping up and nailing the guy in the chin. “Ouch,” she cried, rubbing at her head, while the guy groaned and touched his hand to his mouth. From the looks of it, she had caused him to bite his tongue when her head connected with his chin, because when he lifted his fingers from his mouth, they were smeared with blood.