“I hope we’re her pack.” I said it automatically. The rest of the guys looked at me like they wanted me to shut the hell up, but it was the thing in the back of my mind every second of every day.

“I wouldn’t worry about that too much,” Eva said.

“Really?”

She put a finger to her lips and shook her head. “Anything else, take up with May-may.”

The crew was fast, and since there wasn’t much equipment, everything was nearly back to normal in twenty minutes, and Eva’s manager left with them. We’d canceled all our appointments and gave Daisy the day off. Probably for the best, given the way we’d razzed her in the interview.

Daisy kept the place running, and none of us harbored any illusion she wouldn’t grab us by the balls and set us straight if we crossed her. We kept her around for way more than keeping the place running. An honorary member of pack Nautilus even if she already had her own.

“Do you guys need anything else from me?” Eva asked.

“I don’t think so,” Avery smiled. “You’ve done more than enough. We’ll walk you out back. We’re ready to go too.”

“Perfect.” Her smile was just like Esme’s, and yet it was entirely different. Esme’s smile made my heart flip in my chest and gave me the desire to drop to my knees. Eva’s was pretty, and I appreciated it. But nothing more.

Luke was the first one out the back door, and he froze. “Wes, what are you doing here?”

The bodyguard looked up from his phone where he was relaxing under an umbrella in the sputtering rain. He was next to Eva’s car, where her security was waiting. “I’m waiting for Esme.” Then he scanned our group. “She’s not with you?”

“No,” I said. “We never saw her. She was here?”

“I dropped her off more than an hour ago. Things didn’t seem to go well at her mom’s, and she said to come straight here.”

Eva was already retreating into the studio, and we followed. Wes, too.

“Jasmine, was Esme at the studio?” She looked up at us, relief clear in her eyes. “She was?” Pulling the phone from her ear, she flipped it to speaker. “Sorry, Jasmine, say that again. You’re on speaker.”

“Esme came in, and she was with me for a few minutes. I let her listen through the monitor, and then she suddenly said she had to be somewhere and left.”

“Did she seem okay?”

Jasmine made a non-committal sound. “It happened so quickly I didn’t get a good read on her, but no, I wouldn’t say she was happy when she left.”

“Thanks. If you think of anything else, call me.” She ended the call and looked at Wes. “What happened at Mom’s?”