“No, no, no,” she muttered even as her heart rate accelerated. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t see her. Not now. She wasn’t strong enough. God, was this how Vic had felt when their position had been reversed? Had her heart pounded a bass beat to the shrill warning bells ringing inside her head? If so, Vic was infinitely braver than Sophia ever gave her credit for, but then again, of course she was.

Sophia wanted to cower behind her curtains, and she might have done so if some movement farther to the right hadn’t caught her eye. There, a few doorways down and to Victoria’s back, a small cluster of tourists stood, watching and whispering. Or perhaps they weren’t tourists at all, maybe they were some of those nosy journalists who’d wrecked their morning in Amberwick.

“Shit.” She hadn’t walked away to protect the greatest woman she’d ever known only to have her compromised after the fact.

In one swift movement, she threw open the window sash in time for Vic to release her next throw. A small bit of silver flew up and hit her in the chest. Her reflexes took hold, and she caught the thing in her hand.

“Whoops,” Victoria said, then squinting up at her, grinned sheepishly. “Hello.”

She shook her head, trying to keep the utter charm of the greeting from taking hold of her senses. “What are you doing?”

“I needed to talk to you, and you wouldn’t answer your phone.”

“So, you decided to throw things at me?”

“I learned from the best.”

“I threw pebbles.” She tried to keep the humour from her voice as she glanced down to see a one-pound coin in the palm of her hand. “Not money. Who throws money?”

Victoria shrugged and did a terrible job of hiding a grin. “I’m very rich.”

Sophia laughed in spite of herself. This was not going well for her resolve.

“Ask me how rich I am.”

She shook her head and shot a glance toward the tourists, one of whom seemed to be moving her phone into a perfect position to capture them on video. “You have to go.”

“Not until you ask me how rich I am.”

She nodded toward the others. “We can’t do this here.”

“Then call off your security detail and we’ll do it in there.”

She pursed her lips. She couldn’t let this woman within arm’s reach. She understood her own limitations, and yet she got the sense she wouldn’t get rid of Vic any other way. She glanced at the camera one more time. In the end, she could lose Vic and fail to protect her all at once. Fear made the decision for her. “Fine. I’ll message security.”

Vic wasted no time, jogging toward the door.