The words, spoken without any emotion, hit Lucas as if his heart was being ripped from his body. He watched as she took a step to leave, but he felt powerless to stop her. She had almost reached the front door into the entryway when her cell phone rang. She stopped and pulled it from her pocket. Her eyes grew wide, and she began to shake.
“He’s calling again!” she moaned. “Why won’t he leave me alone?”
Lucas was at her side in two strides and jerked the phone from her hand. “Hello! Who is this?” he yelled into the phone.
There was a short pause before a soft chuckle sounded. “Hello. Mr. Knight, I assume. Tell Mia that running to you isn’t going to help her any. You can’t be with her every minute, and the next time I get my hands on her, I’ll gladly cut her throat without hesitation.”
“You’ll what?” But there was no answer. The man had already disconnected the call. Lucas handed the phone back to Mia. “He’ll cut your throat? What’s that about? You didn’t say anything about a knife.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “I didn’t? That was when he caught me trying to get in my car. He was holding a knife to my throat when I sprayed him with the pepper spray.”
Lucas’s mouth dropped open. “Do you realize that his reflex action could have left you stabbed and bleeding to death?”
She nodded. “I did. But doing nothing would have been worse. I knew I couldn’t be his victim.” She clenched her fists and pounded them against the sides of her legs. “I don’t want to be anybody’s victim anymore.”
Something in the way she said it sent warning signals flashing in his mind. Maybe there was more to Mia’s situation than she was telling. If so, he wanted to find out what it was. He stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and rocked back on his heels.
“Are you hungry, Mia?”
“Yeah, a little. I think I drank about five cups of coffee while I was in that diner, but I couldn’t eat anything.”
He smiled. “Would you like some breakfast? I still know my way around the kitchen.”
Her body relaxed, and she smiled the first real smile he’d seen since she arrived. “You always were the best cook I’d ever known.”
His skin warmed, and he couldn’t help but grin at the compliment. “It was one of my many talents,” he joked. “If I’m going to take your case, I need to find out all the details, and I always work better on a full stomach. Go on in the kitchen. I need to call Adam and leave a message for him. Then I’ll see what I can rustle up for us to eat.”
He swept his arm in the direction of the kitchen, and she smiled before she headed there. He closed his eyes for a moment and bit down on his lip. What would Adam say when he told him why he was canceling on their trip to Nashville? Especially when his brother found out that Lucas had just accepted Mia Lockhart as a new client at the Knight Agency. After a moment he shrugged. It didn’t matter.
Mia had shown up on his doorstep looking like a lost waif. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that she was in a lot of trouble and needed help. If he could help her, that’s what he needed to do. He’d never forgive himself if he sent her away and then learned from the news that she’d been hurt, or killed.
But finding the bail jumper was all this was going to be. She was hiring him for a job. After it was over, she would pay him, and he’d never have to see her again. That’s the way he wanted it, and that’s the way it was going to be.
Thirty minutes later Mia sat across the kitchen table from Lucas and stared down at the plate in front of her. “This is delicious. I haven’t had an omelet in a long time, and you always made the best,” she said.
He nodded and finished chewing his last bite before he spoke. “I still like to cook, but I don’t advertise it to any of the guys in my biker club. I don’t think I could take the jokes they’d make about me in the kitchen.”
She laughed and arched an eyebrow. “So you’re still riding a motorcycle?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. It gives me something to do when I’m off work, which isn’t very often.”
“I suppose your mother is still as concerned about your dangerous hobby as ever,” she said as she scooped another bite onto her fork. “By the way, how are your parents? I always liked them.”
She sensed a sudden chill in the friendly atmosphere and sat back in her chair. “Is something wrong, Lucas?”
He raised his head and stared at her, his eyes dark and foreboding. “If I’m going to take your case, I think we need to get something straight right off.”
She laced her fingers together in her lap and gripped them tightly. “A-all r-right. What is it?”
He leaned forward, a frown creasing his forehead. “I think it would be better if we don’t mention our past relationship. There’s no need to revisit ancient history, whether it’s talking about what I used to cook, my parents or whatever. This is strictly business. You’re hiring me to do a job for you. I’ll do it, and you’ll pay me when it’s over. Can you agree to that?”
She struggled to keep her voice steady as she answered him. “I can, but if you’re going to take my case, then there’s something I need to tell you.”
He tilted his head to one side and eyed her suspiciously. “What is it?”
“I know your services don’t come cheap, and I will pay you. It just may take some time. Kyle’s lawyer is in the process of untangling all his business dealings. I’ve been allowed to stay in the house for a while. Although it’s the last place I want to be, I don’t have anywhere else to go until the estate is settled. I have very little money. I thought you should know.”
Lucas stared at her for a moment before he set his coffee cup down and leaned toward her. “I can understand about the will not being settled. But what about your money?”
Her eyes grew wide. “What money?”
“That you make from your job.”
“I don’t have a job. I’ve never had one.”
His mouth gaped open, and he blinked his eyes. “All you ever wanted to do was to own a dance studio and teach children ballet. You studied for years. What happened?”
Her stomach was beginning to roil at all his questions, and she jumped to her feet and grabbed her plate. She walked to the garbage disposal and shoveled her leftover food into the sink before she turned back around. “I thought this was going to be strictly business,” she retorted. “Do you need to know to solve the case? The studio never happened—end of story.”
He stepped closer to her. “Fine, then. What about your father? If you don’t have enough money to live on until the estate is settled, couldn’t he help you?”
She shook her head but didn’t turn around to face him. “My father died three years ago. He and Kyle got along great.” Much better than she had ever gotten along with her distant, disapproving father. “So much so that he made Kyle the executor of his estate. My lawyer told me I’ll be able to get that inheritance back, but it’s going to take a while.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know about your father. But what about friends? Could they help you?”
Mia clenched her fists and gritted her teeth before she whirled and faced Lucas. “No! Don’t you understand? I’m not like you, Lucas. I don’t have a family that cares what happens to me, and I don’t have friends who want to help me.” Tears welled in her eyes. “When I was racking my brain trying to think who I could go to for help, you were the only one who came to mind. A college boyfriend that I hadn’t seen in seven years. You probably haven’t given me a thought