Spencer rose, his muscles suddenly stiff, his heart suddenly hurting. “I think this is where I make my exit,” he said, trying to sound light when he felt weighted down.

“Spencer, wait,” Lola said, her hand on his shoulder, stopping him from walking out. “Why can’t you make peace with Riley? Start over?”

He inhaled deeply. “Because he asked me to stay the hell away. And since I’ve never done anything he wanted during his childhood, it’s the least I can do for him now.”

Staying away from Riley had never been as easy or as simple as his son obviously believed. But doing so now that they’d had their first face-to-face confrontation, now that Spencer had seen the man Riley had become, was damn near impossible.

And he lived with regret every single day of his life.

SOPHIE CANCELED a photo shoot for a sick client. She returned some phone calls and in between she arranged a Sports Illustrated interview for Roper, who was looking for some positive publicity to counteract the negative and the magazine was doing a piece on athletes in touch with their feminine side-though they promised a masculine title and approach. She did everything and anything to avoid thinking about the fact that the office had been broken into and she might be the target.

But she couldn’t ignore the truth. And it only reminded her that she had no control over anything in her life. She headed to her private bathroom, hoping if she splashed cold water on her face she’d feel better.

After running the water for a while, she let the icy stream hit her wrists. Her body temperature cooled and she immediately felt better. She patted her face with a water-dampened towel, then rolled her neck from side to side, stretching her stiff muscles.

She wished she could visit with Annabelle to escape this nightmare, but her sister was going away for the weekend. Though she could stay at Annabelle’s house upstate anyway, she hated to run away.

Besides, Riley’s note had asked her not to make plans and she wanted to see what he had in mind for them. She still promised herself she’d keep her walls high, but she knew better than to think he’d leave her alone while she was being targeted. And, she admitted, she didn’t have the strength to turn him away just now.

She reached her arms above her head, laced her fingers together and stretched the way she’d learned in yoga class. Come to think of it, maybe going to another yoga class would calm her nerves.

She tipped her head upward and opened her eyes. What looked like the lens of a video camera stared back at her from the lighting in the ceiling.

She screamed.

RILEY HAD BEEN at the gym near Athletes Only when Yank called and left a message on his voice mail demanding Riley meet him at the office ASAP. Riley had been in Yank Morgan’s office long before he heard Sophie’s shriek. He turned and ran, reaching her office half a step before everyone else at A.O. He didn’t see her immediately and spun to find her standing inside the small bathroom.

“Who died?” Yank came to a halt behind Riley, stopping himself by grabbing onto the younger man’s shoulders.

Sophie blushed, her soft skin turning a flattering shade of pink. “Everything’s okay. I’m okay. I’m sorry I scared everyone.”

“You heard her. She’s fine. Everyone get back to work.” Yank waved his hands, shooing everyone away.

Riley waited until everyone except Yank had taken off. “What’s wrong?” he asked Sophie.

“That is wrong.” She pointed to the ceiling.

He looked up. A camera lens had been not so subtly hidden in between the overhead lighting.

“What is it? What’s up there?” Yank squinted at the ceiling.

“It looks like a camera lens. Like the ones they put in department stores,” Riley explained. “Get me a chair, will you, Sophie?”

She nodded and walked out, then returned from the other room, rolling her desk chair in front of her. “Here you go.”

She held the wheeled chair steady while he climbed up on it.

“You know that’s how I broke my hip,” Yank said.

“Leave him alone,” Sophie chided.

Riley tried not to laugh.

“All I meant was that he should be careful or else he’ll end up ass down like I did.”

Riley grinned. “Thanks for the warning.” He carefully pulled the tiny round lens, which protruded from between the light grating, expecting it to be connected by wiring. Instead the lens pulled right out in his hand.

“It’s not connected to anything.” He jumped down to the floor.

Sophie stepped closer.

Her luscious scent assaulted his senses immediately. It had been just one day since he’d seen her last, but he’d gone to sleep imagining he smelled her fragrance beside him and he’d woken up reaching for her. Now she was here, inches away.

“I don’t understand,” she murmured.

He held the tiny piece up to the light. “It’s a dud.”

“As in a practical joke?” Yank asked. “I’m going to kill the bastard who tried to scare my niece that way.”

Sophie exhaled hard.

Beside him, Riley felt her tremble.

“It’s no joke, Uncle Yank,” she said. “It must have been part of the break-in. Someone probably planted this here when they broke all the flower vases.”

Riley didn’t know what was going on. He’d rushed in here so fast he hadn’t noticed the flower shop was no longer in her office. And as for a break-in, he’d seen men fixing the broken glass outside but he’d never considered that it’d been more than an accident. He was unprepared for the feeling of protectiveness that swept over him at the thought of anyone wanting to scare, let alone hurt, this woman.

“I’m going to let the police know ’bout this.” Yank started for the door.

“That’s a good idea,” Sophie said softly. “Uncle Yank? Can you also call your friend Curly who does security? Ask him to come down and see what he thinks of this thing before the police take it away.”

“That’s my girl. Always thinkin’,” Yank said, and left.

She lowered herself to the closed toilet seat. “I just don’t understand who’d want to do this to me.”

Riley placed his hand on her shoulder. He noticed the damp towel in the sink and shut off the still-running water. “How about we talk it through. Sometimes that helps to figure things out.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“If it wasn’t the break-in, if someone else did this, who could it be? Who has access?”

“But…”

“Humor me. Just to cover all bases.”

She glanced down at her hands. “There’s the cleaning crew that comes in at night, the security people who patrol in the evening, and everyone in the office who passes by when I’m not here.”

“Have you fired anyone recently?” he asked.

She shook her head. “We’re a small office and all get along.”

“Okay then, let’s talk about the times you aren’t here. You and I were just in Florida. Could anyone have let themselves in here then?”

“No!” Sophie jumped up from her seat. “No way is it anyone who works for us. We’re like a family here. I’m not stupid or naive, but I refuse to believe someone within this office would do this to me.”

He followed her out of the bathroom back into her office, watching as she paced the room, silently mouthing the expected number of steps across the carpet. He couldn’t control his grin as she reverted to the comfort of counting, the same thing she’d been doing the day he’d come looking for his old man.

At the thought of Spencer, Riley realized that not once since he’d been here had he worried about running into him. Instead his thoughts had been occupied by Sophie.

“There is one person who might be behind all this,” she said, stopping in her tracks.

Her words caught him off guard. “Who?”

“I don’t like suggesting this. It hurts me because he’s dating one of my closest friends, but…”

Riley tipped his head to one side and studied her. “Nobody’s going to do anything without proof, but if your gut’s telling you something, I suggest you listen. At this point we can’t afford to overlook anything, no matter how remote it seems.”

Sophie swallowed hard. “Miguel Cambias.”

“No!” Cindy had entered without Sophie realizing it and stood with her mouth opened in horror. “How could you say such a thing? How could you even think it?”

Sophie’s heart skipped a beat, then began pounding harder. “I’m sorry, it’s just that-”

“What? You think he’d use me to get to you? That he doesn’t care about me? He just wants to sign your uncle’s draft pick? You’re wrong. I know him.” She pointed to her heart. “I know him in here.”

Sophie closed her eyes for a brief second. This was exactly what she’d wanted to avoid. “I’m not saying it is Miguel. I’m just saying it’s possible.”

“And how do you think breaking in here and planting a camera would get him any closer to John Cashman?” Cindy folded her arms across her chest.

“I don’t know.” Sophie looked out the window over Manhattan. “It’s a stretch,” she admitted.

“What about the idea of deflecting Yank’s and Spencer’s focus? If they’re busy worrying about you, looking out for you, then that would leave Cashman open and vulnerable to another agent.” Riley stepped between the two women. “To any agent. Not necessarily Cambias.”

“That’s what I thought.” She shot Riley a look filled with gratitude for attempting to salvage her friendship with Cindy.

“Everyone’s shaken up from the break-in. Sophie’s rattled about finding the camera. I suggest nobody holds anything said in the heat of the moment against the other.”

Cindy, with her pale face and defensive posture, appeared unsure, shaken and still very upset. “I have to go.”

“Don’t say anything to him,” Sophie called out to her friend.

Cindy turned back. “Why not? So the police can handle it instead? I don’t think so.” With that, she was gone.