Page 7 of True North

“Listen—” Zac barked. Nico wasn’t about to give him the option of hanging up again.

“No, you listen,” Nico cut in. “You won’t talk to Toni like that ever again,” he growled. Every protective instinct was roaring to life inside of him and the last thing he would allow is for some rich asshole to talk to his woman that way.

“Who the hell is this?” Zac growled back. Nico really didn’t want to get into a pissing match, but he also knew he wouldn’t back down from Toni’s asshole ex.

“My name is Nico Andrews and I’m here with Toni Bernston. It is really her, she’s not dead as you put it. She has been living here with me for a little over a year now. Up until yesterday, she’s suffered from amnesia and has since regained her memories. We saw her father passed recently, and Toni is wondering if you could give her some information since you were the one to identify his body.” Nico paused, making sure Zac hadn’t hung up. The silence on the other end of the line wasn’t promising until he heard a sigh.

“I’m not going to discuss anything with you over the phone. If Toni really is alive, I’ll need to see her for myself. I’d like to meet with her,” Zac offered. There was no fucking way Nico was going to let Toni go off and meet with Zac on her own.

“We’d be happy to meet,” Nico replied.

“I’d like a private meeting with Toni if it’s truly her since this is a private family matter,” Zac barked.

“Toni would be happy to meet with you to get some answers, but there is no way she’ll do that alone. And as far as this being a family matter,” Nico paused, looking Toni up and down. He was sure she wasn’t going to like what he said next, but he didn’t give a shit. “As I understand it, you aren’t Toni’s family. She did turn down your marriage proposal, correct?” Toni gasped at Nico’s question and shot him a dirty look. She reached for the phone, but Nico stood from the bed and held it over her head. There was no way he would let her talk to Zac, not before he agreed to a face-to-face meeting with the both of them. He didn’t want Toni cutting some crazy, half-baked deal with Zac to meet him on her own.

“Fine,” Zac growled. “I’ll meet with the both of you. Today, at her father’s old office. I now run the development firm in his stead. I’m assuming she knows the place?” Nico looked down to find Toni nodding her agreement.

“She does,” he confirmed. “We’ll be there at noon,” Nico said and ended the call.

“Thanks,” Toni barked sarcastically. Nico chuckled, knowing she didn’t mean to thank him. What she wanted was to tell him to fuck off, but she was always too polite for that.

“You’re welcome, honey.” He shot her his biggest smile and winked down at her. Toni shook her head, picking up the clothes she’d found that belonged to her, and headed to their master bathroom.

“I’m taking a shower and will be ready to go in a half hour,” she said. He watched as she disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door. Nico hated that she was literally shutting him out—she never closed the doors between them. When Toni slid the lock into place, his heart stuttered. She wasn’t going to trust him to give her space and privacy and that thought hurt him. Toni sent him a clear message; she was locking him out of the bathroom and out of her life. He just hoped like hell he could find the key because losing her wasn’t an option.

Toni

Her morning with Nico had been quite an eye-opener. She needed a few minutes to decompress while taking a shower, to get her hypersensitive body back under control. Her mind couldn’t remember him, but her body sure did. From what he had told her, their relationship wasn’t cookie-cutter conventional, either. Her scientist was full of surprises, and she was sure he wasn’t finished yet. He wasn’t anything like what she thought he would be, and Toni was starting to like the way he seemed to need to be with her, touch her, and even control her. She wondered if that was the way things were between them in the bedroom, but she was too afraid to ask. He seemed to be happy to show her around his drawer full of sex toys, and she wondered how much he’d like to tell her what he wanted from her. If she was right, Nico wouldn’t just tell her what to do, he’d demand things from her, and judging by her wet panties, she’d give him whatever he asked for.

They left the little beach house that was also home to a small museum and Nico’s office just before noon to head to their meeting with Zac. The last time she spoke to him, she refused his marriage proposal. Toni told him she wasn’t in love with him, and Zac explained that love had nothing to do with his offer. Basically, he told her it boiled down to a smart business deal on his part. She remembered his words had felt like a slap in the face and she walked away feeling used and hurt. The next day she spoke with her father, and that was her last memory. She was hoping Zac might be able to fill in some of her gaps or might be able to tell her why her father committed suicide. It just didn’t seem like something her dad would do.

“This island has always been so peaceful,” she whispered mostly to herself, watching the coastline weave in and out of view as Nico drove them to her father’s office.

“Yes, it is,” he agreed, startling her from her thoughts. “That’s one of the things that drew me to the Isle of Palms. I wanted to do all that I possibly could to preserve some of its beauty and peace for future generations.” Toni liked the thought of her future children being able to come to the island, to play on the pristine beaches and in the warm, clear water as she had as a child. Her mother used to love to bring her to their beach house while her father was off on one of his business trips. When she was fifteen, her mother passed away after a long fight with cancer, leaving Toni to mostly fend for herself. Her father wasn’t quite sure what to do with his teenage daughter and she really didn’t want him involved in her life. He hadn’t bothered to be a part of her life all those years while she was growing up, it felt wrong that he’d take an interest after her mother was gone.

Toni wondered what her future would look like now that she had lost an entire year of her life. She had so many questions, most of them centered around the man sitting next to her. “May I ask you some questions while we drive?” Toni felt hesitant to ask Nico, but he seemed open to helping her at this point.

“Sure.” He smiled over at her, reaching across the console to take her hand into his. Toni’s first instinct was to pull her hand free, but she liked the warm comfort of his touch. “Fire away,” he said.

“Well, um—let’s start with some easy ones. How old are you?” she asked.

Nico smiled. “I’m thirty-five.” His expression darkened and she worried. “Do you remember how old you are? I never knew,” he said.

Toni had to think about it for a minute but remembered her last birthday and added a year. “I’m twenty-eight,” she said, feeling a little sad about the fact she missed a birthday.

“We celebrated your birthday on July fourth last year. You said you felt like it would be a great day to have a birthday since there would already be fireworks going off around town,” Nico said.

She laughed, “That sounds like something I’d say. I’m sorry I can’t remember that day; it sounds like it was fun. My birthday is December ninth.”

Nico chuckled. “That’s a far cry from July fourth, baby. Maybe you just always wished to have a summer birthday. Mine is in the middle of February, so I know how bad winter birthdays can be. Especially growing up in Boston.”

“Is that where you’re from—Boston?” she asked.

Nico nodded. “Yes, I moved here when I heard about the erosion problems going on with the island. I won a grant and hired a team to help fix some of the issues. I’ve been here for five years now.” Hearing about Nico’s work and life fascinated her. She knew this all had to be redundant for him since they probably covered many of these topics when they started dating, but he was so new to her.

“I know this has to be hard for you, me not knowing you anymore. I wish I could remember you and this last year of my life,” she whispered. He squeezed her hand in his, reminding her they were still joined.

“Hey, you’ll get there. As for me, I don’t want you to give how I’m feeling a second thought. You just concentrate on trying to remember. I have a pretty thick skin.” Nico smiled over at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes. She saw the sadness he was hiding, and she couldn’t help herself, she reached up to caress his jaw, loving the feel of his beard.

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