I let out a heavy sigh, not surprised by the fact that Kristoff and Gemma had gone into mama and papa bear mode. After all, Jacqueline was still at large. I had no doubt that Kian would find her, but until he did, there was no way around extra protection for Sienna.
But I couldn’t tell her that, so I settled for a half-truth.
Me: It’s your mom’s job to be overprotective. She and Kristoff love you and want to ensure you’re okay.
Knowing she wouldn’t see the message until she woke up, I dialed Violet. After all, she was in the same time zone.
She answered on the first ring.
“Well, well, you’re up early,” was her greeting. “Is everything okay? Your DILF hasn’t tried to kill you or some shit like that?”
I let out an exasperated breath, stretching across the large bed. “Unless you’re referring to almost dying from an orgasm, no.”
“Too much information, Sophie,” she grumbled. “I can’t decide whether it’s a good or bad thing that you’ve never met Billie. You two would wreak havoc on this earth.”
I stared at the ceiling, chuckling. Violet’s French friend, Billie, and I had never crossed paths, but I felt like I’d known her forever. She often came up in our conversations, just like my cousin and his family.
“How is Greece?” I asked. The silence fell and unease hit like thunder. “Violet?” I called out, straightening up in bed. “Do I need to come and rescue you?”
“No, absolutely not,” she said quickly but confidently. It didn’t escape me that in our last phone conversation she was offering to rescue me. As if we even knew how to rescue people outside a hospital or therapy room.
“Are you sure?”
“Positively yes.”
I eased back against the cushions. “Okay, but you’ll tell me if you need help, right?”
“Again, yes.”
“Remember your promise,” I started. “You won’t be looking to the past to find a way to move on. It’s the future you need to look to.”
“And I’m holding to it,” she said quietly. “But there are some people from my past I can’t move on without.”
I nodded in understanding, although she couldn’t see me.
“Gosh, are we a mess or what?” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “We traveled to the Balkans with so much baggage, I’m surprised we’re not drowning in these crystal blue waters.”
“Metaphorically speaking, you’re not wrong,” she agreed. “But it’s time we face our issues.”
“Kian’s helping me with mine,” I admitted. “It felt good to accept his help and be taken care of.”
“That’s good for a change, considering you were lacking that in your relationship with Jonathan.” She wasn’t wrong. “He was too wrapped up in his ex-wife’s crap to be the right man for you.”
“I know,” I rasped. “I just wish I’d realized that when our paths crossed again. Maybe he wouldn’t be dead.”
“You know how you always tell me I can’t be blamed for my sister’s kidnapping,” she said slowly. “Take that advice and stop blaming yourself for Jonathan’s death.”
“It’s hard not to make those what-if scenarios,” I admitted.
“I know, but neither one of us is helping ourselves by doing it.”
“I’m so grateful to have you as my friend,” I murmured, smiling. “And your patients are incredibly lucky to have you as their therapist because you’re the best.”
“Thank you, Sophie. And ditto.”
Then it hit me. It was Monday, the day I was meeting the head of the local hospital in Vlorë for a job interview. The smile vanished as panic surged. I bolted upright.
“Crap, I have to go. Call me if you need me,” I said, then hung up as I launched myself out of bed, pacing in frantic circles. I crossed the room twice, turned sharply, and came to a halt in the middle of it, blowing out a breath.
