Nico

Nico woke up to Toni's naked body pressed up against his own. She was strewn across his chest, and he loved how she freely invaded his personal space. He hated giving her the news about Zac's disappearance and his possible connection to her father's death. After she reassured him that she wanted him as her future, he couldn't keep his hands off her. He made love to her, pressing her up against the wall while she wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him take her body over and over again. They fell asleep tangled up together and he woke to realize they had slept straight through dinner.

His stomach protested loudly, and he knew Toni would be just as hungry when she woke up. Nico decided to head around the corner to his favorite deli to get them some subs for dinner and hoped he would be back before she even stirred, but when he got back to the room, he found Toni fully dressed and packing both of their suitcases.

"What are you doing, honey?" He tried to sound more amused than annoyed, but not finding her naked in bed was a bit of a disappointment.

"I thought about what you said and well, I've had a dream that we need to go back home," she said. Toni didn't miss a beat, not stopping in her packing efforts to chat.

"A dream, what kind of dream?" he asked. He thought he might as well play along, but there was no fucking way he was going to walk her right back into a dangerous situation. Toni wasn't going to like that little bit of information, so he would just have to wait until the right moment to tell her.

"I dreamed we went back to the island, and I took over my father's business." She paused. He wanted to tell her that was a bad idea. What if they were playing right into Zac's hands? "I think it was some sort of sign, you know, like the restaurant we stopped at, when we first got here—True North?" Nico nodded, letting her get everything out before he flat-out told her no.

"Well," she went on, "I think we should go home now. Strike while the iron is hot, so to speak. What if Zac never returns and my father's company is left to fall to pieces? I personally have too much invested in that business to just let it lay in ruins. I need to get in there, now, while Zac is playing opossum and take back what's mine." Nico wanted to protest, but he could see the determination in Toni's eyes, and he knew from experience when she gave him that look, there would be no stopping her.

"Honey, I just don't think it's safe to go back home yet," he all but whispered. "No one knows where Zac is and without that knowledge, we're just sitting ducks. He's a wild card right now and I won't put you in danger." He knew he had to at least try to warn her. He wouldn't stop her from doing what she wanted. She was as headstrong as they came and Nico couldn't prevent her from returning to the island, even if he wanted to.

"Please, Nico." Toni put down the jacket she was holding and crossed the room. "I need to do this now. I just have a gut instinct that this is what I'm supposed to do. Please don't try to stop me," she pleaded.

He couldn't help himself; he wrapped his arms around Toni, wanting to cocoon her and protect her forever. Nico wished there was a way to explain to her just how important she was to him, but he wouldn't use his feelings to stop Toni from doing what she thought was the right thing.

"I just want to keep you safe, but I won't stop you from going back to the island and doing what you think you need to do," he murmured. "I just need a promise from you that you won't leave my sight. Where you go, I go. Got it?" She pulled back from Nico and looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

"You can't be serious, Nico. You can't go from being an award-winning environmental scientist to my personal babysitter," she gasped. Nico banded his arms around her tighter and palmed her sexy, curvy ass.

"Watching you is no hardship, honey. Besides, Heather has everything under control on the project and I'll be there to help when I can. Until this whole thing with Zac is resolved, I want you in my sight twenty-four hours a day," he growled.

"Seven days a week?" she teased. Nico swatted her ass and loved the way she yelped in surprise but then leaned into his body, seeming to need more.

"We don't have time for that now, baby. If you're dead set to get home, then I've got arrangements to make, and you have to finish packing. We'll leave as soon as you're ready and drive all night. I like the idea of getting home as the sun comes up," he said. Nico hated taking Toni back into the lion's den, but he was also looking forward to seeing his friends and getting back into some of his research. Toni kissed his cheek and turned to finish packing. He knew that sooner or later, they were going to have to stop running from reality, he just wished they had a better fix on Zac's whereabouts so he could keep a close eye on him. Toni's gut might be telling her they needed to go home, but his gut was shouting that they were walking right into Zac's trap, and he hated the idea of giving that scumbag the upper hand.

It had been a week since they were back on the Isle of Palms and Nico was starting to feel antsy. He was constantly looking over his shoulder, worrying that Zac would somehow get his hands on Toni. He was barely sleeping, and he was afraid that sooner or later, he'd let his guard down and slip up, giving Zac his window of opportunity.

In just one week, his girl had swooped in and charmed the entire board into electing her acting CEO in Zac's absence. He always knew she had it in her but watching Toni in action was something quite breathtaking. She was poised and confident to the point of looking every bit the head of a major corporation, and Nico was so fucking proud of her.

Toni had assured him she was going to do things differently than her father did. James had often cut corners and ignored the impacts he was having on the island's ecosystem. He loved that Toni was so conscious about her company's involvement in saving their island. Nico just hoped their working relationship didn't interfere with their relationship. He liked the balance they had found, but he wasn't holding his breath that it would always be this easy.

"Hey, boss." Heather smiled and strode into his office. It was early morning and he found he could get a good deal of work done while everyone was still sleeping. He figured he could at least use his lack of sleep for something good.

"Hi Heather," he whispered, not wanting to wake Toni. She usually worked late into the night; they were on totally opposite schedules right now. "You're here early," he said.

"Well, I have something we need to work on before I head out to do the research for the report that's due tomorrow." Nico looked her up and down, noting Heather looked a little paler than usual.

"You all right? You don't look so good," he questioned.

"Geeze, thanks, boss," she mumbled, finding a seat.

"Seriously, Heather, you shouldn't be at work. You need to be at home in bed." Nico stood and crossed to where his assistant sat slumped over in her chair and felt her forehead.

"Am I hot?" she questioned, looking up at him with a sassy smirk on her face. Heather was like the little sister Nico never had and never knew he wanted, but he wouldn't trade her for the world. He loved that she kept him on his toes and was just as good a scientist as he was, although he'd never admit that to her.

"Fuck," he swore. "You're burning up, Heather."

"Shit, I can't take off today. I have to go out and finish gathering the soil samples and today looks like it will be the only day I can take the boat out. The weather is supposed to shift and we're going to have some wicked storms." Heather groaned and leaned over her desk. Nico knew there was no way she was going to be able to handle collecting samples as well as driving the boat. He would have to figure something out after he got Heather home.

"Hey, I'm ready to head into the office, babe." Toni turned the corner and walked into his tiny office. She took one look at Heather and gasped. "You look absolutely awful, Heather," she exclaimed. "What did you do to her?" She shot Nico an accusatory look and he couldn't help his laugh.

"I didn't do anything to her, honey. She came in like this and she's got a fever," Nico growled. "She needs to be at home where she can keep her fucking germs to herself." He shivered at the thought of getting sick now. How would he keep up with Toni to make sure she was safe if he was in bed with a fever?

"I have a meeting in about thirty minutes, and I can't be late—you know, boss and all." Nico smiled at the way Toni pointed to herself when she called herself the boss. He was so damn proud of the way she was handling everything. His woman had been thrown more curve balls than most, yet each time she would pick herself up, dust herself off, and find a new way forward.

The thought of just letting her go into the office unattended worried him, but there was no way around it. "I'll have Jace come and run Heather home." Heather hit her head on her desk and moaned and Nico felt bad that he was going to have to involve Jace. His friend really seemed to get under Heather's skin lately.

"Sorry, Heather," Toni comforted.

"You will drive directly to the office and go right in. Park in the front and call ahead to security to let them know to expect you. I won't take any chances with you, honey," he barked. Toni smiled and nodded, giving him a mock salute. He pulled her in for a quick kiss, making Heather moan again.

"I'll text you just as soon as I'm safe and sound in my office," she offered. Nico nodded and pulled out his cell to call Jace. He was going to have to get out on the sound and get his samples before the weather turned. The new forecasts were calling for things to get ugly a little earlier than first predicted. He didn't want to be out on the water in a small craft during any type of island storm. They were all unpredictable and dangerous.

"As soon as Jace picks up Heather, I'll head out to collect the soil samples and come back here to finish up the report. I'll probably be able to meet you for dinner later if that works?" Nico worried they were making a mistake, breaking the team apart, but he knew that sooner or later, life would catch up with them and they would have to make some hard decisions. Still, even though there hadn't been sight or sound of Zac for over a week now, he didn't want to let his guard down. Zac was smart enough to anticipate him getting comfortable and that would leave his defenses down for disaster.

"Sorry, boss," Heather moaned.

"It's not your fault," Nico said, trying to make her feel better. He watched as Toni grabbed her keys and bag, heading out the back door. He had a knot in the pit of his stomach and everything in him was screaming not to let her go. The rational side of him knew he was overreacting, but he couldn't help it. Watching Toni leave felt wrong.