A/N: Hello, yes, I'm still here! Hope you are too :) You keep reading, I keep writing… Thanks for sticking with me so far, I saw a few new follows and faves so thanks for that too. And, as always, thanks for the reviews. Now I will move out of the way and let you enjoy this newest addition!

Chapter eleven

Dani stayed with Lindsay at the hospital for a few hours. Then Xeno drove her straight to the airport, where Ray Jay was due to arrive at seven. Though JFK was crowded as usual, Dani had no trouble picking her son out of the crowd. And despite all her worries a huge smile came on her face when she caught sight of him walking towards her. He looked way more mature then the boy who'd left for Paris on a whim only a little over a year ago, though his tailored suit was slightly rumpled from the long flight. When Ray Jay saw her, he answered her smile with a broad grin of his own and picked up his pace. Dani couldn't just stand there waiting for him any longer, so she ran towards him with a squeal of joy, meeting him halfway. And then she was hugging her son. It felt so good that in that moment, not even Xeno's watchful presence could take away from her happiness. "I have missed you so much!" she declared when she finally let go of him and took a closer look at his tired face. He must have not gotten a lot of sleep on the plane.

"It's great to see you too, mom… How's Lindsay?" Ray Jay backed up a little, an awkward smile on his face now.

"Well, the doctor seems to think she'll be ready to go home in a couple of days, so that's good news, right? Ray Jay?" He was staring at something behind her, but when she wanted to look over her shoulder, he stopped her.

"Uh, mom, don't look, but there's a scary dude standing behind you. He's been staring at us the whole time… Mom! I said don't look!"

"Oh, no, that's okay, honey. It's just Xeno. He's our ride." Dani gave her son a reassuring smile before turning around to Xeno. "Hey, Xeno! Say hi to my son Ray Jay!"

"Hi." Xeno lifted his hand in greeting.

"He's like the strong, silent type," Dani said in a stage whisper while Ray Jay waved at Xeno a little hesitantly.

"Okay… So you have a chauffeur now?" Oh, shoot… How to explain to her son that Xeno was more like a bodyguard, without telling him the whole story?

"Um, well, yeah… kind of. Come on, let's go home now. Where's the rest of your luggage?" Ray Jay seemed to want to ask more questions but then thought better of it when he looked at Xeno again. He pointed to the small suitcase standing by his feet.

"That's all I've got… You know I'm only here for a few days, right mom?"

"Yeah, I'm just ignoring that for now, sweetie. You know, 'cause you only just got here." She just had to hug him again then, slightly disappointed when he ended the hug within seconds.

They had dinner together in the kitchen, and it could have felt like old times if Lindsay had been there. Ray Jay had wanted to go see his sister right away when they'd left the airport, but Dani had managed to talk him out of that, explaining to him that Lindsay was still in a lot of pain and also slept a lot. They had agreed to go visit her first thing in the morning. Now they were sitting in the family room talking about his life in Paris, when Ray Jay interrupted himself with a huge yawn.

"Oh honey, when was the last time you had any sleep?"

"Uh, I don't know, but it feels like two days ago… Sorry, mom…" Another yawn.

"Well, maybe you should just go to bed then. We can talk more tomorrow, okay?" Ray Jay seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then he nodded.

"Yeah, I think I will turn in now… If you haven't turned my room into a fitness room, that is." They both smiled at the running joke between them. Then he stood up and stretched. "Goodnight mom."

"Goodnight, honey." Dani watched him walk from the room and couldn't help sighing a little wistfully. It was wonderful to have him home again, but she sensed that there was still some distance between them, probably left over from the day he'd left. Since then, they had talked things out over the phone but Dani knew it would take more than that to bridge the gap between them completely. If only he could stay home for more than a few days… Still thinking about that, Dani got up and went upstairs to take a bath.

After her bath, Dani was getting ready for bed when she heard someone knock on her front door. Quickly she slipped on her robe and went downstairs again, hoping it would be Nico. She hadn't heard from him since he'd left that afternoon, and he'd been decidedly distant then. But if he was here now, maybe she had worried about him pushing her away again for nothing. Dani looked through the window and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw that it was indeed Nico. She opened the door. "Hey you," she smiled. Then she saw there was someone with him. "Oh. Um, hello," she said to the big blond man standing beside Nico.

"Doctor Santino, this is Bill. He'll be taking over for Xeno tonight." Although she understood that Nico couldn't really hug and kiss her in front of an employee, Dani did feel a bit disappointed that he sounded all business. He could have at least called her Dani, right?

"Oh… Okay. Nice to meet you, Bill." The bodyguard nodded at her. "Um, would you mind if I talked to your boss in private for a moment?"

"No, ma'am. I'll just go do the rounds." He had a soft, pleasant voice that really didn't fit a man of his size, and a charming Southern accent.

"Okay, thanks, Bill." Dani smiled at him, making sure her expression was warm and friendly. Then she let her face turn neutral again as she looked at Nico. "Mr. Careles, would you please come in for a minute?" She smiled inwardly as he raised his eyebrow at her formal tone.

"Of course… Doctor."

Dani led him into the kitchen without saying anything else, then quickly turned around and surprised him by putting her arms around his neck, pulling him into her and pressing her mouth to his. She felt him freeze for a fraction of a second, but then his arms came up around her and she felt his lips part on a sigh, his tongue sliding out to meet hers. She let out an appreciative moan and he paused for less than a heartbeat before taking control of the kiss, pulling her body against his and tangling one hand in her hair while the other roamed down her back to her butt. Dani lost herself in kissing him, her hands doing a little roaming of their own.
Suddenly, Nico broke the kiss and held her away from him. "What happened to taking things slow?" he asked hoarsely.

"Slow's overrated," she whispered, trying to close the distance between them again. But he took a step back, dropping his hands and breaking eye contact.

"This is not why I came here," Dani heard him mutter to himself. Then he looked at her again. "I need to talk to you. About Abby and Troy," he clarified.

"Okay… back to business it is then." But now Dani felt it was her turn to clarify, so she held up a hand to prevent him from saying anything yet. "For now, that is."

"Fair enough. I need you to give me Abby's phone number."

"Why?"

"Because I need to call her."

"Yeah, I got that. Again, why?"

"I want to know when exactly the deal between her and Cutler is taking place."

"Wait, what? I thought we were gonna stop that deal. And, you know, save Jenny in the process?"

"I can't just yet."

"Why not?"

"Because Bennett won't let me."

"You mean agent Bennett? The prick with the breathmints?" She frowned when he nodded. "So… you went to the FBI?"

"Yes. Turns out a Yuri Chernikov got Troy Cutler out on bail. And Chernikov is a big fish."

"Okay, but… What does that have to do with anything?"

"Chernikov has been on the FBI radar for years, now they want to move in on him. And they're waiting for Cutler to lead them to his doorstep. I go after Cutler, he can't lead them anywhere."

"But then… What about Jenny? They gonna do anything about that? And how did he even manage to kidnap her with the FBI watching him?" Dani frowned. Troy also wouldn't have been able to hit Lindsay with his car if the FBI was following him around, right?

"He must have hired someone to do it for him. Bennett promised he'd put a team on trying to find Jenny, but they don't want to ruin their operation, so they're keeping it low profile for now."

"What does that even mean?"

"They're gonna put every cop in the state on the lookout for girls matching her description. But that's pretty much it." Nico sounded as frustrated as Dani felt.

"So now what?"

"So now I need to talk to Abby. Bennett asked me to find out when the deal between SBG and Chernikov is taking place, since he can hardly contact Abby himself. After that, I'm going to hunt down whoever Cutler hired to do the… dirty work for him." He made it sound easy, like he hunted people down on a daily basis or something.

"The one who hurt Lindsay." Dani felt anger bubbling up inside again. "God, I really want to get my hands on him…"

"So do I… And I will find him, Dani. You have my word."

"I know. I'll get you Abby's number." Dani walked into the family room, where she'd left her phone, and texted Abby's number to him while walking back to the kitchen. "There. We done talking business now?"

"I think so…"

"Good…"

"But I can't stay."

"Nico…"

"I know. We need to talk. But… I can't, okay?" Nico released a heavy sigh. "I need you to be patient with me, Dani. Can you do that?"

"I guess. But…" Dani let her voice trail off for a moment, trying to get her thoughts straight. "Don't you think you'll feel better when we get it out of the way? I know I will…" Nico shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this right now. Goodnight, Dani." He walked out of the kitchen, Dani following him. As he opened the front door, she stopped him.

"Nico, wait… Please." He paused and looked at her, and she walked up to him. "Tell me what you need," she whispered, deliberately using the same words he'd used the night before, trying to tell him that she wanted to be there for him now like he'd been there for her then. She saw in his expression that he understood and for a few seconds he even looked like he wanted to give in. But then his eyes turned wary again and she knew he'd leave.

"I just told you – patience." His voice sounded weary. He looked at her pleadingly, and Dani said the only thing she could say, keeping her own voice warm and compassionate.

"Okay. But remember, I'm here for you." Then she went up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek before he could stop her. "Goodnight, Nico."

To leave Dani standing there was one of the hardest things Nico had ever done. But he knew he had to. He was tired after his short night and his long day, and he couldn't trust himself around her in this state of mind. Because he wanted to tell her. Everything. And he feared that if he did, she'd turn away from him like everybody else he ever told had done. Like his own family had done. Of course, there was a slight chance that she wouldn't turn away from him. If fear of losing her had been the only reason he didn't dare tell her, he might have risked it anyway.
But that wasn't the only reason. Because it would hurt her too if she ever found out the truth about him. Dani had been hurt by men before. She didn't trust easily, as Nico knew from personal experience. He simply refused to be the one who destroyed her ability to trust altogether. And telling her that he wasn't the man she thought he was, well, that would probably do it.
He'd been stupid to believe that all they had to do was get past the whole Alex situation. Or that he could get away with hiding part of himself from her forever. He'd known almost from the beginning that Doctor Dani Santino was capable of seeing right through his bullshit mystery man act, and that she was too stubborn to stop asking him to open up to her. So he'd walk away from her after he'd made sure that Cutler no longer posed a threat to her. And this time, he would stay away, no matter what. He'd survived without her before, he could do it again. And she would eventually get over him, too.
Nico sighed. Now all he had to do was figure out a way to make her see that she was better off without him.

Dani watched Nico's car drive off and then quietly closed the door. Turning around, she gasped when she saw Ray Jay standing on the stairs giving her a wide-eyed look. How long had he been standing there? "Ray Jay… I thought you were sleeping."

"I was. I woke up because I heard voices." He came down the stairs, his face pale.

"I… I'm sorry we woke you."

"Mom. Why didn't you tell me Lindsay's accident wasn't an accident?" Uh-oh, that long, huh?

A/N: Too short? Probably. But it was a bit of struggle to get this one out, so please be nice…