He grinned.
"There she is."
Parker still worked me over, but it wasn't from lack of trying on my part.
I was in it every step of the way, venting my frustration with good, healthy exercise.
The few victories I managed to earn spurred my determination to fight for my rocky relationship, too.
I was willing to put in the time and effort to be there for Gideon, to be a better and stronger person so we could get through our issues.
And I was going to tell him that, whether he wanted to hear it or not.
When my hour was over, I cleaned up and waved good-bye to my classmates and then shoved at the push bar of the exit door and stepped out into the still-warm evening air.
Clancy had already brought the car around to the door and was leaning against the fender in a pose that only a moron would think was casual.
Despite the heat, he wore a jacket, which concealed his sidearm.
"Things moving along?" He straightened to open the door for me.
As long as I'd known him, he'd kept his dark blond hair in a military crew cut.
It added to the impression of his being a very somber man.
"Working on it."
Sliding into the backseat, I told Clancy to drop me off at Gideon's.
I had my own key and I was prepared to use it.
On the drive over, I wondered if Gideon had gone to see Dr.
Petersen for his appointment or if he'd blown it off.
He'd agreed to individual therapy only because of me.
If I wasn't part of the equation anymore, he might not see any reason to make the effort.
I entered the understated and elegant lobby of Gideon's apartment building and checked in with the front desk.
It wasn't until I was alone in his private elevator that the nerves really hit me.
He'd placed me on his approved list weeks before, a gesture that meant so much more to him and me than it would to others because Gideon's home was his sanctuary, a place he allowed few visitors to see.
I was the only lover he'd ever entertained there and the only person, aside from his household staff, who had a key.
Yesterday I wouldn't have doubted my welcome, but now .
I exited into a small foyer decorated with checkerboard marble tiles and an antique console bearing a massive arrangement of white calla lilies.
Before I unlocked his front door, I took a deep breath, steeling myself for however I might find him.
The one previous time he'd attacked me in his sleep, it had shattered him.
I couldn't help but fear what the second time had done to him.
I was terrified that his parasomnia might be the wedge that drove us apart.