Love. Set. Match.

  The crowd exploded with cheers. It was rare to have the two best American women playing each other, but that had been a grueling match. Rob jumped to his feet, arms raised in the air. Em was going to the US Open finals. She was now only a handful of sets shy of the win she’d been chasing all season—for her whole career.

  Em’s celebration was more contained but no less enthusiastic. She and Maren met at the net, exchanging a warm hug, both laughing and crying. No egos involved there. They both would have been supportive whatever the outcome. After thanking the judge, they both waved to the crowd, arms around each other, laughter on their faces.

  Something across the court caught his eye. It was suit guy. He was scrambling over the low wall around the court, his hand reaching into his pocket for something.

  Acting on instinct, Rob vaulted the wall on his side, scrambling to get to Em. His brain vaguely registered the security guys converging around them, but he got to Em first, putting himself between her and suit guy.

  “Rob? What—?” She struggled against him, but froze just as a sharp, stinging pain flashed up his side.

  The world began to fade around him. Shouts and scuffling came from behind him, but all Rob could focus on was Em. Her beautiful brown eyes wide with fear, the victorious smile replaced with a look of horror and pain.

  Oh God.

  Had Suit Guy gotten her? Was he too late?

  Chapter 20

  Em couldn’t process the pandemonium around her. One minute, she and Maren had been celebrating. She loved that her friend didn’t hesitate to share in her joy, even though it meant Maren’s chance at a Grand Slam title for the year was over. Then the next minute, Rob was rushing at her, pulling her against him and into his arms. Before she’d had a chance to process what was happening, a strange guy had shoved something into Rob’s side mere seconds before the burly security guys converged around him, slamming him to the ground.

  Rob’s big body went weak against her, his knees buckling. Blood blossomed along the side of his light-blue shirt.

  “Oh God. Rob. You’re—”

  “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” he asked, his voice panicked.

  She shook her head, easing him down into a nearby chair. “No. No, he didn’t get me. Rob, you’re hurt.”

  “What? No. I need to—I can’t let him hurt you.” His skin turned the sickly gray-green of a tennis ball left too long in the wind and rain.

  “They’ve got him, babe. It’s okay. You’re the one that’s hurt. We need a medic here,” she called out. “He’s hurt.”

  The walls of dark-suited security guys around them parted for the on-site medics to swarm around them. They tried to push her aside, but Rob refused to let go of her hand. “No. Can’t lose you.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she assured him. She moved to stand behind him, keeping a hand on his shoulder. “Let them look at you.”

  “Don’t go away,” he insisted as the medics pulled up his shirt, examining his side.

  “Knife wound to the lower abdomen. May have nicked an artery,” the dark-skinned female EMT reported. She pressed a button on the radio stationed at her shoulder. “We need the ambulance to AA stadium. Male, early thirties, stab wound with significant blood loss.”

  Maren appeared beside Em. “Is he okay? What happened?”

  “I don’t know. That guy—” Em struggled to breathe through the tears burning her throat. “That guy stabbed him or something. I don’t know.”

  “Sir, what’s your name?” the medic asked, her voice calm as she and her partner pressed more and more gauze to Rob’s side.

  Rob’s grip on Em’s hand tightened, his fingers shaking. “R-Rob A-Ashton.”

  “Okay, Mr. Ashton. It looks like you’ve got a pretty nasty stab wound here. We’re going to take you to the hospital to get you checked out.” She glanced up at Em and Maren. “Are you family?”

  “I’m his sister and she’s…she’s his girlfriend,” Maren said, her voice choked. Em opened her mouth to protest, but Maren shook her head, stopping Em from speaking.

  “Okay, one of you can ride with him to the hospital. The ambulance team is on their way in.” As she spoke, the crowd parted for a gurney being pushed across the court.

  Em turned to Maren. “You should go with him. I’ll—I’ll meet you there.”

  “No.” Rob shook his head, struggling to get up. “Can’t leave you here. What if—?”

  “Whoa. Stay down,” Maren said. “You should go with him, Emmy. He needs to stay calm, and he’s not going to stay calm if he’s worrying about you.”

  The paramedics in their dark-blue uniforms started maneuvering Rob onto the gurney, but he refused to let go of Em’s hand.

  “Okay. Will you—will you let everyone know where I’ve gone?”

  Maren nodded. “You just worry about Rob. I’ll worry about everyone else.”

  The whole ride to the hospital was a blur. The paramedic hooked Rob up to all sorts of machines as they trundled through the streets, sirens wailing. Em sat by his head, running her fingers through his hair and along his cheeks. The beard felt foreign and scratchy, but it was still her Rob. Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest.

  “So pretty. My Em. So pretty and so strong,” Rob murmured. “So proud of you.”

  “I know.” She pressed a kiss to his temple. “I love you. I should have said it earlier, but I love you.”

  His eyes fluttered closed. She sent the paramedic a panicked look, but he gave her a tight smile. “He’s all right. Just unconscious. He’s lost a good amount of blood. He’ll be in and out until we get him some platelets and blood.”

  She fought back tears but nodded. Her mind went to the worst. Her mother had died from catastrophic blood loss after an accident. She knew Rob’s injury couldn’t possibly be as bad as that, but fear still clawed at her.

  She should be celebrating right now and doing interviews. Instead, she was scared to death that the man she’d stupidly broken up with was going to die before she had a chance to make it right with him.

  By the time they got to the hospital, she was almost in a blind panic. She followed the paramedics into the Mount Sinai emergency room, but thanks to Rob’s slack grip, she fell behind. They wheeled him into a cubicle not far off the entrance, pulling the curtains closed.

  She stood there, unsure what to do. She desperately wanted to push her way in and stay by Rob’s side, but she couldn’t do that. She had to let the doctors work on him. Reflexively, she reached to dig her phone out of her pocket before realizing she didn’t have anything with her. No phone, no purse, nothing.

  “Um, do you have a phone I could borrow?” she asked the nurse at the main desk. “My—my boyfriend was just brought in, and I left without any of my things.”

  “Sure, hon. Dial nine to get an outside line.” The older woman gave her a motherly smile. Em stared at the phone for a few minutes, trying to remember a phone number to call, but her mind was completely blank, worry and fear drowning everything else out.

  Before she could dial, the doors behind her opened.

  “Emmy!”

  She turned to see Maren and Owen, both out of breath, her purse hanging off Maren’s shoulder. Setting down the phone, she rushed over to them, throwing her arms around them both. Tears fell freely down her cheeks.

  “Any news? What’d the doctor say?” Owen asked, pulling back.

  “They haven’t said anything.” Em brushed at her cheeks. “They disappeared behind the curtain, and they haven’t said anything.”

  Maren sniffled. “Okay. I’ll see what I can find out. Mom and Dad are on their way. They missed the last half of the match for some fundraising event. Hopefully they’ll make it through the crowd outside. I think every reporter within fifty miles is already outside.”

  Owen pulled Em off to the overcrowded waiting room and forced her to sit down. She started to shiver, although she wasn’t sure if it was from shock or from the icy blast of the air conditioner trying to combat th
e heat.

  “It’ll be okay, Emmy.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, comforting her as he used to when they were little. “Rob’s come through worse.”

  She shuddered. “Worse than this? Why did he do that, O? Why did he step in between me and that knife? It should be me in there, not him.”

  “Because the man is stupid in love with you. And if he could talk right now, he’d tell you that he would much rather be the one in there than the one out here. He’s been worried sick about you the last few weeks. Poor guy’s called or texted me every night to make sure your guards are around and that you’re still okay.”

  Em’s heart fluttered, and fresh tears flooded her eyes. She’d been so wrapped up in her own head, in her own drive to make it to where she was. But Rob hadn’t let it stop him from worrying about her. She didn’t deserve him.

  Maren came over a few minutes later, her face drawn but calm. “They took him up to surgery. He should be out in an hour or so.”

  “But he’s going to be okay?” Em asked, brushing at her cheeks.

  “The doctor said he’s lucky. The knife or shiv or whatever it was missed most of the major organs, and it only nicked one of his arteries. Once they do the repairs, he’ll be fine.”

  Em’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank God. I don’t know what I’d do—”

  “Don’t go there,” Maren said, pulling her into a hug. “We didn’t lose him. He’s going to be fine and you’re both going to pull your heads out of your asses and fix whatever went wrong between you.”

  Em nodded, her heart ready to burst. Together, the three of them followed a nurse’s instructions to the surgical waiting room, and she sat between Owen and Maren as they waited for news.

  She was only vaguely aware of the Ashtons showing up. She must have said something to them because Rob’s mother gave her a hug and his father’s expression was only mildly hostile. At some point, Zoe showed up, trying to urge her to return to the tennis center and engage in the usual post-match rituals, but she couldn’t leave. She wanted to be here when Rob woke up. She wanted to be here to tell him she was stupid in love with him too. Tennis, the press, the police, none of that mattered. Rob was the only person she wanted to talk to right now.

  ****

  Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

  The steady rhythm of the beeping pulled Rob out of a really good dream. He wanted to open his eyes, but he was pretty sure a whole bus full of his students were weighing them down. It took a few minutes, but he finally pried them open.

  His mother’s sleeping form greeted him as soon as his vision cleared, her willowy frame curled up in an ugly green chair. Rob slowly took in his surroundings. Machines and cords surrounded him, but he at least wore his own pajamas. His sister sat in another chair at the foot of his bed, and his father stood staring out the window.

  “Dad?” His rusty voice hurt his ears.

  Bobby turned to face him, eyes widening. “Robby? ’Bout time you woke up. Brigit. Wake up. Look who’s decided to join us.”

  Brigit stirred, blinking in surprise. “Oh, Älskling. It’s so good to see your beautiful eyes.”

  “What happened?” He tried to remember how he’d gotten here. The last thing he remembered was Em winning the semifinal match and— “Did they get Suit Guy? Is Em okay?”

  “She’s fine,” Maren said. “She refused to leave your side until Zoe came and dragged her away late last night.”

  “What about the stalker? Did they get him?” Rob gratefully accepted the water his father held out to him as Maren ducked out to grab the doctor.

  Bobby’s jaw tightened. “Yeah, they got him. Bastard had stashed a shiv in a bathroom a few weeks ago before security tightened. He got you but missed anything vital.”

  “Who was he? Why was he after Em?” Rob struggled to sit up more, but a twinge in his side stopped him.

  “He’s an unbalanced man,” Brigit said. “He fancied himself Kole’s best friend, and he took offense to Emerson’s rejection of his idol. The psychologists the police brought in think he had some sort of psychotic break and fixated on her until he had his chance to attack.”

  Rob’s blood chilled, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t due to the IV fluid. What would have happened if he hadn’t taken the hit for Em? Would the guy have done serious damage? Would he have killed her? The very idea of it broke his heart.

  “How long have I been out?”

  “You’ve been in and out for the last thirty-six hours, Mr. Ashton.” The doctor’s booming voice hurt Rob’s head a little. His family stepped out as the efficient doctor and his equally efficient nurses buzzed around Rob, checking his incision and vitals and a lot of other things that Rob didn’t understand.

  By the time they left, Rob could have sworn he’d played at least three straight sets. His family trickled back in, each carrying a cup of coffee and some sort of pastry.

  “What? None for me?” Rob asked, eying Maren’s chocolate croissant.

  She shook her head. “Doctor said you had to take it easy for the first few days, which means boring, bland foods.”

  “How’s that supposed to make me feel better?” he grouched, crossing his arms.

  “Hey, you’re just lucky Mama convinced them to let you wear your own pjs.” She took an exaggerated bite of the pastry, reverting back to the five-year-old who used to taunt him with ice cream when he was stuck practicing.

  Brigit shook her head. “Oh, Robby. You had us so worried.”

  “Everyone’s calling you a hero,” Bobby put in. “But I can’t believe you did something like that, son. What were you thinking?”

  Rob opened his mouth to respond, but a knock on the door stopped him. Maren opened it, and Em entered, a Tupperware bowl in hand. Rob’s heart jumped into his throat, and he worried for a minute that they’d be able to tell on the monitor. Thankfully, it remained even. Seeing her did more to ease his concerns than anything else. Jesus, she was beautiful. Her hair was pulled up in a dark tail, and she wore a warm-up jacket over her bright-yellow tennis dress. Most people wouldn’t notice, but he could feel the nerves vibrating off her. So many things rushed to his mind, but he couldn’t say a single one of them in front of his parents, especially not with his dad obviously spoiling for a fight.

  “Oh. You’re awake.” Em froze in the doorway. “It’s—you look a lot better than the last time I saw you.”

  He chuckled, wincing.

  “Couldn’t keep pulling the Sleeping Beauty act for your match,” Maren said, pulling Em into a hug.

  Her match. Shit. Had he been asleep that long? He glanced at the paper on the table by his bed and saw the date. It was the date of the women’s final match. Em still had five or six hours before she had to be on the court, but match day involved a lot of prep work and warm ups that were vital to getting ready.

  “I know. I wanted to stop in before I headed to the tennis center. Gran made some gnocchi in the kitchen in my suite. She thought Rob might prefer it to the hospital food. She made it for Papa Vic a lot when he was sick,” Em explained.

  “Your grandma is officially my new favorite person,” Rob said. “I was not looking forward to hospital food.”

  Brigit came over to wrap an arm around Em. It was so strange to see his mom and Em together, but he liked it.

  “It’s so good of you to come back, Emerson. I know this is a busy day for you, but I’m sure it’s good for Rob to see for himself that you’re all right.”

  Rob nodded. “You have no idea.”

  “Hopefully it’ll be easier to convince the boy that it’s all right for him to take it easy until they give us the go ahead to take him home,” Bobby said. “The sooner we can all get back to our normal lives the better.”

  The sooner he’s away from you.

  Bobby didn’t say the words, but they hung there, heavy with meaning. Rob wanted to throw something at his father, to tell the old blowhard to shut his mouth. His father was trying to get rid of Em, even though the rest of them wanted her to s
tay.

  Em’s face fell a little, but she recovered quickly. “Well, I’m glad to see that Rob’s doing better. You had us…” She hesitated, swallowing hard. “You had us worried for a minute there. Anyway, I should go. Lots to do.” Em handed the bowl to his mother and gave Maren another hug.

  Brigit stopped her, pulling her into a hug of her own. “We’re all rooting for you. Play well, sweetheart. Hopefully we’ll see you later.”

  Em lingered for a minute, their gazes locked, and Rob silently begged her to stay.

  He had so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to hear her say. If he could, he’d kick his family as far out of there as he could, but there was no way he’d get his parents out of here in time to talk to Em. Besides, she needed to focus. It was bad enough that she’d be worrying about him—he could tell just by the look she gave him as she left that she’d barely gotten any sleep last night.

  She left before Maren could stop her, and Rob’s heart sank.

  Damn it. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be at the stadium to watch Em play. Over the last eight months, he’d imagined watching her win her first Grand Slam title a thousand times. Being with her in that moment would be a priceless memory. He still remembered every Grand Slam he’d won vividly, but they’d always felt a little empty without someone by his side. Having his family had been all well and good, but usually it was just Maren and his mom there with him. He’d desperately wanted a partner to share the moment with, and he didn’t want Em to feel the same.

  But would she even want him there now? There was so much unsettled between them. Maybe she’d shown up at the hospital out of guilt or obligation. That would be like her—to do the right thing, even out of a sense of obligation.

  “Damn it, Dad. Why couldn’t you have kept your mouth shut?” Rob growled. If his father hadn’t been such a jackass, maybe he could have gotten a better read on her, figured out why she was really there.