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The Backstreet Boys and Mia were at the airport waiting for their flight to board. Mia sat in between AJ and Nick and was reading a magazine. Nick was busy texting a friend on his phone while Howie was sleeping and had his head back and his mouth slightly open. Brian was chatting with Leighanne and Baylee on his phone, while AJ was sipping an espresso from Coffee Bean and listening to his iPod. Their bodyguards sat across from them and were scanning the crowd of people walking by.

Mia looked up from her magazine and noticed a suspicious-looking man staring at them. The bodyguards were completely oblivious to this man. The man, who looked to be Brazilian, had his dark hair in dreadlocks. He wore baggy black pants and a black hoodie that concealed his face.

Mia’s ninja instincts kicked in and activated her communicator and murmured under her breath, “Dreadlocks, ten o’clock.”

Aundrea, who was leaning against the wall at the end of the terminal, followed Mia’s gaze at the man with dreadlocks who sat at the far corner of the gate just across from her.

The man kept his eye on Mia as if he was a predator hunting its prey. He suddenly got up from his seat as he headed toward the terminal away from her.

Did he want me to follow him? Good. Maybe I could kick his ass! Mia thought and slowly got up.

Mia looked around at the Boys. They had enough security with them that Mia was sure she could leave for a minute to follow “Dreadlocks.” Mia stood up from her seat and put her magazine on her seat. Nick looked up at her.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Bathroom,” Mia replied, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

Nick watched Mia walk toward the bathroom sign at the end of the terminal until she was out of sight.

Mia met up with Aundrea when she passed the restrooms.

“Do you see him?” Mia asked, scanning the crowd.

“No sign of ‘Dreadlocks’ anywhere,” her sister replied.

Together they scanned the crowd in front of them searching for Dreadlocks. They passed by an empty corridor in which Mia caught a glimpse of a man slip inside the boiler room. Mia and Aundrea discreetly followed behind him as they slipped through the door of the boiler room. The room was slightly dim and filled with steam which made it a little difficult for Mia and Aundrea to see clearly.

Mia and Aundrea split up to look for Dreadlocks in the steam-filled room. Mia crept slowly along the pipes and machines trying to sense where Dreadlocks could be hiding.

She heard a figure move from behind her and whirled around to attack, but all she saw was steam. She continued moving through the room, when she met up with Aundrea. Together they continued scanning the room for Dreadlocks.

Suddenly a leg swung out from a corner almost hitting Mia, but she quickly blocked it with her forearm. She found herself facing Dreadlocks. Up close she could see a large scar from his eyebrow down to his cheek and ended at his neck.

Aundrea lunged at him from the side but he blocked off her attacks. Mia sent him a whirl of high kicks but he was quick to evade them as well. Mia and Aundrea stood opposite from Dreadlocks as they faced off.

Dreadlocks flipped and rolled to the side away from them as they each came onto him with attacks. He used the fighting style of Capoeira and moved as if he were break-dancing.

He swung his leg against Mia’s legs to trip her. Losing her balance, Mia fell against the cold cement floor. Aundrea swung her leg at him, while Mia remained on the floor. Aundrea threw roundhouses at Dreadlocks as she cornered him against a railing. Dreadlocks kicked Aundrea and she went down on the floor.

Mia quickly flipped herself back up on her feet and flung her legs forward at Dreadlocks and pinned him against the railing with her legs.

Dreadlocks broke away from her and evaded Mia's and Aundrea’s kicks and swipes. He was able to get away from them briefly before looking down behind him below the railing. He glanced at both of them before blowing a kiss and then threw himself over the railing.

Mia and Aundrea quickly exchanged looks and tried to follow him. When they looked over the railing, Dreadlocks was nowhere to be found.

“Dammit, he got away!” Mia growled angrily.

Aundrea looked at her watch and checked the time. It was three minutes until boarding time and she and Mia were gone for almost ten minutes.

“Come on, Mia, you’re almost boarding. You have to get back or they’ll be wondering where you are,” Aundrea called out, tugging at Mia’s arm gently.

Mia glared at the empty space below and then followed Aundrea out of the room.

Mia returned to the gate heated that Dreadlocks escaped. She tried to keep her cool. She reached the section of the gate where the Boys were standing up gathering their belongings getting ready to board the plane. They stood in line waiting to hand the stewardess their boarding passes.

“What took you so long?” Nick asked, handing Mia her suitcase. “I was getting worried.”

Then he noticed she had a small bruise forming on her arm.

“What happened?” he asked in panic. “Where did this bruise come from?”

“Oh…I had a clumsy moment. I hit the paper towel dispenser,” she lied, trying to sound sheepish. “Sorry I’m late. There was a long line in the bathroom so I went to one further down the terminal.” She felt her guilt sting her. She didn’t like lying to Nick, even though she had no choice.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>

They finally arrived in New York and were escorted to their hotel in downtown Manhattan. Each of the Boys was assigned separate rooms with a bodyguard at each door.

In her suite, Mia took out her phone and checked for messages before she plugged it to her charger. She grabbed her suitcase and tucked it in the closet. She quickly changed into her yoga wear and wore her hair up in a ponytail. She wanted to do some Kata to work off steam and the kinks she felt after the fight with Dreadlocks.

Mia made her way down to the gym and was a little relieved to find it empty of people. She took her shoes and socks off and put her towel down next to them. She found a small space and did a few stretches before she started doing Kata. Her movements in the Kata mimicked a tiger.

She kicked, flipped, posed like a tiger as she did her Kata movements, when Nick came in the gym. He leaned against the doorway watching Mia. She had her back facing him as she continued doing her Kata. He kept watching her with awe when his eyes dropped down to the small of Mia’s back that peeked out from under her slightly raised shirt and to the tattoo he had never seen before of a Japanese symbol.

She finally turned around and faced him and let out a small gasp. “Holy shit, Nick you scared me,” she said.

He grinned and walked over to her.

“Sorry, Baby,” he said, kissing her. “What was that you were doing? It looked awesome.”

“Oh it’s called Kata. It’s just a little form kinda like Tai Chi,” she answered.

“What’s this tattoo on your back? I’ve never seen it before,” he asked, giving her a sexy smirk. He turned her slightly with his hands on her waist to point at her tattoo. He traced it with his fingertips as if he was checking for its authenticity.

Mia looked down at her tattoo on the small of her back. “I’ve had it for a while,” she answered. She had the tattoo ever since she joined APO which was over two years ago. She had hoped Nick would never see it.

“What’s it mean?” Nick asked.

“Tiger,” Mia said knowing she was dangerously close to exposing her secret. Ken would have a fit if he knew, and for a minute she was relieved she left her communicator tucked in her luggage.

Nick raised an eyebrow. “I see,” he said mischievously.

Mia caught the look he was giving her and slapped him playfully. “Okay, Mister, are you going to work out or just stand there admiring my ass?”

“I don’t know...it’s hard to choose…”

Mia playfully pushed him and grabbed two pairs of boxing gloves that hung on hooks on the wall.

“Come on, I’ll spar with you,” she said, tossing a pair at Nick. Nick looked at her incredulously.

“Mia, it won’t be fair,” he said with a serious tone.

“What? Not fair for you?” she challenged with a sparkle in her eye. She took a couple gentle jabs at Nick’s gut.

She danced around Nick like a professional boxer. “Come on, show me what you got, Carter. Or are you afraid you’d get beat by a girl?” she teased.

“Oh, it’s on now,” he said putting on the gloves. He pounded his fists together as he got closer to Mia as he raised his fists near his face.

Mia laughed as she knew she had a slight advantage over Nick, considering she was a foot shorter and was easier to evade Nick’s jabs. Of course they were using light jabs and punches.

Nick jabbed her side and she cried out in pain. Nick immediately dropped his guard and rushed over to her.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Baby,” he apologized, trying to examine the damage he had done.

Mia swung her arm and got him on his side for “revenge.”

He stood there stunned for a second and then finally realized that Mia was only joking.

“Oh you are dead now!” he said, as he grabbed Mia with his arms and brought her down with him on the floor. Mia screamed and laughed as he pinned her gently on the floor. She squirmed under him as he lay on top of her.

“That was really mean,” he said, with a puppy pout.

Then with a quick maneuver of her leg, Mia switched their positions so that she was now on top. Nick looked at her in shock. How did she do that? he thought.

“Rule number one: never let your guard down,” Mia said, pinning Nick under her petite body.

“Okay, Rocky,” he said and gently jabbed her chin.

Mia and Nick laughed. For the first time in her life, she was afraid of something and that was…losing Nick.

Nick stared at her for a minute and then leaned up and grabbed the back of her neck. He pulled her into a gentle kiss that quickly turned hungry. They sat on the floor of the gym as they made out.

“I thought the whole point of boxing was to knock your opponent out with your fists not your lips,” called out a voice in the doorway. Nick and Mia immediately pulled apart and looked up at their intruder. AJ and Howie stood in the doorway of the gym staring down at Nick and Mia. 

Nick and Mia looked at each other and laughed before getting up off the floor.