“Yeah, I haven’t gone to the grocery store in awhile. I’ve been too nervous…” He trailed off, lost in thought as he stared at the table.

“Too scared to leave?”

He jerked his head in a nod. “Yeah.” A sad laugh left him. “I’m a grown man, and I’m terrified. I can’t step out the door. I’m afraid they’re out there, that they know, they’re watching. And her.” He glanced in Mallory’s direction. “I can’t touch her. I tried to help her when she asked. She didn’t want his touch, but now it’s mine that disgusts her.”

“No, it’s not. It’s his. Trust me. You did help her. You are helping her.”

He lifted stricken eyes to me. “I’ve been an ass**le to you. Why are you being nice to me?”

I shrugged but huddled back in my chair. I understood. “Because you want to help her but don’t know how. I understand. Believe me.”

He shook his head with his eyes closed. “I have no idea what to do, Emma. None whatsoever. She has to go to work. I have to go to work. I called and covered for us, but that’ll give us a week. We have to figure out how to clean this mess up in a few more days.” He looked towards the door again. “I’m so scared to go out there. You have no idea.”

“I do. I really do.”

Then he sighed. The momentary truce ended as he pushed up from the chair. “I’m going to clean up. That’s all I’ve been doing. I just clean. Clean the dishes, clean the table, clean the floors. I have to do something.” A bitter laugh escaped him. “I gotta clean myself. I’ll be in the shower if you—if she needs me.”

He was scared to step outside that door, but that was all I wanted to do. “I’m going out on the patio for some fresh air.” Maybe a new idea would come to me, but as he ignored me and left, I didn’t think it would come to me.

As I sat on his small patio, curled on one of his loungers, I couldn’t shake the idea that maybe I should go on the run. Mallory didn’t kill him. I did. He’d been hurting her. He hadn’t been hurting me. She could offer me for her safety, and I would be long gone.

My stomach rolled over and over. I felt nauseous, but I hugged myself harder. My arms pressed tighter to my stomach. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to stop the unsettled feeling inside of me. It wasn’t going to go away. I had tried with Carter. He left me so that gave me one other alternative. I would go away. Mallory would be safe.

With my new decision made, I was in no hurry to leave. I stayed in that chair for a long time. The night air was cold and I knew my body was shivering, but I didn’t feel it. I couldn’t. All I could focus was on the next step. Where would I go? How would I go? I needed money. I knew that much, but I didn’t have enough set aside. My job was better than all of theirs, but it still wasn’t enough. The little in my savings wouldn’t be enough. Ben and Mallory both worked at a fancy clubhouse. They didn’t make enough to help me at all. Amanda was a teacher. She might’ve had a little bit, but I knew she worked in the café during the summer to make ends meet.

I was on my own.

I sat outside for a long time. Ben came to the patio door and peered through it. When he saw me, he came out and gave me a blanket, but I didn’t leave the chair. I didn’t want to move, not yet, but I took the added warmth he offered. I wrapped the blanket around me, and he went back inside. The lights turned off and I was left in the dark again.

“I told you to stay put.”

I gasped and jumped in my seat.

Carter appeared around the patio’s corner. A fierce scowl was on his face and his eyes glittered in the moonlight. He was furious as he sat across from me. He was dressed all in black, black pants and a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head. It shadowed his eyes. It made him look even more dangerous.

My throat went dry. As he had turned to pull out the chair, I saw a bulge from his back. Was that a gun? Of course, it was. This was Carter Reed. He killed. That’s what he did.

“What are you doing here?” My heart picked up. If he was there, did that mean…?

“I came to get you.” He leaned forward. “I told you to stay put. I came back and found you gone. I don’t like that, Emma, not one bit.”

I glanced towards the patio door. What if Ben came out? I didn’t want him to know about Carter.

He sighed from irritation. “Are you worried about your boyfriend?”

“Ben?” I was stunned. He thought, but no—Carter was here. He was sitting across from me. I couldn’t wrap my mind around that. “How did you get here?”

Determination gleamed from his eyes, but there was more. A darker intent was in there, one that made my heart beat even faster.

“You came to me for help, then you left. What did you want, Emma?”

“What did I want? I wanted you to help me.”

“Why’d you think I left?” he remarked. “So I could help you.”

Oh.

I fell back in my chair. Of course he had left to help me. I was an idiot. “But when I woke up, you weren’t there. I…” How long was I supposed to have waited? My heart skipped a beat. What if he set me up? I was in the perfect place, left alone until he led Franco Dunvan to the front door.

“You what?” he snapped. “Let’s go. You’re coming with me.”

“No!” I shoved back my chair and surged to my feet. I couldn’t leave. Mallory—Ben—Mallory. “I can’t leave, Carter. I have people depending on me.”

He was around the table in a flash. His hands grasped my elbows, and he pulled me against him. He was tense. His body was hard, but I couldn’t stop the soft intake of breath as I touched all of him and the same yearning from before started inside of me. I wanted to press back against him, get even closer, but I shook my head. I needed to clear those thoughts.

He bent down to me. “You think he’s going to help you? You came to me, Emma. Not him.” His breath caressed against my skin.

I closed my eyes. I was already softening against him.

His hands tightened and pulled me closer to him. Every inch of him was pressed against me. I felt him between my legs. He whispered as his lips were pressed against my neck now, “You killed Dunvan. It’s your hands that are dirtied. Your boyfriend won’t save you. Come with me. I’ll protect you. I can keep you safe.”