"So yes. You leave." I stand, unable to sit still anymore. Unable to keep the hurt from bleeding into anger. "You stay justlong enough to ease your conscience, then walk away again. Just like before."
"Rachel—"
"I need you to understand something, Colton." I cross to stand in front of him, forcing him to look up at me. "I could have loved you and still protected myself. But you never gave me that choice. You made it for me when you walked away."
His expression fractures. Careful control slips, and for just a moment I see the man underneath the operator—vulnerable and hurting and wanting things he thinks he can't have.
"I know." His voice drops. "I know I took that from you. But I'm here now, and I'm not asking for anything except the chance to keep you and Lucas alive."
"That's the problem." I wrap my arms around myself, trying to hold the pieces together. "You think you can just show up and play bodyguard like we're strangers? Like there's no history between us? That's not how this works."
"Then tell me how it works." He stands, closing the distance between us until we're barely a foot apart. "Tell me what you need, because I don't know anymore. I don't know how to be around you without wanting things I have no right to want."
Standing this close to him makes my skin prickle with awareness—the same magnetic pull that used to drag me into his orbit despite every warning sign screaming at me to run.
"I need you to stop making decisions for me," I say, stepping back to put space between us. "I need you to be honest about what's happening and what you're planning. And I need you to understand that I'm not some civilian asset you're protecting. I'm Lucas's mother, and I get a say in how we handle this."
"You do have a say."
"Do I? Because from where I'm standing, you showed up with a plan already in place. New identities. Relocation. My entire lifeuprooted because your team decided it's the best option." I cross my arms. "Maybe it is. But you didn't ask. You told."
His jaw tightens, but he nods slowly. "You're right. I should have presented options instead of a plan."
"And going forward?"
"Going forward, we make decisions together." He meets my eyes. "About the relocation. About the timeline. About what happens next."
"Good." I hold his gaze. "Because I've spent years rebuilding my life after people took my choices away. I won't let that happen again. Not even from you."
His jaw tightens, but he nods. "All right."
His phone buzzes in his pocket. He pulls it out, and tension floods back into his shoulders.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Camera picked up a vehicle." His voice shifts into command mode. Professional. Controlled. "Dark sedan, no plates visible, moving slowly down the street. Third pass in the last hour."
My pulse spikes. "Is it them?"
"Don't know yet." He moves to the window, careful to stay back from the glass. "Could be nothing. Could be surveillance."
"What do we do?"
"You go to Lucas's room. Wake him quietly. Get him dressed and ready to move if I give the signal." He doesn't look away from the window. "Don't turn on any lights. Don't let him know anything's wrong. Just get him ready."
My body moves before my mind catches up. Fight or flight kicking in, adrenaline flooding my system. This is what the cartel taught me. What Mateo's compound drilled into my bones. How to function when terror wants to freeze you in place.
"Colton—"
"Go." His hand finds mine in the dark, squeezes once. "I'll watch. If it's nothing, we stand down. If it's something, we move fast."
His palm is warm against mine. Calloused from years of holding weapons instead of holding people. The brief touch grounds me, reminds me that I'm not alone in this.
I pull away and head back down the hallway to Lucas's room, moving quickly but quietly. Every instinct screams to run, to grab Lucas and disappear into the night. But Colton knows what he's doing. Knows how to read threats and calculate odds.
I have to trust him with this, even if I can't trust him with my heart.
Lucas's room is still peaceful when I slip inside. Still safe. Still untouched by the danger circling outside like a predator testing the perimeter.
