Relief hit first, then fear rushed right back in. “Then why do you look like that?”
I didn’t want to answer, so I swung my legs over the side of the bed and started pulling on my jeans.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Packing. I need to get you and Lucas out of town for a while.”
Her heart started racing again. I could hear it in her voice as she grabbed hold of my arm. “Where are we going?”
“Broken Bend.” It was the only place I knew I’d be able to protect them. “You’ll be safe there.”
“Are you sure?” Her voice cracked.
I cupped her cheeks with my hands. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, Marisol. If they want to try, they’ll have to go through me first.”
I’d fucked up and let my cock get in the way of doing my job. I’d let down my guard and danger had found us. No matter how I felt about Marisol, she was an asset. Mine to protect, not to fuck. I might’ve lost my discipline, but I hadn’t lost my edge, and anyone who came for her was about to find that out the hard way.
CHAPTER 6
MARISOL
Somewhere past thelast stretch of strip malls and chain restaurants, the road widened and the sky opened up. Towns thinned out until there was nothing left but fence lines and open fields and long stretches of asphalt cutting across sunbaked earth.
Lucas slept in the back seat, curled against the door with his hoodie pulled up over his head. His duffel bag rested against his legs, and he clutched his phone like he was afraid to let go of it, even in sleep.
Caleb drove like a man who knew every mile of highway. He had one hand on the wheel, the other resting against the console, his jaw set, gaze fixed forward. He hadn’t said much since we left Valor Springs, and I didn’t blame him. The last twenty-four hours still felt unreal, like we had slipped sideways into someone else’s life and didn’t know how to find our way back.
He looked different out here. Not like the man who watched my porch from across the street or fixed Lucas’s bike in our driveway. This version of Caleb belonged to the road, to the land, and to whatever waited for us at the end of it.
“Is Broken Bend where you’re from?” I asked.
He nodded. “Born and raised.”
The idea that the place we were headed had shaped him, that it had built the man sitting beside me, steady and unmovable in the driver’s seat, settled deep in my chest.
Lucas shifted in his sleep and mumbled something to quiet make out.
Caleb checked the rearview mirror. “He’s out cold.”
“He needs the sleep.” I folded my hands in my lap and tried to relax. My body was wired and tired, exhausted, but still full of adrenaline. My skin still remembered the feel of Caleb’s hands, and my heart was trying to play catch up with everything that had happened.
The ranch came into view just after sunrise. A long drive lined with fencing opened onto rolling pasture. Cattle grazed near a creek that cut through the land. Horses moved along the ridge. A handful of trucks parked near the main house. The place felt alive in the way working land always did… purposeful, efficient, and focused. Just like Caleb.
He slowed the truck as we crested a hill. “That’s Mama Mae’s place.”
The main house sat in the center, surrounded by barns, outbuildings, and more movement than I could track at once. Men crossed the yard. Dogs ran between them. A few horses lingered near the fence. It didn’t feel like a hideout. It felt like a summer camp.
We hadn’t even come to a full stop when the front door opened. A short, sturdy, older woman with gray hair pulled back into a bun stepped out onto the porch with her hands on her hips and her eyes locked on the truck. She came down the steps, walking straight toward us like she’d been expecting us for hours.
Caleb climbed out first.
She wrapped him in a hug so tight that I didn’t know how he could breathe. “Boy, you look like hell.”
He smiled into her shoulder. “Good to see you too.”
She let her arms drop and turned her attention to me. Her gaze was sharp but warm, assessing and measuring at the same time. She reached for my hands and held them like she already knew I needed it. “You look worn thin, sugar.”
My throat closed. I nodded because if I tried to say something, I was afraid I’d break down before we even got inside.
