"I don't have a job description." I checked my phone. Santos reported the alley was clear, and pocketed it. "I just have you."
She went still, her hands frozen on her jacket zipper. "You can't say things like that."
"Why not?"
"Because." She finished zipping her jacket with sharp, agitated movements. "Because it makes it harder."
"Makes what harder?"
"Hating you." The words came out quiet, almost reluctant. "You're supposed to stay in your lane. Keep your distance. Be the brooding bodyguard who doesn't talk or feel or…" She made a frustrated sound. "You're not supposed to make mefeelthings."
I moved toward her slowly, giving her time to back away. She didn't.
"What things?" I asked, stopping just in front of her.
"It doesn't matter." She didn't move away. Just stood there, looking up at me with those dark eyes that had haunted my dreams for a decade. "Nothing good can come from this, Hudson. We tried before, and it didn't work."
"It worked," I said quietly. "It worked better than anything else in my life, before or since.Ibroke it. Not us. Not you. Me."
"And you think you won't break it again?"
"I think I'd rather die than hurt you again."
Betty's breath shuddered out of her. "You can't know that. You can't promise that."
"I'm not promising anything." I reached out, my fingers brushing against her jaw, tilting her face up toward mine. "I'm just telling you the truth. Leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life. I've regretted it every single day since. And if I get another chance. If you give me another chance. I'm not going to waste it."
Her eyes glistened, and I watched her throat move as she swallowed.
"I can't," she whispered. "I can't just forget what you did. I can't just pretend it didn't happen."
"I'm not asking you to forget. I'm not asking you to pretend." I let my thumb trace along her cheekbone, feeling her shiver at the contact. "I'm asking you to let me try. To let me prove that I can be what you need. To give me a chance to earn back what I threw away."
"And if I can't? If I'm too broken, too angry."
"You're not broken." The words came out fierce, almost angry. "You're the strongest person I know. You survived your mother leaving. You survived your father dying. You survived me walking away. You built a business, a life, a future, all on your own. Don't you dare call yourself broken."
A tear slipped down her cheek, and I caught it with my thumb.
"Hudson..." Her voice cracked.
"I know you need time. I know you need to trust me again before anything else can happen. And I'll wait." I forced myself to drop my hand, to step back, to give her space even though every cell in my body was screaming at me to pull her closer. "However long it takes. I'll wait."
She stared at me for a long moment, her expression a war between hope and fear.
"We should go," she said finally, her voice hoarse. "It's late."
"Yeah." I pulled my keys from my pocket. "Let's get you home."
We were halfway to her apartment when I noticed the car.
Dark sedan. Tinted windows. Three cars back, matching my speed and lane changes that couldn't be coincidental.
"Hudson?" Betty must have sensed the shift in my posture. "What's wrong?"
"We have a tail." I kept my voice calm, even though my heart rate had spiked. "Don't turn around. Don't react. Just act normal."
"A tail?" Her voice pitched higher. "You mean someone's following us?"
