He pulled into the driveway. No more parking around the corner. No more pretending he had any discretion when it came to Grace Hart.
Luke cut the engine and sat for a second, staring at the house.
White siding that needed paint. A porch railing that sagged slightly on one side. Flower boxes waiting for spring.
A home.
Her home.
So much more alive than his own.
Luke climbed the front steps and tested the door.
Locked. Good.
He moved around the side of the house, checking windows, looking for signs of forced entry, anything that might tell him who'd been here last night and what they'd wanted.
Luke crouched near the back door, studying the faint scoring near the lock.
His jaw clenched.
He straightened and scanned the backyard. Small. Neat. A little patio with two chairs and a table from a yard sale.
She liked to sit out here on summer evenings. Book in hand. Bare feet. That little crease between her eyebrows when she was concentrating.
He'd hustled her inside when he came to see her.
Had never sat with her in her backyard.
Luke pressed his palms against his eyes.
He'd been so fucking stupid.
And now someone was threatening her. Someone who knew where she lived, who knew when she was alone, who'd gotten close enough to touch her.
Luke's hands curled into fists.
That was done.
He was going to find whoever was doing this. Eliminate the threat. Make sure Grace never had to be afraid in her own home again.
But after?—
After, he was going to make his case.
He wanted to drive her to school every morning. He wanted to walk her home every afternoon. To sit across from her at his kitchen table and drink coffee and be present in all the small, ordinary ways he'd refused before.
He was going to earn back what he'd thrown away.
And if she still didn't want him—if the damage was too deep, if he'd burned it all down past repair?—
Luke straightened and pulled out his phone.
He took photos of the scratches near the lock. The sight lines from the street. The places where someone could have stood and watched without being seen.
Whoever this was—whoever thought they could scare her, threaten her, make her feel unsafe?—
They'd made a mistake.
