“Why?” She crossed her arms as they drove into the quiet garage.
Heath pressed the button again, and the garage door closed, leaving the world silent. The windshield wipers finished removing the rest of the ice and snow. “Just because he didn’t try for you this time doesn’t mean you’re safe.” Heath couldn’t guarantee her safety over the long haul, unlike during the last day. So she had to get to safety, whether she liked it or not. “We go.”
“I’m bait, damn it.”
Oh shit. She really didn’t get it. “You weren’t really bait, darlin’.” Did she truly believe he’d let her just wait around for a serial killer to take her?
“What?” her voice trembled. “Sure I was.” “No. You were covered at all times, Anya. We let you be seen just so he’d get frustrated and maybe make a mistake. But the FBI dropped the ball.” He didn’t want her to think he’d ever let her put herself in danger like that. “I’m sorry, but I’d never let you take such a risk.”
She drew back. “It isn’t your decision.”
“I believe it is,” he said evenly.
Her chin went up. “Oh yeah? Then it’s time you leveled with me. Why else are we getting out of town so quickly?” Her lower lip pouted.
He frowned. She liked to push, and her tone was almost a dare. But it was time to give her the truth. She deserved it. “Ryker, Denver, and I were raised in a boys home where the owner liked to beat the shit out of us. You saw the scars.”
Her eyes glowed in sympathy. “Yeah. That’s terrible.”
“Well, the owner’s brother was the sheriff, Sheriff Cobb, and he liked to get in on the action, too. Had a nightstick he really loved.” Heath kept his voice level, but his ribs ached in memory of that damn stick.
“Oh, Heath.” She released her seat belt and scooted toward him. “I’m so sorry.”
“We lived,” he said grimly. “Then one day the owner killed a kid right in front of Denver. Tried to make me and Ryker say that Denver had done it, we said no, and he rushed us. Both of us swung bats we had, and his head exploded like a melon.” Nausea wound down to his gut. No matter how long he lived, he would never forget that sound. Sometimes he heard it in his nightmares.
“Oh.” She leaned into him and flattened her hand over his chest. “I’m so sorry. But I’m glad you survived.”
“Yeah.” He breathed out, allowing her touch to seep inside him and warm where he’d always thought he’d be cold. “Me too. Well, we set the place on fire and got out. The sheriff has been chasing us ever since.”
She patted right above his heart as if she couldn’t hold still. “You said the law isn’t after you.”
“No.” He swallowed. “He wants revenge, not justice. And there’s more.”
She blinked. “Really. Wow. Okay.”
Somehow he knew, right then and there, that she’d accept all of him. So he gave himself to her. “You’ve noticed my reflexes and super-hearing?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Ryker and Denver seem to have those skills, too.”
It figured she would’ve already noticed their oddities. “Yep. The three of us ending up in the home together wasn’t a coincidence. We were created in test tubes, separated at birth, and then put back together in the boys home to be studied. We’re not genetic brothers, but we actually do have some in Montana. We are brothers, though. All of this was engineered by a doctor named Isobel Madison, who has also been hunting us since we got free. She and Cobb are together now, like they were then, and they’re never gonna stop coming for us.” There. He’d told her everything. His chest felt lighter.
Anya was silent for a moment, her eyes wide. “That’s a lot to escape, Heath. I’m so glad you did.” Her mouth opened and closed. Her eyes blinked several times. “That’s just so . . . much.”
“I know.” He put his hand over hers. There wasn’t time to ease her into the truth or let her absorb it. They had to go, and now. “They’re rebuilding their labs, and they have extremely well trained soldiers working for them. We’re in danger and will be so long as Madison and Cobb are alive.” Would she still care for him if he decided to kill in cold blood? He wasn’t sure he’d like himself any longer, but he was struggling to find another way out of this life. There wasn’t one. Cobb had to die.
“Why are you telling me all of this finally?” she whispered, her hand so perfect right where it was.
“I love you.” He dug deep for the right words. “I mean, I love you. This is new, and it’s everything, and all I want is to hold you tight. Keep you close, protect you. See you grow and get old. I mean . . . all of it. I’ve never felt that kind of love. I mean—”
The outside door opened, and Ryker’s truck roared into the garage with Denver behind the wheel.
Heath coughed. “How about we have the talk once we’re back on the road? We really do have to get out of here.” Then maybe he could find the right words. She deserved the right words, and he’d give them to her.
She squeezed his hands. Tears filled her eyes, and she looked away. “All right. We could both use a reprieve from emotion for a moment, I think.” Then she paused, not looking at him. “I love you, too.”
God. The words hit him harder than a blast of C-4. He swallowed several times over the rock in his throat. “I—”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “We have to go. Let’s talk later.”
