"He's there every day?" Julian's voice was calm, but I heard the suppressed fury underneath.
"Julian—"
"Get in." He opened the passenger door, his tone brooking no argument.
I bit my lip and slid inside. Julian walked around to the driver's seat, started the engine, but didn't pull away. He watched the rearview mirror, his mouth curving into a dangerous smile.
"He's following."
"What?" I instinctively turned to look back. Sure enough, the black Mercedes had started up, keeping pace at a careful distance behind us.
"Don't worry." Julian reached over and took my hand, his thumb stroking across my knuckles. "I'll protect you."
I wanted to pull away, but heheld tight.
"Julian, you really don't have to—"
Julian cut me off. He turned his head and quickly kissed my cheek.
I froze, startled. Julian had confessed his feelings before, but he'd never crossed the line this blatantly.
"Julian?"
"Let him see." Julian's lips brushed my ear. "Let him know you don't belong to him anymore."
My body went rigid. This intimacy made me deeply uncomfortable, but I didn't know how to refuse.
I wasn't ready for a new relationship, but Julian was hard to say no to.
"Let's go home," he said, his voice gentle but laced with unmistakable possession.
Back at the house, when the nanny handed little Aiden into my arms, I couldn't help kissing his cheek.
He was all I cared about now. Nothing else mattered.
But to earn money, I had to leave him to go to work. The guilt ate at me constantly.
Julian glanced toward the door, then turned back, stroking Aiden's head.
"I want to take you and the baby to another city." Straight to the point.
I set Aiden in his crib, unsure how to respond.
Deep down, I knew this day would come. My identity was exposed, and the owner of that Maybach that followed me daily—Aiden's biological father—clearly had no intention of letting me go.
"Nothing keeping you here, right?" Julian sat across from me, his expression serious. "If you want to get away from him completely, this is the only way. I have business contacts in Dallas who can help us settle in. The kid can start at a new school, and you can find a new job. Start fresh."
Start fresh.
Those words sat on my chest like a boulder.
"I..." I opened my mouth, but didn't know what to say.
Leaving meant leaving the nursing home. Leaving Mrs. Brown,Mrs. Wilson, and all those lonely old people who treated me like family. Their own families had already abandoned them once. I couldn't do it to them again.
"What are you hesitating about?" Julian frowned.
"The residents..." I looked down. "Christmas is coming. I promised I'd spend it with them. For some of them, this might be their last Christmas."
