“Of course.”
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“I won’t answer if I don’t want to,” I assured her.
She smirked at that. Not bothered, not offended. Impressed, if anything.
“Is Harper your real name?”
I cocked my head.
She shrugged and started picking imaginary lint off her pants. “I don’t want to put you on the spot. I just … when you moved in, you had a black eye. And you moved in suddenly. It all has the markings of someone running. And I’m curious if you went as far as changing your name.”
I shook my head. “No. I left in a hurry, and he’s the type of guy that if he wants to find me, a name change won’t help.” Although based on the note on my car, maybe that had been a wrong move. Maybe Ishouldhave gone through the elaborate steps of changing my identity, but at the time, it had seemed so extreme, ya know? Like, yes, Silas was an abusive asshole, but it hadn’t struck me asgo into the witness protection program leveldangerous. What if I’d been wrong?
I took another sip of wine.
“Well, if you ever do want to change it, one of my friends is extremely wealthy. If anyone could figure out how to make it happen, he would.”
It was silly to wonder if I should take her up on that. Right?
Yes. It was overkill. I could handle Silas, and I certainly wasn’t going to let him drive me away again. I had a friend now. A place of my own. And a job that I was coming to like. A lot.
Feeling Faith’s curious eyes on me, I shook off my inner thoughts and focused on what she’d said. Her friend with lots of money. “Wealthy, huh?”
“He’s a really good guy. Powerful too. With one phone call, he could probably convert your fingerprints and DNA into someone else’s.”
“That’s … both impressive and terrifying.” I shook my head. “But I’m trying to do this on my own.”
Rainbow chose that moment to bark at absolutely nothing. We both stared at her. She stared at the wall like it had personally wronged her, then lost interest and started licking herself.
“So”—Faith settled deeper into my secondhand couch—“do you have any friends? Like, besides me and this gorgeous angel?” She gestured toward Rainbow.
My lips thinned. Guilt clawed at my ribs as I thought back to the few friends I’d had before moving. The ones I’d slowly stopped seeing without even noticing. All in the name of being a couple. Hanging out withhisfriends.Hislife. Looking back, I hadn’t even recognized the control for what it was. And then, one day, I woke up and realizedmylife was gone. The only life I had washislife. His roof over my head. His friends. His everything.
But that was okay. You learn from your mistakes and all that.
“I don’t really have any friends,” I admitted. “Not anymore.”
Faith nodded like she understood.
“Enough about me.” I needed to redirect before this got too heavy. “How are you and Ryker doing?”
Her whole face lit up. “Good! We’re hunting for new places to live.”
“I thought he was fighting the no-pets rule in that lease?” I questioned.
She rolled her eyes. “His neighbors hate pets and banded together. We decided it just wasn’t worth the fight. He doesn’t want me to get side-eyed every time I take her out on a walk.”
Wow. That was beyond thoughtful of him. “He’s really willing to move out of that penthouse?”
“Well, I’m not leaving Rainbow behind. And for reasons I’ll never understand, he didn’t want to move intomyshitty bungalow. So, yeah, we’re house-hunting.”
I laughed.
Rainbow had somehow gotten her leash wrapped around the coffee table leg and was now spinning in circles, trying to free herself, that weird growth on her side flopping with each rotation.
“Speaking of your job,” Faith said casually. Too casually. “Have you met any of the inmates yet? Anyone … notable?”
