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This chase is my new fix. And, this time, I have no interest in kicking my addiction.

I look at her like all I want to do is take her pain away. “There’s clothing in your size here.”

“I noticed,” she says, in a voice that leaves room for the implication.

We both see it clearly.

I bought this place for us. Stocked it for her.

She knows I never got over her. She just doesn’t know what it really means.

“The clothing is my style too,” she says, and taps her T-shirt. “So who is this for? I’ve never seen you in a top without buttons.”

My lips curl into a smile. Even though she’s going to kill me, I feel completely at ease in our banter. Or maybe it’s because she’s here to kill me. Because I finally get to see the parts of her she keeps hidden. “That’s what makes it a disguise.”

“I’d like to see it on you. Then off you. But that isn’t an offer to fuck you. Just FYI.” She brushes her hair behind her ear and shoots me a sassy smile. “In case you thought I’d give in the second I saw your perfect body.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, as I undo the top button of my shirt.

“Well… there’s only one way to find out, Mattie.” There’s a smile in her voice.

That warms me everywhere.

“Are you sure we’re safe here? Someone is probably looking already.” She nods to the satellite phone, as if to suggest we should expect a warning any minute.

The paper trail to this place is messy, but a good forensic accountant could find it.

“We should have until tomorrow. How long until you check in?” I ask.

She moves close enough to wrap her fingers around my wrist and check my watch. “Thirty-six hours, give or take.”

“Can we do it safely here?”

Her eyes go to the satellite phone. “I can call Raven with that. I trust her. But she knows I’m not one to ask for extra help. There’s no reason to do it early.”

I nod of course, “we can leave in the morning. If something happens before then, we’ve got high ground here. Easy view of the sea. We’re ten minutes from town. And I have weapons.”

Her laugh is dry. “We go out in a blaze of glory together. Romantic.”

“We kill whoever is after us together,” I say. “Even more romantic.”

She shakes her head. “No, it’s more romantic if we die. If we live, we have to deal with the fact we’re on opposite sides. That’s why no one ends up together in a ‘great love story.’ Possibility is perfection. Reality isn’t.”

“You’re losing me, diavolessa,” I say, even though I’m following.

How can we ever square our love and our diametrical opposition?

She kills people.

I protect them.

She’s a bad guy.

I put them in jail.

She’s here to kill me.

And I’m not going down without a fight.