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She wanted to be mad at him, but she wasn’t. He’d kept them all alive as kids. It was what he did, and she appreciated it. They all did. Family was forever, even if they pissed each other off.

Bella dropped the phone onto the bed and stared at herself in the mirror. Her little personal quest for freedom was over already? Trapped as always by the violent pasts that held all the Harts in their shadows. Maybe this was her shadow. Maybe one of her brother’s. Maybe Falcon’s?—

Falcon.

He couldn’t be more than a few minutes away.

What if he played bodyguard? Then she could stay, right? He was a complete badass.

Could she handle the temptation of him being around her all the time?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But if she succumbed to him out here in Boston, it was less dangerous than succumbing to him on the ranch.

Besides, she knew he wouldn’t let her soul die.

He simply wouldn’t.

And neither would she.

TEN

Falcon hitthe gas as he drove away from the beach, flexing his hands on the steering wheel.

He felt weird. Good, weird. Bad, weird.

Good because he’d been able to do something heroic by walking away from Bella. He was impressed as hell with himself.

And shitty as hell because he’d walked away from Bella.

He could have pressed her. When she’d told him how she used to fantasize about him, he’d seen in her eyes that the attraction was still there. He was a temptation for her, and it wouldn’t have been that difficult to work his way around her defenses. He could have fought for her.

But when he’d stared into those eyes he’d dreamed of, he’d known he had to be the hero she needed, which meant letting Bella be her own hero.

He let out his breath as he drove.

What the fuck was he going to do now?

The ranch no longer held such an appeal for him, because the ranch had been intertwined with Bella.

So, what now?He had no fucking idea.

The man he’d hunted was dead.

The woman he loved was no longer his to dream of.

The home he’d planned to build was no longer something he wanted in the same way. Live in that house without her? Live in that house alone?

He got to a stoplight and paused. Where was he driving?

No idea.

Literally none.

For the first time in twenty years, he had zero idea of what was next. He didn’t even know which way to turn at the stoplight. He didn’t even know the next step to take.

He could get gas. Fill up the tank to drive wherever.