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As we finish washing up, he hums to himself, the melody soft and slow.

We get out of the shower together, and he wraps a fluffy towel around me. We head to bed, nestling down in the sheets once we’re dry.

It feels odd to be next to him in bed like this after all this time, but there’s another part of it that feels right.

Like I should’ve been with him the entire time.

Just as I’m curling into his side, his phone starts ringing. Royce groans and rolls over, grabbing his phone and heading into the washroom.

I sit up in bed, clutching the sheets to my chest. This feels a lot like the night he left.

Of course, we hadn’t been in bed that night, but he had gotten a call from Matt and the next thing I knew, we were fighting about my family and the lie I had told him for a year.

Royce comes back into the room, grabbing clothes from the closet and hauling them on. “Matt is going to stay with you, but I have to run into town and meet someone.”

“Do you have to go tonight?”

He nods. “Yeah, it’s about someone who needs to be handled and I have to be the one to do it. We can go into town together this weekend, though. I know you’re tired of being trapped here.”

Without another word, he heads for the door, shutting it behind him.

I roll over, leaning over the edge of the bed and grabbing the baby monitor from where it fell earlier tonight. Bianca is still sleeping soundly in her bed, hair everywhere and arms raised high above her head.

I hope he doesn’t hurt you like he hurt me.

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

ROYCE

I grind my teeth together,considering telling the old women bitching in the parking lot to shut the hell up. Nobody cares about their husbands and the erectile dysfunction that seems to run rampant in this town.

Trying to pay attention to all the people outside the grocery store is more than a little difficult when all I can think of is saggy dicks and little blue pills.

If I could go back in time and stop myself from saying I would take Bianca and Gia shopping, I would.

Though it might be nice to play happy family for a while, I haven’t relaxed since we left the house.

Nobody has called to tell me that Noah’s men were close, but then again, they were able to get on my property a few nights ago without triggering the security system.

Gia smiles and bounces Bianca on her hip as they walk through the door of Devil’s Hole Grocery. The scent of crisp autumn leaves and artificial apples blasts through the little diffuser just inside the door.

She looks over her shoulder at me. “Do you mind grabbing a cart? She’s going to want to walk around, which means that if you see the crazy lady sprinting down the aisle after a baby, just leave us alone.”

The corner of my mouth twitches as I pull out a cart. “We could just stick her in the cart.”

“And listen to her cry? I don’t think so.” Gia sets Bianca on the ground and sure enough, she takes off running.

Gia winks at me over her shoulder before chasing after the baby, leaving me with the cart and the list. Bianca’s laughter and her babbling rise above the other noise of the grocery store as they run around the aisles.

A woman looks between them and me as they run by. “That’s a beautiful family you have there.”

As I open my mouth to answer her, Noah steps out of the aisle Gia just ran out of. My jaw clenches, heart dropping to the floor.

How is he here right now?

Did he see them?

“Thanks.” I nod to her, turning quickly and heading in the opposite direction.