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Gia’slipspartedatCaleb’s words.
Hope.That’s what was causing her heart to take up all the room in her chest. Why she felt her body lifting, as if she was full of helium and would float to the sky if her seatbelt wasn’t holding her in place.
Hope and the giddy feeling of being wanted. Valued. Despite her past.
Caleb wanted her.
Her stomach filled with lead, rooting her back in her seat. Giddiness morphed into nausea.
He didn’t know she’d contacted Vincente. What if instead of protecting Caleb and buying herself time, she’d made things worse?
“Now that you will be my wife, there are some things you need to know about my business, querida.” Vincente’s hot breath in her ear, his arms banding her in a crushing grip.
“No.” A denial. A plea. Even as Antonio’s body splashed into the Atlantic and her scream floated away on the ocean breeze.
She only had a week with the man she was dangerously close to falling in love with before she had to make a terrible choice. Disappear and let down everyone here who needed her, or turn herself in and testify, where she’d eventually be forced to disappear anyway.
If Espina Negra didn’t get to her first.
Because she wouldn’t help Caleb avenge his mother if it meant confronting Vincente directly. No matter how skilled a soldier he’d been—still was—he’d lose.
And he didn’t know the secret she still kept, the one she clung to in order to protect them both.
“I don’t blame you, you know, for wanting to use me to put Vincente in prison after what happened to your mother.” She gave a hard swallow. “I wish I had the courage to do it.”
Car leather creaked as Caleb leaned in.
Gia stiffened. She didn’t deserve this man. She didn’t deserve happiness.
“Stay with me, Gia.” He kissed her. Not a hard, possessive kiss that branded her as his.No, this was a gentle sweep of his lips against hers until the tension seeped from her body. “You’re not running. That takes courage.”
Oh, but she was prepared to run. Or turn herself in and put an even bigger target on her back.
Would Caleb understand the sacrifice she made for him? Or would he think her a coward, while whatever he felt for her withered in disgust?
She cupped his cheek. He was everything she’d always wanted and never had.
Home. Safety. Love.
His dark eyes softened. “I need you to pack.”
Pack?
Her heart stuttered. “Where am I going?”
Was today at the clinic the last time she’d see Jennie? Her patients?
Not yet. I’m not ready.
“I’m waiting on a call from a colleague. He’s finding us somewhere to stay. Somewhere Vincente’s men don’t know about. It’s not safe for us here any longer.” Caleb unlatched his seatbelt and stepped from the car, engine still running.
His hand disappeared into his leather jacket and came out with his gun. “Shift over into the driver’s seat. Lock the doors. If you see anyone but me come out of the house or into the yard, get out of here and call Zach.”
He peered at her through the open door, his bodyguard persona firmly in command. “Do you understand? No hesitating.”
She bit her lip and glanced at the blinds covering her living room window. Was it her imagination, or were they ajar, like someone had separated the slats to peer out? “Maybe you shouldn’t go in there by yourself.”
“I know what to look for. If someone’s been in your home, I’ll know it before I enter.” He waited until she’d switched seats, then circuited her home, returning to inspect the front door before he entered.