Page 78

“If you want to make a legal argument for why you took your son and left, you’ll need to tell someone, Abi. It doesn’t have to be me. We can go to a lawyer. My lawyer, even. He’s good, and I trust him not to notify the authorities until you’re ready.”
“No,” I say through the lump. I swallow it down and clear my throat.
“Why not?”
“Because it wouldn’t do any good.” I sigh. “You don’t know Devin.”
“Yes, I do.”
My eyes narrow, and I stare at him, waiting for him to clarify.
“Lorenzo found out about Devin, and his office sent me the information they have on him… I know he’s a prosecutor, and I get why you think you’re helpless. But, Abi.” Colter takes my hands. “You’renot. Whatever he did to you, it matters. It won’t get swept under the rug. He won’t get away with it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I won’t let it.”
His eyes are so sincere, it makes me want to believe him. As if there’s a world where my word against Devin’s means anything, regardless what Colter says or thinks about it. My word means nothing… but I wish it did.
I puff my cheeks out as a breath whooshes past my lips and I hold my face in my hands, bent over to stare at my shoes.
“Zeke and I should just go,” I say, deciding for myself out loud. “If we leave now, without packing up our stuff, maybe he won’t be expecting it.”
“No.”
“It isn’t your decision, Colter. It’s mine. I have to do what’s best for me and Zeke.”
“Abi, look at me.”
I hang my head for a few moments longer before sitting up and turning toward him. My once tense muscles now feel like jello. I could sleep for days if the world would let me.
Colter’s seafoam green eyes draw my attention and hold me there, as thoroughly as they did when we met. What a lifetime ago that was. Back when the greatest threat to my life was a crime family.
“I can help you. I know you don’t think I can, but I promise you. I fucking swear to you, I will do every single thing in my power to make him pay for the things he did to you. He’s here and he has no idea how vulnerable that makes him. He’s inmycity. Let’s use this to our advantage.”
I shake my head, and Colter’s grip on my hand tightens.
“You can’t run forever, Abi. You know that.”
I shrug and bite my lip. He’s right, and I know it. It can’t go on forever. Devin found me here, in the last place he’d expect. He’ll find us again.
“I’m not ready to give up just yet.”
“This isn’t giving up!” I pull my hands from Colter when his grip becomes bruising. “This is fighting. This is taking back your life. Giving your son a life. A real life. Not one on the road and not one where he thinks he’s going back home. You’re lying to him, and you’re lying to yourself if you leave now, pretending it can go on any longer.”
I sit still, staring at this beautiful man with desperation in his eyes and good intentions in his heart, and it breaks me. He cares for me. He wants me. Truly. Not as a trap, not as a ploy, not for his own personal gain.
Why did I have to meet him when it was too late?
“Colter…”
“What?” he asks, perched on the edge of the couch.
“Do you realize what this would do to your career? You’re ‘dating’,” I use my fingers to make air quotes, “a criminal. If we stay here, you’ll be harboring one.”
Colter shakes his head. “I don’t give a shit.”
“I’m sure your family will feel differently.”
Colter pauses like he hasn’t considered all this just yet, and it’s enough to solidify my doubt. He’s wonderful. He’s broken. He’s someone I wish I would’ve met a long time ago.
But he isn’t my savior.
“It doesn’t matter what they think, either. I’ve worked my way up the ladder without them, and if I fall, I’ll get back up.” He speaks with an even tone, but the sincerity is gone. “Please.” Colter takes my hand again and leans closer to me, his lips mere inches from my own. “Stay. I promise, I will keep you and Zeke safe.”
I take a deep breath and steady myself, holding back tears. “Okay,” I say, wishing I could believe him. Wishing there was some way all of this could work out.
Wishing I didn’t have to lie to him right now.
“We’ll stay.”