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I can receive love.

Five minutes out from Ruth’s house, I added another one.

I can keep her safe.

I parked the car as close to her building as the full lot would allow, and without hesitation, without even turning off my car, I ate the distance with long strides on faded concrete sidewalks. I rounded the outdated apartment building, heading for her front door. I knocked hard and insistently.

Nothing.

Blowing out an irritated breath, I tried again. “Ruth!” Ishouted.

Nothing.

I took out my phone and checked our messages, but mine to her sat unread still. I beat my fist against the metal exterior door. “Ruth!” I shouted again. Someone poked their head out of their door in concern. Ignoring them, but knowing I was crossing the bounds of decency, here, I pounded so hard, the door rattled. “Open the door, Ruth!”

Silence.

“I’m waking the neighbors, dammit, and I do not give a fuck. Open. The door.”

Silence.

I lowered my fist, and my heart sank with it. I stared at the shut door, and as I had at the event center, I rested my palm against the cool surface. I expected it to open any moment. I expected Ruth to answer, pushing her glasses up her nose and explaining whatever logical reasoning she had for squeezing the life out of my heart.

But the door stayed shut.

Chapter twenty-four

Ruth

Ruth

“Sign the contract, Ruth.” My eyes followed the tablet as it slid across the coffee table.

I lifted a glare to Vaughn. “I’m not signing that.”

He straightened away from the table, slipping his hands into his khaki shorts’ pockets. He had on an actual T-shirt today, horizontally striped and in shades of neon green and navy blue, and he stared down at me from under his rectangular glasses dispassionately. “I’m starting to think you want me to get you and Gemma fired. Looking for a reason to cut ties?”

“Fuck you,” I whispered, my voice thick with tears. I sat back against the too-stiff hotel sofa and folded my arms. “Do it, then.”

When Vaughn pulled his right hand out from his pocket, he had his sleek, black phone in his hand. He had never been oneto use protective cases, so the metal exterior glinted brightly in the morning sunlight as he held it up to dial a number.

He’s bluffing, I thought desperately.Don’t fall for this, Ruth. You can still get out of this.

At first, I’d been gripped in despair and paralyzed by fears I couldn’t fully name or recognize when Vaughn had taken me away. Something about the way Vaughn had spoken to me had tangled with my memories and pain, and in a daze, I had followed him. It had felt like the most logical choice at the time.

But then, he had taken my phone from me. He’d taken me to a hotel room, and with detached callousness, had kept me thereall day, Sunday. He’d worked on his laptop, on his project—our project—occasionally trying to engage me in the data, in the research, in the amazing discoveries he had made in Italy.

I had watched TV and wondered what the hell I was doing. At least a dozen times, I had decided to get up and just walk out, but then Vaughn had said something, moved—reminded me that he was watching—and I had hesitated. It was staggering the way a man could turn his physical advantage against a woman into a silent threat.

But another sleepless night on the couch had brought some clarity.

There was no fucking way I was doing this. Our plane didn’t leave until Wednesday. That meant two more days and two more nights with Vaughn.Alone.And thenfive yearsof interminable pain and longing in a country where I would have no one, no resources, no hope of anything but what Vaughn couldoffer me.

Vaughn pressed a button on his phone screen, and then the phone rang. I watched him with wide eyes. He wouldn’t. He just wouldn’t. Tactically, it didn’t make any sense to release his leverage—at some point, he would realize that he couldn’tforcesomeone to work with him.

This is more than that, a small voice at the back of my mind whispered.It’s not just the job. You know this, Ruth. You know him. You know how he prevented you from meeting other people while you were together, even while he denied you the intimacy you craved. He likes the control, he likes the power, and you are weak.I gave myself a mental shake. Ihad beenweak. But I wasn’t now.

“Hello?” Gemma’s voice asked.