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I popped the trunk on the car to make sure that everything that I’d stored was still there. Emergency cash, false IDs, some clothes that couldn’t fit in my first bag, and a box filled with gold bracelets.

Something made me keep them, even though every time I saw the box it filled me with dread. Maybe it was confirmation that I wasn’t crazy, and that it was all really happening. Maybe it was some strange sentimentality—the only things I had left from all of those lives that I’d created.

I asked myself why every time I had to leave, and I never found a better answer. Now, I didn’t have time to dwell on why. Tossing the newest bracelet into the box and the bag into the trunk, I slammed it shut.

It took me only seconds after that to complete the familiar routine. Down onto the ground to check underneath the car. Grab the spare key from its magnetic hiding place. Get in and start the engine.

I didn’t bother to close the gate behind me.

There had been times when I’d planned more ahead than this. I’d picked a new location and had everything laid out from the beginning. But I had let hope get the best of me this time. I’d thought that maybe I’d done it. Escaped. That I could have a life.

Stupid.

I would consult a map when I got clear of the area. Contact Melanie and let her know that I’d had to move on. I let the car pick up speed, and the iron fists squeezing my lungs loosened. I was out. He hadn’t gotten me this time. I was still safe. For the moment.

Dust billowed behind the car in my wake, and I didn’t look back.

Chapter 2

Lucas

The stallion reared, lashing out, and I dove to the side to avoid a hoof to the head. That wasn’t the way I wanted to spend my afternoon.

The sound of him galloping across the paddock made me sigh. Damn it.

I’d thought we were making progress.

Pulling myself up off the ground, I brushed the dirt off my jeans. In the two years we’d been doing this, I’d never had so much trouble with a horse. He wasn’t acclimating well to people at all, and he’d been here for weeks.

Not that I blamed him. He’d been rescued from a place that wasn’t good to its animals. A place I tended to avoid thinking about because of the anger that came with it. The result was a horse that was too skittish for his own damn good and who was thoroughly convinced that all humans were out to get him.

Which made this process... less than easy.

But I’d seen worse than him come back. I could see the potential in him. When he was alone in the stables, unaware that anyone was watching, the sweetness underneath was obvious. He would make a good companion animal. If I could get through his fear.

And besides, I knew what it was like to be always looking over your shoulder and expecting the next hit. I would make this work.

If there was one thing I’d learned about myself over the years, it was that I was damn stubborn. I didn’t give up on things. Even, arguably, things that I should give up on. But in situations like this one, it served me well.

This horse needed to settle. We needed him. I hadn’t met the client yet, but Rayne had told me that the requirement was a steady animal that would be around long-term. He was the only horse we had on site that wasn’t already scheduled to be shipped elsewhere.

I had to get it right.

Leaning against the fence, I watched him across the paddock. He tossed his head like he didn’t have a care in the world, but he was watching me. I pretended not to notice him at all.

“Come on,” I muttered under my breath. “You know I’m not going to hurt you.”

He pranced against the far fence, teasing in his defiance. If I could harness that attitude and bring out his gentle side, he’d be the perfect therapy animal.

“Still trying to get him to calm down?” Liam’s voice came from behind me.

I sighed. “Always.”

“When are you finally going to get control of him?” He was teasing me too, poking at the sore spot. Everyone on the ranch knew about my trouble with this horse. And the longer it took to break him in, the longer it would take for me to live it down.

“I’ll get it,” I said. “Just gonna take some time. Something will click.”

“Have you given him a name yet?”