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Oh thank god!

“Do you have a plan?”

“No, but we have to get my brother first and then we both have to disappear.”

She rubbed her lips together. “It’s a tall order.”

“I know, but I have to try.”

Her eyes bore into mine as a slick smile took over her lips. “It’s a shame, Mara. You probably would have made a good president. You never struck me as a schemer, but then again, I probably should have assumed it was in your blood, given your parents.”

I glared at her, trying my best not to react to her jab. “Are you done?”

“Oh baby, I’m just getting started.”

50: Point (Heart) Break

Securing Calista’s help was one obstacle off my path, but I still had one more thing to do. The following day, we climbed the wall, ran laps, did crunches, burpees, pull-ups, sit-ups—all the crazy things we needed to do. But being only three days out from the mission, the drill sergeant started giving us our evenings back with the promise that on our last day, we would have PTO to decompress before game time.

The whole time we were so busy that Wes and I hardly spoke except for when we were training. He would steal a kiss from me here or there, but I didn’t have the heart to kiss him back. And he sensed it. He sensed my reservation, causing him to raise his brow. And I wanted to, but I knew it would only leave him more confused when the time came for me to break his heart.

I needed Matias. We were given the evening off, and I reluctantly asked Calista to keep Wes busy so I could find Matias. After searching in a few places, I found my target.

“Matias, I need your help.”

He was in the weight room, laying down on a bench press, lifting a bar with several metal disks weighing down either end. He looked at me, pushed up one more time, his face reddening as he groaned, and then slowly brought it back down with a huff, before resting it on racks poised on both sides of him.

Panting, he slowly sat up. “Sure. What about?” I looked around, noticing all the listening ears, before I turned back to face him and arched my brows. He got the hint. “Let’s go for a walk.” He grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off his face, got up, and ticked his head for me to follow him out of the weight room.

We found a secluded part of the base. And after confirming no one was around, I began. “I need your help.”

He faced me. “All right. What’s going on? What do you need?”

I swallowed hard, knowing that what I was about to say next was going to lead to a lot of confusion and a hell of a lot of questions. “I need to ask you a favor, but I can’t tell you why, and you can’t tell anyone.”

Matias crossed his arms then, brows knitting together in concern. “Well, this doesn’t sound good.” If only he knew. If only he knew just hownot goodthe situation really was. And my expression must have given him a clue, because he dipped his face closer to mine and placed a gentle hand on my arm. “Mara? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I-I can’t marry Wes.” My chest tightened, my stomach dropping into an endless pit.

“What? But I thought…” His voice trailed off. “What happened?” he asked again.

“I can’t tell you. But I can’t go through with it, and I need your help to tell him.”

“Hold on a second.” He shifted his weight. “I don’t understand.”

“Listen, just…hear me out.” I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, and then it all came tumbling out. “I can’t marry him.It’s a long story, but I just can’t do it. But he’s never going to just accept me telling him it’s over. He’s going to need an explanation that I just can’t give him.” It was a rush of words, one running into the other. “I need to lie to him, and I need him to believe that lie, and the only thing I can think of telling him is that I’m in love with you.”

“Whoa! Hold up a minute,” Matias said, waving his hands, telling me to slow down. “You want to tell himwhat?” His cute, boyish face grew serious as he drew closer to me, searching the depths of my eyes. “What’s going on, Mara? Something happened, so what is it?”

“I…” If I told Matias the truth, I risked Charles finding out. And that would place Wes in danger, and I just couldn’t risk that. But how would I convince Matias to do this for me without letting him know at least a little of what was happening?

“Mara?” Matias cupped my face in his hands, gently coaxing me to look at him. “What are you running from? What happened?”

“Nothing. I-I just can’t,” I started muttering, but Matias wasn’t having it.

He brought his face so close to mine, our noses almost touching as his soulful eyes dug into the depths of me. “I know you. I know when you’re running—when you’re hiding from something. Let me help you. Tell me what’s going on?”

I felt it then…the tears building in my eyes. I wanted to tell him. Ineededto tell someone. I couldn’t contain this on my own. I knew what I was going to do was going to tear me apart. I needed someone who could help put me back together. Closing my eyes, I fought back the tears while Matias waited patiently. My breathing slowed.