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“Did you get what you needed?” he asks.

“Yes,” I whisper. “I’m officially cleared. They can’t use my mental health against me anymore. We just need to get the report to CPS.”

Finn pulls me back into his arms. He presses a kiss to my temple. His breath warms my skin. I can feel the tension leaving his body.

Boone’s eyes scan the street one more time.

“Get in the truck,” he says. “We’re done here.”

Finn isn’t ready to let me go. Instead of letting me walk, he lifts me and carries me to the door. Then he climbs in right behind me and holds me tight.

As we drive away, Davit’s words echo in my mind over and over again.This isn’t over.

Chapter 31

Ani

By the time we pull into our driveway, I’m feeling a little more settled.

I am free. For now.

But the relief doesn’t feel like I thought it would because I know better than to believe this is over.

My father isn’t a man who gives up. And Davit isn’t either.

I step out of the truck, the document from the psych eval clutched to my chest like it might shield me from whatever comes next. As I walk through the door, I breathe in the familiar scent of home. Home. That’s what this place is to me now.

Mae launches herself at me the second I walk through the door. “Did you win?” she asks, like it’s all been a game.

“Yes,” I tell her, bending down to hug her and kiss the top of her head. “I won.”

She beams and wraps her arms around my waist. Jonah watches us from the kitchen doorway. He comes to me and gives me a bear hug and presses a kiss to the side of my head without saying a word.

I hand the document to Boone. “We’ll scan it and get it out to the people who need it,” Boone says. “You did good, girl.”

I don’t feel as good as I’d like to though.

I still feel hunted.

But for now at least, everything is quiet.

A week passes and I fall into a rhythm again—morning coffee, easy breakfasts, slow afternoons with Mae. I try not to jump when the wind blows hard or a truck backfires as it drives by our place.

I try to sleep, and for the most part, I do. I even manage one full night. I felt absolutely glorious the next morning.

The men continue to do what they do best. Patrolling the grounds. Checking and rechecking our surveillance. And, of course, they go to the station to work. But they don’t ever leave me alone—there’s always at least one of them at home with me and Mae.

I read with Mae in the afternoons. I help her with her letters and numbers, and when she draws, she loves to show me what she’s created. I hang the pictures up on the fridge like they’re masterpieces. Because to me, they are.

I allow myself to laugh more. Smile more. I reach for Finn’s hand without thinking. I let Jonah pull me into his lap without hesitation. I lean into Boone’s touch when his hand finds my lower back on the way to bed.

We’re building something real. It’s a life, one I never thought I could have.

But I also know that all of this could disappear in the blink of an eye.

And sometimes I can’t stop thinking about that.

But I don’t tell anyone. I don’t want them to know how scared I still am.