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“This guy is nuts,” I whisper, then mouthsorryto Dom. “I don’t want to stay here anymore, but he won’t let me leave. I want my family back. The Vultures, the workshop, a purpose with my work… and you, Mason.” I sniffle, feeling sick, hating the words. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. When I was a kid. I’m not a kid anymore…”

A long pause. Mason finally says, “Do you think I was born yesterday?”

“Seriously. I made a mistake. You gave me a future on a platter, and I spit in your face. Don’t you remember the good times when you’d bring me pieces of metal and I’d make jewelry for the club? Don’t you remember giving me rides on the back of your bike? It can be like that again.”

More hesitation. Dom is seething, grinding his teeth from side to side, staring daggers at the cell. I reach across the island and touch his hand, squeezing it so he knows I don’t mean any of this.

“They were some good days,” he mutters. “But what about Mr. Billionaire?”

“He’s never going to pay you, but I’ve been busy. I’ve stolen a bunch of his watches–and he’s got rolls of cash lying around everywhere. I can make a break for it, but I need to know I’ve got somewhere to go.”

“You want back in,” he says, hope in his voice now.

“Yeah–but I’ve got conditions. I’m coming foryou, Mason. No blackmail video. No club looming over me. Just us.” I swallow a mouthful of bile and regret as I make my voice saccharine sweet.

“Your mother’s grave,” he grunts.

“What time?”

“Sunset. Don’t fuck me around. Come alone, or I swear, I take it all away. Those promises of a future, of marriage, of a life. I take it all away.”

When he hangs up, I grab the phone and throw it at the wall. Dom rushes around the kitchen island and wraps his arms around me. I grip onto him firmly, digging my nails into him, pressing my face into his chest as tears erupt from me.

“I hated saying that. Ihatedit.”

“It worked,” Dom whispers, running his hand through my hair. “You did a good job, Evie. This will be over soon. And then…”

“Me, you–giving it a shot.”

When he kisses me, it feels different from every other time. I can feel the passion burning inside of him behind the layer of softness, but he keeps it at bay… for now. I think about what I said to him in the gym about treating me like glass. But it’s nice, I can’t lie, when he touches me as if I might break.

He ends the kiss. “I need to get ready. Call… my father.”

“Your dad?”

“I’ll need his approval for a job this big. Rafe won’t cut it.”

“I’m sorry you have to get involved with the mob again.”

“For you, I’d do anything,” he says.

The tires hum softly against the road, the canyon unfurling in front of us like a secret we’re finally ready to share.

“This feels different to last time,” I murmur.

He glances at me, nods. “More dangerous. But somehow, better too.”

“Because I’m not your prisoner anymore?”

“Before, I needed you on a level I didn’t understand, but I never thought you’d want anything even remotely like I did… because I took you like a damn savage. And now…”

“We have a chance,” I tell him.

He doesn’t speak, and I don’t need him to. His hand is resting palm-up on the center console, fingers open like he’s offering something without saying it out loud. I slip mine into his.

His thumb strokes across mine in slow circles, like we’ve done this a hundred times. As if there wasn’t ever a version of us that started with a slammed door and a locked panic room.

“Do you ever think about… the future?” I ask, eyes on the road, even though I feel the shift in him immediately.