Page 133

I’m worthy. I’m perfect as I am.

What I offered and how I loved was the definition of self-worth and self-love. All I wanted to do was shower him with all the beautiful things he’d given me.

Forrest straightened up from the couch, reached over to the coffee table, grabbed a letter, and gave it to me. “For you.”

“What’s this?” I glanced at the handwritten envelope addressed to me with no return address.

“Someone left it for you at the campground. Hank sent it up.”

My heart raced as I opened the letter.

Dear Kiera,

First, thank you for the self-care kit. My wife and daughter loved it. I like the mini lotion bottle you gave me too. It was the kindest gesture I’d ever received from a stranger.

Second, I’m sorry for dragging you in danger. When I recognized Bo disguised as a homeless man washing the car windshield, I knew his people would be after me. Sometimes life makes you do bad things when you don’t want to. My wife’s medical bills were piling up, and I’d moved drugs for bad people so I could pay the bills.

I understood his situation. My mom’s illness had placed me at a dead end where I had nowhere to go.

I’d stolen drugs from them, hoping to make extra money. Greed is a monster that can destroy you. I hid the drugs in your luggage when I took them out of the car. I was hoping to retrieve the drugs later. But it was too late. They caught up to me . . . Don’t worry. I’m okay now.

I told them I didn’t know your name. They searched the campground for new visitors because they knew the drugs were with a new guest. Sorry I had to burn your cabin so they’d believe the drugs are gone. But I made sure no one was inside.

A female member named Yvettethreatened my family, so I no longer live in the USA. Be careful with her. She has ties to Senator Kramer. A friend of a friend introduced me to a man with a slash on his face. He said he knows you. Thanks to him, my family and I have a new ID to start a new life.My wife’s medical bills are paid. I don’t have to sell my soul to take care of my family anymore.

Yourkindness is a reminder that good people exist.Don’t ever change.

Your driver,

Juan

“Wow.” I dropped the letter onto the table, happy that Juan and his family were safe. “I don’t know a man with a slash on his face.”

“I do.” Forrest grabbed the letter and read it.

After a few moments, he looked up. “Slash has been helping us behind the scenes. He gave me and the boys a second chance at life when we were teens.”

Forrest told me about Slash on that fateful day at the abandoned church. This crime organization was a threat to society.

“Yvette is all over this mess. Arranging the shoot knowing we’d be abducted and trafficked, coming after me in Brazil. What else is she planning?”

His jaw clenched. “I’ll find her.”

A grim look scrawled on his face as he stared at me. There was something he wanted to ask me but didn’t.

“What is it? I’malready involved. Keeping the truth from me isn’t going to help.” I scooted closer to him. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Forrest swallowed. “You’re important to me, Kiera—the most important person.”

My heart free-fell from my chest into a pool of gooey love.

“And you’re important to me too. I don’t want any secretsbetween us. I want to know the good and the bad.” I grabbed his hand—the one that had been injured during the fighting with the male attacker in Brazil—and drew a heart over the hint of a scar that would disappear soon. “That heart I just drew is my secret code for you.”

He smiled. “What does it mean?”

“It means you do everything I say. I’ll keep it simple and practical for you.”

“What kind of code is that?” Amusement flickered in his sage-colored eyes. “Makes me feel like I got the short end of the stick.”