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Thea gasped, then reached for her side.

Apparently, no amount of anger could make him heartless when it came to her. He felt everything so clearly when she gritted her teeth against the pain.

He was at her side again. “What can I do?”

“It just hurts.” She tried to move, but even little shifts seemed too difficult. She settled and looked up at him. “Promise me you didn’t do it,” she whispered.

“I didn’t, but I shouldn’t even have to defend myself to you. You should have known me better. You should have trusted me.”

“I wanted to. I wanted to so bad. Gage convinced me I was being a vapid, lovestruck idiot.”

“Gage is on my list,” Brett said.

“He was trying to protect me.”

Brett pressed a finger to his chest. “I would have protected you.”

“I wanted to believe that.”

“Then you should have trusted yourself over Gage.”

Thea looked out the window into the bright morning. She stared as if the answers were waiting just outside the hospital walls. “I’m sorry.” She bit her lips between her teeth and closed her eyes.

Brett let out a deep breath. He’d wanted answers, and now he had them. He even had an apology. Why did it still hurt so much that she hadn’t trusted him? He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Listen, I’m not going to leave you. Whoever did this might come back and try to finish what they started. I didn’t kill your dad, I’m still upset that you left, and I’ll never hurt you. Those are the most important things right now.”

Thea nodded slowly, looking straight up at the ceiling. “This is a trap,” she whispered.

“Probably, but I still won’t leave you. I haven’t actually been hiding from our families all this time. I work at Wolf Creek Ranch.”

She pressed the heels of her hands over her eyes. “I can’t believe they dropped me off where you were.”

“I can. They left you with me because they don’t care two cents about you, and they know I do. I understood the assignment, Thea.”

She sniffed and wiped her face, wincing when her hand brushed over her swollen cheek. “I’m an assignment.”

Brett looked at the floor, unsure how to feel or react to all the news. “You were never an assignment. I thought we were on the same page once. Then, I wasn’t sure.”

He couldn’t blame her for getting out. It was definitely the best option for her. Still, if she could have waited until the case was closed or told him where she was headed, he could have come for her later.

Brett lifted his head and sighed. “I’m still trying to get over why you left without me.”

“They wouldn’t have stopped hunting us. You were…”

What had she been about to say? A murderer? An accomplice?

“We knew too much,” she said.

He’d worn his heart on his sleeve his whole life, and Thea had known he’d do anything for her. He would have jumped in the car with her without a second thought, but he wouldn’t have killed anyone unless he had to make a choice. If it came to her or them, he would always choose her.

“You need to go. They’ll come for you.”

“Not a chance. I’m not leaving unless you give me a direct order and say you don’t want me here. But if you do that, I’m going to send someone else I trust to look after you. So, if you don’t want that, you’re stuck with me. Gage and I will make sure they don’t come back for you.”

Thea shook her head slowly, rolling it back and forth over the pillow. “It’s not safe.”

“I never signed up for a safe life when I decided to stick by you. I knew what I was getting into, and I don’t regret it for a second.”

Thea’s jaw tightened, and her lip quivered. He’d gotten so caught up in wanting answers that he’d forgotten why he’d originally come.