Page 77 of Hide From Me

She swallows, then shakes her head. “There was someone. He… wasn’t the best. He disappeared.”

That’s it. No name. No details.

My jaw flexes as my fingers trace slow circles on her thighs.

There’s something there—something dark coiled behind her casual tone—but the warmth of her thighs around my hips distracts me enough to let it go.

For now.

I drag my lips along her collarbone, murmuring, “If he ever comes back…”

“He won’t.” Her voice is a whisper against my cheek. “I promise.”

I want to believe her. I want to press, but I know better. I’ve seen the way people lie to themselves just to survive.

So instead, I tilt her chin up, kiss her slow, deep, and filthy—tasting myself on her mouth—and decide I’ll wait.

Not forever, but long enough for her to trust me with the rest of the truth.

And when she does? I’ll handle it the only way I know how.

“If you say so, sunshine, but I have one more question,” I mutter against her lips. She growls in frustration as she tries to lean back in, only for me to ease my mouth back further from her reach.

“Are you going to give me blue balls every time you want to say thank you?”

“Trust me,you'llbe the one thankingmewhen–”

Before she can even finish her statement, there's a harsh knock on the door, with Joe's voice booming behind it.

“RayRay! No shut doors in this house, even if you're grown!”

“I'm so sorry, Ray! I tried to stop him!” Tess interrupts.

“No, you didn't,” Joe argues.

“That,” Raylen whispers with a laugh that gets muffled by my mouth. I swallow it like it's the air I need to breathe, because at this point, it is. I'm destroying everything just to have this, so I'll be damned if I let it slip through my fingers.

Nineteen

Moe

01-21-2026

The airstrip we don't talk about

The wind bites, sharp and dry, cutting across the airstrip as if trying to flay my nerves raw. Sam’s pacing. Cordelia and Jasmine are hovering near the plane. And Caspian? He hasn’t spoken more than a few clipped words since we stepped out of the car.

Raylen’s not here yet but that’s intentional.

I told her to come separately—to wait until I text since the whole plane prep would be boring… aka I was scared shitless of this moment and needed an excuse to keep her away from the plane until the team left. It’s the only way I could make sure she doesn’t walk into a situation where the truth spills too early. The others still think she’s staying behind, still think I’m not going to tell her a goddamn thing and I need to keep it that way—for now.

“Equipment is in the cargo, and the bed and breakfast is secured since you couldn’t just pick a hotel,” Sam mutters as he paces in front of me, checking through the mental list he’s probably had memorized for days. “Greenport has been notified of your arrival window, team briefings are scheduled, and every last damn knife has been triple-counted.”

“And he’s set, Sam,” Caspian says gruffly behind me. “It’s covered.”

“He better be,” Sam mutters, glaring at the jet like it’s a ticking time bomb. “Because if something goes sideways, Jasmine and I won’t be there to pick up the fucking pieces.”

“Jesus, you’re worse than a clingy ex,” I mutter, finally turning to face him. “I’m right here, you know. Fully alive. Highly trained. Exceptionally handsome.”