I was the worst kind of shit in the world. Rosie was a wreck, and I’d fucking caused it. I kicked the car tire and cursed myself under my breath. I’d just had to goddamn tell her that it was her fault we were on the run. This settled it. I’d have to come clean. It was the only way I could live with myself. I would tell her, I would. Just not today. It would have to wait until I was one hundred percent certain she was safe from Scooter Stone. Otherwise, she’d just go running back.

“It’s a nice car,” the owner of the godforsaken gas station said, his eyes glittering with greed.

I pushed aside my jumbled thoughts and turned to him with my arms crossed over my chest. I’d left Rosie inside to clean up while I took care of our car problem. Meaning, I had to ditch the beautiful piece of machinery before me. Jace had given it to me as a parting gift, and I hated to see it go. But too many people in Carlsville had seen the Porsche for me to feel comfortable continuing on in it.

“Then, it’s your lucky day,” I said with a grimace.

“And you’re just going to let me have it?” He raised his eyebrows as I tossed the keys in his direction.

“That’s usually how these things work,” I said.

He nodded vigorously and pointed to a rundown pickup truck parked at the edge of the empty lot. “Alright then. There you go. That one there will be yours now.”

He handed me the keys just as Rosie pushed open the door of the gas station. My eyes were drawn to her immediately. Her tight little jeans hugged her shapely legs, shifting slightly as she strode toward me. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and I couldn’t stop myself from staring at the smooth skin of her neck. Even though she’d been a mess only moments before, she looked damn good now, as if she’d been able to cast away the demons that were following us around.

My gut squeezed. Demons that were all my goddamn fault.

Rosie raised her eyebrows when she reached me, frowning at the bearded man who was now climbing into my car. “What the hell is going on now?”

“We’re ditching it,” I said, giving a small nod toward the pickup truck. “We’ll be leaving in that now.”

“Ditching it?” Her eyes widened. “I thought the whole point of coming all this way from the exit was so the FBI wouldn’t follow our trail.”

“It was. But we can’t be too careful.”

Rosie’s lips parted, and she surprised me by the light laugh that flew from her throat. “I swear to god, Franklin Snow, you are the most paranoid person I’ve ever met in my life.”

“Paranoia has kept me alive this long.” I turned toward the truck. “I’m depending on it now.”

* * *

The tires crunched gravel as I eased the rattling truck behind the cabin. Jace had really outdone himself this time. The place he’d found for me was a large and pristine wooden house situated down a long dirt road, hidden in the middle of a forest so thick I couldn’t see a goddamn thing but a swirl of brown and green.

The truck had barely made it up the steep incline into the mountains. Rosie had clutched my arm as she’d stared out the smudged window at the treeline that dropped straight down from the curving road while the truck had crawled its way to our destination. We were definitely in Smoky Mountain territory now, and the rustic smell of the woods filled up the truck before we even cracked open the doors.

“Should I even ask how you got this place?” she asked, easing out of the truck and stretching her arms over her head. It hadn’t been a long drive, but it had been a tense one. Both of us had been on edge, Rosie constantly craning her neck to stare out the back window and me clenching my jaw at the guilt hanging in my gut.

“It belongs to a friend of mine,” I said, slamming the door and looking up at the house. It couldn’t exactly be called a cabin. It was more like a mansion masquerading as one. Knowing Jace, there was probably a sauna and a swimming pool somewhere inside its massive depths. “I used to work for this guy in New York.”

She turned to me with surprise. “You used to live in New York?”

“For a brief moment in time.” Sadness settled over me. New York had been a sliver of happiness amidst the dark cloud my life had gathered around it. I still hadn’t had much of a life in the city, but it had been a better existence than being on the run.

“Is that before or after you left the FBI?” Rosie asked.

“Let’s go see what it’s like inside,” I said, changing the subject. Now was not the time to give Rosie a history lesson on my life. In fact, there might never be a time for that. As soon as I got her reunited with her son, I would need to be on my way out of her life.

We’d gotten too close already. I didn’t need to make it worse.

Rosie frowned, but she didn’t argue as we approached the house. Jace had said there’d be a set of keys hidden underneath the doormat out front, and I found them easily before opening the door.

The cabin opened up before us, the ceiling rising high and supported by thick wooden beams. Rosie gasped and strode inside, whirling to take in the large expanse of the room, the sleek and rustic furniture, the scent of pine and leaves.

“This place is amazing,” she said, wandering over to the open-plan kitchen. She cracked open the massive refrigerator but shut it quickly with a frown. “What are we going to do about food?”

“I’ll take care of it,” I said. “You get settled in, and I’ll head into town to get some supplies.”

Her face blanched. “You’re going to leave me here alone?”

“You’ll be fine.” My heart stirred at the raw and innocent look in her eyes, and I forced myself to turn away. I couldn’t let myself give in to what I felt deep down inside me. I wanted to wrap my arms around her, pull her close, and kiss all her worries and fears away. But I couldn’t give into that. It just wasn’t right.