Alex watched as the color drained from Cam’s face.

“What is it?” he asked.

She stared at him, her eyes hard, her mouth pinched tight. “What exactly are you mixed up in?”

He looked away.

“Dammit, Alex.” Her brown eyes flashed with anger. “You wanna know who that was? A detective.”

He stared at her, waiting, his pulse quickening a little.

“He gave me a name.” Her voice was like ice. “A name of someone we’re supposed to be looking for.”

Dread settled over him.

“Your name,” she said flatly.

Shit.

Alex shifted on the bed, pulling away from the pillows he’d been propped up on. He set his bowl of soup on the nightstand and made an effort to swing his legs to the side of the bed.

“What the hell are you doing?” Cam snapped.

His mind was swimming with thoughts, none of them good. “I have to go.”

“Bullshit.” She reached out and, with firm hands, shoved his shoulders so he was back against the pillows. “You’re not going anywhere.”

He knew his eyes were desperate. “I have to,” he said urgently. “I can’t stay here. It’s not safe. Not safe for you.”

She was his main concern.

His only concern, really.

Something flickered in her eyes, but her mouth stayed in a tight, firm line. She crossed her arms and glared at him, waiting for him to say something.

He hated seeing her angry, feeling it directed at him. His chest ached, and not just because his bruised ribs made it hurt to take in air. He hated causing her pain.

But he was doing just that.

For what felt like the hundredth time, Alex regretted his decision to come to Aspen Falls. He should have come up with a different plan.

He could have sought refuge someplace else, someplace no one would know him. Crossed his fingers and hoped for the best. Why had he come to Aspen Falls? And why had he walked back into Camila’s life?

He chewed the inside of his cheek. He knew why.

He wanted to see her again.

No, scratch that.

He’d needed to see her one last time.

He’d made a monumental mess of things all those years ago. Ending things with Cam, especially the way he had, was the single biggest regret of his life.

With certain death seemingly around the corner, he’d wanted to make amends. Failing that—because honestly, he didn’t expect her to forgive him—he at least had wanted to see her one last time.

The problem was, he hadn’t planned out much further than that.

He hadn’t contemplated what would happen next in his imagined scenario.

All he’d focused on was seeing her again.

“Are you just going to sit there and stare off into space all night?”

He looked at Cam.

The glare was still there. If anything, it had intensified since the last time he’d looked at her.

“You heard me,” she said. There was a growl to her voice. “I’m still waiting for answers.”

He blew out a slow, tortured breath. Her expression shifted for the briefest of seconds, concern edging out her anger. But then the mask was back.

“I had to see you,” he finally said.

Her eyebrows arched a fraction of an inch. “What?”

“You asked me what the hell I was doing,” he reminded her. “I’m telling you. I had to see you again.”

This didn’t appear to be the answer she was expecting.

Good.

It was better to catch her off guard a little.

“I heard you were in Aspen Falls,” he said.

“How?”

“Through the grapevine.”

“What grapevine?”

“Look, I kept tabs on you.”

Her eyebrows lifted higher. “Kept tabs on me?”

“I kept tabs on a lot of people,” he said quickly, knowing full well this was stretching the truth. “Your brother. I knew he went to med school. He’s working with the Ojibwe population up in Red Lake, right?”

She gave a slight nod.

“And Jen. She moved to DC. I think she’s a lobbyist?”

Another small nod. “For education.”

He smiled tentatively. “See?”

“I don’t care what you’re doing here,” she said flatly. “I want to know why my buddy at the station just told me your name is floating around the state.”

Alex frowned. “What exactly did he say?”

Cam shook her head. “Oh, no. You don’t get to ask the questions here.”

“How can I defend myself if you don’t tell me what you know?”

“Defend yourself?” she repeated. “So you did do something wrong.” Disgust coated her voice. “And you told me you were jumped.”

Something in Alex flared. “The only thing I’m guilty of is coming here and putting you in danger.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Yes, I’m sure that’s exactly why a call went out to every station in the state, broadcasting your name.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Newsflash, jackass,” she said. “I can take care of myself.”

“No, you can’t.” Alex shot her a look. “Not with this.”

She unfolded her arms and set her hands on her hips. Her cheeks flushed red with anger and her eyes glittered like black diamonds. “Is that so? You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

He actually did have a pretty good idea.

But she wasn’t done.

“I’ve put away drug dealers. Thieves. Rapists. I’ve been held at knifepoint.” She yanked at the collar of her sweatshirt, revealing a creamy brown shoulder. She jabbed at a scar. “I’ve been shot. So don’t tell me I can’t fucking take care of myself.”

Alex was torn between being mesmerized by the smooth expanse of skin she’d just revealed to being livid that someone had aimed a gun at her. And fired.

He swallowed. “I didn’t mean it like that…”

“I don’t care how you meant it. Don’t you dare tell me what I can or can’t handle. You got it?”

She was breathing heavily, her chest heaving up and down, her eyes practically on fire. She radiated anger. No, pure fury.

Alex was convinced he’d never seen her look more beautiful. She was fierce, fiery, determined…

And he’d walked away from her.

His fingers itched to reach out to her, to wrap his hands around her wrists and pull her to him. To clutch her tightly to his chest, to bury his face in her hair and never let her go.

Wishes didn’t come true—there was no genie in a bottle, waiting to be unleashed so he could right all of his wrongs—but if they could, he knew exactly what he’d wish for.

To go back and change the words he’d said to her that night all those years ago.

To make better choices.

Choices that would have included having her in his life.

She huffed out a breath. Alex was a little surprised she actually wasn’t spitting fire at this point.

“Fine,” she said. “We can do this the hard way. I’ll go ahead and call Nate back, tell him I have a lead on the name he just dropped. We can haul you into the station and he can be the one asking the questions.”

He waited a fraction of a second to see if she was serious.

She was.

Her hand was already reaching for the phone she’d discarded moments ago.

“Wait.”

She looked at him warily.

“I…” He sucked in a breath, then exhaled. He needed to give her something, a small piece of information that would buy him a little time. “I’m in a gang.”

Her eyes narrowed but he saw the emotion lurking behind those brown orbs. Satisfaction. Because he knew that was exactly what she’d thought all along.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. An old dog can’t learn new tricks.

He was sure there were a dozen other bullshit idioms she was using to describe him in her head right now.

It irked him, but there was nothing he could do about it.

He needed her to believe that.

Even if it was all a lie.

“I’m in a gang,” he repeated, his voice a little stronger this time. “And a rival gang wants me dead.”