Lucas took a step back, gravel pelting his shins. Jenny pealed out of the alley, her truck fishtailing bad enough his gut clenched in fear for her safety. He stared at the tailgate until it disappeared around the turn, his mouth hanging open.

What the—?

The back door of the pet boutique opened and Autumn stormed out, steam practically coming out of her ears.

“What the fuck did you tell her?” Lucas gestured at the dust that hadn’t yet settled.

“Don’t you walk away from me.” Walker stormed out behind Autumn, his face twisted into a mask of rage.

Oh, fuck.

Lucas was sweating now, and not from the heat.

His stomach knotted up and he tasted bile.

This was not good.

“Lucas?” Walker paused, blinking at him. “When’d you get back?”

“Oh, like you didn’t know?” Autumn sneered at them.

“You.” Lucas jabbed his finger in her direction. “What the hell did you do?”

“Me? Really? That’s rich. You’re the two pedophiles.” Autumn threw up her hands.

Lucas was about sick of playing nice. He glanced at Walker, but instead of balled fists and a red face, his cousin stood there staring at the ground, shoulders slumped.

“Before you say another word, I have never and will never touch an underage girl. I’ll break the kneecaps of anyone I know who does that. Got it? Now, I’ve already said that I was not there the night you think I was. What more do you want for me to prove to you that I wasn’t there?” Lucas took a step toward Autumn. Everyone acted like she was a princess to be catered to, well, he was done with that. “Am I a fuck up? Yes. Hell yes. But that’s not something I did. Now, what the hell is going on here? Walker?”

His cousin flinched.

Flinched!

The Walker Lucas remembered was quick to anger and a pain in the ass to reason with. This man stood there like a dejected scarecrow.

The back door of So Inked opened and Mary stepped out. Carly hovered in the doorway.

“What the hell is everyone yelling about?” Mary glanced from person to person, and when she got to Walker she did a double take.

“I saw you there that night. You were there when they arrested him.” Autumn thrust her finger at Walker, who merely frowned.

“Lucas wasn’t there,” he said.

“Yes, he was.” Autumn wheeled to face him, her cheeks red, eyes round. “He was there. He put a twenty in my bra.”

“No, that was our other cousin.” Walker shook his head again. “Lucas left—what? Two weeks before that?”

“Yeah.” The word sounded as though it were dragged through gravel before coming out of Lucas’ mouth.

“No... No, I saw you.” Autumn’s face twisted up, equal parts horror and fear.

“Okay, everyone, come inside, please? In the office.” Mary gestured toward So Inked.

“I need to lock up Jenny’s shop.” Lucas was willing to bet that both Autumn and Walker had gone through the front, since he’d been back here. He couldn’t let her pride and joy be vulnerable.

“Then in here, got it?” Mary said in a no argument tolerated tone.

Lucas nodded and strode into the pet boutique.

He pulled the door shut behind him and leaned against the wall.

Jenny knew. At least part of it. Maybe not the whole story, but enough.

Autumn would have had Jenny believe he liked underage girls, that he was just as guilty as Walker. He was, but not of the same crimes. He’d taken Walker to Magic City, knowing the other man’s weaknesses were liquor and women. Some could argue he’d done nothing, Walker made those choices, but would he have had them, if it weren’t for Lucas?

That burden rested on him alone.

He’d set this all in motion, Jenny’s divorce, Walker’s conviction, all from jealousy. Because the woman he wanted, the woman he loved, had been with someone else.

Lucas was the worst kind of man.

Telling Jenny the truth wouldn’t make anything right. He was still at fault. What he could do was leave her alone, go away, stay out of her life. He loved her enough to do that.

A phone lay on the grooming counter, a green message light flashing.

Jenny had taken off so fast she’d left her phone behind. She’d been upset and driving erratically. Where would she go? Would someone look out for her?

He picked up her phone and strode to the front of the shop, flipping the locks, then secured the back door on his way out.

In the span of a week, he’d loved and lost the best thing that’d ever happened to him. He had no one to blame but himself.

Lucas trudged into the back of So Inked.

The music was off and the shop silent.

He peered into the office, but it was just Omen sitting in her crate, head cocked to the side, as confused as ever.

Had everyone left?

He walked into the shop proper.

Autumn sat on the client chair at her station, Mary and Carly at her side.

Walker was nowhere to be seen.

Lucas half wondered if he could duck out the back and just leave. He could replace his equipment and the rest was just stuff.

“You really weren’t there?” Autumn stared at him, her gaze haunted.

“Sammi’ll be here in a moment.” Carly laid her phone in her lap.

“No. I’ve never—to my knowledge—met you before today. That’s what I’ve been trying to say, but you wouldn’t listen to me.” He shoved his hand through his hair for lack of anything better to do.

“I thought—I could have sworn—it was you.” Autumn gripped the edge of the chair and leaned forward.

“Would someone mind telling me what the hell is going on? Where’s Walker?”

“Autumn was a police informant,” Mary said. “The police told her that if she could tell them who frequented the club and what nights they brought in the other underage girls, they’d make sure her record got sealed and she’d get off.”

“I was sixteen.” Autumn wrapped an arm around herself.

“Shit.” Lucas scrubbed a hand over his face. “I didn’t know.”

“So, you and your cousin happened to go to the club Autumn worked at, and your cousin hired teenaged hookers.” Carly glanced at him. “Am I getting this all right?”

“Most of it.” Lucas glanced away. “I didn’t know there were prostitutes. I didn’t know anyone was underage.”

“You had to know the right people to get backstage.” Autumn sucked down a deep breath and sat up. “I...guess I owe you an apology.”

“You think?” Mary’s tone was not kind.

“Yeah, well, I’m no saint. I’ll be leaving soon. Sorry to split on you guys, but...I shouldn’t be here.” He should never have come back.

“What? Why?” That demand came from Carly, of all people.

“Because...” Who did Lucas have left to protect himself from? “Because I’m the one who took Walker there in the beginning.”

g

Jenny stood on the stoop outside Hopeful Paws, unable to lift her hand and pull the door open. What was she doing here?

She couldn’t come up with a good enough answer.

When she’d left the shop, she’d gone back to the show on autopilot. Terry had found her in the parking lot, trying to stop crying. He’d taken one look at her and told her to go home, that he and the other girls would handle the show. She was so damn grateful she couldn’t begin to express her feelings.

Logically, she should have gone home. But that was where Lucas would look for her, and right now her thoughts were so jumbled that she couldn’t make sense of them. She needed space to think, someone to talk to. Her friends, the ones she’d normally reach out to, were at So Inked—with Lucas. She couldn’t call on them without making things more awkward.

The door opened and Everly stood there, mouth hanging open.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen to Dolly?” Everly stepped out, letting the shelter door swing shut behind her, and edged closer.

“N-n-no,” Jenny wailed.

“Come inside. Come on.” Everly placed her hand on Jenny’s back and ushered her into the shelter, through the blessedly empty reception area and into a small office. “Sit.”

Jenny did as Everly directed, perching on the edge of a chair.

She shoved a box of tissue at Jenny.

“I’m sorry.” She buried her face into a handful of tissues.

“It’s okay. What happened?”

This had to be the weirdest thing anyone had ever done. Jenny had turned the wheel and wound up here. It wasn’t a well thought out action, she’d just needed to go somewhere safe.

“My ex-husband... He and Lucas...”

“Take a deep breath.” Everly placed her hand on Jenny’s shoulder.

Breathing hurt. Her heart hurt. Her head hurt. She just wanted it to all stop.

“I kept wondering if I was making a mistake, and I was.” Jenny sat back slumping in her chair.

“What are you talking about? Did someone hurt you?”

“I always thought Lucas was the good one. The one I could trust. I guess he was just a better liar than my ex.” Jenny lifted her shoulders.

“I still don’t understand, I’m sorry.” Everly cleared off the other chair and sat next to her.

“My ex-husband got arrested for hiring an underage hooker. I thought Lucas wasn’t involved. I guess he was, and just didn’t get caught.” Jenny stared at the ground, her insides going numb. She’d lived through this pain once, though with Walker it’d been a liberating pain. The sensation reminded her that she was alive. This was worse. It was a betrayal of her trust.

“What did he say about it?”

“Nothing. I didn’t want to hear what he had to say.”

“I’m so sorry, Jenny.”

“Aren’t you going to ask if he really did it? If I’m mistaken? What evidence do I have?” Jenny remembered all the questions and disbelief from family. They hadn’t wanted to accept what Walker had done.

“If you had evidence, would things between the two of you have gotten...romantic?”

“No.”

“You just found out the man you care about did something awful. I don’t need evidence to see that you’re upset and something is wrong. I do wish I knew what to say or do to make it better...”

“There’s nothing anyone can do. It’s my fault. I let him back into my life. My gut was right. I should have known when I couldn’t bring myself to trust him that something was wrong.”

“Do you want a drink or something? Can I do anything for you?”

“I’m sorry to just show up like this. I didn’t know where to go and I wound up here and—”

“Jenny, it’s fine.” Everly leaned toward her and squeezed her hand. “I’m really not good at this stuff, so I’ll just say that—I’m bad at making friends, and you seem really neat and genuine. I’m glad you thought of me, even if it’s for something bad.”

“Thank you,” Jenny whispered. She understood exactly what Everly meant. Making friends at her age was difficult at best.

“How about I get you that drink, and then we can—I don’t know—visit the kitten room?”

“You...have a kitten room?” Jenny’s eyes went wide.

“And a puppy room, but there’s kittens there, too. I’m swimming in kittens, and there are two litters that need to be bottle fed.” Everly stood and sighed. “My full-time girl and I are taking ‘round the clock shifts. If you don’t like kittens—”

“I want to be in a kitten room.” Jenny blinked back more tears. She was, at heart, a dog person, but she loved all animals. Kittens were a special kind of heaven and hell, all in one adorable, ready to kill, package.

“Come right this way.”

Everly showed Jenny into a room. Two walls were mostly glass. There was one whole wall of kennels, but mostly the kittens were free to roam and play. She left Jenny in the room while she got drinks for them and formula for the kittens.

Jenny ignored the chair and sat cross legged in the middle of the room. Half the currently-awake kittens eyed her warily, while several bobbled toward her, their little bodies not quite graceful yet.

She collected two, cradling them to her chest, and closed her eyes.

Lucas and Walker were too alike. She’d all ready lived through one Hewitt. She couldn’t make the same mistake again, and that was what choosing to be with Lucas was. A mistake. He might be the better Hewitt, but that bar was pretty low.

She’d trusted Lucas, and this whole time he’d been lying to her. He’d been part of the same, despicable thing her husband was, and never been caught. It was likely too late to prosecute him, but she didn’t have to be okay with it.

The door opened and Everly stepped in quickly, a clear plastic box holding the feeding supplies and two sodas.

“I guessed at what you might like,” she said.

“Thanks.”

“Okay, my advice, keep the lid on the box or else they’ll be in it. These furry butts are the most destructive kittens I’ve ever had.” Everly sat the box on the empty chair.

“Oh, my butt’s ringing.” Everly slid her hand into her pocket and frowned at the screen. “You’re calling me.”

Jenny patted her pockets.

“No, I’m not. I don’t have my phone.” She cringed.

If she didn’t have it, who did?

“Do you want me to answer?”

“I guess?” Jenny buried her face in kittens.

Best case scenario, one of the girls had realized she’d left the shop unlocked and went back to close it up for her. Worst case, she didn’t even want to think about.

g

“Everly?” Lucas frowned. The name didn’t ring any bells he could recall. Oh, wait—the rescue lady. The one who’d taken the time to introduce Jenny to Dolly.

“Yes?”

“Hi, this is Lucas Hewitt. We met last week. I was with Jenny—”

“Yes, I remember you.”

“Oh. Well, I have Jenny’s phone and I’m trying to find her...”

Silence met his implied question.

“Is she at the shelter, by any chance?” he asked.

“I can’t say...”

“Can’t, or won’t?”

More silence. He wasn’t on mute, he could hear the sound of cats meowing and dogs barking in the distance. So was she having a silent conversation with Jenny?

“Look, I don’t need to talk to her, I just wanted to know if she was okay. That’s all.” He turned and surveyed Jenny’s living room.

“She’s okay,” Everly replied.

“Good. I’m glad to hear it. If you don’t mind, tell Jenny I’m leaving her phone and keys on the dining room table. I know I’m probably the last person she wants to see right now, which is why I’m taking an invitation to work in the UK for a while. That means Omen can’t go with me on such short notice, and really, Omen and Dolly have bonded so much they need to stay together. I’m standing in the middle of Jenny’s living room and Dolly’s done a number on it. I’m going to put Omen and Dolly in the sunroom together since it’s getting late, clean up in here, and I’ll be gone. If she doesn’t want to keep Omen and Dolly together, my mom can handle getting Omen shipped to me. I know that’s a lot to say. Shit. I’ll write it down.”

“I’ll tell her,” Everly said.

“Just... What Autumn and Walker said, it wasn’t the truth. Things got mixed around... Autumn can tell her. I want what’s best for Jenny.”

More silence.

“All right, then, thanks for being there for her, Everly. I’ll text when I leave.”

“That will be fine.”

Lucas hung up and gently placed the phone on the table. He gripped the back of the chair Jenny had sat in days ago and hung his head.

He’d gone about it all wrong. He’d tried to make a place for himself in her life, and all he’d done was create a nightmare for the person he loved.

In a way, he’d thought this coming home and everything falling into place with Jenny was the world’s way of showing him that loving her and letting her go had been the right decision, because she’d come back to him. Now, he was seeing that for the lie it was. She couldn’t love him when she didn’t know all of him, and he’d kept a huge secret from her. The kind that couldn’t be forgiven.

Which was why he had to go. Permanently.

A few days to put his affairs in order, then he’d fly out to London.

Omen pawed at his leg and whined, Dolly shadowing her every move.

“What are you two troublemakers doing?” he asked.

Two sets of doggie eyes stared back at him.

“Sorry, guys, I’m going to have to go soon.” He bent and scratched behind their ears. “Now that you have some company, will you please not tear up Jenny’s living room? She worked real hard on this and it’s going to make her sad that you tore up those pillows.”

Dolly hung her head, as though she knew what she’d done was wrong.

“Come on, let’s clean it up.”

He sighed and pushed to his feet. Bits of fluff were everywhere.

Lucas spent a good half hour straightening up after Dolly, tidying up her accident, and generally making sure the house was put to rights. He took all of his odds and ends and put them in a bag. The last thing he did was to put both Dolly and Omen out on the patio.

He’d grown to care for Omen, even to want her around, but Dolly was proving to be an anxious creature when by herself. The two of these mutts together would balance things out.

“I’m going to miss you two,” he whispered.

Maybe Omen and Dolly would help take Jenny’s mind off what he did, or maybe they’d be a painful reminder. He’d have to prep Mom for what to do if Jenny didn’t agree about his judgment call with Omen and Dolly. All details to handle later.

He sent Everly a text, then locked the house for the last time.

Jenny was a strong, smart, beautiful woman. She’d find her way in this world on her own, and she’d succeed. She didn’t need him, or anyone else, to prop her up. He could only hope he hadn’t dragged her down too far.

•  •