I want to stay with her, never leave my damn bed, and that’s dangerous.

Especially right now. I look at Amelia and brush some hair from her face. She smiles at me, the light coming in through the window.

“We have to get up, don’t we?” she asks.

I nod a little. “Guess so.”

“What time is it?” she asks, and then laughs. “Stupid question, I know.”

I grin at her and glance to my left. There are at least four clocks, two of them partially taken apart, lying on the dresser there. “It’s a little after seven,” I say.

She sighs. “I’m going to be late for work.” She pushes herself up, hair spilling down around her, and I want to reach out, pull her back down, but I don’t. I know I can’t, even if that’s all I want. Together we took a break from reality, got lost in each other’s bodies like we’re able to do, and forgot about what’s happening out there.

But I can’t do that. I have a responsibility to my guys. I roll over and grab my phone, checking my texts. “Back into the real world,” I grumble as she slowly climbs out of bed. She puts on some clothes I gave her, since hers are still in the dryer, forgotten and wrinkled by now.

She shrugs a little bit, smiling. “We don’t have to, you know.”

“Of course we do.”

“We don’t.” She sits at the end of the bed. “We can just run away to Mexico, start new identities. I’m rich, you know.”

I laugh at that. “Why stop at Mexico? We can travel all over Europe.”

“I’ve always wanted to see Bruges.”

“You can see it, then.” I sit up and move toward her. I kiss her softly. “Some other time, though.”

“Yeah. Some other time.” She smiles sadly and stands up. “I’ll see you later?”

I shrug. “Probably. Better go see what the damage is first.”

“Yeah.” She hesitates and sighs. “Bye, Samuel.”

“Bye.” I watch her leave, and I fucking hate myself for it.

I get out of bed, shower off real fast, and get dressed. I call Roy and ask him what’s happening, he says people are at The Shaft and I’d better get my ass over there. He doesn’t sound happy, although he never does.

I drive over, dreading what I’ll find there. I keep thinking about Amelia and the night before, how comfortable that felt, how fucking good. She makes me feel like the world can be an okay place, not at all the way it really is.

It’s seductive. I don’t know how she does it. She somehow takes the dark, jagged edges of the world, and smooths them out, makes them seem better than they are. It’s not just her body, not just the fantastic sex we have, although that’s pretty fucking good. It’s more about her smile, the way she cocks her head at me when she’s listening, and the way she seems genuinely interested in my life.

I never thought I was interesting. I work in a damn mine, lived in this town my whole life, but she seems to give a shit about me anyway. It’s strange, answering questions about myself, even if I don’t want to. But it also feels good to have someone ask for once.

I pull up outside of The Shaft and climb out. There are a lot of cars in the parking lot, and I’m not surprised to find pretty much the whole union in there, most of the guys already drinking, although it’s barely eight in the morning now.

Roy finds me right away and steers me back outside. “We gotta talk,” he says.

“How are they?”

“Fine,” he grunts. “Boone’s fine. The others are too. Looks like Boone got the worst of it.”

I nod. “Good.”

“That’s not the problem, though.”

“What’s the problem?”

He looks away. “It’s that CEO. People heard about what happened yesterday.” He meets my gaze after a second. “Did you really get in a fight with three of Ingram’s goons right out front of the damn office?”

I nod. “They wouldn’t let me in.”

He sighs. “That’s reckless, Samuel. Even for you.”

“Worked out fine for me.”

“They had a gun.”

“They didn’t kill me.” I lean up against the wall and spit on the ground. “What the fuck do you want me to say, Roy, that I’m sorry? Because I’m not.”

“I know you aren’t,” he says softly. “But the fight ain’t the problem. It’s what happened after.”

I make a face. “What do you mean?”

“You left with her, that CEO girl. Amelia Evans.”

I sigh, and I know where this is going. “It’s not a problem.”

“It is a problem. They don’t fucking trust you in there.”

“Too bad,” I say, standing up straight. “I took a fucking beating for them. Nearly got a second one. They think I’m not on their side?”

“All they see is you leaving with that fucking Evans girl. Come on, Samuel. Use your fucking brain, not your dick, you know how this looks.”

I’m pissed off but I know he’s right. It looks fucking bad, and I’d think the same thing if I were them. I give him a look and move past him. He doesn’t try and stop me as I push back into the bar. I walk into the middle of the room and I can feel everyone slowly look at me, conversations stopping mid-sentence, a quiet coming over the room.

It’s a weird feeling, walking into the middle of a room and somehow silencing it with nothing but your presence. I push past that and cross my arms.

“Who here thinks I’m a fucking traitor?” I call out.

Nobody responds, but I can see people shifting uncomfortably.

“The strike was my idea,” I say. “I took a beating for you fuckers. I nearly took a bullet yesterday. And you bastards think I’m some kind of traitor?”

More silence, but I can see a few angry faces.

“Amelia Evans isn’t our fucking problem,” I say to them, softer this time. “I know, her last name is Evans, but she’s not the one we’re fighting here. It’s the other fucking suits we need to worry about.”

“How can we trust you?” Vernon calls out, standing suddenly. It feels like a knife in the gut. “You been fucking her this whole time.”

I stare at him and for a second, I know what real betrayal feels like. The whole room grumbles at that, reacting to it. Everyone knows Vernon’s a friend, and he’d know better than anyone who I’ve been fucking.

“I have been,” I say, and the grumbling gets louder, threatening to spill over into a full-on riot. “But she’s still on our fucking side,” I shout. “You all met her, and you all know who she’s working with. But more than that, you all know me. If you fucking cunts think I can’t be trusted, then fucking replace me. I won’t take a bullet for a bunch of cunts that don’t believe in what I’m doing anymore.”

Without another word, I storm off back outside. I can feel the room start talking as I leave, but fuck them. Roy shoots me a look, half annoyed and half pitying, but fuck him too.

I’ve had their best interests in mind this whole time, but now they’re ready to turn on me. They’re a bunch of cunts and bastards, as far as I’m concerned.

I don’t get too far when someone shouts my name. I turn and spot Sarah, Vernon’s wife, coming up toward me.

“Hold on,” she says. “Wait up.”

I stop walking and let her catch me. “What?” I ask. “You here to tell me I shouldn’t have done that?”

She shakes her head. “No, I’m here to apologize for my idiot husband. He’s just angry, like they all are.”

I sigh. “I know that, Sarah. This strike’s not easy.” I hesitate a second. “How’s Boone doing?”

“You know him,” she says, laughing. “He’ll be okay after some time off.” She eyes me for a second and sighs. “I believe you, okay, Samuel? And I know most of the guys do, too. Anybody that would ask after Boone after what happened in there is a decent man. Keep your head, okay?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Okay.”

She walks off and heads back inside. I go to my truck and slowly drive back home, but some of the anger’s slowly leaking out of me. I want to hate those bastards, but I can’t help but understand where they’re coming from.

My secret’s out now, at least. I don’t have to worry about them finding out that I’ve been fucking the enemy, since now they all know. If they want to replace me then fine, they’ll replace me. I’ll survive. I’ll keep fighting for them, however I can.

But if they don’t, I’m going to step up. I’m going to get everyone out of this mess, myself and Amelia included. As angry as I am at those guys back there, I still want Amelia, and I know I’m not going to back down anytime soon.