“See? Now was that so hard?” asked Mary.

I nodded my head. “It was very hard. I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing. I hate to think of life without him.”

“He’s just a man, honey. One man who got under your skin and into your bed. There are plenty of other fish in the sea.”

“Not like him, though,” I muttered.

“Maybe not, but you can’t dwell on it forever. I can watch the shop for today if you want me to?”

I sighed. “I don’t know. I like being here. It gives me something to do at least.”

The door opened and I looked up, ready to greet another customer, but when I saw who it was, I started to shake. Peyton was standing in the doorway, heading over to the counter where I was struggling to stay standing. Mary glared at him and stepped in front of me.

“She doesn’t want to talk to you. Find another bakery,” she hissed.

He looked around her to me. “Rosa, we have to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk to you. I thought I made that pretty clear. Or at least you did.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

I glared at him. “One second, everything is fine and the next, you’re cold. I think I can take a hint.”

“Please,” he begged. “Can we go somewhere private and talk about this? It’s not what you think. I don’t want this to end between us but we need to talk.”

“No,” interjected Mary. “She isn’t going anywhere with you.”

My heart raced as I looked away from him and started to head back to the kitchen. I couldn’t stand looking at him without wanting to give in to everything that he was saying. I had to be strong though. If he wanted to be with me, then I deserved some answers. There was still so much that I didn’t know about him because we never talked about his life. Instead, it was always about me. I chuckled. Most women would be thrilled to have the world revolve around themselves, but not me. I wanted to know who he was.

“Brandi,” he said softly.

I froze for a second before spinning around. “How do you know that name?”

“I told you, we need to talk,” he said softly.

I stumbled backward, and within seconds, he was behind the counter, holding me steady as he led me to the kitchen. Mary didn’t protest this time, and thankfully, she didn’t follow us, though I knew that she wanted to. I kept an eye on Peyton as he took a seat across from me. I hadn’t told anyone, including him, what my real name was. In a panic, I looked around to the nearest exit. The only way he would know that name was if he worked for Collins. Sensing my emotions, he reached out for me but I shrank away.

“Please, Rosa, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m trying to protect you.”

“Who the hell are you?” I muttered. “Did Collins send you?”

He nodded his head. “He did, but I don’t work for him anymore. Now I’m just trying to keep us both alive.”

“This entire time was a lie? What were you supposed to do? Seduce me then kill me?”

He swallowed but said nothing. I had hit home. “You are disgusting. I can’t believe I let myself fall for you.”

“Rosa, like I said, I’m not trying to hurt you. I just want to keep you safe, but others do want to hurt you. Collins will send more.”

“Now that he knows where I am, thanks to you.”

“Yeah, I know this is my fault. I’m trying to clean it up, but I need to get you somewhere safe.”

I jerked away from him. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“I can’t keep you safe from here, Rosa. How do you expect me to protect you if you won’t listen to me? At least come home with me and let Mary run the place. Just for today.”

I looked at the door and saw Mary standing there looking shocked. She had heard everything. Even if I kicked Peyton out, I would still have to talk to her about who I really was. I needed to make a decision—follow Peyton and hope he was telling the truth or face Mary and her dozens of questions I was sure she had. Or, I could just ignore them both. In an instant, I made a choice.

“I’m going home,” I said as I grabbed my purse. Peyton rose to follow me but I shot him a look that would stop a train. “Alone.”

“Rosa,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Those fateful words broke the dam that I was trying to keep under control. “You don’t think that’s a good idea? What the hell makes you think I give a damn what you think? You are just as bad as Collins, a liar and a killer.”

His eyes narrowed as he looked back at Mary. “Can you please give us some privacy?”

I nodded to her and she left as Peyton took a few steps closer to me. When he pushed me up against the wall, I felt the familiar flutter of desire as it coursed through my body. My passion knew something about him that my broken heart wouldn’t face. I didn’t resist him. I didn’t want to.

“Rosa, I care about you so much. Please don’t let my secret break us apart. You told me yours so I trusted you with mine.”

“How can we be together when your boss, my ex-boyfriend, wants me dead?” I asked.

“I am going to deal with him, then that’s it. No more running, no more hiding. Just me and you against the world.”

“Oh, Peyton,” I whispered as I pulled him down to my level and kissed him tenderly. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Rosa, I want you but we have to wait. There are other cards at play right now, but when you sent that message, all I could think about was getting to you and making sure that you were safe. I was so scared. I thought they’d gotten to you.”

“They?” I said as it dawned on me. “The Irish men from the other day. I knew there was something off about them.”

“You’ve got a good gut. Keep that in mind for the next few days. Let Mary run the shop and stay at home as much as possible. Don’t let anyone in.”

I didn’t like the way that he was talking. It sounded like the death speech a soldier gave his girl before going off to war. “This is silly. We have each other. Why don’t we just run again? I have you to protect me now. We can go global. I have a good bit of money in savings.”

He shook his head. “I would love nothing more than to run off to Cabo with you, Rosa, but we can’t leave just yet. Just promise me that you will go back to your house and stay put until you hear from me, okay?”

“Won’t you be there with me?” I asked.

He nodded. “Every second that I can be with you, I will. I need to get this plan underway though.”

“I still think we should just run. Neither of us has anything holding us down here, right?”

Peyton shifted under my gaze. “Collins . . . he said I had to bring him your head or Shannon would die.”

“Shannon? I didn’t realize she was even still with them. You would think after what happened, she would have left like I did, but when I tried to get her to testify against him with me, she skipped town. I found her again a few years ago, but it wasn’t safe for me to approach her. God, he really fucked her up. Talk about Stockholm’s.”

His face grew pale. “What the hell are you talking about? I know that you covered for the rapist and I’m willing to let that go. You were in a similar situation with Collins, right? You got away, so I can’t place too much blame on you, but right now, I could use some information.”

“What in God’s name are you talking about? I didn’t cover for any rapist! Why would I cover for him and then help the FBI to convict Collins? That just doesn’t make any sense.”

I watched his face change from shock to realization, and finally, it rested on rage. In that moment, I realized why he’d been so willing to hunt me. Collins had lied to him and told him I was the cover for Shannon’s rapist.

“Oh, my God,” I whispered. “You didn’t know Collins was the one who raped her.”