Cara

 

I smiled when I heard Damian's bike pull into the driveway. The last few weeks had been amazing, and I was looking forward to many more weeks just like that. But when I saw his face as he stepped through the door, I felt a stab of pain in my heart and a knot form in my stomach. Something was wrong.

 

“What is it?” I asked.

 

“I met with Mills,” he said. “It didn't go so well.”

 

“What happened?”

 

He told his story to me, and with each word he spoke, I felt the knot in my stomach grow tighter and tighter while the lump in my throat grew larger and larger. When he was finished, I felt wrung out – and like I needed a drink. But I needed to keep my head clear.

 

“So, what are you going to do?” I asked.

 

He sighed and leaned back on the couch. “The way I see it, I have two options – I can run, or I can go to the cops.”

 

I shook my head. “If you go to the cops, you'll be implicating yourself – in multiple murders,” I said. “You will be locked up for the rest of your life. That's a complete non-starter.”

 

“Then that only leaves me running as an option,” he said softly and then looked at me. “Would you come with me? You and Austin? We can get out of this place. Start over somewhere else. It'd be a fresh start for all of us – completely free of the Kings.”

 

The knot in my stomach constricted so hard, I almost cried out in pain. What he was asking me to do – to just walk away from the life I'd built here – I wasn't sure I could do. My job was here. Austin's school and his friends were here. As much as I loved Damian, I didn't know that I could just uproot our lives on a moment's notice like that.

 

Damian nodded but said nothing, seeming to sense my answer without me having said anything. I watched as his face fell, as sadness and pain were etched into his features. My heart broke just looking at him going through those emotions. But I didn't know what else to do.

 

“What about the vote?” I asked softly. “Couldn't you still win the vote? Get him ousted instead?”

 

“Sure, it's possible,” he said, his voice suddenly so subdued. “But he'd still be around the city – and more pissed off than ever. I'd spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, just waiting for him to pop up and put two in the back of my head. I don't want to live my life like that. And I sure as hell don't want to put you and Austin in the middle of something like that.”

 

I sighed and felt tears of sadness and frustration welling in my eyes. I grabbed hold of his hand and squeezed it, burying my face into his chest as I tried to figure out something – anything – we could do to get out from under this.

 

“But because there's the possibility that the vote could go my way,” he said, “this whole thing is just a facade. We're never going to have the vote.”

 

I looked up at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

 

“Mills is so worried that I'm going to beat him and that he's going to lose the gavel,” he said, “I guarantee he's going to try to take me out before we can have the vote. If I'm dead, there's no need for the vote. He'll probably try to make it look like Fantasmas retaliation.”

 

I shook my head, trying to deny what he was saying. “You don't know that for sure. You don't know that's going to happen.”

 

“I do know that, actually, Cara. I know how his mind works. I've known guys like him. He's afraid of losing, so his only play is to take me out. Which is why I need to get out of town.”

 

The tears raced down my cheeks, and I didn't make any effort to stop them. Why bother? Just when things in my world looked like they were going well, when I was happy, they all fell to shit once more. It was the goddamn story of my life.

 

“Is there any way I can talk you into coming with me?” he asked.

 

I looked up at him, the tears streaming down my face. “I–I can't, Damian. My whole life, not to mention Austin's, is here and I—”

 

His smile was soft and sad. “It's okay, Cara. I understand. I get it.”

 

He didn't understand it though. My heart was shattering into a million little pieces – and I didn't know that I'd ever be able to piece it all back together again. This wasn't fair. It wasn't right. And I hated God or whoever for doing this to me. To us.

 

I looked up at him, my body racked with sobs. “How long will you be gone?” I asked. “Will you ever be coming back?”

 

He sighed and gave me that sad little smile again. “I don't know,” he admitted. “I'm pretty sure Mills is going to put out a shoot to kill order if I ever show my face around here again.”

 

I threw my arms around him and held him tight. I didn't want to lose him, but I couldn't uproot Austin either. Not to mention turn my own world upside down. What would I do for work if I picked up and ran with Damian?

 

My heart said go with him, but everything else told me to play it smart. Play it safe. And be practical.

 

“I love you, Cara.”

 

I sniffed loudly. “I love you too.”

 

I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to piece my heart back together again.