I stand with my arms crossed over my chest as I stare out of the window towards the trees. This is where the guy had been watching Corey, and the thought has anger building inside me. I don't want to have to leave another home, but I will do it in a heartbeat to protect him. I won’t rush into that decision though, not when the thought of uprooting Corey again pulls at my heart. He loves it here and has made a few friends in town. Not anyone who would come over for coffee, but people who he could turn to in a crisis, and he needs that when I have to go and check on any new leads I get. I hate leaving him, but it’s the only way to make sure the rest of our life will be better, more secure. I can’t spend my life moving him from one place to another. I refuse to have him living like that. No, I need to find out who is after us and I need to find out soon.

My eyes scan the edge of the tree-line again. Something feels off. I've been feeling it for a few weeks now, but it's getting worse. It’s like I can sense a danger looming over us, and there’s nothing I can do about it. That's why I need to leave again, but the thought of having to tell Corey is making me nervous. I’ve barely been home for two hours, and already I’ve been here longer than I should have, but explaining to him that I need to leave, well, that's never easy. Corey might be smaller than me, but he’s scary as fuck when he gets mad. People probably look at him and see this mild-mannered, polite guy, but I have been on the receiving end of his temper, and it’s something I try to avoid when possible.

My first encounter with Corey’s anger was within the first week after leaving the compound. I didn’t see it coming, and that's maybe why it shocked me so much. We had been living in a small cottage near Loch Lomond, and Corey loved that place. We would spend our days walking the area and exploring, just enjoying being together. The day the envelope arrived changed everything, and that's what caused the outburst. I didn’t ask his opinion on us leaving the little cottage we had planned on calling home, just took over and made all the decisions. The letter arrived, and I panicked, packing all our belongings before Corey had time to work out what was happening. He followed me around our bedroom, the first one that we had shared as an actual couple, begging to know what was going on. When I didn’t answer him, he picked up a vase and threw it at my head. He told me afterwards that he hadn’t been aiming for me, but when it shattered against the wall inches from my head, I felt he was. I can laugh about it now. The fact is my sweet little boyfriend has a temper worse than some of the criminals that I’ve met, but it also makes telling him I'm leaving a worrying prospect.

“You’re leaving again.”

The sound of his voice pulls me out of my head, and I turn to look at Corey. He’s staring at the bag sitting on the bed that I had packed when he was in the shower. I was going to talk to him before he saw it, but I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear the shower going off. “I have to meet with a friend. He’s pretty sure he can help me trace the emails that I got.”

Corey nods his head slowly before looking me square in the eyes. “What emails?”

Shit. I hadn’t meant to let it slip that I’d been receiving threatening emails the last few weeks. I bite my lip to try and come up with an answer that won’t have him angrier with me than he already is. He mimics the way I was standing a few minutes earlier, his arms crossed over his naked chest. I let my eyes take him in, remembering how much he screamed when I bent him over the kitchen unit, and if his eyes weren’t filled with anger, I would tell him how fucking sexy he looks. “Core …”

“Don't fucking Core me, Niko. I’m sick of this. I just want to get on with our lives. I’ve spent too long hiding. Why can’t we just forget about this person and if they come to our door again, we will deal with them? They probably don't even know where we are now.”

I feel a deep growl building in my chest, and I'm moving before it has a chance to leave my body. I grip Corey by the back of the neck and tip his head back so he can see me clearly. He might be a little firecracker at times, but I need to make sure he knows that when it comes to his safety, I'm completely in charge. “Never gonna happen. The day a threat turns up at this door is the day I’ve failed. I never fail, Corey, so listen closely. I’m leaving for what I'm hoping is the last time, but if it isn’t, I can live with that. I will travel the world for the rest of my life if it keeps you safe.” I lean in and claim his mouth, letting my tongue brush against his before I pull back and meet his eyes again. “I will not risk you, Core. I spent too long watching you hurt. I won’t do it anymore.”

Corey blinks a few times, and I know that he's trying to hold back tears. He hates crying, and he always struggles against it. He blows out a breath, but it’s not enough to get himself under control. “I just miss you, I want you to be here with me.”

I use my thumb to gently wipe the tears from his cheeks. “I know, babe. This hurts me too, spending so much time away from you when this was meant to be the start of our life together. This one last thing, okay? After I sort this out, it will be just you and me.”

A sob escapes Corey before he wraps himself around my body. I hold on tightly to him, hoping that I'm not lying by telling him it will be over soon.

* * *

When I reach the end of the long dirt track that leads from our cabin, I turn my car left, heading away from the small town that I have barely spent a few minutes in. I'm hoping to make our home here and I haven’t even had the time to look around. The most important thing about the location was that it was secluded. I had looked into the local area before choosing it, and the small sleepy town with just a café, a pub, and a corner shop seemed like the perfect place to come. It’s barely a dot on the map, and if I couldn’t find it without really searching, then I don't think anyone would look for us here.

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly as I try to calm myself down. Leaving Corey is always hard, but today was harder than usual. I want to think it’s because of the person lurking around, but it’s not. No, it’s because I told him I would only be gone a few days and that was a downright lie. This next part of my search is going to take at least a week, but I couldn’t tell him that. He is going to be pissed when he finds out and I don't blame him. I should have been man enough to tell him the truth, but as I looked into his already sad eyes, I lost the words. I didn’t want to make him hurt any more than he already was.

With that thought, I press the hands-free button on the steering wheel. When the automated voice prompts me, I tell it to call memory one, and I wait for it to connect.

“Niko?”

“Hey, Boss.”

Ryden laughs, and I smile at the sound. In all the time I worked for Ryden I don't think I saw him smile before those last few months, so the sound of his laughter is still strange, but it makes me happy. “I'm not your boss anymore, Niko, you don't have to call me that. I didn’t expect to hear from you. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I was just calling to ask if we could delay your visit?” I hate to ask him to do it, especially when I think it would be great for Corey, but the timing is wrong.

“Problems?”

He knows a little about our situation, but I didn’t want to bother him with our problems. He walked away from his entire life to be with Drake, and I hate to drag him back into that when it’s not his problems. “You could say that. Fuck, I don't even know what to tell you.”

“How about all of it?”

I don't want to bore him with all the details, but I would love to have someone to talk to who understands the risks if things go wrong. “Someone found us. That's why we moved.”

“What do you mean by found you?”

“We got a letter at the other house, and it had Corey’s driving license in it. The one with his real name.”

The silence is almost deafening, and I check to see if the call is still connected. It is, so I wait, letting Ryden have a moment to process what I'm saying. When he finally speaks, the words are tinged with anger. “I buried all that. I made sure that every trace of you and Corey was gone. You don't exist. I don't understand. Has there been anything since you moved?”

“I started getting emails about a month ago. Here’s the thing. It’s to a new address I made, and I’ve only had it a few weeks. No one knows about it, not even Corey.” This is the main reason I’ve been so worried. There’s nothing connecting me to that specific account, and I haven’t told anyone about it. I only made it so I could email myself any vital information to store. I don't have a secure computer yet, so it’s the best way to keep things private… or so I thought.

“Fuck. Are you both okay? Are you sure you don't want us to come and help you both?”

“I'm leaving town right now to see an old friend who might be able to help.”

“You’re leaving Corey alone?” Ryden probably doesn’t mean it as an accusation, but that's how it comes across, and it angers me enough that I grip the steering wheel.

“Yes, I'm leaving him alone. He's safer there than by my fucking side. Don't make it sound like I'm abandoning him.”

“Niko, I swear I didn’t mean it like that. I'm just worried about you both. Are you sure he’s safe on his own? Drake and I could come down and stay with him.”

I'm tempted by the offer, and I know that Ryden would kill someone as easily as breathing if he thought Corey was in danger, but there’s a part of me that's reluctant to accept the help. I want to believe I can protect Corey on my own. He’s mine and I should be able to look after him, and it’s killing me to know that I might not be able to. I grip the steering wheel harder as I remember the last email that came in.

My stomach churns with bile at the thought of Corey being hurt, and that should have me accepting Ryden’s offer, but there is also the other part of the note that has me wanting him to stay away. The sender never mentioned Ryden or Drake, but I can’t risk them being found, so they need to stay as far away from us as possible. I can’t have any more blood on my hands. “I don't think you should come. The emails mentioned watching friends, so stay put but watch your back. Fuck, I'm sorry I’ve probably got you involved with all my shit.”

“Shut up, Niko. Have you forgotten who you’re talking to? Have you forgotten what I did? I know that if you thought there was any risk to Drake or me, you would be here.”

He's right. If I had any sort of confirmation that the threats in the email were real, I would be on Ryden’s doorstep before anything happened. “I think we should all just carry on as normal. So far there has been nothing to make me think that there is anything to worry about, but if it changes, I’ll let you know. I just think … shit, I don’t know, that maybe we would be safer if we weren’t all in the same place right now.”

“I understand. I'm not happy about it, but I understand. If there’s anything you need, then just let me know. You don't have to do this alone. I still know a few people.”

It’s my turn to laugh now. I'm sure that Ryden has more than a few people that he still knows. I’m under no illusions that even though he walked away from the darker side of his family business, he always knows exactly what is happening with it. “Thanks, Boss. Just stay safe, and I’ll be in touch.”

“Stop calling me that. Be safe, Niko, and call me as soon as you know anything.”

I hang up without replying, feeling slightly more relaxed than I did a few minutes ago. I hadn’t called with the intention of warning Ryden, but now that he is aware of what's going on, I feel nerves I didn’t know I had settled. One call down and one more to make. I press connect, and it’s answered after barely one ring.

“Niko, my brother. When will your arse be here? I have stuff to show you.” It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since I last spoke to Clay, he always makes it seem like no time has passed. I’ve known him ever since I enlisted his help to find my missing sister Lexi. When the job went to shit and I lost her, Clay was the one who held me together. He was a stranger, but he saw my pain and how close I was to ending my life, and he stepped in to show me how to grieve properly. Clay saved my life the day he turned up at my door and kicked my arse, and I mean he literally kicked my arse. I’d been sitting on my couch with my gun in my hand trying to build up the courage to eat a bullet, and the next thing I know my front door was lying on the living room floor and my face was on fire where he’d punched me.

From that day on, I knew that we would be friends. Not the kind that would go to the pub for a drink, but one you can count on for the real things in life.

“I'm on my way. I can’t fly so I need to drive. That’s gonna take a little longer.” It’s vital that Corey and I don't leave a paper trail, to stay as invisible as possible, even for our new identities. Someone obviously knows about them, and they could be waiting for us to make ourselves known, and a flight would be a dead giveaway. Even the cabin we’re staying in and the car I'm driving is registered to one of Ryden’s many aliases, making it even harder to find us.

“What are you driving these days? Please tell me it’s something manly and not one of those environmentally friendly pieces of shit. I’ll grow old before you get here.”

“I don't even know why I like you.”

“My arse looks good in jeans.”

I burst out laughing, feeling lighter than I have in weeks. “Yeah, that's the reason. But to answer your question, I'm driving a pretty nice Beemer, so it won’t take me long to get there.” Truthfully, it wouldn’t matter what I was driving, going slow isn’t something I know how to do.

“Well, let’s not get a ticket. It’s easier to fly under the radar if you don't get pulled over for doing stupid shit.”

“Oh ye of little faith. When have you ever known me to do illegal shit?”

This earns me a loud laugh from Clay, and as much as I'm going to miss Corey like crazy, I'm looking forward to seeing my old friend. It’s been far too long. “And at that, I'm going to bow out before I say something that will earn me a punch. Drive safe, my friend, see you soon.” He hangs up, leaving me in silence.

I need to drown out the quiet, so I turn on the stereo, making sure it’s loud enough that the only thing I will focus on is the music. I have a long drive ahead of me, and I need to drown out the voices in my head that are always asking questions I can’t answer. I shouldn’t be this in the dark about what's happening. I'm usually the one who intimidates others, the one who always has the power, the one who has control over everything that's happening. This time I'm struggling, and I feel the net around Corey and me closing tighter, and when it reaches us I'm afraid I won't be able to save us both.

I press the accelerator harder, making the car lurch forward even faster. I need to get to Clay so I can find out who is after me. I can’t fail Corey.