Matt had jerked his head back when she’d told him she’d thought he was dead. Why was he so surprised? Sure, finding out you were assumed dead would ordinarily be a bit of a shock, but why else would he have heard exactly zero from her for over ten years? If she’d had even a hint that he was still alive, just once over all those years, she would have done . . . what?

Regret and guilt flooded through her, and she dropped her head back on the pillow. She closed her eyes to avoid looking at, well, anything other than Matt. It hadn’t been long after his death—disappearance, now, she supposed—that she’d gotten together with James. Then not long after that, they’d been married. He’d been friendly, easy. Easy to look at, too. Lauren had been missing her best friend, her first love, and then within days told that he was dead; murdered alongside his father in a brutal attack by persons unknown. Sadness had turned to grief, and James had just been . . . easy. Easy to hang out with, easy to accept hugs from when she was having an especially bad day. Easy for the hugs to turn into touches, then kisses, and then, finally, more. She’d slipped into a relationship with him before she’d even realized, looking back. That was one thing James did have in common with his father—the ability to suck you in and take you under before you’d even realized what was happening. Lauren’s stomach churned. With James, that had been a good thing, helping her through one of the roughest points in her young life, giving her something to look forward to, someone to love . . . of course, then Brayden had come along and Lauren knew what it was really like to love someone with all your heart.

She opened her eyes. Matt was sitting in the chair next to her bed. His hands were clasped in front of him, almost as if he were praying, his head slightly bent but with his eyes open, staring at the floor. Perhaps he didn’t know what to say. She sure as hell didn’t. Did he even know about James? He’d clearly had some idea of what had happened in her life—he’d even mentioned James’ name earlier, but he’d seemed completely shocked when she’d mentioned he’d died. Or was it a reaction from learning everyone thought Matt was dead, too? She had no idea. Lauren looked up at the door. Brayden would be back soon. She was lucky he’d stayed away this long, but the tension between her and Matt was so strong, it was suffocating the whole room. Brayden was a smart kid. He’d know something was up the minute he walked back in. They had to get a handle on it before he came back.

She opened her mouth to get Matt’s attention, to say something, even though she had no idea what that was going to be. In the end, she managed nothing more than his name, “Matt . . .” It was left hanging there in the air as the door swung open. But instead of her son, a man in a white lab coat strode in the door. Her doctor.

“Mrs. Mancini. How are you feeling?” The man smiled kindly at her as he tapped away on a tablet. He looked up. “It’s good to see you awake. Your blood test results look good. Your CBC and CMP are okay, and your levels of carboxyhemoglobin and all the other nasty stuff are within acceptable levels.” Lauren’s head swam at the words, but Matt was nodding as if he understood perfectly, so she didn’t bother trying to ask any questions. She’d get him to explain later, after the doctor had gone. He must know a bit about injuries like hers, she realized, as part of being a firefighter. Maybe talking to him about something that was familiar would relieve some of the tension between them.

The doctor put down the tablet and then smiled at her again before walking over and checking the beeping screen that had slowly been driving her insane. “You’ll probably be tired and have a headache for a couple of days, but you’re a very lucky woman, Mrs. Mancini.” He nodded toward Matt. “Looks like you’ve got your own built-in hero, too.”

Lauren felt blush color her cheeks until they burned. Did everyone around here think Matt was her husband? God, if she was embarrassed, then he must be mortified. She opened her mouth to correct him and then snapped it shut. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to let them believe that. Then no one would be in any rush to go looking for her real next of kin. Besides, it didn’t look like Matt was as embarrassed as she’d thought by the whole thing. He was standing and chatting with the doctor at the foot of her bed. Lauren couldn’t quite hear what they were saying, but she didn’t really care. The doctor was right; she was exhausted. Maybe Matt wouldn’t mind taking care of Brayden a little longer. Her eyes drifted shut.

“I’d like to keep you in for observation for one more night,” the doctor said. Lauren opened her eyes. God, the guy was the smiliest person she’d ever met. He must win awards for bedside manner. “But you should be fine to go home tomorrow.”

She managed to get out a nod and a “thank you,” but that was all she had energy for. She heard Brayden saying hi to the doctor and the room’s door gently closing, but she couldn’t keep her eyes open a second longer. Matt was still there, and so they’d be safe. At least for the time being. She let herself succumb to sleep.

* * *

When Lauren next opened her eyes, she expected Matt to be gone. She hadn’t exactly given him a reason to stick around. She managed to catch her mouth before it dropped open in surprise, when the first thing that she saw was Matt and Brayden. Brayden was lying on the couch, propped up against an armrest, sound asleep, legs tucked up and with Matt’s jacket wrapped up around his shoulders. Matt sat squished up at the other end, flipping quietly through a magazine. She hadn’t made a single sound, and yet somehow he knew she was awake. He looked up, his gaze meeting hers.

Lauren braced herself for the anger she expected to see in his eyes, but there was none. Confusion, concern—maybe, but no anger. “Feeling better?” he asked.

She nodded, swallowing. She braced herself for the harsh pain she’d felt in her throat before, but there was nothing more than a slight rasp. “Much,” she said. Her voice was less croaky, too. Maybe she really would be able to go home the next day. Well, not home. She shifted in the bed, the sheets rustling quietly. Where was she going to go? She remembered Matt’s comment from before. The hotel was uninhabitable, everything burned away. With the size of the blaze, she shouldn’t have expected anything else.

Crap! Lauren jolted as she remembered. The cash! The escape fund that had taken her so long to build was all in cash, and it had all been hidden, stashed in different places in the hotel room. There was no way she’d be able to get in to get it. Even with Matt’s influence, she highly doubted anyone would let a civilian on the scene. There was no way in hell she was telling anyone, even Matt, why she needed to, either. Shame flooded her. When she’d last seem him, they’d both had their whole lives ahead of them. A life that she’d been sure she wanted to spend with Matt. But then the unthinkable had happened, and that life had gone up in flames. She huffed, cringing when it turned into a half-sob. Matt had already done so much for her. She refused to lose it in front of him, too.

James was supposed to have been the safe choice, someone who’d promised to take care of her when the love of her life had died. And she’d loved him, too. They’d raised a family together. It had been safe, comfortable. Until that night, when James had been ripped from her life and she’d started the whole grief process all over again.

Lauren sucked in a deep breath and steeled her resolve. Matt might want answers, and he was entitled to that, but after that, she was leaving town. She’d lost the man she loved twice already. She wouldn’t survive it again. There was no way she’d risk it. As soon as she could, she’d pack up what little she and Brayden owned, get the money from the hotel, and leave.

As soon as she made the plans, another thought slammed into her brain, freezing her on the spot. The fire. What if the money was all gone? In the end, it was just little bits of cloth. Fire didn’t discriminate. It wouldn’t care how long Lauren had scrimped and done without, hiding any money she could until she had enough to escape Victor. Hell, she’d be lucky if anything was left. It was likely that all she and Brayden had was the clothes on their backs. She twisted the sheets in her fingers, a lone tear dropping at the sight of the hospital gown she was dressed in. It looked like she had even less than that.

“What are the tears about?” Matt asked quietly. He didn’t move from the couch, but stretched out one long arm and rested it on the edge of her bed, stroking the back of her arm gently. Even the light touch of his fingers ignited something inside her that Lauren had thought long gone. She pushed the emotions aside. There was no way she could deal with that. She had enough to worry about. How did she tell him that she and Brayden were effectively homeless? “Lauren?”

Matt wasn’t going to give up. She brought her hands together in her lap. “I was just thinking about where Brayden and I are going to go from here.”

Matt’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean? We can find you another hotel, or I’m sure someone can get you a phone and you can call home . . .”

She shook her head vehemently, and surprise took over Matt’s features. “No!” The word came out far more harshly than she’d intended. She bit her lower lip. “I mean, I can’t.” This was it. She had to tell him something, or she risked Victor being contacted. She reached over, touching his forearm where it lay on the bed. The muscles in Matt’s arm rippled under her touch, and Lauren shivered again. She couldn’t let herself get distracted. “It hasn’t really been home for a while, Matt.” She watched as the confusion on his face was replaced with sympathy. She looked away. If there was one thing she didn’t want, it was his pity. She’d had far too much of that in recent years from people who turned out to want far more horrible things from her. She couldn’t afford to let her guard down again.

But this is Matt.

She refused to listen to her own thoughts. The number-one priority was keeping Brayden safe. What she wanted didn’t matter. Not anymore. “It’s just better for Brayden and me if we live somewhere else now. But everything I had was in that hotel room.” She stopped again, praying that he didn’t ask any questions. There were too many secrets that she wasn’t ready to reveal. She wasn’t sure if she ever would be. Already, Brayden had formed a connection with him that would be difficult to break if it went much further.

Matt sat silently, probably only for a few seconds, but to Lauren, it felt like years. When he opened his mouth, the words nearly made her fall out of the bed in shock. “Then you’re coming home with me.”