I hated everything about standing and watching Sky walk to the bus stop. I hated not having her in my arms. I hated seeing the tension in her shoulders, the forced determination in her walk. And, most of all, I hated knowing that she was right.

I hadn’t intended to touch her when I’d waited to give her a ride. Of course I’d wanted to. I’d thought about not much else since the last moment I’d had her in my arms. But I knew there was a lot we needed to talk about, sort out. I didn’t want to be an adulterous dawg. I swore I didn’t.

But then the second we’d gotten into the cab of my truck, it was like a rising tide all around me, the desire to touch her, hold her, kiss her. It drowned out my other thoughts, overwhelmed my rational intentions. And then when she’d taken my hand and brought it right where she wanted it? That hadn’t exactly slowed me down.

She had the sweetest pussy I’d ever touched, so slick and hot. The way she moaned and twisted against me, I’d be replaying those moments over and over in my head on an endless loop. But I had to respect her wishes. She’d asked me to leave her alone.

Except Griller was a coldblooded bastard. She had to know that. And she’d admitted she didn’t love him.

I had Zeke just waiting to get tipped off. Next time Griller showed up at my bar, I could place a call. Then I could detain him, plying him with free drinks, keeping him happy, guard down, until Reapers showed up at the door. It would be so easy.

Personally, I wouldn’t even have a guilty conscience. Griller had been playing with fire for a long time. I’d heard stories that made even me feel a cold chill, the kind of stuff that let you know he didn’t just torture and kill with efficiency, he enjoyed it. He loved his work.

But when I’d asked Sky to leave him, she’d told me it wasn’t that easy. Maybe she still felt attached to him? Maybe she didn’t want a divorce? In a world filled with people leaving each other, passing in and out of each other’s lives regardless of promises and commitments as significant as children, was it possible Sky felt like she had an unbreakable bond?

But she could be talking about the logistics of leaving. Maybe she’d made up her mind that she wanted a divorce, but she had to figure out how to do it. Griller wasn’t the type of guy to walk away easy. Even though he’d now clearly shacked up with another woman, he likely viewed Sky as his possession. The man was a Neanderthal.

Not that I was exactly the most advanced man on the planet. I was neither a vegan astrophysics college professor nor a macrobiotic Nobel-prize winning author. I was a man, plain and simple, who liked cold beer, red meat and hot women. Only that plural term had narrowed down to one, just one woman for months now. And I had a serious caveman urge to carry her over my shoulder back to my cave and make her mine.

I had to find a way to talk to her. I would just have to tie my hands behind my back while I did it. That was the problem with getting too close. Now that I knew how good it felt to reach out, her silky skin, her soft lips, the need radiating out from her every movement, every sound, I didn’t know how I could resist.

A week went by without seeing or hearing from her. I hated it, but she’d clearly told me what she wanted. So I held back. I knew we’d run into each other at Cavallo Canyon sooner or later. Until one week became two, then three. By my third visit with Ace, it was early September, and I was worried.

“Have you seen Sky lately?” I asked Ace, not caring any more if I sounded like I had a crush. I did, and I wanted to know where she was.

“I haven’t seen Sky at all.” He looked unhappy. “One of the other aides told me she quit. Without even saying goodbye!”

Out in the hallway, I stopped one of the nurses walking past. “Hey, do you know where Sky is? Sky Cabrillo?”

“She doesn’t work here anymore.” She walked away, not offering any more information. I stood there, stunned. When had Sky quit? Why had she done it? I felt like someone had sucker punched me, hard.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but one of my first thoughts was about my own loss. I’d never get to see her again while I visited Ace. Without the ability to make plans with her the way I wanted, I’d more than looked forward to those casual encounters. I’d depended on them. Now, nothing bound us together. I had no legitimate reason to get in touch with her. In fact, the last thing she’d said to me was “leave me alone.” Who knew when I’d ever see her again? Was it possible for someone who meant so much to me to simply disappear, to vanish from my life without a trace?

But then a much worse thought had occurred to me. Sky might be in trouble. Suddenly leaving her job wasn’t like her. I’d seen her at work enough to know she was a responsible person. She took her job seriously. It wasn’t like her to up and quit without saying a proper goodbye to all the residents who’d become so attached to her.

She’d only have quit if she were pressured to do it. I felt it in my bones. Had Griller forced her to leave her job? Had he hurt her?

After a quick goodbye, I hopped on my bike and rode straight over to Sky’s place. I knew she might not be alone, and going there was in direct violation of what she’d most recently asked of me. But I needed to see her, at least to assure myself that she was all right. I didn’t want to hear that from her via text, or even a phone call. I had to see for myself.

I rang and knocked, impatient for the door to open. Good or bad, I had to know what was going on. After a short while, I heard fumbling with the deadbolt and Sky appeared.

“You shouldn’t be here.” She instantly started to back away, closing the door behind her.

“Sky.” I stepped forward, wanting to reach out and touch but stopping myself before I did it. “Talk to me for a minute.”

She looked down, hair hiding part of her face. She shook her head and repeated. “You shouldn’t be here.” But she kept the door ajar.

“Two minutes, Sky. I just want to make sure you’re OK. I heard you’re not working at the home anymore.”

She sighed, her shoulders sagging under an invisible, heavy weight. “I shouldn’t do this,” she muttered, but then she opened the door. “Two minutes,” she echoed my request. “But then you have to get out of here.”

She shut the door behind me, but before she did she looked both ways, like we were criminals up to no good. I cringed at the implication, partially because I knew it had some truth to it. Real adult life was so much more complicated than I’d thought as a kid. I remembered how my father used to cheat on my mother, and how I’d promised myself I’d never do that kind of thing to a woman. Now here I was, sniffing around a married woman’s heels. Only I promised myself, this time I’d keep my hands to myself.

Up in her kitchen, things didn’t look right. It was messy, the shades drawn, no sign of the usual energy and liveliness Sky seemed to embody. She closed the apartment door behind her, then stood with her arms crossed, still looking down, not meeting my eyes.

“How are you, Sky?” I felt even more concerned than I had when I’d first arrived. “Are you all right? Why did you quit your job?”

She exhaled, shaking her head. It was when she brought her hand to her forehead that I caught a glimpse. With her hair further back away from her face, I could see a dark bruise along her cheekbone.

“Sky.” At her side, I took her hand, went to touch her face. She jerked away, putting space between us.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine.” She let her hair fall back down again, hiding the worst of the bruising.

“Did he do that to you?” My voice tight and controlled, fury churned up inside of me. I knew before she answered. Griller had done it, the fucking monster.

“It’s not your business.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have brought you up here. You should go.”

Before she could open the door again, I asked, “Did he hurt you?”

She rubbed her forehead and muttered, “He was angry. We got in a fight.”

“Motherfucker!” I kicked the side of the refrigerator. The loud clang echoed throughout the small apartment.

“Jax, I don’t need another big, pissed-off guy storming around here.”

I ran a hand over my head, trying to calm myself down. She was right. It wouldn’t do anyone any good for me to lose my temper. Not yet anyway. I could save that for when I could plant my fist into Griller’s skull.

“What did you fight about?” I remembered the last time I was there, how I’d snuck out the window and down the fire escape like an escaped convict. Was there any chance he’d found out? Had I gotten her in trouble? “He doesn’t think—?”

“He does think I’m cheating on him,” she confirmed, sounding as bitter as I’d ever heard her. “He made me quit my job because of it. But he has no idea about you.”

“Why then?”

“Because he found my birth control pills.” She threw up her hands in exasperation. “I may as well tell you everything.” She shook her head and continued. “Mike wanted to fix things between us by having a kid, but I wanted to leave him so I went on the pill. Then he found them because I suck at hiding things. And he got furious.”

I wanted to take her into my arms so badly my teeth hurt from clenching my jaw. But I didn’t, even though I noticed how she shook, how she’d lost weight. She had shadows under her eyes, but still she looked so heartbreakingly beautiful.

“He should never…” I had to pause, balling my fists as rage pumped through my veins. “He has no right to hurt you.”

“I was stupid. I left them right out on the counter where he could find them.”

“You’re an honest person. That’s not a bad thing.”

“I’ve sucked at hiding things from you, too, haven’t I?” She eyed me ruefully. “You’ve probably known for months I’ve had a crush on you.”

“I was too caught up in my own to know for sure.” I hated that we were finally having this conversation while she stood across the room from me, a dark bruise blooming on her face. The bastard deserved to die. The urge to protect her rose up so fierce, I barely had any room to register she was expressing feelings for me.

With a nervous glance at the clock on the stove, she started toward the door again. “Anyway, you should get going, Jax. What if he walked in right now?”

“What if you walked out right now?” The words came out before I’d fully thought them through, but the second I said them I knew I absolutely meant it. “Leave with me. Walk away. You’ve said you want to. Do it now, with me.” Urgent, I moved toward her, wanting to take her hand. But again, as if we were magnets with opposing forces, she pushed away, maintaining distance.

“I can’t.”

“Why not? I care about you, Sky. I know I don’t know you that well, yet. But I’d like to. I’d like to help you. See that you’re safe.” I reached out, trying to touch her hair, but she brushed my hand away.

“I can’t think with you here talking like that.” She sounded frustrated, not swayed.

“Then let’s leave and have the conversation somewhere else.” She looked so frail and sad there in the dark kitchen. I wanted to take her to my house. Or even better, I could take her someplace down in Mexico with a beach. I could whisk her away, the two of us sipping tropical drinks and making love—

“It’s not that simple.” She interrupted my train of thought. “I’m married.”

“But you want to leave him.” Why wasn’t she seeing this the way I was?

“I need time to work this out,” she insisted, like I was making things harder and more complex instead of the other way around. “I’m going to leave him. But I can’t leave him for you.”

“Let me help.” But I could already sense her answer. She wasn’t yielding, wasn’t feeling persuaded at all. If anything, she was growing more agitated, more anxious for me to leave.

“It’s too complicated.”

“Damn, Sky.” I rubbed my head, looking at the floor. It seemed like a lot for her to take on. I didn’t want to list all the obstacles, but it wasn’t just that Griller was a hell of a mean guy. He was also part of a club of blood brothers, men who wouldn’t blink an eye over killing a girl who crossed any of their paths. If Griller didn’t want her to leave him, he could sure make it hard for her to do it. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. And not just because he’ll kill us both if he finds us together.” She gave a bitter laugh. “It’s…” She struggled for words. “It’s a big deal to end a marriage. I don’t want to do it because I’m infatuated with you. I need to do it for myself. Because I’m worth it.”

I nodded, struggling to listen and not crush her against my chest and carry her off. She was infatuated with me? Fuck.

“You need to go, Jax.” This time, she reached the door, standing with her hand on the knob. “When it’s all over, maybe we can, I don’t know, be friends. But for now, you have to promise me you’ll leave me alone. Please.”

She looked and sounded close to tears. I’d headed over to her apartment to make sure she was OK. Now, I knew she wasn’t, and I might have made things worse.

“I’ll go,” I promised. It hurt like hell to see how relieved that seemed to make her. “But promise me, Sky. If you need help for any reason, if he so much as lays a hand on your head—”

“Jax,” she cut me off, looking more distressed than ever.

“Call me. Find me. You have my address. I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night. I care about you, Sky. More than you know.”

It was the tip of the iceberg, but it was all I got to say. She opened the door and saw me out. She didn’t agree that she’d come to me for help. She didn’t offer me any words of assurance. All she did was whisper, “Good-bye, Jax,” as she closed the door and left me standing there outside, alone.