Cole’s hand slips down the smooth flesh on my back. He rolls over in his sleep but keeps his arm around me. After having sex and then filling up on cookies, we came upstairs to shower and sleep. I was tired in the shower. Tired when I lay down to go to bed. But my fucking characters wouldn’t shut up.

Cole fell asleep quickly, and his deep, rhythmic breathing is comforting. And, oddly, inspiring. Lying there next to him, naked, warm, and really fucking happy, is making me want to give my characters their own happy ending. But they have to go through some dark shit first.

And I like writing the dark shit. How fucked up is that? Maybe it’s because I know how the story ends that it doesn’t bother me. I’ll put them through hell now, knowing I’ll make things come full circle later and let them get married and have a baby or two.

Slowly, I sneak out of bed, picking my bathrobe up off the floor. I slip my arms in and shiver. Tiptoeing, I go to my suitcase and pull out a clean pair of PJ pants. I’ve kept everything in the suitcase so far. I’m just visiting, plus I’m lazy. If I’m going to be here for more than a few days, I should probably unpack, though I’m not sure where to put my stuff. Is it too soon to worry about getting my own drawer?

Whatever…it doesn’t matter.

I grab socks and go to the bathroom to pee and get dressed. Then I head downstairs and fire up my computer. There’s still coffee in the pot from a few hours ago. I pour myself a small mug and microwave it since the pot was turned off and the liquid energy has gone cold. I sit at the island counter, snacking on cookies while sipping my coffee, and pound out two thousand more words. This book is going to be slightly longer than the last, which I like for some reason. Though when I imagine the paperback copies of the books, I want them to be similar in thickness. I roll my eyes at myself. That doesn’t matter as long as I’m telling the story these characters want me to tell.

I rub my eyes, feeling exhilarated yet exhausted. It’s going on three a.m., and Cole is going to get up in just a few short hours. I save my novel, finish one last cookie, then go upstairs to brush my teeth again and snuggle with Cole.

I pass out the moment my head hits the pillow and don’t even wake up when Cole’s alarm goes off in the morning. I would have stayed asleep if he didn’t gently kiss me and whisper a goodbye in the morning before he left.

Once he’s out the door, I stretch out and get comfy. I hear the distant beeps of Cole arming the alarm system. I lay in bed half awake, too tired and too lazy to get up. I grab my phone and do a quick mindless social media check, and then log onto Pinterest to look at domestic household projects that I’ll never actually do but pin anyway. I set my phone down and close my eyes, drifting back to sleep and not waking for three more hours. This whole working from home thing is a dream come true.

I get up, get dressed, and sit in the kitchen filling up on junk food as I write until Lexi texts me and says she’s on her way and wants to know if I care to join her as she runs errands or just wants to meet for lunch.

Wanting to get out and do something, I tell her I’ll gladly accompany her on her shopping trips today. I get another thousand words in my book and then log onto Instagram, shocked to see over a hundred new followers.

New York Times Bestselling author Quinn Harlow—who I know is good friends with Lexi—tagged me in a post saying she just finishing reading my debut novel and—oh my fucking God—loved it! She ended her post by saying, “If you haven’t added Scarlett Levine to your TBR list yet, you need to!”

“Holy. Fucking. Shit,” I whisper to myself, unable to keep the smile off my face. The first thing that hits me is how incredibly amazing Quinn is and how big of a following she has. All she did was make one post about a book she read—a mere twenty minutes ago—and I already have a hundred and thirty new Instagram followers. I click on the links she posted, which takes me to Goodreads, a book review site I’ve been warned about by my agent, Lexi, and now the Black Ink publicist to stay away from, and see that All I Need has been added to a ton of new readers’ to-be-read lists.

I do a little happy dance in my seat and grab my phone to call my mom. I want to tell Cole, but I know he’s busy at work. He told me last night that he’s a bit behind on edits due to all the crap he’s had to deal with at work lately. And I know he’s been distracted with me, though I don’t really feel bad about it. I like to think I’m a good distraction.

“Hi, honey!” Mom answers on the third ring. “How are you?”

“Great!” I start. “You’ll never guess who read and loved my book!”

Mom, who’s also a fan of Quinn Harlow’s raunchy romances, is just as excited as I am. We talk about books for a few minutes, and then Mom inevitably turns the conversation back to me and my personal life.

“You’re still at your editor’s house, right?”

“Yeah,” I say, cradling the phone to my ear with my shoulder. “Though technically, I’m at my boyfriend’s house now.”

A few seconds pass before she says, “Wow, honey.”

“Don’t sound too thrilled, Mom.”

“I’m not not thrilled,” she says quickly. “I’m incredibly thrilled. This is making me a bit emotional, to be honest.”

“Mom,” I start, knowing exactly where this is going.

“I want you to be happy. You’re such a good person. Your father…he’d be so proud.” She breaks off, voice tight. Tears fill my eyes and my bottom lip quivers. Neither of us speaks for a few seconds. If we do, our words will turn into sobs. My heart aches and I miss my dad so damn much.

I dedicated my book to him. He taught me to never give up, to keep going despite the odds. That sometimes the harder things are, the more worthwhile they are in the end. He was the one who wanted to name me after a superhero, though he reminded me time and time again that it doesn’t take supernatural powers to do amazing things.

“Tell me about Cole,” Mom says, clearing her throat. “He is the boyfriend, right?”

“Yes, Mom,” I reply with a laugh. “Cole is officially my boyfriend now. He’s just great, Mom.” I lean back in the chair and smile. “He’s kind and handsome and has this sexy confidence but isn’t arrogant…and he makes me feel good about myself. Which I believe is how relationships are supposed to make you feel.”

“When do I get to meet him?”

Her question doesn’t throw me because I’ve actually thought about it. If Cole wants to be serious, he’s going to have to meet my family. “I don’t know. He lives here.”

“And you live here. So do I. I’m sure his mother will get to meet you sooner than later.”

“Probably not, Mom. He said his parents live in Orlando. But his brother lives here and I met him. My first editor, Lexi, is Cole’s sister-in-law, remember?”

“Yes, I remember you told me. I’m glad you’re getting along out there. It’s nice knowing you’re with someone you can trust.”

Now that throws me. And it’s not about Cole’s trust. It’s that my mom doesn’t know Steven is here. She’s resting easy thinking that I’m out of that psycho’s grasp. I close my eyes and all the giddy feelings that were bubbling inside of me are gone.

Just like that, Steven can ruin my day without even trying.

“It’s nice being here with him,” I say back. “I’m actually going out with Lexi. She should be here soon, so I should probably get ready.”

“Okay, honey. Be safe. Love you!”

“Love you too, Mom.” I hang up and go back to Instagram, needing that high again.

* * *

“Can I ask you something?” I look at Lexi, who’s holding her daughter, Harper. We walked a few blocks and the one-and-a-half-year-old toddled along the sidewalk, happily jibber-jabbering to herself and trying to pick up every little piece of garbage on the sidewalk that she spotted. Which was a lot, by the way. Now she’s passed out in Lexi’s arms, her little lips squished together in a resting duck-face against Lexi’s shoulder. Seeing her like that, all sweet and innocent—and quiet—makes me feel the slightest inkling of baby fever. Then I remind myself that before I can get a cute toddler like Harper, I have to go through being pregnant and taking care of a newborn.

“Of course.” Lexi gently shifts Harper to her other side. Our pace has slowed a bit and we’re getting passed by other walkers. We’re in Manhattan and are headed to lunch.

“It might sound weird,” I preface.

“I like weird.”

“Good. Because I’m a bit weird. Anyway…I was wondering if I’m the only one who feels this way because it makes no sense. And maybe I’m being presumptuous to even assume you feel this way. I’m only asking because I know you were in a serious relationship before.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I feel like I’ve insulted Lexi. She’s my only friend in New York City besides Cole, and I don’t want to lose her. I really like Lexi.

“Yeah.”

“I was too, before Cole. And it ended badly. Now I’m so scared of things going wrong again. I feel like if I let myself be happy and enjoy this, I’m damning it all to hell. Is that crazy?”

“Not at all,” she says without hesitation. “And I know what you mean. When Luke and I first started dating, I was so sure he’d turn out to be a loser like my ex or that he’d get tired of me and dump me the first chance he got, I almost let it ruin us. My insecurities made me jump to conclusions and assume the worst about Luke without talking to him first. And that wasn’t fair to him. It’s almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy and I looked for things I could pick apart. I wanted to find the bad before the bad found me, but there wasn’t anything there. At all. Looking for things that can go wrong is a sure way to not find them, but create them.”

“I never thought of it that way. But you’re right. You’re so right.” Cole told me that Lexi’s ex-husband is a huge asshole. I saw a bit of it firsthand when he showed up uninvited at Lexi’s middle daughter’s birthday party. He demanded to see the girls and then called Harper ugly, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. The baby is freaking adorable. “Can I ask you something else? Something a bit personal?”

“Go for it. I’m pretty much an open book. After having three kids, I really don’t have shame anymore.”

“How did you get over it? Your last relationship, I mean?”

Lexi’s green eyes meet mine for a second, full of empathy. “I stopped having feelings for Russ like the day after our wedding. I never had the right feelings, and I know how hard it is to decide what is right or wrong when it comes to the heart. There really isn’t a right way to love someone, after all…but there is a wrong way. Hurting someone isn’t love, and that’s what Russ did.”

She hikes Harper up higher on her hip and lets out a breath. She looks tired, and I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that she’s pregnant. Or at least I think she is based on her not drinking at the release party this weekend.

“I was in denial for a long time,” she goes on. “I got pregnant just three months after the wedding, and once the kids were here, it made things a million times more complicated. I stayed with Russell way longer than I should have just for the girls. But that doesn’t really answer your question, and I don’t really have a good answer other than I just did. It got to the point where being with Russ was more painful than being alone.” She looks at me again, and it’s like she’s reading my mind. “But you’re not talking about feelings for your ex, right? You’re talking about moving on as a whole. About trusting again after the person you thought you knew turned out to be the biggest Jersey Shore wannabe loser in the entire fucking world, right?”

“Yeah,” I say quietly. “Opening up…trusting…it’s hard.” I momentarily consider telling Lexi everything about Steven. He’s not your run-of-the-mill jerk ex-boyfriend. He’s a psycho stalker who sent me a box full of dead pinky mice the month after I broke up with him.

“It is. And if it helps,” she starts, “I’ve known Cole for a long time. Deep down, he’s a good person with a big heart. We’ve had our differences in the past, but I trust him. I let him babysit, and that’s saying something,” she tells me with a smile. “I don’t let many people watch the girls.”

“If he’s good enough for that, then he’s good enough for me, right?”

Lexi laughs. “I am pretty picky.” She looks at Harper. “But how can I not be? This kid is a monster. She figured out that she can push her kid chair up to the counter and climb up there. That was fun to turn around and see last night.” She shakes her head. “I need to con—I mean ask—Cole to watch the girls again so Luke and I can go out.”

I laugh and swallow the questions that want to come out word-vomit style. They’re questions I should ask Cole but border on that fine line of legitimate things couples should discuss but can’t be asked too soon.

Does he want to get married?

Have children?

Where would we live?

Would he be okay with visiting my family in Kentucky if things got serious? How would we decide whose family to be with at holidays?

Like I said…those are definitely things we need to know before a big commitment. We’ve only started this relationship and are still testing out the waters. Yet after going through hell before, I want to put it all out on the table now.

I want to know exactly how deep this water is before I dive in, eyes closed and holding my breath.

“Your stay is open-ended?” Lexi asks as we come to a stop at a crosswalk.

“Yeah. I packed enough stuff to last a week, so I’ll either go home, start repeating outfits, or go shopping.”

Lexi smiles, green eyes sparkling. “Luke and I are both really happy to see you and Cole together. I can tell you make him really happy.”

At first, her words bring a smile to my face. And then I remember that the housekeeper said something similar.

“You’re the second person who’s said something like that. Am I missing something?”

“His last relationship ended badly and I don’t think he’s dated much or at all since then. He hasn’t had a girlfriend since I’ve gotten to know him on a personal level.” We move with a crowd of people and cross the street. “He’s been my boss for years, but we really didn’t talk much or anything until Luke and I started dating.”

“And you met Luke randomly, right?”

“Yeah. He, uh, he was supposed to be a one-night stand,” she admits. “Obviously, one night with me was all he needed.”

We laugh and keep talking about how they met and fell in love until we reach the restaurant. Harper wakes up not long after we give our order and refuses to sit in the highchair. Between wrangling the toddler who keeps wandering away and trying to eat the appetizer we ordered, Lexi asks me about my book, remembering everything with impressive detail.

“I’m totally taking the series back from Cole as soon as I can,” she says. “I cannot stand Caitlin Black. I probably shouldn’t tell you this because it’s not professional for an editor to shit-talk their boss to a signed author, but I feel like you’ve already crossed that line and I can dish the dirt.”

I laugh. “Cole’s already told me how much he hates her.”

“Everyone does. I’ve heard rumors that she’s retiring, though I’ve been hearing that for the last four years now and it never pans out. She looks the same as she did when I first started at Black Ink, like she never aged. When I was a kid, I won a goldfish at a fair, and all but one died. The thing lived forever and was the ugliest, meanest fish ever. It lost an eye and was always covered in this white fungus that we couldn’t get rid of. And it ate anything I tried to put in the tank with it. Caitlin Black is the fish. Old and mean, making everyone wait for it to die so you can stop looking at it. Only I don’t want her to actually die. Just get the hell out of the building.”

“I had a mouse like that. Goldie. She lost all her fur and had literal fat rolls. I’d never seen that on a mouse before.”

“Grace really wants a pet mouse. But I have a slight fear of rodents because there was a rat family living under my porch at our old house. They got really big and even my dog was scared of them.”

“So the New York sewer rat thing isn’t just a myth?”

“I wish.”

I laugh again, and it hits me that sitting here talking to Lexi feels so natural. Harper comes over to me and holds up her hands. I pick her up and she curiously looks at my face before poking the pineapple charm on my necklace. I’m not a shy person, but I’m not the most outgoing either. Not anymore, at least.

I border the line between introvert and extrovert. Making new friends isn’t daunting, but I’m not exactly a social butterfly either. Which is what makes this whole thing with Lexi so striking.

And puts a pit in my stomach.

It’s fucked up, I know, to feel this dread when things are going right. I should enjoy the ride, not constantly fear the rug coming out from beneath me and everything crashing down around me, burying me in the wreckage.

Do normal people feel this? Are they able to just enjoy a good thing without the lingering and constant nagging that it’s temporary? I’m not sure I completely believe that a good thing can last in the long run.

Luck runs out, after all. All good things come to an end.

I remind myself of what Lexi said. When you expect the bad to happen, it will. Not because it was going to, but because you make it happen. I have weird theories on the power of thought and transforming energy into actions, and those theories tend to come out quite passionately if I’ve been drinking.

The rest of lunch goes by quickly. Lexi and I are alike in many ways, and the fact that we’re both getting freaky with Winchester brothers is oddly bonding. Harper spills Lexi’s iced tea right before we get up to leave. It sloshes down the table and all over Lexi’s lap as well as soaking the cute dress Harper’s wearing.

“Motherfucker,” Lexi mumbles, shaking her head. I help her clean it up the best we can. “I have a change of clothes for Harper in the diaper bag, but she’s all sticky now.”

“Want to take her to Cole’s and give her a bath? I have a key and we’re not far.”

“That’s a great idea, actually.”

Lexi takes her own coat off and wraps it around Harper, not wanting to get Harper’s jacket wet. She’ll need it on the drive home, after all. Lexi didn’t think twice about stepping into the chilly October air jacketless and seeing that sort of unconditional love pulls on my heart and gives me another inkling of baby fever.

What the hell is wrong with me? I should at least get to my six-month anniversary with Cole before I want to pop out his babies. I always thought that shit people said about a woman’s biological clock was sexist bullcrap, but maybe there’s some fact behind it. Because that’s all this is. I don’t really want a baby. I’m not really in love with Cole enough to start daydreaming about a family. And I’m certainly not imagining him resting on the couch with our little baby snuggled up against his muscular chest.

Nope.

Definitely not.

Fuck. I’m a bad liar.

* * *

“I’m so glad you suggested this,” Lexi says as she turns on the water. We’re back at Cole’s house, upstairs in one of the bathrooms to give Harper a bath. Lexi pulled spare clothes out of a dresser from a guest room. She told me it was Luke’s room when he lived here with Cole a few years ago and thankfully, he was too lazy to bring all his shit home once he moved in with Lexi and the girls.

“And you are too, aren’t you, baby?” she coos to Harper, taking off the toddler’s sticky clothes. “Oh, shit, I left the diaper bag downstairs.”

“Shhh-ttt,” Harper repeats.

“Fuck,” Lexi mutters. “Wait, no. Dammit. I mean crap. Don’t say that, baby.” She sighs heavily and I laugh. “Whatever, right?”

“In all fairness, it’s kind of cute. Totally in a it’s-not-my-kid-so-I-can-laugh sort of way.”

“I laugh too,” she confesses. “I probably shouldn’t. And I still forget she’s talking and repeating stuff. Though I think it’s more denial. You’re growing way too fast, baby.”

“I’ll get the bag. Where is it?”

“By the door.”

Lexi lifts Harper up and into the tub. I leave the bathroom and go down the main staircase, which empties into the foyer by the front door. The diaper bag is sitting right next to it. I reach for it, fingers brushing the nylon straps.

And then something clatters behind me.

I jump back, nearly knocking into the entryway table that houses candles and an expensive-looking vase. The door is locked, but I didn’t turn the alarm system back on. I freeze, all the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. I don’t know where the noise came from for certain, but it sounded like the basement.

Of course, it’s the fucking creepy-ass basement.

I wrap my fingers around the straps of the diaper bag and force myself to turn around. Wishing the noise did indeed come from the bloody ghost Paige claims lives in the basement, I look down the hall.

There’s nothing there.

But I heard something. I know I fucking did.

I let out a breath. Inhale. Hold it. Exhale. Nothing. It’s all in my head. Every little bump or creak in this old house is nothing to freak out ov—

Something clatters to the floor, echoing throughout the house. It’s the distinct sound of metal falling to concrete. My heart rate spikes and my nerves are on fire. I grab the diaper bag and high-tail it up the stairs.

The bathroom Lexi and Harper are in is off a bedroom. I go into the bedroom first, shut and lock the door behind me, and then race into the bathroom, doing the same with that door. The water isn’t running anymore, and the only sounds that fill the room are Harper’s gentle splashes.

Lexi turns, wondering why the hell I shut the door behind me. The amusement on her face disappears the moment she sees me.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think someone is in the house.”

“What?” she asks, though I know she heard me. She reaches for Harper, pulling the little girl out of the water.

“I heard a noise. Like something fell in the basement. I never re-armed the house once we got in. We came in the front and I locked that door, so I thought it was okay.”

Lexi wraps a towel around Harper, who’s starting to fuss and reach for the water, wanting back in. Lexi grabs her phone, unlocks it and gives it to Harper, which I think is odd at first, and then realize she’s doing it to keep the kid quiet.

Harper watches videos of her and her sisters dancing, keeping quiet as Lexi madly reaches into the diaper bag, getting a diaper and clothes for her.

“Are you sure?” she asks me, hands shaking.

“Yes. I heard a thump and dismissed it. Then I heard something fall and it sounded like murder-tools hitting the cement floor.”

“Murder tools?”

“Yeah. Like a big-ass knife or a heavy metal something that he’ll use to hit us over the heads with.”

“Do you have your phone?”

“Yeah.”

“Call Cole. Ask him to look on the cameras.”

I nod and pull up Cole’s number, pressing the ‘call’ button. I put it to my ear as it rings. Lexi dresses Harper and dries off her arms before taking the baby into her lap. Lexi told me that she gets scared easily. I can see she’s fucking terrified, and having her baby to protect probably makes things ten times worse.

“Voicemail.”

“Shit,” Lexi mumbles. “I’ll call Jillian.”

We trade phones, distracting Harper with photos on mine while Lexi calls her editor friend and Black Ink.

“Jillian, thank fucking God,” Lexi breathes. “I need you to get Cole. Now. Yeah, it’s important enough to interrupt a meeting.”

Shit. I know what I heard, though I can’t help but worry I’m overreacting.

Being a drama queen.

Emotional.

Childish.

Acting like a teenage girl.

All the things Steven told me when I’d get upset.

I close my eyes and shake my head. I heard a noise—twice—and the police officer I spoke to not that long ago told me to trust my gut. And my gut is telling me that two locked doors aren’t enough to stop him if he wanted to hurt us.

“Hey, Cole,” Lexi says after a minute. “I’m at your house with Ana. We’re upstairs in Luke’s old room and thought we heard something coming from the basement. Can you check the cameras and see if there’s a ghost wandering around or something?” A few seconds pass before she speaks again. “No, I don’t think you need to—fine. Oh, okay.” Another pause. “We’re in the bathroom, and I’m not sure.” She looks up at me. “You locked the bedroom door, right?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“She did. Okay, here she is.”

Lexi holds out the phone to me. I take it, and she cradles Harper to her chest, kissing the toddler’s wet hair.

“Are you okay?” Cole rushes out. “I’m on my way.”

“No, don’t leave work. Please, stay. And yes, I’m fine,” I whisper. “Harper spilled a drink on herself at lunch so we came back here to give her a bath. I locked the door but didn’t think to arm the house again. I went downstairs to get the diaper bag and heard two loud noises. The first was like a thud, the second sounded like metal falling to the floor.”

“Do you think it’s Steven?” Cole asks, getting right to the point.

A chill comes over me, followed by guilt. If Steven is in the house, then I put not only Lexi, but Harper, in danger. I close my eyes, trying hard not to cry. Though if I do, I can always blame it on the fear. There was a time in my life when having people think I was weak for expressing my emotions physically—crying, screaming, clenching my jaw—was one of the worst things.

But I’m human, and humans experience emotions. A wide range of them to be exact. The problem isn’t in how you express them. How you let them out. Let them be known. Control them to an extent, but allow yourself to feel.

Anger.

Sadness.

Joy.

Love.

No, the problem isn’t in experiencing emotions. The problem is not feeling anything at all.

No guilt. No shame. No regret or sense of common decency. Void of all emotions that make us human.

“That’s my fear,” I say softly.

“I just logged on,” he tells me. “And I’m looking through the cameras. I don’t see anything now. You locked the front door?”

“Yes, I checked it.”

“That’s clear…so’s the back…and the side…the basement looks fine, but there’s just that one camera by the windows. Wait,” he says and my heart falls onto the floor. “There’s a lot of dust in the air like something’s been down there. I’m alerting the security team,” he says, and I know he means the people who work for the alarm company. “They’ll be there along with the police in five minutes or less. Keep the door locked.”

“It’s probably nothing,” I blurt, emotions switching from fear to embarrassment at an impressive rate.

“It’s better to get it checked out. I’m hoping it’s nothing. That the bats are back or something.”

“Bats live in attics,” I correct, though I know Cole’s just trying to ease my mind. “Though it could be the giant sewer rats. I just learned they’re real. I thought it was an urban legend.”

“It very well could be,” Cole goes on. “I don’t go down there as often as I should to check on things.”

“Right. You were in a meeting?”

“Of sorts. I was on the phone with an agent.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. We were having a difficult time coming to an agreement on terms. The break will do us both good.”

“Well then, I don’t feel as bad. Sometimes a little break like that is all you need to come back with a clear head.”

“That’s what I’m hoping. And by a clear head, I mean she realizes that she’s being ridiculous and agrees with me or the deal is off.”

I laugh and feel the knot in my chest loosen. “What’s the book about?” I ask just to fill the time. Cole tells me, and a few minutes later, Lexi’s phone beeps, letting me know another call is coming through. I pull it away from my ear to see who’s calling. Luke’s name—surrounded by heart emojis—flashes across the screen. “Luke is calling Lexi,” I tell Cole. “I’ll call you from my phone if I can get it away from Harper.”

“All right,” he says. “Hurry.”

“I will.” I hand the phone to Lexi, who looks instantly relieved when she hears her husband’s voice.

“Da-da,” Harper says and reaches for Lexi’s phone. I sneak my phone out of her hands to call Cole back, listening to Lexi explain what’s going on to Luke. It sounds like he got an alert from the security company and couldn’t get a hold of Cole to see what happened, so he tried Lexi to see if she knew anything.

Hearing Lexi recant everything—that we came here to give Harper a quick bath and that I heard a noise—makes me feel utterly stupid again.

Stupid and weak.

I ran up here and hid. I didn’t grab a chair and push it up against the basement door to keep whoever was down there at bay. I didn’t get the tablet and take a look at the security system myself. Didn’t grab a knife or anything to defend myself with.

I just ran.

I close my eyes, exhale, and look at Lexi and Harper.

No more.

No more running.

No more being afraid.

If Steven is here, it’s time to settle this once and for all.