The truth was sharp and painful, like a herd of angry bulls tearing through me, demanding to be set free. The truth could get us all killed. But any illusions I’d had about keeping Kate and Chelle in the dark about what really happened to me were chipping away as the hours passed.

I parted my lips, expecting the words to spill free. But when I opened my eyes, Kate’s beauty stole the moment. No one and nothing had ever been more precious to me. Anything would be worth keeping her safe. I’d die for her, and I would do it all over again if it meant she kept breathing. As desperate as I was to be with her now, I couldn’t forget how perilous things could become again.

I squeezed Kate’s hands in mine. “My coming back into your life puts everyone at risk again. I need you to understand that.”

She nodded slightly.

“Every day I wanted to reach out to you. Every day I didn’t meant the people who wanted me dead could believe I really was.”

Tears glistened in her eyes, sparkling like the moonlight on the waves crashing softly against the shore. “What kind of person could ever want you dead?”

If she only knew. One person with deadly intent I could have handled. I could have maneuvered and gotten our lives back on track. But greed with roots wide and deep had paid for my plane to go down. That wasn’t vengeance. That was a war I couldn’t possibly win.

“It doesn’t matter, baby. What matters is that if they knew I was alive and breathing right now, they’d want to do something about it. They can’t ever find out.”

“But Chelle mentioned your parents. Aren’t you going to tell them you’re alive? I thought we were going home after all this.”

I shook my head, hoping the reality of what I was proposing wasn’t more painful than what she’d already lived through. “Chelle promised me she wouldn’t say anything yet. What she doesn’t know is that they have to keep believing I’m gone, at least for now.”

“What about us?”

I swallowed hard because I had a feeling the next few minutes would change our future forever. I’d just gotten her back. That quickly, I could lose her again.

“I told you we have tonight, Kate. We have the rest of this trip together if you want it. After that…you can either go back home without me—”

“No!” She fisted her hands in my shirt and closed the distance between us. A tear journeyed slowly down her cheek as she gazed up at me, the anguish of that possibility plain in her eyes. “You can’t ask me to do that, Price. Not now, after everything we’ve been through.”

I wiped away her tear and cradled her face in my palms. “I’m not. I’m asking you to come with me instead.”

The ocean breeze whistled through the palm trees, rustling over the silence that stretched between us.

“I don’t understand. This isn’t making sense. I love you. I want our life back.” Her voice trembled.

I wanted to kiss her again. Communicate everything I couldn’t tell her with the press of our lips together, the perfect harmony of our flesh when it met and joined.

“Kate, we would have to disappear…forever. Start a new life.”

She shook her head and took a small step away from me. “There has to be another way.”

“I wish there were.”

Even as I said the words, I questioned how I could ask her to make such a sacrifice. For me. For us. For the love that still burned so brightly between us. I was asking her to give up her life for the only one we could have together.

An unspoken answer lingered behind her beautiful eyes, twisting my heart into a desperate bloodless organ in my chest. The rejection I feared would come next roiled deeply within me, spurring me to speak my next words quickly.

“You don’t have to decide right now. I know what I’m asking you to give up, because I had to give it up too. Except I never had a choice.”

“You had a choice.”

Resentment and pain laced her words, and I felt like we were right back where we started on the beach a few hours ago. Would she never understand how painful it had been for me to walk away from our life together?

“Protecting you was never a choice. It’s the way it has to be.” I came to her, brought her against my chest, and hugged her tightly. “I know not everything makes sense. You have questions that I might never be able to answer. But if you decide to go back home, it’s better this way. Trust me.”

I expected her to throw some more anger at me, but after a short intake of breath, she began sobbing quietly in my arms.

I wasn’t sure which felt worse—her verbal lashings or her tears. Both cut me to the bone.

Our reunion thus far had been the ultimate emotional roller coaster. When she wasn’t crying, she was screaming out in ecstasy from my tongue or my cock. I could bring her so high and so low. Both came too easily. Could we have a future made of pleasure, or was I damning her to a life of regret for all that she would leave behind?

I kissed the top of her head and hushed her. All I could do was show her my love and let her decide. Whatever path she chose would be the right one. I had to believe it.

“Price?”

My stomach clenched at the sound of her watery voice as I anticipated an answer I wasn’t ready to hear yet. “What is it, sweetheart?”

“I love you.”

I squeezed my eyes closed and released a heavy sigh. “I love you too.”

We stood that way a long time, holding each other, swaying together as night fell around us. Why did every moment with her feel so timeless? Nothing could be more cruel when time was anything but on my side.

“Come on,” I finally said. “Let’s go eat.”

---

Chelle moved around the kitchen and set the table for dinner with the same bubbly energy I remembered her always having. But as she sat to join Kate and me at the table, her bright smile seemed too wide, almost forced. Perhaps she was doing it for Kate’s benefit. She’d made no secret of Kate’s depressed state following my supposed death, another unfortunate circumstance heaved onto the pile of my regrets of leaving her. I imagined Chelle had played a big part in keeping my wife’s spirits above water over this past year, and for that I would always be grateful.

I glanced back to Kate, who was staring blankly at her water glass. I took a generous gulp of wine, pushing down the guilt, and reached for something lighter.

“How are things going at the Tribune?”

Kate lifted her gaze to mine and blinked a few times, as if she’d been somewhere far away. “Um…slow, I guess.”

“Why?”

She shrugged and scooped some stir-fry onto her plate. “I stepped away from the staff position for a while. The schedule was too much for me…with everything else that was going on.”

I frowned. When I’d decided to go off the grid, I’d known that she’d be set financially for several years. Along with the substantial life insurance she’d collected on, I’d been pulling down seven-figures as a day trader, leaving her with a healthy savings account. What concerned me more than her stepping away from the job was that someone as brilliant as Kate would let her career stagnate.

“Are you still writing?” I asked.

“She did a great freelance piece on the tourism protests in Spain earlier this year,” Chelle piped in. “You should do more things like that. You were so rejuvenated after that trip.”

Kate lifted an eyebrow, her expression the perfect non-verbal retort to Chelle’s unfailing positivity. I had to laugh out loud. Kate’s facial expressions were a language all their own, and over the years we’d spent together, I’d become fluent. I knew when I was in deep shit with her before she could say a word.

She slid her gaze to mine and lifted the corners of her lips into a knowing smirk. “It was a good trip. All things considered.”

Chelle slapped her arm. “I saw you smile more than I had in months afterward. Maybe you and Price can take a trip there after you get settled back home.”

Kate smiled, but it never reached her eyes. “Maybe.”

I downed the last of my wine and poured another glass. I had to stop reading into every word and every look, hoping to find her answer there. Damn it, maybe I should have told her that she couldn’t give me an answer until the end of the trip. Then I wouldn’t live in fear of the word “no” flying past her lips and destroying every chance I had for happiness in this life.

“What do you lovebirds plan to do tomorrow? Are you staying in or…?” Chelle winked.

I laughed again. Sister or not, she surely couldn’t ignore that my reunion with Kate would involve sex. Lots of it, if I had any choice in the matter. I was content spending the next few weeks exclusively between the sheets with my wife, but something told me that wouldn’t be enough to convince her to spend the rest of her life with me again.

“I was thinking about giving Kate a tour of the boat tomorrow, actually. It’s nothing special, but it’s home. We can cruise around some of the little islands around Leiloa.”

New warmth glittered in the cool blue of Kate’s eyes, releasing some tension I’d been holding.

“I’d like that,” she said with a small smile.

Mercifully, we spent the rest of the dinner listening to Chelle update me about her life in the city, from bad dates to a well-deserved promotion. I was grateful for the moment to ignore the minefield of Kate’s and my past. I’d done enough traversing of it today and had survived relatively unscathed.

The three of us laughed, finished the bottle of wine, and I caught Kate plating up seconds of the stir-fry, which satisfied me. Gradually, relief settled over my earlier anxiety. Kate moved her bags to the downstairs bedroom while I helped Chelle clean up the dishes from dinner.

“How was the walk?” Chelle asked in a hushed tone.

I shrugged, because no answer was simple. “It went okay. Are you all right with the plan tomorrow? I didn’t mean to leave you out. Kate and I… We just have a lot to work through, you know?”

Chelle canted her head and glanced up at me from under her dark lashes. “Price, I love you, but I’m not here to be a third wheel while you two rediscover each other. It’s been a year. Honestly, I can’t imagine what you’re both going through right now, but I’m sure it can’t be easy. Suffice to say, I’m just happy you’re alive. We’ll catch up once things are right with you and Kate.”

My throat tightened, but I masked anything else in my expression that would give away the fact that after this trip, I’d be absent from my family’s life again. I could only handle so much heartbreak in one day. I could only hope she’d forgive me eventually.

After we said good night, I went to find Kate, who’d been quiet since we finished dinner. The light was on in the bedroom, illuminating her still figure on the unmade bed. She lay on her side, her arms tucked close to her chest, her sarong fanned out in colorful waves on the sheets. I stood at the foot of the bed and watched her shallow breathing, her peaceful countenance.

My angel. My life.

I didn’t know how many minutes passed that way. But being able to treasure her on this side of her dreams was a perfect way to end a day that had been fraught with emotional pitfalls.

I undressed, turned out the light, and nestled beside her. She sighed when I brought her warm body against mine. I could have undressed her. We’d always slept naked together. But the hint of her curves molding to me through the thin fabric already had the blood rushing to my cock. I’d never stop wanting her, never stop worshiping the way she seemed made for me and only me. But tonight I had to let her rest.

Tonight she’d sleep in my arms, and we’d face whatever tomorrow brought together.