Nora watched the city pass by on the other side of the glass. They’d made their way out of Tacoma toward downtown Seattle in silence. She’d tried to lighten up a little, Braden’s answers to her initial questions ringing through her mind.

He wasn’t dirty. He wasn’t undercover.

But he hadn’t denied doing something illegal.

It didn’t mean he was engaged in illegal activity, but it wasn’t a good sign. She thought about the possibilities, wondered what she’d do if and when he confessed something that stood in opposition to everything she believed.

Everything she’d always believed.

That it was even a question was alarming. Of course she wouldn’t stand for him doing something illegal. Of course she would turn him in.

Wouldn’t she?

She pushed the quandary aside and focused on the water gleaming around the city, the Space Needle rising into a blue sky in the distance. Seattle had a reputation for rain, but the air was dry, the temperature mild as Braden drove with the sunroof open. She wished they were in the city for a different reason. That they could make love in the morning, walk along the water, have breakfast and strong coffee while planning the rest of their day.

The thought made her feel traitorous. Like she was some kind of simpering female who cared more about a vacation with her boyfriend than the fact that he might be up to something illegal only three days after he’d left the FBI. But it was okay to want something for herself, wasn’t it? As long as she didn’t claim it at the expense of her integrity? As long as it was only a fantasy?

Braden’s phone rang, and she looked over as he checked the display and answered.

“We’re about twenty minutes away,” he said into the phone.

There was a long pause while he listened to whoever was on the other end of the line. When he spoke again it was with a tired sigh.

“I know. I’m sorry, Mother. I’ll see you soon.”

He turned off the phone without a glance in her direction.

Nora stared at him. “We’re going to visit your mother?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s unavoidable.”

“Unavoidable?” Anxiety and annoyance were warring inside her. “You couldn’t have told me before we left L.A.?”

“What would have been the point?” he asked, looking over at her.

She bit back the words on the tip of her tongue. I could have packed something nicer to wear. I could have freshened up on the plane. I could have been more prepared.

Was she really worried about impressing Braden’s mother after everything that had happened? She leaned back in her seat, overwhelmed with emotions she didn’t know how to process. So this was how it happened. This was how you lost yourself to someone.

You let go of everything you believed, not little by little, but all at once.

You didn’t even put up a fight.

“You’re right,” she said. “It doesn’t matter.”

About an hour after they left Tacoma they wound their way into a leafy neighborhood near the water. The streets were lined with grand, old homes, and she watched with surprise as they made their way up a series of hills to what felt like the top of the world. The other houses fell away as the properties got larger and more spread out, nothing but trees all around and the sky overhead.

Finally they stopped at the bottom of yet another hill, an ominous black gate barring their way. Braden reached through the open window and pressed some of the buttons on a keypad mounted below a security camera.

The gate swung open and he drove through. She watched in the side mirror as the gate closed behind them. Then her attention was stolen by the view as they played hide and seek with the city, glimpses of it visible at various points along the winding drive.

She almost gasped aloud when they finally emerged at the top of the hill, a massive home rising three stories into the sky. The architecture was old but strangely modern, like a classic Boston brownstone magnified by a hundred.

Braden pulled the car up a curved driveway and she caught a glimpse of multiple terraces on the second floor and greenery on the roof that could only mean a rooftop garden.

He killed the engine and turned to look at her. “I should warn you that my mother is… old-fashioned.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She was almost glad to be talking about his mother. It made it harder to think about the show of wealth that made it clear Braden wasn’t the blue-collar boy who’d made good she had imagined.

“It means she has a tiny dog that’s going to bark constantly when we first walk into the house, she’ll be completely made-up and dressed in spite of the early hour, and she’ll probably grill you about your family.”

Wonderful.

“Thanks for the warning.”

He chuckled a little, and she realized it had been hours since she’d heard him laugh, seen him smile. She hated to admit — even to herself — that she had missed it.

He reached for her hand. “She’s harmless, I promise. And I told her we could only stay for a quick breakfast.”

“Where are we going after that?” Nora asked.

“Someplace more private.”

The words carried a hint of promise that she shouldn’t have heard. Shouldn’t have wanted to hear. He was still holding her hand, his big palm enfolding hers, making her feel safe when she was anything but. She was like a junkie, craving his touch even when she already had the deeply unsettling feeling that it wasn’t good for her.

It was that analogy that made it possible to pull her hand away, and she reached for the handle on the door and stepped out into the early morning. It felt scrubbed clean, the slight scent of salt on the breeze familiar and comforting.

Braden opened the trunk and removed their bags.

“You said we were only staying for breakfast,” she said.

“I thought you might want to clean up while we’re here. We had a long night.”

She nodded, trying not to be impressed by his thoughtfulness. Then they were heading for the door, their steps taking her one step closer to an attachment to Braden that she didn’t need.

That she couldn’t afford.