Her phone vibrated on the bathroom counter. A number she didn’t recognize, but it flashed City of Los Angeles. Seething, she wiped all her toiletries from the counter into her bag and stomped back in the bedroom. She accepted the call and held it on her shoulder as she packed. Shoving her clothes into a bag, she waited for someone to say something.

“Hello?”

“Is this Juliette Miles?”

“Who wants to know?” she said, shoving another handful of clothes into the bag. She’d take whatever she could fit now and either come back for the rest of the stuff later, make Liam bring it to the bar, or, better yet, mail it to her.

“I’m a caseworker who with the LAPD. We’ve been informed Jon Hollis has been apprehended. He turned himself in three days ago.” She nearly dropped the phone.

“And I’m just finding out now!”

“I’m sorry about that. Caseloads being what they are, we’re only now getting around to calling you.” She sat on the bed, relieved it was all finally over.

“What do you mean calling me back again? When did you call the first time?”

“We left a message at your place of employment when we couldn’t find your number in the case files. Things are always getting misplaced. We found the number of your employer from the police report from the night you were attacked, so we called there and left a message with your boss. The note said it was a Liam. He said he would forward on the message, but we always like to confirm with the victim.”

“How long ago was this call?” He knew. He knew Jon was in jail. A shiver ran down her spine. She fell for it. She’d fallen into the trap all over again. Tears pooled in her eyes, but she snapped her eyes shut and willed them back. Not now. She could break down once she found out where she was going, but not now. She needed to focus on getting out of there first.

“The note says it was three days ago.” Three days! He’d known for three fucking days and he hadn’t told her. He’d continued to have her followed, even after he knew that Jon was locked up. She wanted to punch him in the face. How could he?!

“He’s in jail?” she said, as the woman on the other line cleared her throat.

“Yes, he’s in police custody. He turned himself over to the police and confessed to everything he did.”

“And that’s it? He’s not going to get out?”

“They haven’t granted him bail and if he has confessed, then they won’t need to go to trial. He can take a deal with the prosecutor, so there’s no way to know how long he will be locked up, but I would say it will be for some time with his attack on you and the harassment, coupled with his previous convictions.”

“Thank you for telling me,” she said, hands shaking with anger and rage. It pulsed through her. She couldn’t believe it. It was like she was in a nightmare world.

“Again, sorry it took so long for us to call back and make sure you knew.”

“No problem,” she said through clenched teeth and a haze of rage. It was like a red film had been thrown her over eyes.

“We will let you know if there are any further developments.”

“Thanks,” she said, ending the call. Experiencing an out of body type of moment, she realized she didn’t have to be afraid anymore. He was gone, locked away, at least for now. Maybe now would be a good time for a change of scenery, while he wasn’t able to follow her. She could go farther this time. Put some real distance between them. Maybe drop in on Mark and Jen in NYC. Glancing up, she saw Liam stood in the bedroom doorway.

The fear that had been wiped away by the news of Jon being locked up was redirected as unbridled rage focused solely on Liam. He’d betrayed her. Had her followed without her permission for who knows how long. Sure, he was trying to protect her, but that didn’t mean it felt any less like a violation. Even after he knew Jon was locked up. What did that say about him and his trust in her? Did he even care about her safety to begin with? Maybe this was all an excuse to have her followed, the ex-con he wouldn’t want trying to screw him over.

“I heard the good news. Jon’s been locked up.”

“Yeah,” she said, buckling the straps on her bag. She stood and slung it over her shoulder.

“I guess this means you’re safe out there. Don’t have to worry anymore.”

“No, I don’t. I think it’s best that I go back to my apartment. It’s been a while since I checked on it and I need to make sure that everything is fine there.”

“Rox—” he started, but she held up her hand.

“Don’t even try it. You had me followed without my permission. You told me you wouldn’t. I can’t trust you Liam, and if I can’t trust you, I can’t be with you. And to top it all off, you knew he was locked up!”

“What?”

“The woman on the phone. She told me she talked to you three days ago, Liam,” she said, thrusting three fingers in his direction. “Three days! You knew I wasn’t in any danger and you had me followed for three more days.”

“I didn’t trust that it was true. I didn’t know if they got all their information right. Maybe he would be let out. I couldn’t take that chance.”

“More like you didn’t trust me.”

“That’s not it at all. I do trust you, and I love you.”

“Bullshit. If you trusted me, you would have told me about the call and that he had been arrested.”

“I didn’t want you to be lulled into a false sense of security,” he said, and she scoffed at his excuse. This was all about him. He wanted the control. He wanted to know where she was. He didn’t care one bit about what she thought.

“You wanted to keep me here,” she said, her eyes darting around the room. Her chest tightened and her breath started to come out in pants. “You wanted me afraid and dependent on you. Gah, what an idiot I’ve been! It seems I’m a magnet for manipulative men.” The walls started to close in on her and she needed to get out of there.

“Do not compare me to him, Rox. I’m nothing like him. I’d cut off my own arm before I ever hurt you.”

“Physically maybe not, but mentally, emotionally, you’re doing a bang up job,” she ground out.

“I only want you safe.”

“I. Don’t. Care!”

“What about the tests?” he said, switching gears so fast she almost got whiplash.

“What about them?”

“What were the results?”

“You trust me to tell you the truth? You don’t think I would lie to try and trap the great and powerful Liam Lavery?”

“Rox—” he started. He was so scared she’d try to screw him. Professing love left and right and in the end, it all ended up the same, but at least this time she’d be leaving on her own terms and not on a stretcher.

“I took them. They were negative,” she bit out.

“Right,” he said, nodding his head and staring down at his shoes. He looked up at her with tears in his eyes. “I only did what I did because I love you Rox.”

“Don’t say that to me! Don’t ever say that. That’s what he would say to me after every time. Usually topped off with some nice flowers or a piece of jewelry as I sat there shaking, nursing my wounds. There are some things you don’t do when someone you say you love asks you not to. I told you I didn’t want to be followed. I told you I didn’t want a bodyguard following my every move, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“Can’t you see why what you asked me to do was killing me?! Can’t you see that asking me not to protect you is like asking me not to breathe?” he said, pushing off the wall and stalking toward her.

“If I can’t trust you, then I can’t be with you. It’s as simple as that. You broke my trust.” She jabbed her finger into his chest.

“Fine, I did it for selfish reasons because the thought of you getting hurt was enough to drive me crazy. I did it to keep my own sanity.”

“You can be plenty sane now, because Jon is locked up and I’m no longer your responsibility.”

“It was never about you being my responsibility. It was about you being the woman that I love, damnit!”

“A woman that you don’t even trust! How can you want to be with someone you don’t even trust?!”

“I do trust you, I just don’t know if I trust me! If I trust my judgment when it comes to you. I’m so in love with you, I can’t tell if I’m coming or going.”

“Well I can tell you right now what I’m doing. I’m going!”

“Rox, you can’t leave.”

“Watch me,” she said, storming out of the bedroom and into the living room. His footsteps were heavy behind her.

“Rox,” he grabbed her shoulder. “You’re not even going to stay and talk about this?”

“Talk about what? What’s been said is said and what’s been done is done. You had me followed, even after you knew Jon was gone. Accused me of trying to pull some kind of secret baby bait-and-switch on you, and you expect me to stay? You think I would want to stay with you after that!” She shouted in his face, not able to keep her cool any longer. She’d always tried to be even-keeled and not get too emotional. Showing your emotions let someone know they could hurt you, that they had power over you.

“You’re not the only one who’s scared. You think you’re the only person who has a past they are trying to deal with? You’re not. That shit with Yvonne messed up my head when it came to the pregnancy test. I’ll admit it. I shouldn’t have accused you.”

“You shouldn’t have done any of it. None of it,” she shouted. “You should have let me handle it.”

“And how were you going to do that? By letting him hurt you? Kill you? Is that how you would have handled it?”

“In all the time you had that guy following me, did Jon ever try to come near me?”

“No, but that’s not the point!”

“I don’t care about your point. I don’t care about any of it. Once you lied that’s it for me. You lied and went behind my back. After you got the call that he’d been caught, why didn’t you call off your goon?”

“I told you! Until I see that fucker behind bars, I’m not taking any chances.” More like he wanted to keep her under his thumb. Under his control.

“I’m out of here.”

“Rox! Be reasonable,” he said, following after her as she stormed into the driveway.

“Reasonable? You’re the one that had the woman you say you love followed without her permission, accused her of trying to pull some kind of baby scam on you, and lied to her about her ex being locked up.”

She grabbed the helmet from the seat of the bike and tucked it under her arm.

“Rox!”

“No, Liam,” she said. “You should have told me what I needed to know instead of deciding that you knew what was best for me. I’m an adult. The woman you say you love at least deserved that.”