Chapter 31

31

Grace froze in the middle of the driveway as her car rounded the corner, the familiar scuffed and dented hood a harsh reminder of the events that had brought her here.

Caleb was behind the wheel.

She was too late. Her opportunity to slip away unnoticed had vanished like smoke in the wind. Although with Wyatt on the prowl, watching her every move, had leaving unnoticed ever been a realistic option?

The car rumbled to a halt, the engine ticking as it cooled. Caleb didn't get out straight away. Her palms grew clammy, and she wiped them on her jeans, trying to steady her nerves. Every second stretched out into a tiny eternity of its own.

At last, Caleb emerged from the car. The drumbeat of blood in her ears swallowed his steps as he approached her. Her stomach clenched, a mixture of dread and longing warring within her. Despite her determination to leave, to spare him the weight of her troubles, she could not deny the depth of her feelings for this man. In another world, another life, she could have fallen in love with him. Hell, maybe she already had, here and now, in this messed up reality that had become her existence.

He walked toward her with easy, long-legged strides, the sun spinning gold in his hair. Desire spiraled in her belly, her body responding to him on a visceral level.

Grace huffed out a breath, re-centering herself. She dropped her backpack to the ground, straightening her spine. This was her chance to make things right, to do what she should have done from the beginning.

"Caleb—"

"Where are you going?" His gaze landed on her backpack. "I told you to stay here with Wyatt, where you would be safe." His voice was rough, edged with a mixture of concern and frustration.

"My question exactly, it seemed we were going on a walk." A deep voice behind her made her spin.

Wyatt stood right behind her, his arms crossed over his broad chest, an amused tilt to his mouth. Of course. She should have known better than to try to sneak past a man like Wyatt.

"I'll leave you two alone." Wyatt's words hung in the air as he headed back to the house, the front door clicking behind him.

Grace turned back to Caleb, her heart racing, her mind scrambling for the right words. She owed him an explanation, but the truth stuck in her throat. How could she make him understand the guilt that pressed down on her? She had to make him see that leaving was the only way to protect him, to shield him from the darkness that haunted her like a shadow.

"Grace? You're leaving?" Caleb's accusation was brittle in the chill air and left her in doubt what he thought of her decision.

Her cheeks flamed hot. His anger was justified. "Yes. I just …I thought it would be too hard. I thought you might try to change my mind. And I have to go." Even though leaving you is killing me. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, fighting the urge to reach for him, to seek the comfort of his touch. She couldn't take the easy way out, not this time.

Caleb exhaled and dragged a hand through his hair. Something else was wrong. She could tell. She had only known him a few short days, but already she understood him as if their hearts were in sync.

"Grace, we need to talk." His voice was low. "I ran into a reporter in town today. They told me something I didn't know, something you didn't tell me."

Her stomach twisted into knots so tight it was painful to breathe. She knew what was coming, but couldn't find the words to respond.

"The reporter said you're under FBI protection. That the safe house you were in was attacked and a detective died. Is that true?" His eyes bore into hers, demanding an answer.

"Yes, it's true." She swallowed hard, her mouth dry.

"Why didn't you tell me? Do you have any idea how much danger that puts us in? How much harder it makes it for me to keep you safe?" His hands were balls of fury at his side.

She didn't blame him. She had kept this from him, thinking it would be safer, but all it had done was erode the freshly forged bridge of trust between them.

He exhaled. "When were you going to tell me, Grace?"

"I don't know. Would it make any difference if I told you I did it to protect you?" The words felt hollow, a flimsy excuse.

His eyes hardened, her words sliding off him like water. "I don't need protecting Grace. You should have told me." His accusation cut through the air, each word a tiny dagger to her heart. He was right, and the truth stung.

"You're right…" she faltered, grappling with the tangled web of her past and present. "At first…you didn't need to know everything about me. It was just all so big and unmanageable. By the time it felt safe to tell you, we were so far down the line. I was scared…" She trailed off, the deeper truth rising to the surface, a dark and ugly thing that threatened to swallow her whole. But she was better than that now. She made eye contact. "I was ashamed, ashamed I didn't realize sooner what Richard was up to. So many people have been harmed because I didn't realize sooner what was happening. What kind of person does that make me?"

Caleb took hold of her shoulders. A shiver snaked down her spine, her skin hyper-sensitive under his touch, every nerve ending crackling with awareness. "It makes you human. We all make mistakes." His gaze darkened, a flicker of torment passing behind his eyes. "Me included. And being with you? It's challenged that in my head, helped me see it's okay if we're vulnerable sometimes, if we can't always be in control." He sighed. "But that's okay. Mistakes don't define who we are." He cradled her jaw with one hand, his fingers gentle against her skin.

"I want to believe that," she whispered. "How can you be so sure? "

His grip on her shoulders firmed. "Because I see you, Grace. I see the kindness in your heart, the strength in your soul. You're fallible, just like all of us, but you're trying to make amends. Testifying takes strength. You spent years with a man who kept you through fear, not love. Don't you think you've suffered enough? What he did is not your fault and when you found out, you took a stand. A stand that has involved putting your life on the line. Try telling me that's the easy option because it's fucking not. You should be proud of what you've done, not ashamed." He sighed. "I don't think any less of you. It's you I care about. I just wish you had told me sooner."

Her throat was thick with emotion. She had spent so long believing she was unworthy and didn't deserve happiness or love. She had sealed herself away to stay sane. But brick by brick, Caleb was chipping away at the walls she had built around her heart.

He pulled her into his arms, his embrace steady and warm. "Just let me be here for you. Let me help you."

She clung to him, her face buried in his chest, breathing in his scent of man and trees, of comfort and stability. God, she wanted his help. So much. But was it too late? "There's something you should know."

He stiffened, his muscles tensing under her touch, but she plowed on, the words tumbling from her lips.

"I have a burner phone. Richard called me while you were collecting my car. He's close. Not just his men, but him."

Caleb pulled back, his hands still gripping her arms, his eyes scanning the wilderness over her shoulder. In an instant, his face shifted from solitary mountain man to elite soldier, his features hardening with determination. "We need to get you out of here. Find somewhere safe." There was an urgency to his words, but the stroke of his fingers against her cheek was gentle. He leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to the tip of her nose. So simple, yet it conveyed the scale of his feelings.

He cared for her. As much as she cared for him. The certainty settled deep within her.

And for the first time since forever, she believed she deserved it.