wouldn’t imagine me going.
The blip was on Canadian soil. Did it mean something? Too much of a coincidence. They wouldn’t find me here.
I watched the movement until it stopped. Maybe it was a place to stay for now. Maybe this was where he was meant to be, where his mark was. He wouldn’t move any further.
I packed up my equipment and left my hideout. My mind ran in circles. If Maksim found me, shit was really going to hit the fan. I would fight him. I would take them all out – I’d given it all up, I’d laid down my gun, but I wasn’t going to let any of them get to me. I would do it one more time to be sure we were safe. Especially Angela.
By the time I reached the cabin, I wasn’t calm enough to climb back in bed and cuddle up to her. My muscles were tight, my mind spinning. I looked at the world with the same eyes I had when I’d just arrived. Everywhere was a place for someone to hide. Everywhere was a spot for a sniper to camp out, a gunman to conceal himself in the shrubbery.
The cabin was quiet, the forest still asleep around us. The chirp of birds in the trees above was removed.
I stepped into the cabin and checked on Angela. She had rolled over, her dark hair fanned over the pillows, the sheet only pulled up to her ribs so her naked breasts were exposed. Round, milky white, with dark nipples.
Fuck, she was beautiful. And sexy. I wanted to take her again. Last night had been incredible.
But I had business to attend to. I tugged the sheets up a little higher so she wouldn’t be cold. I wanted to drop a kiss in her hair and stopped myself. I needed her to sleep for a while longer.
And I needed to get a fucking grip. I was turning into someone I didn’t know I could be. Being with Angela brought a side out in me I thought I’d lost. After ripping so many families apart, I’d thought I didn’t have what it took to be warm toward someone, to love and care again.
It had been fine by me – I would only drag whoever attached themselves to me through the hell of running, of living a life away from the real world.
Was I willing to do that to Angela? She deserved better.
Angela was everything that was good and pure in the world. She wasn’t only beautiful; she had a stubborn streak that made me feel a sense of pride around her. Something about her reminded me of the forest after a summer rain – clean and fresh, as if all the dirt had washed away and what remained was untouched and perfect.
I’d already started fucking with her perfection. And Angela deserved better than the likes of me. She deserved to be treated like a queen, to be given a life encrusted with diamonds. She deserved a classy house and a man who had an honest job, who could give her everything she deserved in life.
She didn’t deserve a damaged train wreck who was as familiar and comfortable with guns as I was fucking a female.
I would treat her like a queen. I would give her everything in my power to show her how perfect she was, how worthy. But no matter what I gave her, no matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to outrun my past. I still had to watch for Maksim. I still had to make sure that they didn’t find me.
I was still in hiding.
And eventually, I would have to send her away so her life wasn’t ruined, or worse, ended, by my past.
But not yet.
I was a selfish son of a bitch. I didn’t want to let her go. I wanted to hold on as tightly as I could. For as long as I could.
Angela
When I woke up, Viktor wasn’t in bed with me. I rolled over to his side, feeling the sheets. They were cold – he’d been away for a while.
I rolled onto my back and looked up at the ceiling. I curled under the sheets, relishing in the delicious aftermath of our sexual escapades. The echo of him was still between my legs where I was pleasantly sore.
I sat up and looked around. I frowned when I saw my phone on the side table. I could swear it hadn’t been there when we’d headed to town.