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“I told you to stay at my house. I’m never home, and there’s a grocery store within walking distance.”
“Thank you, but I won’t endanger you. You’re risking your life just by talking to me.”
He glances around the cramped room. Metal bunk bed, bookshelf, desk—it reminds me of my university dorm room.
“Are your guards still checking for cameras?” he asks.
“Every day. I don’t know how the stalker monitors my activity, but since I’ve left the island, I don’t have that constant feeling of being watched.”
“Good.”
“Doesn’t lower the risk, though. I’m serious, Rhett. You shouldn’t be here.”
When I suspected Doyle’s motivations, he went missing. When I suspected Sirena, she went missing. I don’t want to suspect Rhett, and I sure as hell don’t want parts of his anatomy showing up.
I need to keep space between us for his safety.
“How long will you let this go on?” he asks.
“I’m just staying here until I figure things out.” I finish off the burger and move on to the fries.
“You married a man with more money than God, and you’re sleeping on threadbare sheets in a cold hospital. Alone. Your problems can be fixed, Frankie. But they won’t fix themselves.”
“My problems are cute little puppies in a pet shop window. I saw them and knew they were trouble. Then they licked my face and peed on my leg, and I just had to have them. I had to have all of them. I took them home, and they gained weight and became wolves and tried to kill one another. And I love them even more.”
“Those men were never cute little puppies.”
“And the cabin wasn’t a pet shop. It’s an allegory, Rhett. I’m trying to make a point.”
“I get it.” He steps toward the door. “Stay as long as you want, but you and I both know you’re safer with them.” He pauses with his hand on the knob. “One of them is in the hospital as we speak.”
I sigh. They’ve been showing up every day since I left. Monty pops in to double and triple-check my security. Kody’s appearances are more stealthy. I never see him, but I know he’s stalking me from the shadows. Leo always rolls in like a storm, vibrating with rage and ready to fight.
“Which one?” I ask.
“The Norse god of thunder.”
I groan.
When Leo crashed into the trauma unit two days ago, he was aggressive, demanding, and refused to leave without me. I know he and Kody are staying in Kody’s apartment at the distillery. I watch them through the tracking app on my phone only because I’m desperate to know if they’re reconciling with Monty. Or getting help. Or doing anything to improve their situation.
Leaving them wasn’t enough.
I must stay gone.
And that’s where my big brave plan crashes and burns.
I’m so fucking lonely, scared, and sick with guilt. My eyes leak constantly, my remorse so strong they can scent it across the Sound. I ache everywhere—my teeth, my throat, my chest. God, the constricting pain in my chest makes it so hard to breathe. Every stab, every rib-cracking heartbeat urges me to go to them.
But who would I run to? Which one would I choose?
I can’t. I won’t do it.
I must train my heart to be the door, not the mat. Change the locks on it. Don’t let them in unless they show up together, united.
I can do this. I have a room just my size. A head full of memories. A mind like a sharpie that draws thick, bold lines. A heart like a four-person bed, big enough to hold all of us. Except it has a hole in it the size of the Arctic, and it’s cold. So fucking cold.
But I can do this. I must.
