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After he left, the house felt too quiet. Tyson still hadn’t moved from his post by the door.

“You don’t have to protect me,” I said.

“I know I don’t.”

“Then why?”

He finally looked at me, and the raw honesty in his expression stole my breath.

“Because he put his hand on you and I was standing thirty feet away and I’m supposed to just watch?” His voice stayed steady but his hands shook. Just barely, but I saw it.

He saw me notice and shoved them in his pockets.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“Don’t thank me for doing the bare minimum.”

“It’s more than anyone else ever did.”

The words hung between us, too heavy for the daylight streaming through my windows. “I should get back to work,” he said finally.

“Yeah.”

“You sure you’re okay?”

“I will be.”

He studied me for a long moment, then nodded. “Lock up behind me. And Sam? Next time, please, don’t open the door.”

“Next time?”

His jaw tightened. “There’s always a next time with guys like him.”

16

— • —

Sam

The call came at eight-thirty in the morning while I was staring at my coffee and wondering if it was too early for wine.

“Sam? It’s Rachel.” My lawyer’s voice had a weird energy to it. Not her usual ‘brace yourself for bullshit’ tone. “Are you sitting down?”

“Should I be?”

I braced myself for what she was about to say, my stomach dropping to the floor, nerves filling my entire body…

“He signed.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Just now. Garrett signed the divorce papers. All of them. No amendments, no conditions. Clean signature.”

My legs forgot how to work. I slid down the kitchen cabinet until my ass hit the floor, phone pressed to my ear.

“Why?”

“My guess? His legal team strongly advised it after the police report you filed. Not a good look for someone trying to maintain a job and credibility.”