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“And when I'm asking you to tell me what's wrong, you have to tell me!” His voice grew more intense as he searched her face. “I've waited ten damn years, Allison. How much longer do you intend to endure everything alone? Tell me right now, or I'll spend the entire night getting it out of you.”

Allison frowned and huffed in frustration, turning her face away from him.

Silas let out a sharp breath before catching her chin and gently turning her face back toward his. He bent his head and caught her lower lip between his teeth, giving it a brief, teasing bite.

“Ow!” She winced, glaring up at him.

“Talk.” His gaze held hers, stern and hard.

Allison clenched her teeth, but she finally gave in. To her surprise, once she started talking, it took only a few minutes to tell him everything. She explained what had happened ten years ago, beginning with her parents' deaths and Justin's involvement, then told him about Justin's recent messages and calls.

Silas listened without interrupting. By the time she finished, a deep, troubled expression had settled over his face. His jaw tightened, and he looked grim as he absorbed everything she'd been keeping from him.

Before Allison could say another word, he bent down, lifted her into his arms, and carried her to the dining table. He settled her on its edge, then stepped between her legs, his expression tense with concern.

“I have a feeling this isn't just about the business,” he said gravely. “I think there's something else he wants. I don't have a good feeling about it.”

Allison placed her hands on his shoulders, searching his face. “What else could he possibly want? The business is the only thing connecting us to him. He was involved with it, and I think that's all he's after. There's nothing else he can get from us.”

Silas frowned, unconvinced. “I still have a feeling this isn't that simple.”

He held her gaze for a moment before lifting his hands to her face. His expression softened slightly as he leaned closer, brushing his lips against hers before speaking in a quieter voice.

“From now on, I want you to tell me everything that happens to you. Everything you go through, every problem you face. I don't want you doing anything without telling me first. I'm getting a bad feeling about this, Allison, and I don't want things to escalate before I know what's going on. I need to know everything that happens to you.”

Allison sighed. She knew how worried he was, and she couldn't bring herself to dismiss his concerns when he was looking at her like that.

“Okay,” she promised.

Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him closer, offering him a small smile.

Silas's tense expression eased a little. His hands slid gently down her thighs before moving up to her hips, where he held her firmly and pulled her closer. He leaned forward and kissed her, and Allison melted into him as the kiss deepened, all the frustration between them giving way to a familiar, consuming hunger.

***

Allison was working from the Sundown Diner again the next day. Since the diner was closed and there were no customers around, she had settled at one of the tables along the side with her laptop while Summer went out to take care of a few errands. They had planned to go shopping together once Summer returned from the bank, then spend the rest of the day enjoying each other’s company.

For now, however, Allison was content to catch up on work. She had barely noticed how much time had passed until the late afternoon sun began to sink toward the horizon, casting long shadows through the windows.

Then a sudden explosion shattered the quiet.

The blast shook the walls, making the table beneath Allison’s hands tremble. She jerked upright, her heart leaping into her throat as a deafening bang rang out from somewhere nearby. For a moment, she could only stare ahead, stunned by the force of it. Then instinct took over. She snatched up her phone and hurried deeper into the diner, trying to determine where the sound had come from.

What she saw made her stop dead.

The window across the diner had been blown out, and a substantial section of the wall surrounding it had collapsed. Broken glass and chunks of debris littered the floor, while part of the building itself appeared to have been torn apart by the explosion.

Allison clapped a hand over her mouth, a gasp escaping between her fingers. Her stomach tightened as she stared at the destruction, struggling to make sense of what had just happened. She took a cautious step backward before turning and hurrying outside, already reaching for her phone to call the police. She needed to get somewhere safe first.

But as she approached her car, she stopped again.

All four tires had been slashed or punctured, leaving them completely flat against the ground.

A cold, ominous feeling crept over her, familiar enough to make her stomach turn. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. The unease settled over her so quickly that nausea rose in her throat, and she struggled to steady her breathing.

Without wasting another second, she opened her contacts and pulled up Silas’s number. She sent him live location, then quickly typed a message telling him that something felt wrong.

She had barely pressed send when a hand clamped over her mouth.