Page 55 of Peril in Piney Woods

“Wait.” Griff held up his hands. “Didn’t they offer to protect you?”

“Sure.” She made a sound, a scoff. “Do you know how many cops survive in witness protection? I wouldn’t have stood a chance against Lorenzo’s reach. Case in point, Ernie runs my prints and less than twenty-four hours later Lorenzo has people right here in Piney Woods. He has ears everywhere. I knew my only choice was to disappear completely without any help from anyone.”

Griff finally understood. Meg had been right. She would never be safe unless she disappeared, leaving no trace and no one who knew.

“I’m sorry I didn’t understand.” She had the weight of all this on her shoulders, and she’d been carrying it alone all this time.

She sighed. “I guess you kind of had to be there.”

He reached over, took her hand. He held it gently. Wishing there was more he could do. More he could say.

Her mouth was suddenly on his. She kissed him with such urgency, such need. He didn’t resist. He understood. She needed him in the only way he could help right now.

And he intended to give her everything she wanted.

Chapter Thirteen

Givens Road

Chattanooga, Tennessee

6:00 a.m.

Meg watched Griff sleep. As much as she understood this thing with him had been a mistake, she couldn’t really see it that way. She had never been in love. Ever. She had dearly loved her parents. She’d cared very much for friends and even some work colleagues. But she had never been the textbook definition of “in love.”

Despite her lack of experience in the area, she felt confident this feeling that sizzled between her and Griff was exactly that—being in love. She wanted desperately to spend time with him, to simply be with him. She had never been a social butterfly. She’d had no long or impressive list of boyfriends or lovers. She had always been more focused on education and then work. Filling her social calendar or satisfying her physical needs had never been at the top of her agenda. Never a high priority. There were far too many other things that took precedence.

She and Griff had enjoyed each other’s bodies until exhaustion had overtaken them just before sunrise. He’d fallen asleep while she showered again, and she was glad. She’d wanted to just sit and look at him. To watch him breathe. To study his face and his naked body in the morning light.

He was the nicest and kindest man she had ever met. Before Griff, her father had held that standing. He had been her idol. Her father had known how to treat a woman. He had respected and supported her mother. Always backed her up. Always stood at her side. Even as a little girl, she had known this was the kind of man she wanted to fall in love with one day.

And here he was, but the timing could not be worse.

How was she supposed to follow her heart? To pursue this love she had found? She couldn’t if she wanted to protect him from the trouble that had descended upon this new life she had created.

She was out of options. The smart thing to do would be to leave now before he woke. She could write to him later and explain how difficult the decision had been. He wouldn’t understand, but at least he would be alive.

Except the only way that worked was if she turned herself over to Lorenzo. They had connected Griff to her, and they would use him against her. If hers and Ridley’s positions were reversed, she would do the same. To win, being heartless was by far the better position of strength.

She stood, rounded up her backpack. She had already dressed in the one change of clothes she’d had. Creeping through the house, headed for the front door, she forced herself to keep staring forward.

Don’t look back.

“Are you leaving?”

Without me, he didn’t bother to add. The answer was obvious.

She stalled at the front door, squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. Deep breath. She braced herself and turned to face him. That he stood there dragging on his jeans did nothing to make this any easier. From his sleep-tousled hair to his bare feet, he was as sexy as hell. The way he looked at her, disappointed and at once hopeful made her feel a level of regret she couldn’t pretend away.

“Leaving is the one step I can take that will protect you and everyone else here who I mistakenly allowed to get close to me. I just can’t risk what might happen to one or all of you by staying.”

Griff braced his hands on his lean hips. That he had left his jeans unfastened made her want to sigh. Made her hungry for more of what they’d shared in the wee hours of the morning.

“What you’re saying,” he suggested, “is that if you leave—run away—we’ll all be safe because you’re gone. These thugs will just leave, probably in an effort to pick up your trail.”

He knew she wasn’t saying that. “They will leave when I leave because I will give them my location.”

His lips tightened. She watched, vividly remembering the feel of those lips on her skin, on every part of her.

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