Page 109 of Sinners Retreat

She waves back and checks her watch. “Well, I guess this is it.”

“For now,” I say.

“Right. For now.” She laughs and wipes a tear from her eye. “Gosh, why am I being so emotional? It’s not like I won’t see you again. My plane leaves in an hour, and then you’ll be back in town tomorrow.”

“You have a way of making a minute away from you feel like an eternity.”

She smacks my chest and rolls her eyes. “Okay, no need to get all sappy on me.”

“You bring it out of me. I can’t help it.”

As I lean down to kiss her, Bennett lays on the horn. I wave him off and enjoy these moments before we have to say goodbye.

We part ways, and I watch her until she disappears within the airport. She looks back once and then she’s gone.

I slide into the back seat of the rental, and Bennett heads toward the hotel. The ride is much different now that we don’t have to listen to Gary.

Gary . . .

“Bennett,” I say, “what ever happened to Gary? Did you get to kill him?”

His hands tighten on the wheel, and he shakes his head. “Fuck no. Right before the hunt, Jim finally decided to tell me Gary didn’t make it past the first fucking night. The little weasel tried to escape through the air vents.”

I wince.

The air vents were installed by Jim as a way to deter the Cattle from escaping. Because the opening is so large and easy to reach, someone almost always tries it the first night, but when the grate closes behind them, all hell breaks loose. If Gary managed to make it past the saw blades, the shrinking room must have squished him. There’s no surviving that.

Bennett pulls up to our hotel. It’s the same place we stayed that first night in Miami. Memories that seem like they happened years ago rush back to me.

As Bennett and Maverick head to the front desk, I stand by the elevators and check my phone for a text from Kindra. She hasn’t reached out, but that’s okay. She’s probably still trying to get her luggage sorted.

I kick myself for not going with her. I should have changed flights. What if she needs more medicine? What if someone tries to hurt her?

My skin breaks into a cold sweat just thinking about it. How could I have been so stupid? Now that I have her in my life, I have to protect her.

I turn around with every intention of demanding Bennett drive me back to the airport...

And there she is.

She smiles and gives me a little wave. “Fancy meeting you here,” she says.

I rush forward and take her into my arms. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be boarding your plane by now.”

“You aren’t the only one who can keep secrets.” She tips her head back to look up at me. “As soon as we had cell signal onthe jet, I changed my flight. Bennett gave me the details while we were still on the island.”

“You little minx.” I lean down and kiss her. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she says.

Bennett rounds the corner and immediately pretends to gag. “Don’t you guys ever get sick of pawing at each other? Give it a rest.”

Kindra and I look at each other and laugh. We don’t need to say what we’re thinking, as we’re both thinking the same thing.

Never.

Epilogue

Three Months Later

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