Page 80 of Hidden Memories

Not just safety. Not just distance from the past. But a life. A real one. One where Theo can be himself. Where I can be more than just surviving.

But reality is a cruel thing, and it doesn’t let me forget—not for a second. Because wanting something and having it are two very different things. A shadow from my past follows me… It could drag everyone in this town down with it.

I close my eyes, inhaling deeply, grounding myself before I let the hope sink in too deep. Because that’s the problem with hope—it doesn’t just bloom quietly. It takes root, digs in, refuses to let go. It makes you believe in things you have no right to.

Echo Valley could be the fresh start we need. But whoever is out there, whoever wants what I have—they won’t stop. And when they catch up, it won’t just be me paying the price. It’ll be everyone who ever dared to care about me.

Chapter Twenty

PRESENT

I sitin the family office, and it’s a full house. Six months ago, I used to be the only one up here. This was my space. My quiet. I’d have private meetings with clients and time to decompress. If I needed to think, I’d do jumping jacks or burpees or even skip rope right in the middle of the room. Other times, I’d kick my boots up on the sill of the oversized window, stare out at the horses, and contemplate what it all meant—how far I’d come.

Now? I barely have space to breathe.

Enzo, Ava, Rio, and Callum are all here, headsdown, working. The air hums with quiet focus, the click of keys, the low murmur of discussion. I should be getting things done, too. Should be checking emails, making phone calls and setting up tomorrow’s training schedule.

Instead, I’ve been staring at the same email for thirty minutes.

Kat reached out to Callum about the flash drives, which was the right move. I’m glad she did. An answer to why someone is after her could be buried in those drives.

Yes. She needs to come here. But I shouldn’t be here at all.

I can’t decrypt the drives. I wouldn’t know the first thing about it. Hell, if Enzo and Ava weren’t in the family, I wouldn’t even be able to use a VPN. But when Callum mentioned they were meeting at the ranch to decode them, somehow my ass ended up in this chair like I had no say in the matter.

I need to be here. I need to know if she’s safe.

It was good we had a day apart yesterday. I came back to Julia’s extra late, after what I hoped was bedtime, because some part of me is still that damn twenty-one-year-old young man who can’t be trusted around her.

I don’t know how to do this—how to protect her while keeping my hands off her. How to be in her orbit without getting pulled under.

I’ve had years to try and explain Kat out of my mind, out of my heart. First, I tried to dismiss it. Told myself we were total opposites. But opposites attract, and anyway, the thing that was different about us—her world, my world—wasn’t the way we defined ourselves.

And then two years after the end, I started coming into really good money myself.

That should have been the moment I could move on,right? When I became the kind of man who could’ve been with her. But it didn’t change a damn thing.

Because the truth is, I was never meant to get over her.

Kat wasn’t just my first love—she was the only time I ever felt whole. The only time I let myself be truly vulnerable with another human being, and instead of destroying me, it made me stronger.

I glance back at my screen. Still on the same email. I scrub a hand down my face. I shouldn’t be here.

And then the door creaks open.

Kat peeks her head around the doorframe, her long, dark hair cascades over her shoulder. “Is it okay to come in?”

Ava stands. “Of course.” She gestures to the empty seat opposite her.

Kat steps inside, peeling off her chunky cardigan—the same one from last night—and it takes everything in me not to stare.

She’s nervous and wastes some time on small talk. “Theo is helping Julia with her horses this morning.”

Ava smiles kindly. “You’d think the giant Clydesdale would be the sassy one but boy is her Shetland a handful. He’ll have fun.”

The nod Kat returns is so feeble I want to reach out and soak in her nerves. Hold her steady. Carry everything for her.

She’s stunning in a long, simple cotton dress. Comfortable. Everyday. And yet, somehow, she’s no less than a goddamn goddess.

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