Page 8 of Twisted Hearts

“I’m sure, and I want you to know I’m so proud of you. I know this wasn’t easy, but you’ll be okay now.”

I could only hope that was true.

“We need to get going.” She kissed my cheek and stepped back, brows tugging together. “If you needanythingtonight, text me, okay?”

Klaus came up to her, settling his arm at her lower back. “Or me. You have my number? One of us will hear our phones.”

On instinct, she turned to kiss his cheek. “You’re the best.”

He grinned down at her like he wanted to argue that she was the best.

Jealousy slithered into my veins as they so easily and flawlessly loved each other. I’d never had that, and I wanted it.

Thank God I didn’t marry Daniel.

I fought against slinking back in shame and turned to Jillian. “Please. Go. I’ll be fine alone, but I swear to you, if I change my mind, I’ll come find you.”

She pressed her lips tighter, probably dying to do more to convince me, but she finally nodded. “Okay. But please, don’t be up here tonight thinking of all ofthat, okay? You’re here, you’re safe, and we’ll do all we can to make sure Daniel doesn’t ever get his hands on you again.”

Tears burned behind my eyes, and I forced them to stay there by sheer will. “Thank you.”

“Okay. Good.” Her smile was timid, but she came to me and gave me another fierce hug. “Love you, Adrianna. And I’m proud of you.”

“Love you too. Go have fun.”

She stepped back into Klaus’s hold. They turned for the door, and he guided her out with a hand at her lower back. As the door closed behind them, he stopped it with his palm. He speared me with a look in his oceanic blue eyes so intense I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to.

“What you did today shows how strong you are. Keep moving, and that strength will grow. We’re both proud of you for getting yourself into a safer situation. And like Jillian said, we’ll do everything we can to keep you that way.”

My chin wobbled and I bit my bottom lip. “Thanks, Klaus.”

“Get some rest. Relax and enjoy your night.”

The door clicked behind him, and once the silence settled around me, I spun in a slow circle.

It was a basic hotel room, nothing fancy, and yet it was elegant all the same. It wasn’t anything overly special, and it was roughly the size of my bedroom in my parents’ home.

Standing there, lights of the city sparkling through the windows, my remaining belongings on the table and floor, I’d never felt freer.

Or more alive.

3

Shawn

Idon’t belong here.

It was the first thought I had as I walked into The Hills Hotel, which was decked out with gold and crystal chandeliers and place settings that most likely cost more than my old monthly salary. I was a small-town guy from a town of four thousand people and had lived there my entire life. Grew up working on my parents’ farm, built muscles all the girls in high school fawned over by baling hay and mucking stalls in our barn.

I’d never planned to leave, but sometimes life offered you opportunities too good to pass up.

Which was how I ended up in Raleigh just after New Year’s.

I never thought I’d hang up my badge and stop being a police officer, but there I was, standing in the lobby of one of the most luxurious hotels I’d ever seen, trying to figure out how I’d gone from being a police officer in a tiny town in Kansas to providing security for a fundraiser in a room filled with professional athletes from a variety of sports, politicians, some of the state’s most well-known tech CEOs, and the like.

A hand came down on my shoulder, jolting me in the tuxedo I was dressed in for the event.

When it came to Jaxon Hayes and his private security team, he insisted we blend in, which meant I was able to write off the Tom Ford tuxedo I’d purchased figuring I’d be at more of these shindigs.

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