Page 118 of Delicate Escape

My stomach roiled as I remembered the music blaring to life in the bakery just before Brendan came inside. It was his way of tellingme he could get to me anywhere. And he could get to those I cared about, too.

I unlocked my bike and climbed on. Shoving my purse into the basket, I took off. I’d never ridden faster. My muscles strained, and my lungs burned. But it wasn’t until I felt the sting of the wind on my cheeks that I realized I was crying.

He’d won. Again.

I couldn’t stay in Sparrow Falls. Not with Brendan hovering, the long reach of his cruel fingers looming around me. Not knowing he could do the worst at any moment. I wouldn’t put Sutton through that. Not when she’d worked so hard to start over. And I wouldn’t put Shep through it either. Because if Brendan found out there was a man in my life, he would rain down hellfire on him.

I had to leave. There was no choice.

The moment I reached my house, I jumped off my bike and ran toward the front door. My hand shook as I tried to undo the lock. It took me a good six tries to get my key into the deadbolt.

As I stepped inside and locked the door behind me, Moose let out a warbled meow, and the kittens echoed him from the living room. I’d have to get the burner out of my nightstand and text Rhodes, ask her to come get them. But for now, I needed to move.

I hurried into my bedroom, moving to the closet and feeling for the loose floorboard. Popping it up, I pulled out the lockbox and input the combination. The moment it was open, I started shoving all the contents inside my purse. Passport, cash, legal documents.

I straightened from my crouch and reached up for the duffel bag on a shelf high above my clothes. As my fingers closed around the strap of the bag, the tears came faster. I hadn’t wanted to use this bag. Not ever again.

The duffel had been my only companion other than Moose on my trip from LA all around the Pacific Northwest. Until I found Sparrow Falls. The calming pull of the mountains here. The way the air soothed. I’d worked so hard to make it my home.

And Brendan had stolen that, too.

I yanked the bag down and dumped it on my bed. I movedquickly to my dresser, pulling out only what I’d need to get me to where I was going next. I needed to go farther this time. Maybe the East Coast? Canada?

My heart gave a vicious squeeze as if rebelling against the idea. Because all of that meant being far away from the last person I wanted distance from. Tears spilled over, sliding off my chin and landing on my comforter.

My fingers fisted in my clothes as I shoved them into the bag. Shep didn’t deserve the nightmare headed my way. He didn’t deserve people whispering about him because his girlfriend’s naked body had been up on porn sites. He didn’t deserve to have his finances hacked, or his business ruined by rumors of shoddy work or whatever else Brendan could dream up.

He deserved so much better. He deservedeverything.

I was so caught up in shoving clothes in the bag, I didn’t hear the footsteps. I didn’t hear anything at all. Not until the deep voice boomed across the space.

“What the hell are you doing?”

45

SHEP

Thea whirledaround at my words, her hair flying in all directions. The look on her face cut me to the quick. Eyes red. Tear tracks staining her cheeks. Skin pale. And more than that was panic. Terror.

She shook her head, faster and faster, hands gripping a T-shirt. “I have to go.”

Pain, hot and brutal like a scalding poker, pierced my chest. “No.”

Thea’s gaze jumped around the room, looking for a way out. Like she was a wide receiver looking for a hole to run through. “I have to, Shep. He’s going to ruin everything.” The tears came faster then. “He’ll ruin Sutton’s business. Yours. He’ll destroy every single person who stands with me just because he can. He’ll put the pictures up again. He’ll make sure the whole town sees them.”

Fuck.

If I’d thought I wanted to kill Brendan before, it was nothing compared to what I felt now. When Sutton called, panicked that Thea was about to do something reckless, I’d dropped everythingand bolted for home. I’d thought it hurt to find Thea packing, but that had nothing on seeing her brokenness now.

I crossed the room in three long strides.

“Don’t.” Thea’s voice cracked like a whip. “It’ll be so much harder if you touch me. I won’t be able to do it, what I need to, what’s right. I have to do what’s right, Shepard.”

“Thea.” My voice cracked on her name.

“If you wrap your arms around me and make me feel safe, leaving will be that much harder, and it’s already going to rip my heart out.”

“If you leave, I’m going with you.” The words were out before I could stop them. But the moment they were, I knew they were true.

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