Page 109 of Witness Protection

She unlocked the door, her hands slightly shaking. “This can’t be happening.”

“Wait,” said Cayden. “Be a fucking gentleman. Let’s carry her over the threshold.”

“Right.”

They scooped her up from each end and carried her inside, setting her onto her feet again. Cayden’s cat, Rosie, rubbed up against her leg. She smiled. Hawk shrugged when Cayden raised an eyebrow.

“And then there were four,” she said.

Sophia was off before he could close the door, dashing in this direction and that. The wall facing the ocean was mostly windows, and an easel had been set up with a stool at the perfect vantagepoint.

She ran her fingers over the blank paper, then over the new brushes, one by one. When she turned her head, her eyes were filled with unshed tears. “You thought of everything, didn’t you?”

“We both want you to paint again,” said Hawk. “It’s time to live our lives.”

Sophia spun in a slow circle, her arms at her sides. He wasn’t sure if she was losing her mind again. She was always an enigma.

“You okay?” asked Cayden, sitting on the arm of the sofa.

When she stopped spinning, he couldn’t find the joy he expected. Only sadness.

“This is too perfect. It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“It’s what I want,” she said. “I can’t imagine either of you living here. You’re like oil and water.”

“You’re wrong,” said Hawk. “We both want this, or we wouldn’t be here.”

“Is that true, Cayden?”

“I’ve been at the bottom, princess. I’ve lived my nightmares. One thing I’ve never experienced is real life. Life how it should be. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but I want the same thing you do.”

She smiled, a barely-there smile, and it lit up the room.

“You won’t miss the chaos, Hawk? The contracts?”

He shook his head so he didn’t have to lie. Cayden was right. It wouldn’t be an easy adjustment, but it was his dream, too.

“Then shouldn’t we christen our new house?” she asked.

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