Page 69 of Enemy of the State

“You don’t get it, Lou. I can’t let you go. I spend every damn day with criminals anyway, so it only makes sense for me to become one.”

Those words hang between us as I let his declaration drag me under the tide. Who am I to stop him? I’m a huge believer in free will and the freedom to make your own choices in life—even if they’re idiotic. If this is the choice he’s making, am I so hypocritical as to try to stop him? However, I would like to fully understand the motivations of his actions. ‘I can’t let you go’doesn’t quite cut it for me.

Softening my tone, I ask, “Why are you really doing this?”

“Because I like being a defector and enjoy being hunted by my own government.” Sean’s sarcasm is wholly unappreciated as it drips like thick molasses from his tongue.

“No,” I declare firmly.“Why?”

He sighs inordinately, the exhale audible over the bellow of the ocean around us. “There’s not another option for either of us.There’s no other way out. But even if there were, I wouldn’t take it. I’m with you, Lou.”

His fists clench and unclench at his sides as evidence that he will fight me tooth and nail to get on that boat, but it won’t come to that. I won’t be stopping him, not when my heart and gut are begging me to escape with him. It feelsrightto let him come along. It feelsrightto be with him.

Dipping my chin in a solemn nod, I turn in the direction of the boat, trudging into the ocean, ignoring the way the salty water makes my cuts sting. He loves me, even if he hasn’t said it. He’s choosingme. And if I’m being honest with myself, I’ve chosen him too. With my back to him, I find myself smiling a real, honest smile.

“Lou, hold up,” Honey Eyes calls, and I shift toward the beach once more.Bloody hell, we havegotto go.

He bends at the waist and pulls off his boots, tossing me one, then the other, and I nod gratefully. I’m still barefoot in my black prison uniform, so these will be useful.

“Take care of my friend, Lou.”

“With my life,” I reply honestly. Wading through the ocean, I can still hear their conversation, though I don’t turn around.

“Tell my mom that I love her. Tell her…tell her that I took her advice and that my head couldn’t be trusted,” Sean requests. The sorrow in his voice is heavy like too-thick cream, but I take a deep breath and bite my tongue.

I can’t possibly imagine what Sean’s about to go through, abandoning his family and Honey Eyes.

“I’ll tell her,” Honey Eyes promises in return.

The water floats around my ribs, and I’m almost to the boat—to my means of escape—when I hear some small splashes behind me and Sean speaks again. “Watch out for Callie, too. Don’t let her think the worst of me.”

“I won’t.”

There’s a long beat, the sound of more water sloshing, followedby Sean’s admission in a low, quiet register that barely reaches me over the roar of the vast ocean. “I love you, man.”

His mate chuckles, replying slightly louder, “You’ve gone fucking soft, bro, but I love you, too. Now, get the fuck out of here.”

Water laps around my chest as I toss the boots I’ve kept dry into the boat. Before climbing aboard, I submerge myself, letting the water wash over me, cleansing me as I smile into the sea. Hoisting myself over the side of the dust-colored quad engine offshore boat, it’s obvious that we’ll be adding theft to our list of crimes tonight.

Sean climbs in a few moments later, and I gaze at the shoreline as I wring out my hair, calling out curiously, “Hey, Honey Eyes, what do you look like?”

He chuckles boisterously enough that the sound reaches me. “I’ll show you next time I see you.”

“Deal. Do me a favor, yeah?”

Cocking his head to the side, he shouts over the waves, “You mean,anotherone?”

I giggle, yelling back, “Look out for Kazi, will you?”

He shakes his head and replies, “You twowouldbe friends.”

A laugh trickles from me as I tread on wet feet toward the cockpit, still smiling, where Sean starts the engine.

Standing next to him as the motors kick on and the boat begins backing away from the island, I explain gently, “Sean, if you come with me, know that you’ll be walking intomyworld.”

While I won’t deign to try to talk him out of something he wants to do, I want to ensure that he knows what he’s getting into by running away with me. His future won’t look anything like his past.

He shifts his attention to me long enough to confirm, “Your world is mine now.”

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