A few minutes later, Damon was off the phone. “Okay. Remi is going to keep an eye out for the car. He’ll let us know if he sees anything, and as soon as he locates her, he’ll keep a tail on her as much as he can. It’s not much, but...”

“It’s better than nothing.” Nick nodded. “And it’s a whole lot better than what I’m doing.” He couldn’t sit any longer. “I need to go after her.”

“Who?”

He stopped. His hands might be tied when it came to Amelia. He’d take Chris’s advice because he didn’t want to screw it up. He’d play by the rules, even if it went against everything he thought was right. But he’d do it for Amelia. He had to.

But Charlotte…therewassomething he could do to fix that. Hopefully. She’d been hurt before. Badly. And she’d trusted him. He’d betrayed that trust and he’d spend the rest of his life making amends for that if she’d let him. But first…he needed to find her.

“I need to find Charlotte,” he told his friends. “I need to tell her everything.”

“Nick?” Katie stopped him, confusion on her face. “Isn’t that why she left?” she asked. “Because she knows everything now?”

“No.” He shook his head. “She doesn’t know how much I love her.”

Charlotte backed up into the cabin. Her pulse thundered in her ears, making it hard to think straight.

Billy?

Her brain just couldn’t wrap around the fact that she was looking at her ex-boyfriend, the one she’d left on the other side of the country in a stealth-like mission, sneaking away and leaving everything behind.

And he was here.

Here.

If anyone asked, she told them she had never been afraid of Billy. Not really. He’d only gotten physical with her a few times, but only when he’d been drinking and even then, she wasn’t scared.Not really.

But she’d been scared enough that Jeremy had helped her get away from him. Distance had made her complacent. She’d forgotten how imposing he could be. How threatening he could be without even saying a word.

It was all coming back. Quickly.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for you.” He stepped inside the cabin and shut the door behind him as he leaned back against it. “I’ve been watching and waiting, Char. It’s hard to get you alone.”

Alone.

She was alone.

But had he been watching her…

“How did you know where to find me?”

He laughed.

It was a chilling noise that made her stomach turn.

“You didn’t think I’d know where you went?” He shook his head. “You never could stop talking about your stupid hometown and once I got here...well, it’s not like you’ve been hiding. Hanging all over that guy. Playing house with his baby.”

He snorted in disgust, but Char was focused on what he’d just said. He’d been watching her. He’d seen her. With Amelia.What if…

No. She couldn’t let herself think about what would have happened if he’d gotten her alone with the baby. She needed to focus.

“It was a long drive, that’s for sure.” Billy was still talking. “But you’re worth it, Char. I wasn’t going to let you go that easy.”

The hair on the back of her neck stood up.Let you go that easy.Char refused to let him see her panic.

“I drove a long way to see you, Charlotte. That’s how much I love you.”