Page 104 of Love Her

“Yeah. And—I wish you’d gotten a chance to meet her,” I said, putting my bag on my own bed, and pulling out my things. “But the kids the next farm over love her. They already take care of her anyways—she’ll be okay.”

“I can’t believe this is really happening,” she said. “I told Marcus I’d send his ring back—I’ll leave it in an obvious spot, so someone else can do that for me.”

“Fuck him,” I said. “Bring it. We’ll go full Titanic somewhere, and throw it into the sea.”

“Orrrr…give it to some other couple who looks really cute? Like they deserve it?”

“If that’s what you want, sure. Anything you want, from here on out Lia.”

“Well that works out nicely,” she said, turning to face the camera again, tilting her head as she gave me a heart-melting smile. “Because the only thing I want is you.”

I swallowed, and I was glad she couldn’t see it. “Finish packing,” I said softly. “Isabelle’s. Two a.m.—I’ll send you the code to get into her building and into her place,” I said, and then hung up on her.

I sank down on my bed, with my elbows on my knees, and texted Lia the number to Isabelle’s complex.

But I didn’t get back up immediately.

Lia and I could dodge a lot of things. I’d never been on the run before, but I’d definitely given chase, so I knew how it worked, in circles like ours.

But she didn’t deserve a life where she could never make friends, never settle down, and always needed to be looking over her shoulder.

That wasn’t the kind of life you could lead, if you wanted to have a family.

I put on jeans, a t-shirt, and a barn coat, then took the elevator down to my truck.

I needed to have a talk with her father.

I usedmy drive over to Nero’s home to compose myself and come up with my plan—and when I got there, I laid on the doorbell.

I needed him to be up.

Rio answered, the in-house servants having quite rightly guessed that a madman was outside. “What do you want?” he asked, still ominous, even in boxers—possibly because of the piece he had strapped to his thigh.

“I need to talk to Nero.”

Rio shook his head. “He’s asleep.”

“It’s an emergency,” I said, then pressed. “Would I be here if it wasn’t?”

Rio’s expression pinched, but then he stepped back, and put in the code, so the door would open.

“Thanks,” I muttered, and then jogged up the stairs to where I knew Nero’s bedroom was. I knocked gently first—but then I went inside anyways. “Nero?” I said, finding the man himself sleeping, before he slowly cocked one eye.

“Rhaim? Who the hell let you in? It’s late—and I’m drunk,” he said, pushing himself upright in bed.

The clothes that he slept in made him look thin—because he was.

The man was dying—and here I was, going to make an asshole out of myself.

“Good, I guess,” I said, sitting down on the end of his bed. “I’m in love. With your daughter,” I said. “Lia,” I added—like he might not know her name.

If he pulled a pistol out of his nightstand, I was going to have to let him shoot me with it, praying for a low caliber and shitty aim.

It was the only way that she and I could truly be free.

For a moment, the old Nero came back, possessing this one here like a crackling spark. “How long?” he asked, in a clipped tone.

Ever since she was draped over my lap at a sex club,“Since we started working together.”

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