De Fiore had been head of his own little criminal empire but seemingly untouchable. Now to learn he was quite possibly alive? She slid off her chair, that familiar fear grasping her in its sharp talons.
She should run. Far, far away. She’d done it before, and she could go off the grid again. Except now it would hurt worse than before. Chicago had never felt like home. Nowhere their mother had dragged them after her dad’s death had really felt like home. After college, and then her years of traveling, Tegan had just gone back to Chicago because it had been familiar and her brother had been living there. She’d never planned to settle down there permanently. When she’d gone on the run she hadn’t cared about leaving the city. If anything, leaving behind all those painful memories had been easy. Like cutting away a gangrenous part of her life.
Now would be different. She loved Miami and more than that, she loved the people she’d gotten to know. She’d allowed herself to start putting down roots, to make friends.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Aaron’s deep voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
Blinking, she realized he was standing on the other side of the island, watching her. She hadn’t even heard him return to the kitchen. “What?”
“I see the look on your face. Your instinct is telling you to run. Well, you’re not going to.” There was no room for argument in his voice, in those commanding words.
She wanted to deny what she’d been thinking, but lifted a shoulder. “Maybe it would be better if I did run.” Even if it was the last thing she truly wanted to do. Going on the run drained her in ways she hated thinking about. The last couple of years before settling in Miami she’d been a muted version of herself, always worried, always looking over her shoulder. “Because if it’s not De Fiore who wants to kill me, then I’m screwed. I mean, I’m screwed either way but at least if he’s the one after me I know what he looks like. Now I’m fighting a ghost, because I have no idea who else could want me dead.”
And she was making anyone associated with her a target. Sure, she was relatively safe. For the moment. But it wouldn’t last. She couldn’t hide at Aaron’s forever. Even if they’d taken a ridiculous amount of precautions, maybe there was something they hadn’t seen, an angle they hadn’t thought of. She shut that thought down before she started hyperventilating. Giving in to fear was weak. She had to keep a steady head.
“Let the FBI and the Miami PD do their job. At least let them investigate this before doing something stupid. The bombing just happened. They’re putting all their resources into this.”
His tone and the word stupid rankled her. “I can take care of myself.” She’d been doing it for a long time.
“I know. Doesn’t mean you should run. Stay here where you’re safe. No one could possibly know where you are right now. There’s been no leak to the news of the names of the witnesses, no leak that I was there. There’s no fucking link between us.” His voice was heated, his expression determined. “And if here stops being safe, we’ll figure something else out. I work for a powerful company. They’ll help you if the cops can’t.”
“I…don’t think I can afford their help.” She didn’t know much about the company he worked for but he wore expensive suits, drove a nice truck, and lived in a very nice area. Not to mention she’d seen the Red Stone Security building downtown. That place had been intimidating and seriously prime real estate.
He frowned. “They’ll likely do it for free. If they don’t, I’ll pay.”
She shook her head. “Why would they do that?” She wasn’t going to ask why he’d offered to pay, only because she didn’t want to insult him. And she didn’t want the answer. She wasn’t letting him pay to help her, period. He’d already done too much.
“Because you need help.”
She wanted to tell him that the world didn’t work that way but his very determined expression said that he meant every word. Something about the look in his eyes was too intense, too…something. She didn’t want to analyze it or what it made her feel. Aaron was not the man for her. She had to keep reminding herself of that. “So eight o’clock tomorrow?” Or today, really. It was after midnight after all.
He nodded. “I’ll drive you.”
“Are you sure you can take off work like this?” They hadn’t actually talked about that. He’d pretty much told her that he was helping her and just taken over. She was grateful for that but didn’t want to interfere with his life—or put him or anyone else in danger.
“Yep.” He was watching her with that unnerving intensity.
“Are you going to expand on that?”