“Oh. My. God.” I threw my hands up, and they trembled with rage and something else I didn’t want to name. “What is happening right now? You’re making absolutely no sense.”
He gripped my arms again, resting his fingers on my back. I felt tiny with his big hands wrapped around me like that. Vulnerable, too. And I didn’t like it. “You need to leave town because it’s not safe here. You’re not safe with me anymore.”
I tipped my head back and met those blazing eyes of his I loved so much, fighting back the nerves bundling in knots in my stomach. “Why not? What’s changed all of a sudden?”
“I thought I could be selfish for a little while longer and keep you around, but it’s starting to feel like I’m playing Russian roulette with your life. My brother is trying to kill me, and you could end up as collateral damage in a war that has nothing to do with you,” he admitted in a rush, his jaw hard and straight and tough. “So you need to leave town.”
I swallowed hard. “Wait. He’s trying to kill you?”
“Yes.” He pointed to the door. “Ready to stop being stubborn and start being sensible?”
“I . . .” And leave him alone, with only one man to watch his back? Hell no. I wasn’t about to abandon him in his hour of need, when he’d been there for me in mine. My fight hadn’t been his. He could have left me in that alley and done nothing. But he hadn’t, and I wouldn’t, either. “Scotty?”
He flinched and pressed his lips into a tight line. “Yes. Scotty.”
“But . . .” I’d been alone my entire life until Frankie, and it sucked, but it also meant there was no one who could hurt me. I couldn’t imagine what Lucas was going through. “But he’s your brother.”
His hand flexed on me. He didn’t let go, though. “Yes, I know. I had an emergency escape plan in place, just in case, but then I found out about Scotty, and then I saw—” He cut off. “And then everything changed. So now I want you to take the escape route. Take the money and the passport and run.”
“Why don’t you come, too?” I asked, holding my breath.
He stepped back. “I can’t. There’s only one passport.”
“So we won’t leave the country.” It was crazy and stupid, but if he went with me . . . I’d go. If it meant saving him from the impossible choices he was facing, I’d go. “We’ll find you that quiet house in the suburbs that we talked about, with the garden and the fence, and never look back.”
His gaze darkened. “I can’t. There’s nowhere in the country that I could hide where they wouldn’t find me. It’s not that easy for me.”
“What makes you think it’s any easier for me?”
“Because it is,” he snapped. “You don’t have any real ties here at all, so nobody will come chasing after you. You don’t have a gang at your back, a homicidal brother, or a parole officer hanging over your head. I can’t just leave, Heidi.”
“The hell you can’t,” I said, jerking free again, his words slicing through me. “You just put one foot in front of the other, and keep on walking till you get to your car. You get in and take the first left. Then you just keep driving.”
“So do it.” He threw the envelope at me. I refused to catch it, so it hit the floor between my feet. “If it’s so fucking easy, then take the first left and don’t come back.”
“No.” I lifted my chin and glared at him. “The only way I’m walking out that door is if you leave Boston with me.”
It was a good thing he’d reassured me that violence against women was a line he wouldn’t cross, because right now, he looked murderous. “I told you—there’s only an escape there for one.”
“Then take it,” I shot back. “What’s stopping you?”
He froze, nostrils flaring, and stared me down. It was then that I realized what was stopping him: me. I was the thing that had stopped him from leaving, and I was the reason that he might get killed. And that was unacceptable. “Oh my God.”
He ignored me. “Why are you being so bullheaded stubborn? You were already attacked once by complete strangers; you’re an even bigger target now that people think you mean something to me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not leaving. There’s no reason for me to leave. Chris didn’t believe me when I said we had a relationship. I’m sure your brother will just think I’m the flavor of the week, too.” I crossed my arms. “You’re the one in danger—not me. Me abandoning my life won’t do anything, certainly not save you. You need to take the money and go. I’ll be fine. Your fight has nothing to do with me.”
He stilled. “The hell it doesn’t.” Lucas kicked the envelope to the side as he took a step closer. “And I didn’t ask you to save me.”
“You didn’t need to ask,” I shot back, retreating. I couldn’t think clearly when he was within touching distance. “Neither did I.”