Chapter 2

My emotions were in turmoil, and a cramping pain gripped my belly without letting up. I slumped weakly against the side of the couch. It was a long time before I slowly caught my breath again.

Fumbling a little, I pulled out the pregnancy test report.

Yesterday, when I'd gotten the results, I'd been overjoyed. I had even drawn a little heart next to my name, planning to surprise Logan with the news.

Now, the longer I looked at that red heart, the more it stung.

Fighting back tears, I tore the report to shreds and threw it into the trash along with the fake marriage certificate.

I had wanted this baby for so long.

Last year, I had miscarried after saving an elderly man from drowning. I hemorrhaged so badly that I nearly died on the operating table. It had lodged in my heart like a thorn, and I cried myself to sleep night after night.

It was Logan who held me tight and patiently kissed away my tears, over and over. "Natalie, we'll have another baby someday. All that matters is that you're safe and healthy.

"From now on, I'll love you twice as much. I'll never let you shed another tear."

Those words still rang in my ears as though he'd said them yesterday.

Footsteps sounded behind me. Logan walked in, looking utterly exhausted. He was carrying the clam chowder from my favorite spot. When he saw how pale I was, he hurried over.

"Why do you look so awful? Is the wound on your hand hurting again?"

As he spoke, his gaze landed on the fake marriage certificate in the trash, and panic flashed in his eyes.

"Let me explain. Alison and I only got that license to keep her calm. She has depression. I saved her when she tried to kill herself, and ever since then, she's depended on me."

Listening to him skirt around the real issue, I found it almost laughable. "So she depended on you all the way into bed? Logan, do you take me for an idiot?"

He blurted out anxiously, "I was drunk that night. It really was an accident!"

Logan took my ice-cold hand and made a solemn promise, "I swear to you, as soon as she has the baby, I'll send them both overseas and cut ties with her completely.

"Then we'll go get a real marriage license and throw a big, beautiful wedding. Okay?"

Looking into his red-rimmed eyes, for one moment I caught a glimpse of the poor student he used to be.

Logan and I had been classmates in college.

His parents had died young, and he got by on scholarships. After we started dating, my parents, Charles and Molly Tisdale, felt sorry for him and treated him like a second son.

Whenever they cooked something good at home, they made a point of inviting him over. When the seasons changed, my dad always claimed he'd bought clothes in the wrong size and pressed them on Logan.

Logan used to say I was the only light in his life.

The shrill ring of a phone broke through my thoughts.

On the other end, Alison was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. "Logan, is that lady mad? It's all my fault.

"I don't care if I'm never your real wife, just please don't leave me, okay? You're all I have. Without you, I even forget to take my meds... And you promised me yourself that no matter what happens, you'll always put me first..."

A sharp pain stabbed through my heart.

He had made that same vow at my father's deathbed. Now he'd handed it to another woman just like that.

Logan's face changed instantly, and he shot to his feet. "Stop thinking like that! I'm not leaving you. Be good and take your meds first. I'll be right there!"

I watched him go without so much as a backward glance, then slowly dried my tears.

I opened my laptop and pulled up the recruitment order for Operation Daybreak.

It was a covert anti-trafficking mission overseas, and everyone who joined had to cut off all contact with the outside world. For Logan's sake, I had kept hesitating.

Now, without another moment's pause, I clicked confirm.

In three days, I would vanish from Logan's world for good.