We didn’t stop riding until the sun had vanished behind the mountains. My thighs were numb and my arms was shaking from holding on too tight, but I didn’t complain.I didn’t say a word, neither did Cruz.Not until we reached the cabin, then Cruz cut the engine.My daughter, somehow still asleep between us, stirred against my back. He climbed off first, reached out and lifted her into his arms.“She’s heavier than she looks,” he muttered.I slid off the bike,“She’s four, full of attitude and ice cream.”He cracked the smallest grin. “Like her mom, then.”I stared at him.That smile dropped.Right.We weren’t joking, not yet.He carried her into the cabin and I followed, stepping into musty air and shadows. The place hadn’t been touched in years. But it was safe.Safer than home.He laid her on the couch gently and stood there, staring down at her.I stood beside him.“She sleeps like you,” he said.I looked at him. “How would you know?”He didn’t answer.“I need her name,” he said.I
“Nova!”The voice stopped my heart.It wasn’t Cruz’s voice, but the voice of a ghost I buried years ago.Cruz pulled me back from the shattered window, shielding me with his body like he could stop a bullet with his spine. “Who the hell is that?” He said.I didn’t answer, because I couldn’t.“Nova! I know you’re in there!”Cruz’s jaw clenched. “You know him?”“Don’t,” I whispered.“Nova,” he growled. “Who the fuck is out there?”I wasn’t looking at Cruz anymore. I was staring through a hairline crack in the broken window, and there he was.Rafe.“No,” I breathed. “It’s not possible.”Cruz’s voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “Rafe who?”I turned to him slowly. “Rafe Moretti.”His face changed instantly, filled with rage, disbelief, and shock.“That son of a bitch is dead,” Cruz said. “He died in the raid two years ago. Blade saw the body.”“I thought he did too,” I whispered. “But he’s out there, Cruz. He’s alive.”Cruz’s whole body went rigid. “Why is he looking for you?”I didn’t an
“You have five minutes to decide, Nova.”Cruz said with a low and thunderous voice that made me tremble.I crossed my arms, trying to stay upright despite the way my knees threatened to buckle. “Or what? You’ll burn down my life again?”He took a step forward. “You already burned it when you ran.”“You don’t get to do this.” I jabbed a finger at his chest, but it was like poking steel. “You don’t get to show up after four years and—”“Three years, ten months and two weeks.” His voice was cold. “That’s how long it’s been since you disappeared.”The pain in my throat choked me silent.Cruz’s jaw ticked, and his eyes flickered down to where my hand still rested against his chest. He looked at it like it was both a miracle and a weapon.“You didn’t even tell me,” he said, softer now. “You didn’t even give me a fucking chance.”I couldn’t look at him. My eyes burned. “You would’ve dragged me back into that life. The drugs, the guns, the blood—”“The club is clean now.”I laughed, bitterly
“You have five minutes to decide, Nova.”Cruz said with a low and thunderous voice that made me tremble.I crossed my arms, trying to stay upright despite the way my knees threatened to buckle.“Or what? You’ll burn down my life again?”He took a step forward. “You already burned it when you ran.”“You don’t get to do this.” I jabbed a finger at his chest, but it was like poking steel. “You don’t get to show up after four years and—”“Three years, ten months and two weeks.” His voice was cold. “That’s how long it’s been since you disappeared.”The pain in my throat choked me silent.Cruz’s jaw ticked, and his eyes flickered down to where my hand still rested against his chest. He looked at it like it was both a miracle and a weapon.“You didn’t even tell me,” he said, softer now. “You didn’t even give me a fucking chance.”I couldn’t look at him. My eyes burned. “You would’ve dragged me back into that life. The drugs, the guns, the blood—”“The club is clean now.”I laughed, bitterly
The apartment was too quiet.I sat on the couch in the dark, with my knees pulled to my chest and my phone clutched in one hand even though I wasn’t calling anyone.What would I even say?Hi, I think the man I’ve been running from for four years is about to tear apart everything I’ve rebuilt.Cruz knew.Not everything, not yet.But enough to make my chest feel like it was wired to a ticking bomb.He said he wanted to see her.He said he was coming for both of us.And the worst part?A part of me wanted to let him.That part that still remembered how it all started, before everything fell apart.Four and a half years ago.I was twenty-one. Broke and pissed off at the world. Working late-night shifts at a gas station off Route 9 just to keep my tiny one-bedroom apartment.I hated it there, because the floors were sticky, the lights flickered, and half the customers were either high or rude.But one night… he walked in, wearing black boots, a leather jacket, tattoos creeping up his neck
The bell above the diner door didn’t ring again that night.But somehow, his presence was still there.Every time I turned around, I half-expected to see him leaning against the counter with that mocking smirk and those eyes—sharp, calculating and hungry.I cleaned the same table three times.“Nova,” Georgia, my manager, said from the register. “Go home. You’ve been off since that guy showed up here.”I forced a smile. “Yeah… just didn’t expect to see a ghost tonight.”“Is he your ex?” she asked, raising a brow.Something bitter twisted in my chest. “Something like that.”“Well, he looked like trouble,” she said, handing me my tips. “And baby, you’ve already got enough on your plate.”I gave her a nod and tucked the money away. She had no idea how full my plate actually was.By the time I walked out into the cool night air, the street was already quiet. I held my keys tight in my fist like a weapon and scanned the parked cars.No way he was still out here.Right?I headed towards my