He would find her. He wouldn’t stop until he found her because that man loved her. She was back in the place where she was fighting for her life, but this time she knew the man who loved her would be by her side. Not physically, of course, but his heart would be with her.

He would be out there and all she needed to do was survive long enough for him to find her.

“I would like to see her,” Bobby said gravely. “I need to apologize to her for that last night. She made me mad.”

“I’m sure she wants to apologize to you, too.” She was close to convincing him.

“Lila, what are you doing?” Mabel asked.

She shook her head vigorously. “We can’t fight them. Maybe we made a mistake. I can take him to her. I know she wants to see him.”

Her heart was racing because they could be here at any moment. Armie would never be able to handle something else happening to Noelle.

“Come on,” she said. “She’s in a safe house. It won’t take us long to get there, but we should go now. The sheriff is on his way.”

Donny frowned his brother’s way. “Tell me you’re not this stupid.”

“It’s not stupid to want my wife back,” Bobby argued.

Donny shook his head. “It’s stupid to think this woman is telling you the truth.” He stood in front of her. “I didn’t want to do this, but we’ve got no choice now. We’ll leave them here and let the fire do its work. Don’t worry. We’ve got an excellent alibi, and I’m sure you’ve pissed off plenty of people. Time to go night-night.”

She started to back away, but he was too quick. He caught her arm and then brought the pistol down on her head. She heard Mabel shouting as the world went dark.

She prayed for one more moment with Armie. Just one where she could tell him she loved him.

•   •   •

Armie jogged down the block, needing so badly to see her. He hoped she hadn’t run. Not that it would matter. He would find her tonight and make things right between them. There was no way he was letting Rene get his rich, pretty hands on her. Lila was his and he would make sure she understood that tonight.

When he thought about it, his best bet might be getting on his knees and groveling. No man in the world would ever love her the way he would. He was all in, and as far as he was concerned, they could throw away the condoms and she didn’t need to take another pill. They weren’t getting any younger and he wanted to see her with a baby in her arms. Their baby. Their dumbass boy or super-smart girl with her momma’s smile.