Swallowing the lump in her throat, she locked her phone and curled back into the bedding he’d provided. “Better than I’d be anywhere else. Thank you.”

Some kind of outburst yanked Tobias from a deep sleep. When he first opened his eyes, he blinked at the darkness, trying to make sense of what he’d heard. He thought it was just another nightmare. Although he’d never mentioned it to anyone, not even Maddox, occasionally he dreamed that he was back in prison and was once again forced to fight for his life. There’d been one inmate in particular who’d given him trouble for the first three years. It was that guy—Rocco Stefani—who’d come after Tobias with a shiv. By some miracle, Tobias had managed to wrench it away and turn it on him, and he’d done enough damage that they’d carried Rocco off to the infirmary for two weeks.

Rocco was no threat to him after that, but they were both given another three years for the incident.

“Tobias?”

The uncertainty in the female voice calling out to him suddenly reminded him of where he was. Not in Soledad. Prison was behind him now. He was renting a small house in an orchard outside Silver Springs—and he had rock star Axel Devlin’s soon-to-be ex-wife sleeping on his couch.

He heard the sound that had awakened him again—loud screaming and cursing. It was Uriah and Carl.

“Son of a bitch!” he yelled and jumped out of bed.

“What is it?” Harper asked, her voice filled with fear. “What’s going on?”

“Stay here and lock the door after I leave. Sounds like my landlord’s having a fight with his prick of a son.” He shoved his legs into the jeans he’d taken off only a few hours ago but didn’t bother to fasten them before he ran, barefoot, to the front house.

The light was on, but he couldn’t hear any more screaming. It was a miracle he’d heard it the first time. It wasn’t as if this was summer. Since the weather had turned cold, he’d been forced to sleep with his windows closed. Uriah and Carl must’ve been screaming outside at some point.

“Uriah?” he called, flinging open the back door and hurrying into the kitchen without even knocking.

There was no answer. He heard a door slam, so he started toward the living room, but Uriah suddenly blocked his path, hands lifted as though he wanted Tobias to remain calm. “It’s okay, Tobias. Everything’s okay.”

Tobias tried to look around the old man to find Carl. “What’s happening? What’s going on?”

“Nothing that… Nothing I can’t handle,” he said, but his face was white as a sheet, and Tobias could see blood trickling down from the corner of his mouth.

“Did he hit you?” he asked, immediately enraged.