While I’m cleaning the countertop, he takes the garbage out back, and something across the street grabs my attention. There’s someone leaning up against a car, and I do a double take. He’s in black, so I almost don’t see him, but it’s in the way he’s watching me that makes me stop.

Hugo.

My breath hitches as he waves.

He jerks his head, motioning for me to come outside. I’m frozen until I hear Murph slam the back door. I can’t let him see Hugo. If he starts something with him...it could end very badly.

Without a word, I disappear out the front door and walk across the street. He gives me a cruel smile. My hands are shaking, and somehow I can’t believe he’s here while also surprised it took him this long.

I swallow, holding my arms tight across my body as I stop in front of him. I don’t speak. I have nothing to say to him, and I really want to see how he’s going to react. Will he kill me right here? Or does he want me back in his life to torture me for another two years?

“Hello, angel,” he whispers, and his voice turns my blood to ice.

“What are you doing here?”

“I looked for you for so long, and I finally found you. I thought you were dead, but you’ve come back to me.” He reaches forward and touches my hair, curling it behind my ear. I want to pull away, but I’m too afraid of provoking him.

With Hugo, it’s all about manipulation. He loves turning things around, painting himself as a victim, making me believe that everything was a mistake, and that he isn’t a monster.

“You need to leave,” I mutter through chattering teeth.

Turning around, I glance into the shop and see it’s still empty. I pray Murph is busy in his office, closing out the accounts for the day.

“I wanted you to come with me. I wanted to take you home, Savannah.”

A sob is stuck in my throat. I can’t go back. I won’t.

He strokes my hair. I want to vomit, and the urge to scream is overwhelming. But what would happen if Murph came out here? Hugo definitely has a gun, and Murph doesn’t. It would only take one shot—

Bile rises in my throat. I need to get him out of here. Now.

“I’ll go with you,” I say, shivering.