To us? He was the man who, over the years, we’d all spent time thinking about—mostly, his personal stick and those hip swivel videos she’d show us just to laugh her ass off at our sexual comments.

I know I thought of him at least a time or twelve.

Seeing him in person again?

Holy hot shit. The man was hot enough to melt all the common sense from my brain. Even beaten, abused, cheated on, I could take a quick second and enjoy the tightness of his ass as he walked away.

“So tell me,” Heather said as if she heard the door close as Kane left. It wouldn’t be a surprise. “Be honest. How are you?”

“Lost. Scared.” I pushed away my toast, losing my appetite despite how delicious it looked. “I don’t have anything, and I know Lincoln isn’t going to back down. He’ll find me, Heather. Force me back to Boston, or…”

Worse… bury me in the desert and tell everyone I left him and then mourn when my body was found, becoming even more rich and famous.

Until two nights ago, I couldn’t have fathomed Lincoln was that kind of guy.

But now?

I doubted I knew him at all.

“Bullshit. You’ll be fine. Kane will take care of you, and I’ve already Venmo’d him money for anything you need.”

Ridiculous. She’d already given me her credit card. “I can’t—”

“You can and you will. You’ll pay me back. Or make it up to me in a thousand other ways. I’m not doing this just for you, either. I need to, okay? I forced you out there. Between Kane and I, let us take care of you. It’s about time someone does.”

I flinched. Thank God she didn’t see. So I didn’t come from a family of caretakers like she did. She’d known that for years.

“Trust me, my plan is perfect.”

At the mention of her ridiculous plan, my stomach dropped. I was still uncertain. And how in the hell would I bring it up to Kane in the first place.

Hey, I know Heather says you were devastated after your divorce, but hey… want to help me out? I need to get married to access my trust fund… and since my fiancé turned out to be a raging asshole… what do you say?

No way in hell was I ready to broach that subject.

“Give me a day, okay? I need to think some more about this.”

“Fine. Take some time, I get it. Go play a round of golf. Do all the things rich ass stuck-up snobs do. Plan your next steps and do it all without looking over your shoulder or having to deal with soon-to-be eunuch Lincoln. Because trust me, you get me around him, I will be thrilled to make it happen. But while you’re thinking, think about this. The faster you get married, the quicker Lincoln will move on.”

I snorted. Wouldn’t put it past Heather to do that either. She was very good with a knife.