“He will listen or he’s gone.” And she meant that. Whatever it took, danger or no, it was time for her life to move forward.

Chapter 22

Maddie met Evan for coffee the next morning. She’d rather be home with Connor, relaxing in bed and eating leftover noodles, but she didn’t have that choice. She had no interest in refereeing a battle between Evan and Connor, so the male posturing nonsense needed to stop. The biggest perpetrator was in front of her.

They sat away from the window because that’s what Evan always did. He found a corner and faced out to the room with his back protected by a wall. She doubted he realized he did it. The move probably was a habit by now but it was one of those things she could count on. For instance, the fact that half the room stared at them but pretended not to. They likely thought she was cheating on Connor with a man they didn’t know . . . as if that would ever happen.

She ignored the interested looks and the older ladies who ran the yarn shop. They sat at the table two down and literally leaned in.

Let them listen.

Her focus stayed on the man in front of her to whom she owed so much but still couldn’t stand most days. “We need to come to an understanding.”

Evan leaned back in his chair and let out a long this-is-boring breath. “I agree, but the terms are clear.”

Not to her. Not to Connor or Ben or anyone who knew about her past. “I’m no longer in the program.”

“That’s your choice and a bad one.”

The same refrain. He jumped over her feelings and the limits of his job, which brought the question that had been pricking the back of her mind right to the front. “Once I’m out, I’m out. That’s how the program works.”

“Not necessarily.”

“Is it standard procedure for you to leave the office and try to convince someone to get back in?”

“My boss gave me a few days to come here and talk some sense into you.” He took a sip of coffee. “Since I have other work and other people under my protection who aren’t running from my help, I’m hoping I won’t need the full five days I was given to get you back in the program.”

He always did that. Zoomed in on her weakness—other people. Fed her guilt and used it against her.

Not this time.

“Ned, Grant, and Allison—everyone involved in the incident in the past—are dead.” She stumbled over the word. She knew she always would. “The people in prison who were messed up with Ned and Grant and their bribery schemes are in prison because of evidence the FBI uncovered, not because of me. None of them should be looking to me for revenge.”