She’d held back, refrained from sharing the final tidbit of truth about her then would-be attackers, but the worried looks on their faces—the absolute determination to protect her no matter what—sent her mind spinning and she caved. She saw weeks of them hunting for answers and walking deeper into danger. If they weren’t careful, they would ratchet up an already volatile situation. As of now, the note writer hadn’t escalated past tough talk. She hoped to keep it that way.

Connor set her bags at the base of the ladder to the loft. He hadn’t said much since she cut him off with the dead comment and took her back to his house. She knew he had to be burning to ask questions. She would be in his position. Yet he busied himself with tossing pillows to the floor and removing the cushions on what she now guessed was a sofa bed.

It looked old and lumpy and her insides screamed at the thought of being down here when he was up there, but she wasn’t alone tonight. For the first night after so many alone, someone was right there with her. She never expected that kind of togetherness to feel so good.

Anything or anyone could lurk outside. Ben promised to stick nearby. When she tried to question where, to make sure the answer wasn’t to spend the night in his car, Connor convinced her to let it go. Ben had a job and he would do it.

Connor had volunteered for his position, but he didn’t appear ready to go off duty for the night. That left her in the situation she’d tried so hard to escape two years ago. All the time checking in and having someone watching over her, sometimes close and other times at a distance. The constant surveillance, even if it was for her safety, exhausted her. It confined and suffocated her.

The bounty on her head died when the people who issued it were killed. Days after, she pressed Witness Protection to get out. They wanted to keep her in until they could guarantee her safety, that all threats had been eliminated. She needed her life back. Not her old one, but a life.

“You take the bed upstairs.” He issued the order without looking up from his work on the sofa.

“I can sleep . . .” His head shot up and his expression suggested she not engage him in another battle tonight. She took the hint because, really, he’d been rock-solid at a time when she needed to fall apart a bit. “Okay. Upstairs it is.”

His stark expression finally dropped away. He didn’t treat her to a smile, but he no longer seemed to be on the defensive. “Was it so hard to agree with me?”

“You tend to say things like a command. I’m guessing that’s because you’re used to being the boss.”

“Sort of.”