Sam slips an arm around my waist and we walk across to the mirror. Turning around, I look over my shoulder at the tattoo. Sam reaches down to trace the tattoo with his index finger.

“It’s an infinity tattoo,” he says. “With our names.”

I smile at him. “I know what it is.”

“And you’re okay with my name on your ass?”

I reach up to link my arms behind his neck and pull his face down to meet my lips.

“I love your name on my ass.”

Now I’ll always have something to remember you by.

Chapter Twenty-One

Sam

––––––––

Something is dead wrong.

I’m lying here wide awake in the dark with Lila curled up sound asleep against my side.  She was acting weird tonight and then she passed out cold.

She keeps telling me not to worry, but I can’t help it.

Would she tell me if she was sick?

I don’t think so.

She doesn’t share anything with me, and it’s driving me fucking nuts. I want this investigation to be over. The lies and the deception are screwing with my head. We can’t go forward until she comes clean to me about everything.

I keep waiting for her to say something.

Anything.

And she never does.

Why doesn’t she tell me the truth? Even tonight, when I could see on her face how much she liked the tattoo. And yet not a word.

It was on the tip of my tongue to come right out and ask her about the investigation. To force her hand into telling me. And then she fainted.

All I could think about when she was on the floor was how fucking scared I am of losing her for good.

She wants me too. I can feel it.

Our situation can’t go on like this forever.

I’m freaking out, and she’s passing out.

The stress is killing us both.

Tomorrow, we’re having a talk. I’m going to put everything out on the table.

Whatever shit happens is going to happen anyway.

How much worse can it be?

I’m almost afraid to find out.

***

I wake up before dawn and automatically reach for Lila. Her side of the bed is empty.

And cold.

Panic grips me immediately.

“Lila?” I call out.

The house is still and dark. There aren’t any lights on, not even in the kitchen where she sometimes hangs out in the middle of the night to do God knows what on her laptop.

Throwing back the thin sheet, I walk into the kitchen without taking the time to put on clothes. Her laptop and cell phone are missing from the normal spot on the breakfast table in the corner. I open the front door and see that her car is gone, too. My heart starts racing in my chest as I run to the bathroom to see if her things are still there.