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He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and then swiveled, turning to look at Eliza She saw the inevitable in his eyes She’d only heard his side of the conversation, but it was clear as about to happen She pushed herself up to her knees, staring at hio, Wade Don’t do this Not for me Let’s just leave He can’t control o anywhere you want, do anything you ask I don’t want to lose you," she said brokenly

"Come here," he said quietly

She scra desperately to his neck, biting into her lip to staunch the scream that echoed over and over in her heart He pulled her into his lap and then turned so he was perched on the edge of the mattress, his feet planted on the floor

He cupped her face and kissed her hard Fierce His tongue tangling wildly with hers until his chest heaved fro her face in his hands as he stared intently into her eyes

"Baby, I can’t let it go," he said gently "I’ll never breathe easy if he’s alive and out there I’ll never allow a threat to you to exist He daed you He hurt you He made you doubt yourself For that alone he dies He took so from you and I’ll be damned if he ever takes you from me I have to do this, Eliza I need you to understand that You knoho I am, the kind of man I am You’ve accepted that part of me that I hope to God never touches you And after this, nothing ever will You did what you had to do I didn’t like it but I understood It was i toI have to do Don’tyou with ive what I have to do"

She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his, enize as her acquiescence

"I love you," she whispered "Promise me you’ll come back to me Swear it, Wade I can’t lose you Not when I’ve finally found ly secret I have and loves me anyway How can I not do the same for you? Swear to me this doesn’t touch you, doesn’t lead back to you or implicate you in any way because I will not let you take the fall for me," she said fiercely "I swear to you, Wade, if this falls back on you I will uilty and swear under oath that I was the one who killed him"

Wade’s eyes went soft with so much love that she felt shattered He stroked her cheek and kissed her lovingly

"Baby, I don’t say this to freak you out, and after this, I will never talk about anything like this with you again because you’re going to live free and you’re going to live in the light, never in the shadows and I’ll break my back to make you happy and to ood at what I do Not saying I’ It just is I’ve done a lot of shit in my life, shit I will never share with you and I hope that doesn’t hurt you but this ismy ass to make you happy every day I will never be implicated, suspected or even considered in the ton’s death I need you to trustyou I would never do anything thatyou sh and live free So when I tell you that I’ll be back and that neither me or you will have any suspicions cast our way, I need you to tell me you believe in that"

There was no way she would ever send the et him killed, hurt or jailed worried that she would never be able to accept him for who and what he was He’d done that for her with no hesitation, no reservations and she could do no less for him

"I believe in you, Wade," she said, her voice serious and grave "I’ll always believe in you Just be safe and hurry back toher fro her back down onto the bed Then he leaned down and kissed her one last time

"Love you, baby This will be over soon and you’ll be free and you’ll never have to worry about hi ahead Focus on the future Our future Let me take care of the present"

TWENTY-THREE

WADE had only been gone half an hour and Eliza had settled in for a long night She was tense and anxiety consumed her She was sick at heart, sick to the depths of her soul over Wade doing what amounted to her dirty work It was her fault he was on his way to kill a un the quest for justice Vengeance Wade wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t taken it upon herself to play God and dispense justice as she de to do He’d tracked her down because he orried, knew she was in trouble and was determined not only to protect her but to shield her from any repercussions of a choicein to clean up herthe consequences of her decision A decision she’dsuch a drastic resolution And now Wade would pay the ultimate price Not her

Even if he did escape implication, suspicion or Godarrest and conviction, he’d still have to live with the knowledge that he’d killed a man in a premeditated act of murder for the rest of his life And he’d forever have Thoton’s blood on his hands Would he eventually couilt Would he bla hiin with?

She didn’t even h she’d nearly been just that when Wade had gotten the phone call She ired for sound and so rigid and tense with fear that her h, knowing she was facing a long night, she shuffled into the kitchen after pulling on one of Wade’s shirts It arm like he was and his scent was all over it It wasn’t even close to having the real thing, but wearing his shirt, feeling his warave her a s she needed was caffeine when she was already so worked up, she opted for a glass of juice and ru to eat,to do than any real hunger After due onto the counter, she reached back to shut the fridge just as her cell phone rang