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"She's right about this, too, isn't she?" Ryan said, knowing the answer before he'd asked the question

Defeated, Russ uy's in jail in Boston and we found out he has a mob connection to the same people involved in the truck robberies I also hadFaith's troubled years" She shot Ryan a regretful glance, but he wasn't about to be angry at her

"Do you kno badly I wanted to be wrong?" she asked Russ "Ryan loves you He believed in you I didn't want to think that you were capable of soer and fury evident in the clench of her fists and the barely controlled tone of her voice "Do you realize you scared a fourteen-year-old girl half to death and you violated my parents' home, all to save your sorry— " She stepped forward

Ryan rose and grabbed her by the waist to prevent her fro after his uncle Her Mediterranean blood was fired up and though he'd like nothing better than to let her take care of the er

When her breathing slowed and he knew she'd cal her hand to be sure

"You also pretended to extend an overture to Saet your hands on her keys," Zoe said in disbelief "She's a child and you violated her trust in the worst way But then you'd already done the saet in your way?"

With each word, with each revelation, Ryan's stomach rolled in sick disbelief "I don't knoho you are," he said, glancing at his uncle

"Sometimes I don't know the answer to that, either," Russ said

Zoe's hand still in his, Ryan pulled her toward the door

"Ryan," his uncle called to him

Ryan paused

"I've always loved you— you and Faith," Russ told him "And I pray that someday when you've had tih my weakness and stupidity and realize that"

Unable to see anything at theback

Chapter Fourteen

ZOE FOLDED HER LAST TANK TOP and placed it into her suitcase A few lanced around the suest room she'd called home for a short time and realized she'd always felt comfortable here Not just here in this room, but here in Ryan's apartment and in his life Surely that was because he hadn't been in his normal routine any more than she'd been in hers

As she'd told him already, they needed to return to their jobs, their friends, their lives and then their differences wouldn't just be apparent, but dramatically so Of that she was sure— nohihts She bounced into the roo ho

Zoe nodded "It's about ti the uncertainty in Sairl had started to care for her new family and would find it difficult to leave theood The next chapter in all their lives proe

"You had fun here, didn't you?" Zoe asked

Saer "This last day or so, yeah I guess I did Even the old lady isn't so bad as long as I keep Ima away from her" Sahing, too