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Maybe if she left, Liam and Hammer would finally repair their friendship That would make them happy so right

Of course Raine recognized that running was an old pattern of hers, one both men had chided her about But in this case, she just didn’t see any way for the healing to begin if she was constantly underfoot to provide the friction between them Besides, if she had to look at them every day and know they’d never be hers, it would eventually destroy her

Leaving was best

That would probably see her to leave Shadoith hiood for her She hadn’t agreed and had refused to go But everything was different now

As much as she hated to leave her home, she’d do it for both men For their friendship, which had deteriorated drastically since they’d torn apart the kitchen on Thanksgiving She didn’t know exactly what had happened, but the tension was tangible and thick between thely The blame for that rested squarely on her shoulders

Pushing aside dread of the unknown she’d face once she left, Raine grabbed a suitcase from her closet She had a little money in the bank She’d find a new place and a new job After all, she had a college degree and soood with people She’d been an office ure it out

Blotting her face with a tissue, Raine sniffled back tears They were useless Liae what they needed, and she couldn’t change who she was It had been destined to end this way, she supposed

Desolation hollowed her as she tossed s into the suitcase She packed some of her favorite pictures: Hael, last Halloween She and Lia ceres the night Liam had first arrived from New York All happy times All smiles So unlike now

Raine sighed and zipped her suitcase, scanning her room Sad that she’d packed up most of her life in fifteen minutes All she had to do was load her car and drive off

Wait, it wasn’t her car Haht it for her The title was in his naift because it made her feel special to him Stupid The smarter move would have been to stand on her oo feet She sure as hell refused to steal from him now

She fished her car keys fro with the keys to Shadows, and left them on her dresser He’d find them at some point

Disled a quick number, and made the saddest phone call of her life The voice on the other end said she had ten minutes left, but ait? Why take a chance that Lia for her? It was probably cowardly to just disappear But so ht and o

She backed out of the roo look around Not that it mattered; this place was permanently imprinted in her memories On her heart Just like the men who lived here

No one walked the hall as she slipped out of her room No one confronted her as she made her way past Liam’s door, past Ha out at the overcast day Raine couldn’t believe this was the last ti had happened so fast Theto wake up, rub her eyes, and realize this had all been a dream

Standing in the alley, the wind tugged at her clothes and made her nose cold It was almost December Her wet hair filled her with a chill She probably should have packed a coat, but theco her heart

Right on schedule, her taxi arrived She turned off her phone and shoved it into her purse, approaching the vehicle This was it She swiped fresh tears from her face

“Where to?” the gruff cabbie asked

Good question Soure out where to head from there

Raine rattled off the narown up It was in the center of town Once there, she could begin to settle everything else The toas relatively quiet, growing so she could find a job and easy to navigate if it took her a while to buy another car She wouldn’t feel safe there—she only truly did under Hammer’s roof—but she’d closed that chapter of her life, soon…