Still. I was being extra cautious. I very slowly stepped inside. Immediately walking into a living area kind of space, only it was empty save for a television on the ground and an Xbox attached to it. I took some more steps inside and turned into the kitchen. Beer bottles and empty soda cups were littered on the cracked kitchen counter.

Continuing, I made my way down the hallway and pushed open the only bedroom door there was. As I stepped in my boot hit something hard. I paused and looked down at a black duffel bags. I bent down, ignoring the nerve pain in my lower back and tried to pick it up. Fuck, it was heavy.

Instead of picking it up, I kneeled down and unzipped it. Spreading it open, I peered inside and saw a sea of green. Packed to the very top, hundred dollar bills were stacked together in bundles. I picked one bundle up and flipped through the notes, swallowing hard at the hundreds flashing before me.

Holy shit.

The prick had all the money in the world and he was being stingy over my pathetic shortfall? But then again he’d said I was being made to fail, and that was a very unsettling thought.

With a heavy sigh, I tried to think this through. I wasn’t meant to come around until tomorrow. Nobody would suspect his death was on my shoulders. If this duffel bag went missing… Well, then it might just look like a robbery gone bad. Surely with a gang this prominent they would have a lot of enemies. And what kind of tension would this kind of robbery cause?

It could very well create a chain reaction. And if they were too busy searching for somebody else, then maybe I’d be pushed into the background. That was the only thing I could think of in my nearly lost mind.

I got up and took the duffel bag with me, making sure to pick up the envelope sitting on the porch. I stuffed it in the bag and hurriedly made my way to the truck.

I drove back into town. Paranoia ate at me with every turn I made. I stared at myself in the rear view mirror. I looked guilty and… changed somehow. I tensed every time I passed a car, feeling as though eyes had descended upon me and I was being watched. I wasn’t sure I breathed most of the way home.

The air grew thinner when I stopped at a set of traffic lights and turned my head out the window to see a police car parked beside me. As if sensing my stare, the police officer turned his head and looked straight at me. I clutched the steering wheel tighter and waited for him to see it. To see all I’d done. To look at me and know I was a guilty son of a bitch that just stomped a man to death. Hell, my clothes were still carrying his blood.

All he had to do was pull me over.

The police officer stared… and every second felt like an eternity. My heart had stopped, my sweat had doubled, and all thoughts ceased.

The lights turned green, and the officer simply nodded at me. Then he drove off, never stopping once, never turning on his lights. He disappeared around a corner and I just stalled there, in the empty street, wondering how the fuck he didn’t see it.

Until it occurred to me. While I could feel it, they couldn’t see it. I was just another invisible man. Nothing suspect about me. And there was something strangely empowering about that.

You’re going to be alright.

It might have seemed premature to assume that, but… I felt it in my bones.

Everything was going to be okay.

Finally, I pressed down on the gas and hurried home to her.

Allie

I found him sitting on the shower floor. The water beat down on him as he stared on with a void expression on his face. I didn’t even think he saw me enter the steamy bathroom. He’d been sitting in here for the last fifty minutes since coming home. He hadn’t said a word to me. But I saw the state of him. Something had gone seriously wrong.

I threw my clothes off and entered the shower stall. I sank down on the ground beside him, just outside the water’s edge, and leaned into him. His body was burning hot to the touch, and incredibly raw with bruises. Some of them were dark, and others were red and fresh. I grabbed the washcloth and soaked it in hot water before trailing it over his arms. All the while I stared at the solemn look on his face.

“What happened?” I whispered to him, dragging the washcloth very lightly over his chest.

He barely shook his head in response.

“Heath.”

“You don’t want to know, Allie.”

His grave words unnerved me. “Do we have to run?”

He turned his face to me. Those brown eyes took me in. Slowly the impassiveness washed away, replaced by a gentle look that instantly put me at ease. His rough hand went to my face. He pulled me forward and kissed me, lightly flicking his tongue against my mouth. It was one of the most intimate kisses he’d ever given me.

His arms then took hold of my body, bringing me into the water so my back rested against his front. He trailed kisses from my head down to my bare shoulders, pushing aside my wet hair for better access. I relaxed into him.

“Something incredible happened,” he said into my ear. “I realized it today.”

My breath thinned at his touch as I asked, “What did you realize?”

Squeezing me gently, he answered, “I’ve fallen in love with you, Allie. I’ve never felt more like home than when I’m holding you. You make everything so much brighter. You’re the centre of my world, and have been since you came to me.”

I shut my eyes at his words. Tears threatened to spill out.

“Nothing is ever going to happen to you,” he continued. “You’re safe with me. Today showed me I’m capable of doing anything, and with that kind of ability I know I’ll always be able to take care of you.”

I nodded.

“Everything is going to be okay.”

I was like jelly in his arms. He had become the centre of my life too. I trusted Heath more than I’d ever trusted anyone in my life. It was like being given a gift to hear him say he’d fallen for me. Never in a million years would I have envisioned this, and I got a rush just thinking of all the good there was between us. Nothing would be there to threaten us apart, because Heath wasn’t a selfish man like his brother.

“I’m going to visit Ryker,” I let out sometime later. “It’s time for me to set the record straight.”

He nodded and kissed me again on the shoulder.

“I want to be with you, Heath.”

“We’ll make it happen. Whatever comes our way, we’ll make it happen.”

I smiled softly at his optimism. I wanted him badly. However wrong it seemed, I was coming to terms with how right it felt. Heath was worth fighting for.