“Then uncomplicate it for me.”
She sinks onto the couch, shoulders slumped. “I’m just... I need to get away for a while. Clear my head.”
I sit beside her, fighting the urge to pull her into my arms. “What aren’t you telling me, Ellie? Because something’s not right here.”
She stares at her hands for what feels like an eternity. When she finally looks up, there’s something in her eyes I’ve never seen before.
“Miles isn’t just my ex,” she says quietly. “He’s... he’s been my everything for a long time. Friend, boyfriend, family.”
“That doesn’t give him ownership of you.”
“It’s not that simple.” Ellie stands, pacing to the window. “There are things you don’t know about me, Julian.”
I follow her, keeping my distance but close enough to reach out if she’ll let me. “Everyone has a past.”
“Not like mine.” Her voice cracks. “Miles knows everything. He was there for all of it.”
“Whatever it is, it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
Ellie turns to me with glistening eyes. “You say that now.”
“I say that, period.” I step closer, relieved when she doesn’t back away. “Look, I’m not asking for your whole life story tonight. But I need to know what’s happening now. Why the suitcase? Where are you going?”
She glances at the half-packed bag. “Miles thinks... he thinks I should go stay with his sister in Phoenix for a while.”
“And what do you think?”
“I’m tired of looking over my shoulder. He found me. And I know you don’t know what that means, and it’s such a long story.”
“Who found you?” I reach for her hand, giving her plenty of time to pull away. She doesn’t. “Let me help you. Whatever this is, you don’t have to face it alone.”
“You don’t understand what he’s capable of,” she whispers.
A chill runs through me despite the lingering heat of the day. “Has he hurt you?”
“Not physically. Not yet.” She squeezes my hand. “But he knows people. Has connections. The kind of people who don’t ask questions.”
The implications of what she’s saying hits me like a sledgehammer. “Has he threatened you?”
“Left a note on my car. Text me the other night. He’s trying to scare me. Watch me squirm.”
“Who is he?”
She takes a deep breath and finally spills everything about a guy named Rick.
“I met Rick five years ago at a charity event. He was charming, successful—a real estate developer with properties all over the Southwest. He hired me, but things escalated fast.”
“What happened?”
“He snapped when he found out I gathered incriminating evidence of embezzlement and theft and handed it over to the police.”
I don’t interrupt her once, because I want her to get it all out. The truth.
“And then Miles found out he got out of prison and warned me. Has been warning me.”
“You don’t need to leave. Did you forget I live right next door? Rick isn’t getting anywhere near you.”
Ellie’s shoulders slump with what looks like relief, but her eyes still hold doubt. “You don’t know what you’re offering to protect me from. Rick isn’t just some jealous ex. He’s dangerous.”
