“You didn’t answer my question.”
“I did. I need your protection. Make sure eyes are somewhere other than on me as I’m crossing the country. We’ve got FBI contacts. We’ve got money.”
“You just told me yourself that someone found your street name,” he says.
“Yes. Someone did. But that’s all he found out. However, he now knows exactly who I am, and Dad? He’s the one who told me you were on that island.”
Slam and dunk.
“Who the fuck are you talking to?” Dad says.
“I’m going to keep that information to myself for now. In the meantime, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I end the call.
I don’t want to leave Katelyn. But she’s better off without me.
Still… I can’t go without seeing her one more time.
I press in her number.
14
KATELYN
My phone buzzes. It’s Luke.
“Hello,” I say without much emotion.
“It’s me, baby. I need to see you.”
“You know I can’t let you into my place.”
“I understand. Can you meet me at my place?”
“Luke…you almost left without me.”
“I know, and I will not make that mistake again. Please, baby. Meet me. We need to talk.”
I sigh. “All right. When?”
“As soon as possible.”
I’m heading back to my place after finishing my run. I’m dripping with perspiration and wearing sweats. “I need a shower.”
“You can shower here.”
“I showered there this morning.”
Is it really the same day? I feel like weeks have passed.
“I’ll shower at my place, Luke. Then I’ll come over. Are you working tonight?”
“I’m not, Katelyn. Please, come quickly.”
“All right.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” I shove my phone back in my pocket and head to the building.
I shower, blow dry my hair, and then dress in jeans and a simple camisole. I want to look good for Luke, but I also don’t want to. I can’t get my hopes up.
Something’s up. I can tell in his voice.
I throw my sweats into the hamper but then remember something. I pull out Lance Stone’s card.
I hold it, looking at his name and his phone number. It’s not a business card. It’s a simple calling card—the kind rich people carry around with them.
Is Lance Stone rich? He’s an attorney, obviously, if he’s applying to the legal department at Wolfe Enterprises.
Maybe he comes from money.
Stone. The name doesn’t sound familiar, but I hardly know the names of all the rich people in New York. I’ve crossed paths with a lot of them, but they were all Mr. Smiths and Mr. Joneses. No one gave a real name on the island.
I bite my lip. Why am I having a hard time throwing the card away? Doesn’t make any sense. I’m in love with Luke. As attractive as Lance Stone was, I didn’t feel a tingle.
Throw it away, Katelyn.
But I don’t. I open my top dresser drawer and slide the card under my underwear.
Then I go downstairs and hail a cab to take me to Luke’s.
Luke opens the door for me. “Hey, baby.”
“Hi.”
“You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
Luke looks devastating, of course. He’s wearing jeans and a black button-down. His eyes are as dark and memorizing as ever.
Except they’re not his eyes. Chills hit me like a gust of wind.
The colored contacts.
“Luke?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“What color are your eyes?”
“They’re brown.”
“Are they? Truly?”
“Why are you asking me this, Katelyn?”
“You’re forgetting that you left me here this morning. You also left something in your mirrored cabinet above the sink.”
He drops his gaze to the floor.
“I saw the contacts, Luke. The colored contacts.”
“Katelyn, I—”
“You were going to leave me early this morning. Without saying goodbye. But there’s a lot of other stuff you’re not saying too, isn’t there?”
“Baby…”
I inhale. I must stay strong. Although even now, I’m getting the tingles that I always get in Luke’s presence.
“Please don’t,” I say. “Please… No more lies.”
“Katelyn—”
“No. No. Just… No.”
My mind is blurred. Words fly around inside my head, but I can’t make any cogent sense of them. What color are Luke’s eyes? Maybe they are brown. Maybe there’s a reason he wears the brown contacts. I don’t know anything about optometry or ophthalmology. There could be a good reason, right?
Except I already know I’m grasping at straws.
“Katelyn,” Luke says, “are you all right?”
No, I’m not all right. But I don’t say the words. I can’t make them come out of my throat. I’m in a daze. A daze or haze or just a mess. Am I concussing? Having a stroke?
Something is going on in my mind and I—
I gasp as my legs crumple beneath me, and I fall to the floor.
15
LUKE
“Baby!” I lift her into my arms. “Fuck, what have I done to you?”
My heart beats rapidly. Katelyn, my Katelyn. I place her on my bed, which is still unmade from when she was here this morning.
“What have I done?” I say again.
A soft sigh escapes her lips, and her eyes open slowly.
“Katelyn?”
She doesn’t speak. I brush my lips over her softly. “I’m so sorry.”