Her heat was out?

What?

“I’m talking to someone about that right now,” Carolina admitted. “He said with it being so close to Christmas that a lot of the companies won’t be able to get out until after the holidays. In the meantime, I can see my breath in my kitchen.”

“You could come stay with me,” Rowen offered. “Dax won’t mind.”

Carolina made a disagreeing sound in the back of her throat.

“I love you, Rowe, but I’m not moving into your house. You have a newborn and you’re newly married. Those are two situations I don’t really want to find my way into,” Carolina informed her. “Plus, my brothers have already offered me a place to stay. I just don’t really want to leave. That’s my house.”

“That house was broken into,” Rowen countered. “And didn’t you say that there’s been some weirdo casing your house? At least, that’s what I heard you say to your mom just a minute ago.”

I turned at that and settled my gaze on Carolina, only to find her staring directly at me.

Our gazes collided and it was more than obvious that that last line had been directed toward me.

I narrowed my eyes at her, causing her to lift hers in challenge.

“Not a weirdo,” Carolina said to Rowen, who was unaware that I was there. “Just someone that likes to pretend that he doesn’t care when he does.”

Ouch.

That hurt.

But I had to give my girl credit. She hadn’t fallen for my act. That was good, in a way, because if anything these last few days had shown me a few things that I hadn’t really wanted to see.

Sort of like the fact that I’d been half in love with Carolina since I’d met her last Christmas. Each subsequent time that I’d seen her over the last year had only caused me to want her more. Then the isolation had started, and I’d come to realize that Carolina had meant much more to me than just a girl I wanted. She was a girl that I wanted to keep.

As my eyes stayed locked with Carolina’s, Rowen continued to try to convince her to stay with her, but Carolina was having none of it.

I’d been so focused on the girl in front of me that I hadn’t realized someone had finally spotted me in the shadows until I heard a feminine sound from beside me.

“Saint.”

I turned to see Malachi’s woman standing beside me.

“Sierra,” I said, my voice resigned. “How are you?”

She smiled sadly at me. “Is everything okay? I just saw that you got back today.”

I shrugged. I’d been back for more than a day, but I hadn’t come straight home because I’d needed to check up on Carolina.

“Where did you go?”

I stiffened at Carolina’s voice coming from so close to me.

I turned to stare at her.

“A funeral,” I admitted, not seeing a reason to lie.

I couldn’t lie to this girl again.

I’d known that the lie I told—wanting and needing time away from her—had hurt her. And I didn’t want to hurt Carolina. In fact, I’d rather chop the beating heart from my chest than see a single frown on her face that was caused by me.

Carolina stilled.

“For who?” she asked softly, hesitantly. As if she was just waiting for me not to tell her.

I almost didn’t.

In fact, I was so fucking close to opening my mouth to lie that I could see the sadness in her eyes that I was going to.

But at the last second, I cracked. “My mom.”

That sadness that I’d seen only moments before that I was going to lie to her? That was nothing in comparison to the look on her face now.

She was absolutely devastated.

For me.

“Oh, Saint,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

I shrugged as if that didn’t matter to me in the least.

But her words made my heart feel just a small amount better.

Carolina’s hand met my chest, and every single doubt, insecurity, and bad feeling fled in that moment.

In that moment, I had her back.

I couldn’t stop myself then.

I reached forward and pulled her to me.

She came willingly, her arms encircling my waist as she pressed her head to my chest.

Sierra drifted off, leaving us in the relative quiet of the shadows, and I cracked.

“She was murdered.”

Carolina’s body stiffened as she slowly leaned her head back to stare at me.

“That’s why you’re staying away, isn’t it?” she asked.

I didn’t bother to tell her yes or no.

That would be useless.

Despite what I said or did, I had to stay away from her.

It fucking sucked, but my dad was the President of the United States once. He had enemies. All kinds of them. And the bad thing was, the guy that wasn’t supposed to be the enemy? That guy had fucking shattered what little protection I’d felt and practically blown it all up in one quick explosion.

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