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They settled onto her mother’s plush navy couch to check the news on Elizabeth’s laptop. Eric was anxious to see if there were any reports about them. It didn’t take long to discover that there were several stories about them both locally in Riverhaven and in Atlanta. That story he’d done about Clayton Palmer had once again come back to bite him—his notoriety sensationalized the coverage. Well-known journalist was wanted in connection with the disappearance of Riverhaven’s town sweetheart.
Sorrel gripped his hand while they watched Josie and Mateo’s interview on a local Tennessee station. Mateo had his arm around Josie while tears streamed down her face.
“I knew Eric Knight was bad news.” Josie wiped her eyes. “I mean, why did an investigative journalist want to interview her? It was probably just a ploy,” she sniffled, “to lure her into God knows what.” She could no longer continue.
Mateo pulled her closer. “She’s going to be okay, baby.”
Josie turned into him and lost it.
Sorrel’s brows raised. “Well, maybe one good thing will come out of this. Those two might finally get together.”
“I saw Mateo when I left your apartment carrying Tara and your luggage. I told him we were getting away for the weekend. He might have also been led to believe we were intimate,” Eric admitted.
“And how did he come to that conclusion?”
Eric held up his bruised and cut wrists from where he’d been tied up. “He noticed these and assumed you were, let’s say, adventurous.”
Sorrel laughed softly. As subdued as it was, it did Eric’s heart good to hear her laugh. Sorrel surprised him further by gently taking his left arm in her hands and tenderly running her fingers across his injuries. “I’m sorry your family treated you so cruelly.”
Her touch both soothed and tormented him. How desperately he wished their story could have a different ending. “Not as sorry as I am that they hurt you.”
Her entire body shivered. The fear of what she’d been subjected to still lived in her eyes. “Thank you for coming for me. I probably should have said that earlier.”
“Shh.” He placed a finger on her supple lips. “You don’t need to thank me.”
She kissed his finger and closed her eyes. Eric immediately felt a surge of warmth down his arm. The cuts and bruises seemed to seep underneath his skin, leaving no trace of them. Eric held out his arm and looked at it in amazement. Sorrel, too, seemed astonished.
“I can’t believe I can do that.”
“Promise me you’ll do what you can to find out who you really are.”
“Why can’t you come with me? Surely you can use your powers to obtain the necessary documents to travel. I have access to several bank accounts in Europe. We can hide from your family there.”
Eric placed his hand on her cheek. “Sorrel, you’ll be safer on your own.”
She leaned into his hand. “Please. I just lost almost everything and everyone I care about. Why do I have to lose you too?” Her eyes darted toward the laptop screen that now showed the outside of her bakery. It had become a shrine to her. There were not only hundreds of balloons and flowers but large signs plastered to the windows that said things like, “We Love You, Sorrel” and “Please Come Home Soon.” Her tears dripped onto his hands.
Eric was tempted to give in to her plea, but she didn’t deserve a life on the run. Always having to look over her shoulder, avoiding the shadows like he’d watched her do all day. And honestly, what kind of life could they have together when they could never truly be together? It would drive him mad to have to live like friends when he wanted to be her lover and the father of her children. He kissed her forehead and lingered there, deeply breathing her in and memorizing everything he could about her—from the way she smelled like the coconut oil she’d used after showering, to how perfectly smooth her skin was. “Sorrel, the best way for me to protect you from my family is for me to stay.”
“But together, we’re stronger. You even said yourself that my gifts are better against your family than your gifts are.”
She had him there, though his life was the ultimate weapon. He leaned away from her. “This is the way it has to be.”
She narrowed her eyes as if she could tell he was keeping something from her. “I could refuse to leave tomorrow.”
His jaw clenched. “But you won’t.”
She folded her arms. “Watch me.”
He was half-exasperated, half-smitten with her tenacity. Still, she would go. He would make sure of it. “There’s no room for argument.”
“You’re right.” She turned from him and continued to watch their story unfold on the small screen. Meanwhile, Eric contemplated how he would get the stubborn woman to go without revealing his plan.
