After a few minutes, she tilted her head back to meet his eyes. “Are you going to tell the teens we’re stopping for the night?”
“In a minute.” His voice went soft. “Right now I’m here with you.”
He was here. For her. He’d proved it over and over.
She could trust him with the gold. With tomorrow. With everything.
She lifted her chin, pressed her lips gently to his. She meant it to be quick—just a way to say, “I’m here too.”
But the moment his warm mouth touched hers, pulling away became impossible.
His lips began to move. Tentative at first. Testing.
And when her hands tightened on the rough fabric of his jacket, drawing him closer, it was apparently all the encouragement he needed. He deepened the kiss, turning his touch slow and deliberate, a promise that anchored her spinning world. His arms tightened around her, holding her like she was the only thing keeping him grounded too.
Safe.For the first time in forever, she felt truly safe. His presence a shield against childhood memories, Bratva threats, Teresa’s demands. The kiss was perfect—not because it erased the danger, but because Liam made her believe they could face it together.
She wound her hands under his arms, around his shoulders. His breath hitched—a soft sound that made her want to pull him impossibly closer. She smiled against his lips, the kiss slowing but not stopping, both of them savoring each second.
Everything else faded. The teens, the Bratva, the gold—none of it mattered. Just Liam, his warmth, his steady heartbeat against hers.
She pulled back slowly, breath shaky, eyes locked on his. “Want to see that drawing of you now?”
“Trick question?” One eyebrow arched, but he didn’t move away.
She untangled herself and reached for her pack, pulled out the sketchbook. The pages had warped from moisture, but pencil marks had survived the water. She flipped through, searching for that first sketch of him.
“You should lay out those wet clothes.” Liam pulled her pack closer to make room. “They’ll start to smell if you don’t.”
She nodded, focused on finding the right page. Fingers paused on smudged lines, heart sinking at the blur. Kept searching until?—
Thud.
Something heavy hit the ground.
Her breath stopped.
The gold bar.
Her eyes snapped to Liam’s face. Watched it harden to stone as he picked up the bar, turned it over in his hands. His gaze locked on hers—hardened with hurt and disbelief that cut straight through her.
“Liam—”
He shook his head, stood. The warmth from moments ago vanished. “Guess we’re not done with secrets.”
He dropped the bar beside her and stalked away, his footsteps fading into the gathering darkness.
THIRTEEN
Her betrayal—her secrets—stung.
She didn’t owe him anything, not really.
Aw…They were supposed to be a team.
At least in his mind.Shoot,he’d been a fool.
Liam’s boots scraped against the rocky trail, each step grinding out his frustration. The canyon wall rose on his left—the uneven edge like jagged sentinels against the lavender sky, their surfaces rough and unforgiving. The canyon dropped away on his right—an empty void. The light was fading to the point he could no longer make out the details at the bottom.
