Page 97 of Forbidden Fate

Not back to Vega.

Not to the police. Not here. Vega has most of the cops on his payroll.

Not to the prison life I survived once already.

To the US, maybe?

Robin’s world. Her family’s wealth. Her brothers with money enough to move mountains and lawyers enough to make problems disappear.

That’s a dangerous hope. Why would she offer to take me with her? I fucking abducted her, for God’s sake.

But maybe she’ll look at me and see more than that. Maybe she’ll see the man who has nowhere to go because he chose her life over the only one he knew.

“Cruz…”

“No matter what happens,” I say firmly, “I’ll figure out what to do.”

“But I⁠—”

“What matters most right now,” I continue, rising from the chair, “is getting you to safety.”

I cross the room and crouch in front of the sofa so my face is level with hers. I tell myself not to touch her.

I touch her anyway.

I cup her cheeks gently. Her skin is warm beneath my palms. Soft. Too soft for the things she has endured.

Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t pull away.

“That’s my only concern right now,” I say. “Getting you safe. Once you are, I’ll figure out my own next move.”

Her lips part.

I should take my hands away.

I don’t.

“When I get back…” she finally says.

I frown slightly. “What?”

“When I get back to safety,” she says. “I’ll figure out a way to bring you to the States.”

My hands tighten slightly on her face before I catch myself.

“Robin—”

She holds up a hand. “No. I mean it. You can’t go back to Vega, and you can’t stay here without endangering everyone, so we’ll figure something out.”

“We?”

“Yes. We.”

I swallow. We. That word from her mouth is more beautiful than the sweetest song.

“My family has resources. Lawyers. Connections. I don’t know exactly how it would work, but there must be a way.”

“It may not be simple.”