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She thinks retirement for me is in four years, but it’s actually in about twelve hours.
Her answer isn’t far from what I expected. This was the answer I thought I’d get, but I was hoping for a different conclusion.
I can’t tell her the truth about immigration now because I know it will change her answer. She does so much for everyone else and if she’s going to be with me, it needs to be because she wants it for herself. I asked her if she would move and she listed her priorities—moving to Canada with me isn’t on it.
“Hey, Juliet?” I say, shaking her gently to wake her but she barely moves this time.
She’s falling asleep fast.
“… just know that no matter what happens after tomorrow, everything I do from here on out is because I love you.”
Now, there’s only one answer for what I have to do tomorrow. I have to set her and her family to live as comfortably as I can, and then I have to end all communication before I step over the border.
Seeing her name come across my phone will make me turn back around.
Seeing her text messages asking where I am and why I left will have me confessing how badly I fucked up and gave Amelia evidence that she’s using against us.
What’s so fucked up about the whole thing? I’m going to do the same thing that her dad did to her. I’m going to repeat the same reasoning for her trust issues that kept her from trusting me in the beginning.
Unfortunately, I only have one option to protect her.
If I love her… I have to leave her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Juliet
When I get up this morning, Ryker’s no longer in bed, but it’s not unusual for him to go for a run or lift weights with one of the guys early in the morning.
I get ready for the brunch today as quickly as I can, throwing on a sweater dress and bootie heels, tying my hair back in a bun and quickly doing my makeup.
I look at the time and I see that I’m going to be late if I don’t hurry up.
I make a mad dash out of the bedroom and head for the door. I probably won’t have time to grab my coffee before I have to be back at the Hawkeyes stadium with brunch.
A colorful display catches my eye as I near the kitchen and I’m surprised to find a bouquet of flowers and my iced coffee waiting for me.
Ryker must have done this.
Little butterflies flap wildly in my belly at the thought that he would do this for me before he left this morning.
I grab my coffee and head for the door.
Ryker
Penelope isn’t at her desk when I walk into Sam’s office so I knock on his door.
“Come in,” I hear him say.
I turn the knob, taking a deep breath, and push through the door.
“Do you have a minute?” I ask.
Sam looks to be reading an email but pulls his eyes off his computer screen and smiles up at me.
“Sure thing. I always have time. What’s up?”
My stomach is twisting to the news I have to share as I walk closer to his desk. How do I even begin to tell the GM of the Hawkeyes about what I’ve been up to and the consequences of those actions?
