Witness in the Dark (Love Under Fire #1)(73)

She had that same broken look about her he’d seen that first night when he moved her to the safe house. She looked defeated.

It chilled him to the bone to see it. He couldn’t let her give up.

When she finally came out for breakfast, he laid out their goals for the day. He planned to show her where the bunker was so she could memorize the route. He expected her to complain about tromping through the woods in the cold. But all he got was a blank stare.

“I don’t give a rat’s ass where the damn bunker is. I’m not running. I’m done. If Ashton Howe himself walked in here right now with a hundred of his men, I would empty my clip on them and that would be it. Fuck the bunker. Fuck hiding. And fuck you.” She turned her attention back to her bowl as she chased her cereal around with her spoon.

“Sam, come on,” he said. “Don’t be like this.”

She stared at him cold fire burning in her green eyes. “I. Don’t. Care.”

“Your father cares,” he tried.

She just got up and went back to her room.

“I care,” he called after her, but he didn’t follow her.

She was hurting, and he had no way to make it better. He wouldn’t make her promises he couldn’t keep. He wouldn’t tell her everything would be all right…because at the moment, he didn’t believe it himself.

One way or another, he was going to lose her.

And when he did, nothing would ever be all right again.





Chapter Fifty-Eight


Nothing else was said about the bunker. In fact, for the next two weeks, hardly anything was said at all. Sam thought it would get easier dealing with this new phase of her relationship with Garrett, but so far, it still hurt.

Her father sent her a tablet loaded with all her favorite books. He’d called twice to check on her and make sure Garrett was being a marshal and not a sexual predator. She assured him that their fling was over, and Thorne seemed pleased.

He’d also delivered the results of the DNA test.

She was, indeed, Josiah Thorne’s daughter.

Not that she hadn’t believed him from that first day. He looked like her, and everything he’d said seemed sincere. Besides, what possible motivation could he have for lying about it?

But it was good to have absolute proof. Unlike so many other things in her life these days, it was a reality she could trust.

When he called, they tried to talk about everyday things, but it was a struggle. He was her father, but she’d never had one before, so she didn’t know how she was supposed to relate to him. And since he’d never been a dad before, he didn’t seem any better prepared for it than she was. Despite her best efforts to remain protectively indifferent, she found she liked him.

“How long have you known my dad?” she asked Garrett one evening after their silent dinner.

“Dad? You’re calling him ‘Dad’ now?” He smiled in approval.

“My father,” she corrected. She didn’t want or need Garrett’s damned approval.

“Thorne recruited me out of the Marines. One of my first assignments was your junior prom.”

Her jaw dropped in surprise. “Excuse me?”

“I was told to go make sure you were okay. When I reported back that the subject had left the prom and went to a hotel room to have sex, it was pretty obvious by his outraged expression that I’d completely missed the objective of the assignment.”

She covered her heated face with her hands. “You were there the night I—?” God, how embarrassing. “How many other times were you assigned to watch me?”

“Quite a few over the years. Your class trip to Paris. Your new apartment. I checked it out before you moved in. Everyone on our team referred to it as being on ‘princess detail.’”

If he thought she would think this was funny, he was wrong. “Incredible,” she muttered.

“I didn’t mind.”

“Sure, you didn’t.”

“Easy assignments,” he said with a shrug.

She went back to silence as she did the dishes. When she turned to go to her room, he was standing right behind her.

“I thought I knew you because I watched over you. But I didn’t.”

“You still don’t.” She didn’t really know herself. She remembered the old Sam Hutchinson, but this new person emerging from her recent decisions and their consequences was still an unknown.

He stepped closer and put his hand on her cheek. He bent down close. His lips mere inches from hers.

“Don’t do it,” she whispered as her heart crashed against her chest.

“Why not?” His blue eyes studied her.

She repeated the words he’d said to her months ago. “It’s not a good idea.”

“Maybe I don’t care.”

She could feel his warm breath against her lips, and she almost swayed in to kiss him.

But she didn’t. She had to let him go. “Please, don’t.”

He pulled back as if she’d slapped him. “What do you want from me, Sam? I don’t know what you’re expecting.” He actually looked like he was in pain.

“I’m expecting you to get me to the courtroom alive,” she said. “That’s your assignment, right?”

“Yes. That’s my assignment.”