“Neither are you,” I whispered.

“Hadley?” a voice called.

What the hell? I jerked around to find my father in the driveway beside Robert. “What are you doing here?” He stood there dressed to perfection, in his crisp gray suit and his white hair expertly coifed. My father was worth millions and his appearance reeked of it.

He cleared his throat. “I came to see you home safely.” He turned and threw a glare to Blake. “Mr. Evans, I seem to recall paying you to keep her safe, not to take advantage of her.”

“Wait, what?” I turned back to Blake. “What is he talking about?”

Jaw tense, he returned my father’s glare. “I would never take advantage of your daughter, sir. So don’t come to my house threatening me. You want your money back? Take it, I don’t give a flying fuck about the pay.”

Robert held up his hands. “All right, that’s enough. I’m sure there’s an explanation for all of this, but it’ll have to be settled at another time. We have a plane to catch. Blake,” he said, extending his hand. “It’s good to see you again. Thank you for keeping Hadley safe.” Blake nodded and shook his hand.

“Hadley, it’s time to go,” my father commanded.

“In a minute,” I growled, anger boiling in my veins. I pushed past Blake and he followed me to the side of the house, out of my father’s sight. “Care to tell me what’s going on?”

He unclenched his fists. “Yeah, your dad’s an ass.”

“I know that already. What about the money? How much did he give you?”

Sighing, he lowered his head. “Ten million.”

Mouth gaping, I almost choked on my words. “Is that the only reason you agreed to let me stay?”

“Yes.” When I tried to walk away, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into his arms. “Don’t walk away from me, Hadley. I admit, I didn’t want you here in the beginning, but you knew that. I don’t care about the money, I care about you. That’s why I haven’t touched a cent of it. The money isn’t what I fell in love with.”

I sagged in his arms and let the tears flow. “Then keep it. I’m sure you’ll find something to do with it.” The horn beeped and I stepped away. “I have to go.”

Blake reached for my hand, but I pulled back. “Don’t leave like this, Hadley. What do you want me to say?”

“I can’t be the one to tell you, you’ll have to figure this one out on your own.” Turning on my heel, I walked straight past my dad and into the car. Real life wasn’t like the movies. I thought for sure he’d scoop me into his arms and beg me to stay. Instead, he let me go and I watched him disappear behind the cloud of dust from our car as we drove away.

“It’s good to see you again, sweet pea,” my father announced.

Huffing, I turned away from the window and glared at him. “You didn’t need to be rude to Blake. He didn’t use me for the money.”

He sighed. “I know, but getting involved wasn’t a good decision on either part. Nothing can come of it.”

“Why? Because he’s not a celebrity? What does that matter?”

“You’ve been through this before and I don’t want to see you get hurt again. You need someone who can handle the press, and what it’s like to be in the public eye. Nick can do that and I know he cares about you. We’ll just keep your relationship with Mr. Evans a secret.”

I shook my head. “No, Dad. I love Blake and I want to be with him. Once he’s done with his mission, he’ll come for me.”

He blew out a sigh and ran a hand over his weathered face. “Honey, don’t you see? He can’t be with you and keep his job. What kind of undercover detective would he be if he’s in the spotlight? Everyone would know his face. He’ll have to give up his career. And even if he was willing, would you let him? He’d resent you in the end.”

I glanced at Robert and he nodded. “It’s true. Blake won’t be able to do his job if he’s with you. But it’s a decision he’ll have to make for himself.”

Could I let him give up everything to be with me? I knew the answer, and it felt like a kick to my gut.

Blake

One Week Later

“What the fuck, Evans? You almost killed him,” Mason barked.

I slapped handcuffs on the sick fuck we’d been tracking and dragged him to his feet by yanking on his neck. His face was a bloody mess, but the bastard deserved it after raping and strangling two women because they wouldn’t go out with him. I wanted to kill him.

“I still can,” I snapped back. “Maybe I should cut off his dick and see how he likes that.” The guy whimpered and I smacked him across the head. “Shut the fuck up! Hope you enjoy being raped and mutilated in prison because that’s exactly what you’re going to get.”

Mason drove us to the station and I happily tossed the fucker through the front door. If he didn’t get out of my sight immediately, it wasn’t going to be long before I did something I’d regret.

Mason slapped a hand on my shoulder and pulled me to the side. “Dude, you need to calm the fuck down. I know the guy deserves to get the shit beat out of him, but one more knock to the head could kill him. His punishment isn’t done, believe me. Now go outside and calm down. I got this.”

Once we were done at the station, we headed back to the hotel to pack our stuff. We’d been in Texas for a week, and during that time, I’d gotten one message from Hadley. I couldn’t stop replaying it over in my mind. What made it worse was, she wouldn’t return my calls.

“Still haven’t heard from her?” Mason asked.

Clenching my teeth, I shoved the rest of my clothes into my duffle. “Nope. But I’ve seen a lot of pictures of her and her boyfriend floating around the internet.”

Mason finished packing and sat down on his bed. “I thought she wasn’t dating him.”

I huffed. “That’s what she said, but every time I search for her on the internet, there’s a new picture of them together. It pisses me the fuck off.”

“What did her message say? You never told me.”

I signed into my voicemail and clicked on her message. “Here you go.” I tossed him the phone. It was on speaker, so I could listen to it again. I guess I loved punishing myself.

“Hey, Blake, it’s me. I got home safely and it’s been nothing but craziness since I got back. So . . . on the way home, I did some thinking. As much as I love you, I just fear that by being with me it’ll hold you back. If you’re seen with me and people find out who you are, you can’t exactly do your undercover work anymore.”

She paused and cleared her throat, her voice shaky when she spoke again. “I’m not going to ask you to give that up for me. I won’t. I love you so much, but if I have to let you go, I will. I’ll do it for you.”

Mason blew out a long breath. “She has a point. If you go to her, I don’t see how you could keep up this life. Are you ready to do that?”

“You didn’t give it up. You’re an MMA legend and still doing this work. How come you can have the best of both worlds?”

He slapped me on the back and handed me my phone. “Because I’m good at what I do, just like you. But think about it, I can’t go undercover anymore. And your face would be in the news all of the time. You’d be relegated to more of a desk job. It’s something I’m sure you could pull off, but that’s up to you if it’s worth it.”

Grabbing my bag, I headed for the door. “You’re right. And I know exactly what to do.” As I ran down the hall, I dialed Hadley’s number. It wasn’t a surprise when she didn’t answer the phone. Beep.

“I don’t know why you’re not answering my calls, but you will listen to what I have to say, even if I have to rope you in, like I did before. I choose you, Hadley. As long as I have you, nothing else matters. If you don’t want me, that’s fine, but I want you to say it to my face. I’ll be with you soon.”