We both were panting, and as Ria looked up at me, she shook her head. I stopped her from being able to move, though. There was the same look in her eyes I had seen before. The conflict of wanting to tell me something but being worried about how I might react. I wanted her to trust me; needed her to trust me.

“Stop. I am not going anywhere. No matter what.”

I watched her swallow and then slowly nod. “I…when I did work for my father…I worked under a different name.” Her body was so ...