I woke to the sound of loud machinery pulsating through the floor and groaned, pulling the pillow over my head. For all the good it did. My head throbbed with a headache worse than any I’d ever had. And my entire body felt like one big bruise.

Whatever rest and escape sleep had provided was over now.

I couldn’t even appreciate the luxury of a pillow or blankets, a luxury compared to my previous life. Not considering how much everything hurts. Including my ears now, thanks to the noise.

As I came awake, the nightmare of the last couple of days trickled in again. Reality was a hard punch in the gut. My eyes welled with tears as the grief and loss hit me all over again. For a long time, I laid there and just let the tears come. This hole in my heart would probably never mend. But I had to focus on the future. No matter how badly I wanted to just go back and have one more moment. One more chance at goodbye.

But that was the past. This was my life now.

Slowly, I eased the pillow away and looked around my room.

It was small. Smaller than even the one I’d had in our last trailer. But it was well-kept and with better construction, so that was something. It was also on the second floor. Apparently, Oscar lived above his garage.

The twin bed he’d offered me had a comfortable mattress, and the bathroom was clean, which was more than I expected for a grouchy bachelor like Oscar.

After a hot shower, I’d dressed in a t-shirt and sweats Oscar had loaned me and fell into bed. My eyes had shut almost immediately. Right after I’d stuffed all my cash underneath the mattress. Cliché, yes, but it worked.

Now, I was aware enough to notice the dresser and mirror across from me. And the small bedside lamp. All of them looked newer and nicer than anything I’d left behind. It wasn’t the Ritz, but I didn’t care about that. It was warm and safe and clean. More than I could have hoped for.

I tried not to get excited though.

Oscar might have been generous last night, but who knew how long it would be before he changed his mind. A guy like that didn’t give anything for free.

The machine shut off again, and in the relative quiet, the sound of voices drifted up from the shop. All male. One of them sounded a lot like Kai. The tall-dark-and-asshole from last night.

And despite his threatening, angry demeanor, I couldn’t help the heart flutter I felt at the thought of seeing him again.

Ugh.

Why did I have to feel that for him?

It's hormones, nothing more, I told myself.

Hell, if he wasn’t such an asshole, he would have been a great distraction from my own grief. But Kai was an asshole, and I wanted nothing to do with guys like that. I’d had my fair share and I was done.

So why did my heart constantly try to tell me otherwise?

In the middle of my internal argument, my stomach grumbled, forcing me to move. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. Two days ago now? Three? I’d been too numb or too upset to eat much on the drive. And last night, I’d passed out before Oscar could even mention dinner.

Without a charger, my phone had died sometime in the night, so I had no idea what time it was. I left it on the nightstand and hobbled to the bathroom.

One look in the mirror, and I wasn’t sure Oscar would even recognize me as the same girl he’d let in last night. My face was more swollen and an even brighter shade of purple than before. Crying probably hadn’t helped, but mostly, it was the bruises. My cheek had a shine that glinted off the bathroom light where the skin had tightened and turned all sorts of crazy colors.

My hair was a hot mess, tangled and knotted after I’d slept on it wet. I poked around the cabinets and found a comb, putting it to work until I was slightly less “mountain woman” looking.

Then, I went in search of food.

The stairs let out in a back room just behind the front office. I stepped down from the last stair and froze at the sight of a strange guy. His shirt had the Twisted Throttle logo on it, and his name tag read Mick. He was poised to walk from the front office into the garage, but when he saw me, he stopped and stared. His expression morphed from surprise to horror when he saw my face.

You and me both, dude.

“Is Oscar here?” I asked.

“He ran an errand,” the guy grunted and then walked out like he couldn’t escape me fast enough.

“Wow, everyone’s so friendly,” I muttered.

But then I stepped into the main lobby area and froze. Kai stood behind the counter, staring down at some kind of spreadsheet.

“Maybe consider our lack of hospitality a sign that you shouldn’t be here,” he said without looking up.

“Trust me, as soon as I’m able to go, I’m gone,” I muttered.

Ugh.

I’d dealt with guys like him before. The diners were full of them, especially late at night. They were always cocky and entitled, acting like the world revolved around their wishes. I’d learned a long time ago that backing down only made it worse.

He finally looked up, and when his dark eyes landed on my face, he tensed.

“What’s the matter? My makeup job is not believable enough for you today?”

For a long moment, he didn’t answer. Instead, he simply stared, his eyes running over my body in a way that felt almost intimate. Like he was seeing every part of me, even the ones I didn’t want to show him. Even in my borrowed oversized sweats, I felt naked before him.

I shuddered, and his gaze flicked back up to mine. Something flashed in his eyes. A darkness that bore the same hint of murder I’d seen in Vorack just before he’d fired the gun.

Fear coiled in my gut, and I took a step back.

He blinked and looked away.

“Aspirin’s in the cabinet on your right,” he said flatly.

I walked over and opened the cabinet, swiping the bottle of painkillers with a sigh of relief. By the time I turned around again, Kai was setting a bottle of water on the counter beside me.

I took two pills and chased them with water.

Kai went back to reading over his spreadsheet, and the silence stretched until it felt awkward. I was just about to turn and head back upstairs when he spoke.

“I hope whoever did that to you got what they deserved.”

Wait. Was he actually being nice?

I hid my surprise with sarcasm. “You sound almost like you feel sorry for me.”

He glared, which seemed to be his permanent expression at least, when I was around. But I couldn’t help goading him. He’d been a dick this entire time, and now he wanted to show empathy? I wasn’t in the mood. Probably because my head was pounding like a high school marching band. Also, for some reason, fighting with Kai helped keep the grief at bay. Anger was so much easier to feel than heartache.

“You look like shit,” he shot back. “And if whoever did that comes here, looking to do it again, I don’t want to clean up your blood off my floor.”

“Isn’t it Oscar’s floor?”

He dropped the spreadsheet and walked up to me, closing the distance so fast I didn’t have time to think before my back hit the wall and Kai was towering over me, invading my space.

His scent hit me.

Pine, like the forest. I hated that whatever soap he used made me kind of want to lick him. It was probably called “sexy woodsman asshole” or something.

I swallowed hard as he leaned in, his expression definitely more the ‘asshole’ part of that scent right now.

“Listen to me because I’m only going to say this once,” he said in a quiet voice that was somehow worse than if he’d yelled. “You don’t belong here. You don’t know me, and you sure as hell don’t know Oscar, so don’t pretend to understand his business ,”

He stopped short, his nostrils flaring and his eyes darkening to something like a thunderstorm. Lightning flashed pure, raw rage and then his expression shuttered and went blank.

“What are you?” he demanded in a quiet voice that raked over every nerve ending I had.

“Excuse me?” I asked, breathless and more turned on than I’d ever been in my life. It didn’t matter that he was rude. Or hostile. Or invading my personal space for the sole reason of intimidating me.

I couldn’t think straight, and even if I could, my body responded to him in ways I kind of wanted to slap myself over.

“Ugh. Forget it. This is insane.” He stepped back, shoulders lowered. I didn’t miss the way his hands had fisted at his sides, but other than that, he was completely devoid of the anger that had just driven him to corner me here.

With a little space between us, my breath whooshed out of me. Instead of the relief I should have felt, disappointment speared through me. And on its heels, the grief crashed in around me again. My lip trembled and I bit it to hide my display of emotion.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I mumbled, still trying to understand what the hell he meant.

He didn’t answer right away, just continued to stare at me with disbelief and those bedroom eyes that made me want to strip naked right here and ,

“Impossible,” he muttered into the silence, and then he turned and slammed his way out the front door. I watched through the window as he marched around the corner and out of sight.

What in the actual hell was that?

It took my ovaries several moments to recover from the loss of everything that would not be happening next. I’d almost talked myself into giving in and using Kai as the distraction I knew he could be. Anything to not feel the loss and emptiness inside me.

Confused and already exhausted, I gave up on finding food or Oscar or anything else. Instead, I made my way back upstairs and crawled into bed, lost and hurting in more ways than one.

Maybe fighting with Kai wasn’t the best way to deal with grief after all.

Some time later, pain shot through me, and I came awake to a hand shaking my shoulder. I winced and shrank away from it. The hand disappeared.

My eyes cracked open, and I recognized Oscar leaning down over me. “Sorry,” he muttered. “You were out.”

He straightened and looked down at me, frowning.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, alarm zipping through me.

If he kicked me out now, I had nowhere to go. And no way to get there.

“You look like hell,” he said matter-of-factly.

“So I’ve heard.” I struggled to prop myself on my elbows.

“Here.” He dropped a paper bag onto the mattress next to me.

“What’s this?” I asked, my nose already giving it away. The smell of bacon hit me, and my stomach cramped with hunger.

“Figured you might be hungry,” he said.

And even though the words were gruff, the gesture was kind. I grabbed for the bag, undeterred by his brusqueness.

“Thank you,” I said, sitting up and pulling the brown paper open to peer inside. A wrapped breakfast sandwich and hash browns. Baby Jesus.

I reached inside and started shoving hash browns into my mouth then immediately regretted it.

“Shit, hot,” I managed around a mouthful of scorching potato.

Oscar chuckled. “Orange juice is there,” he said, pointing at where he’d set it on the nightstand.

I grabbed for the cold liquid and practically poured it down my throat. “Thanks.” My word was muffled from the mouthful of warring temperatures.

“I made some calls,” he said in a voice that had me pausing just before I could take another bite. I lowered the sandwich, heart hammering at the sad look in his eyes.

“About what?” I asked. Was he trying to get rid of me?

“Caleb, your father’s body was being held by local police until their investigation was complete. I signed off for him to be transferred to a funeral home back in Reading. They’re holding a small service this afternoon at the graveside. I thought you might want to know.”

Surprise then gratitude washed over me. “I appreciate that.”

“I would have brought him back here to be buried on family land, but they said his will specifically asked that he not be returned.”

“He had a will?” That was news to me.

“Apparently.”

Apparently was right. I had no idea. He must have felt very strongly about this place to make a will that stated he would not be returned even in death.

“Did it say anything else?” I asked.

Anything about what the hell he’d made us run from my whole life.

“Not that I’m aware of.”

I nodded, absently rubbing my chest as my heartache panged. Not being there to say goodbye sucked. I looked down, blinking away tears. The last thing I wanted was for Oscar to think I wasn’t grateful for everything he’d done.

“I have a link from the funeral service company,” he went on, and my head snapped up again, my eyes wide. “They’ll live stream it if you want to watch.”

“Yes, I ,” I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. “I’d like that very much.

Oscar looked mildly uncomfortable, and I wondered if it had to do with the emotional moment we were having. “Eat and rest,” he said, turning and heading for the door. “I’ll come back later to check on you and give you the link.”

“Actually, can I ask you something?” I asked.

He turned back. “What’s up?”

I set the food aside for the moment, ignoring my empty stomach for a few minutes more.

“About my car,” I said, unsure where or how to begin.

“Oh, right. It’s parked in the back lot. I’ll have one of the guys take a look at it this afternoon.”

“It’s here?” I blinked, surprised.

“Yeah, I had a buddy tow it in early this morning.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.

Except, in my world, it was a huge deal. All of this was. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had taken care of me this way. Hot tears burned my eyes, but I blinked them back.

“Thanks, look, I’ll pay whatever it is.”

He waved me off. “Like I said, Crater owed me a favor.”

“Okay.” I swallowed, trying to figure out my next words. Avoiding his eyes, I said, “Listen, I appreciate you letting me stay the night. I’ll be out of here as soon as ,”

“I told you already; you can stay as long as you need.”

My head came up. I checked his face for some sign of a joke or a punch line.

“You’re my brother’s kid,” he added as if that explained everything.

“You don’t owe me anything,” I began.

“No. But family takes care of family,” he said firmly as if the phrase meant something to him.

I didn’t bother mentioning I had no idea what family even was. Besides my dad, I’d never had anyone. Flings and acquaintances, sure, but no one I could count on. No one who could be considered family. After my mom left us, I wasn’t sure I wanted it either. Oscar wasn’t a complete asshole, like Kai, but he wasn’t exactly sunshine and rainbows either.

“I don’t even know what that means,” I admitted.

He grunted.

“And I can’t take your charity,” I added.

“Not offering charity,” he drawled.

My eyes narrowed.

He crossed his arms.

It felt like a standoff, except I had no idea what the stakes were.

“You know how to answer a phone?” he asked.

I nodded.

“What about computers?”

“I aced my classes and even took one college course in accounting,” I said.

I didn’t bother explaining my classes had all been done on a refurbished laptop provided by the state to low-income households. A computer was a computer, right?

“Why?” I asked.

“I need someone up front to schedule and do invoicing.”

“You want me to work for you?”

“Like you said, you can’t take charity.”

Hmm. “So, I’d earn a paycheck?”

“It doesn’t pay much but yeah. Fair and square. As long as you do the job.”

I looked around the small bedroom. “I can’t exactly afford rent.”

“You can have this room,” he said. “Perks of the job.”

When I opened my mouth to argue, he cut me off. “You’ll pull your weight here too. Cook, clean, and take care of the place. Do that, and we’ll call it even.”

I bit my lip, considering it.

Vorack wasn’t likely to just forget the debt my father owed. Not after witnessing that monster he’d become. And I damn sure didn’t want to live the rest of my life on the run from him. If I could earn enough to pay him, it would clear me. And it wasn’t like I would find a better deal anywhere else.

Besides, I’d worked in diners and dives since I was fourteen. Stocking and running a kitchen was the easiest work he could have asked for.

“Okay,” I said finally. “You have a deal.”

Oscar grunted his own agreement, and just like that, I had a home and a job. A new life. I wondered what Kai would do when he found out. If he’d be angry. I snorted to myself. Of course he’d be angry. I couldn’t imagine him any other way, honestly. Okay, that was a lie. I imagined Kai in all sorts of ways. Angry and naked. Angry and kissing me. Angry and taking my clothes off.

At first, I’d considered my attraction a response to my grief. Anything to distract me. But now, I was starting to wonder if there was more to it. The thought should have scared me, but all it did was excite me in ways that were, without a doubt, going to get me into serious trouble. Story of my life.