That was too fucking close.
She has no idea what I want to do to her. What I'd do for her. Both of those things are problems and I don't have the bandwidth to untangle them right now.
My phone buzzes. Ma.
"Hey. How's it going?"
"Good, mijo. Can you grab groceries on your way home?"
"Yeah. Send me the list."
"Thank you. I'm hurting today." A pause. "When will you be home?"
I exhale slow, keeping it out of my voice. "Give me an hour, Ma."
"Okay, mijo. I love you."
"Love you too."
I pocket the phone as Raul's Cadillac pulls up to the facility. He climbs out with a pill bottle and passes it over. "For your mom. I was told to give you these."
"Yeah, I'm grabbing her groceries too. Thanks."
"Of course." He nods toward the storage unit door. "How's she holding up?"
"Which one?"
He grins. "Goldilocks."
"Honestly? I don't know what I'm doing anymore. Can't let her go. Can't keep her here."
"You want me to handle it?" He says it casual, like he's offering to fix a leaky faucet.
My neck prickles hot. "What does that mean?"
"I mean I can make her disappear. If that's what you need."
I shove him. Hard. He stumbles back two steps and stares at me. "I will kill you if you touch her."
"Damn." He rubs his chest, glaring. "Just trying to help. You like her."
"I don't know." I press my hand to the back of my neck. "I don't know. This wasn't supposed to get complicated."
"Hey." He reaches for my arm. I pull it back on instinct. "You okay? Because you never lose your head over anyone like this. Not once, not ever."
He's not wrong. I haven't wanted anything that stuck since high school. One-night stands, nothing that followed me home. And now I can't stop thinking about a woman I've got chained to a couch in a storage unit, which is not a situation I have a framework for.
"I can't stop thinking about her," I say. "Can't let anything happen to her."
Raul nods slowly, something shifting in his expression. "We'll figure it out."
"What does that mean?"
"I'm not sure yet. But my guy on the inside says her going missing just made her the top suspect. They think she skipped town." He pauses. "Her parents are looking for her too."
"Fuck."
"Getting her on our side is the play. If we're not letting her take the fall, she needs to be with us, not against us."