I stood in the center of the room, my wet coat dripping onto the wood.

Dominic set the laptop on the small dining table.

He didn’t take off his coat.

He stood over the computer, his shoulders hunched like a man carrying a physical weight.

“We need to get you and Lucia out of the state,” Dominic said, his voice tight.

He didn’t look at me as he spoke.

“I can have Marco drive you to a safe house in Vermont tonight.”

“No,” I said.

The word was quiet, but it stopped him instantly.

He looked up, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Elena, it’s not safe here,” he said.

“My mother knows you’re in the city.”

“She has Whitmore in her pocket.”

“If you stay, she will use the court to take Lucia before we can expose this.”

“I am not running, Dominic,” I said.

I walked over to the table and looked directly into his eyes.

“I spent five years building a life for my daughter.”

“I ran once, when I left your family’s estate.”