Joey kept his cool, his stance unwavering, but I could see in his eyes that he was taken aback by my outburst. I continued to tower over him as best I could. I wasn't going to back down. He could get that idea out of his pretty little police officer head right now.

"Answer me," I spat, my tone low and frustrated.

Still, he sat there, arms crossed, staring a hole through me like he wasn't fazed a bit. "Jess, I don't think-"

"Damnit, Joey!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms out. "Fine. You know what? That's it! I'm done. I'm leaving."

I spun around, heading for the door, stomping each step like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Oh, yeah?" he chuckled behind me. "Where ya going to go, Love?"

I slowed down for a second. Right. I hadn't thought that far. Where could I go? I didn't even know how to get out of Cape Cod, for fuck's sake!

It didn't matter. I was a grown-ass woman, I told myself again. I could handle going rouge against Richard Lux and his minions. I'd managed to free myself from kidnapping, escape a second abduction attempt, and outrun Cadillac Man and an ass load of police in a high speed chase. If I could do all that, I could handle anything else they threw at me. Bring it the fuck on.

I flipped back the deadbolt, refusing to look back at Joey. I knew if I even glanced at his face, I'd give in. I couldn't let Officer Sexypants change my mind. If he wasn't willing to be a team player, I couldn't trust him one hundred percent. It was his fault I was leaving.

"You're not seriously going to try to leave, are you?" His voice was laced with concern.

"You shouldn't have kept secrets from me," I said, grabbing the doorknob. "I'm supposed to be able to trust you."

"You can!" he scoffed.

I could hear his boots clunking against the wood floors, coming closer to me. I was hesitating, giving him a chance to explain himself. I should've just slammed the door in his face, but I could feel my plan beginning to unravel already. I'd been avoiding looking at him, for fear that his amazing eyes would dazzle me back into staying. But it wasn't his face I had to worry about. It was that damn soft, smooth voice of his with just a hint of shakiness that told me he was trying to mask how scared he really was of losing me. I wanted to believe he was scared of losing me because he cared so much about me, but in reality, it was more likely because he was doing his job and that's all I was to him. A job.

I turned the knob and flung the door open with attitude, marching out onto the lawn like I owned the fucking place. I didn't know where I was going. I'd follow the road and see where it led. I didn't really give a shit at the moment. I just needed to get away. Just like Boston, I'd let myself get too comfortable with Joey, and it was passed time to move on. I'd find a new city and a new man who would undoubtedly fuck my life up again like all the rest of them had, and life would go on in its messy little cycle.

"Jess!" Joey shouted behind me.

I kept walking. I'd failed to grab my shoes before storming out and my sock-clad feet were in pain as I walked atop the gravel, but it didn't matter. I'd grin and bear it.

"Jessica, stop!" he hollered again.

I could hear him following me, the gravel crunching under his boots, but I wasn't stopping. At the very least, I had to make a point. He was going to learn the hard way how not to treat someone who put their faith in him.

"Fucking hell," he groaned, jogging up alongside me. "Jess, please."

He reached for my arm but I shoved him back. "Leave me alone, Joey."

But the jerk just stayed right with me. I contemplated running, but he was a cop. He chased people all the time. He'd catch me easily. Maybe if I kept walking down the road, he'd finally give up and go back to the house.

"You're a real pain in the ass, ya know that?" he said with a huff.

"You could just not deal with me then, ya know that?" I mocked. "It's not like I was ever anything more than work to you, anyway."

He stopped walking. I almost stopped, too, but I forced myself to keep going.

"Is that what you think?" His voice was softer now. "Cause I don't."

I turned on a heel and stopped, placing my hands on my hips in my best authoritative pose and stared daggers through him.

"I have no reason to think otherwise, Officer," I sneered.

His expression was clouded by so many emotions, I couldn't decipher it. He swallowed hard and took a step toward me. I stood my ground, glaring at him.

"Well, I don't know what you've heard, Miss Turner, but I don't think most officers sleep with their work."

"No. Only the deceiving ones do."

Joey kept slowly stepping toward me until we were face to face, inches apart – close enough that I could feel his body heat.

"Is that how you really feel about me, Jess?" he breathed, hurt cloaking his features. "You were never just work to me, and you're not now."

I shook my head. "I'm not some poor, defenseless little girl, Joey. You can't treat me like one. I realize I can be naïve, but that doesn't mean I can't handle this shit. I've been through hell and back before all this – before I ever even met you. I can handle it."

I started to turn away, but he wrapped a strong hand around my arm, tugging me back.

"Let me go, Joseph." My voice was dark and pained.

"I can't."

"You'll find other work to fuck."

"Damnit, woman, that's not what this is!" he yelled, startling me and sending birds dashing from the trees overhead. "I know I've kept secrets from you! But I was trying to protect you! I never meant to hurt you, Jess!"

"Well, you did!" I screamed back.

I tried to slap him, but he caught my wrist. He held both my arms tight. Not tight enough to hurt me, but enough to prevent me from escaping.

"I know I did! And I'm sorry!" he shouted, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry, Jess..."

I tried to look anywhere but his face. I was reaching my breaking point and no matter how much I didn't want to believe it, I knew he was being sincere. I knew he wasn't just faking caring to keep me there like my last ex had. Joey truly cared. I could see it in his eyes. I could hear it in his voice and his ragged breathing. I could feel it in the way he was careful not to hold me too tight. Joseph Cavannaugh was a good man. I'd been stupid to accuse him of being anything else. Still, it didn't change the fact that I was hurt.

"I believe you." I knew he really was sorry. "But I'm still hurt about you hiding shit from me, and I'm still hurt that I let myself get so attached to you, and care about you, and have sex with you, and-"

He kissed me. He silenced me with the roughest, yet gentlest kiss I'd ever felt, with the most unwavering passion I'd never received from anyone else. He released his hold on me and I instinctually snaked my arms around his neck. I didn't kiss him back right away, but I finally gave in, allowing myself to relax against his body. His hands came to rest on my hips and he gave my sides a soft, reassuring squeeze. When we pulled apart, seemingly several minutes later, we were both out of breath.

"Stay with me," Joey said breathlessly, searching my eyes, and I could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "I promise I'll tell you everything. Just please... stay."

I'd already made up my mind, but I paused as though I were mulling it over. I released a breath I didn't know I'd been holding in and nodded.

Joey pulled me back against him and held me there for the longest time. His muscles were tense and I could feel how worried he'd been.

We walked back to the house in silence, hand-in-hand. Joey locked the door behind us and went to make more coffee. He said we were going to be up a while.

While I watched him toy with the coffee maker, I realized how lost I would've felt without him. Maybe it wasn't such a terrible thing that I'd grown attached to this man. Maybe when this was all over, there could be something between us.

"Jess?" he sighed, handing me my fresh coffee and sitting down beside me. "I do have a stipulation."

I frowned. "What condition could you possibly have? You promised you'd explain everything."

"And I will," he nodded. "But you have to promise the same."

"W-What?" I felt the color drain from my face at his words.

"I know I'm not the only one keeping secrets around here," he accused. "I hear you talk in your sleep. I know you've got a sketchy past. I got no problem telling you all about the case. That's cool. But if I've got to tell you my personal secrets, too, then it's only fair that you tell me what the hell is going on with you, and who this guy, Aaron, is."

Fear and anger jolted through my veins at the mention of his name. I hadn't heard or spoken it since I'd finally grown the balls to leave him. I'd hoped I'd never hear it again. I knew I still had the nightmares, but I didn't know I'd been saying his name in my sleep. Was I ready for this conversation? Was I ready to relive that painful story again?

"We could just keep it to discussing the case," Joey offered.

He could tell I was bothered by the thought of talking about him. But I wanted to know more than just the details of the case. I wanted to know Joey. Really know him.

He was right. It was only fair that I shed some light on my crazy life, too.

"Alright..." I forced myself to go along with it.

He frowned, shaking his head. "You don't have to. I understand it makes you uncomfortable."

"No. I need to. I need to let it out. I've been holding this in for too long."

Joey nodded. "As long as you're sure. What do you want to know first?"

I'd put so much effort into coming up with all those questions and now that I had the opportunity, I was drawing a blank. I should've written them down.

"The case or personal?" he asked, tapping his nails against his mug.

"What did you do with Brad's car?" I began.

He chuckled. "It's behind a strip mall about fifty miles away. I picked a place without surveillance and borrowed another car. I stayed off most of the highways coming back so the highway cams couldn't pick me up."

"You do realize you're stealing, not borrowing, right?" I giggled, taking a swig of my coffee.

He nodded. "I'm not supposed to break the law, ya know? Just let me have this. What else you got?"

"What happened at the courthouse?"

Joey raked a hand through his hair. It was dry now and his natural waves were in a mess, cascading across his forehead.

"I talked to the ADA, the DA, and a couple detectives. The detective who's on your aunt's case was there. They wanted me to detail what all had happened, why I'd left, that sort of thing."

"Brad said they were probably making a deal with you to testify or something," I recalled.

"That's what I was expecting, but the main thing they were interested in was your witness statement."

My brows drew inward. "What witness statement?"

"The one where you supposedly said I was in on everything and I'd kidnapped you to deliver you to Richard Lux," he rattled off like he was reading it right then.

"What? I didn't-"

"I know," he said. "I looked at it. You didn't write it. You just signed the bottom of it. Brad filled in the rest. He also had you sign a document saying that you were refusing protective custody."

"What?" I nearly leaped off the couch in shock. "No! He told me it was a memorandum of whatever and that I was agreeing to cooperate with authorities and all that shit!"

Joey shook his head. "Memorandum of Understanding. But no, he lied to you, Jess. That's not what that was. Didn't you look at it before you signed it?"

Way to make me feel stupid.

"I didn't really get a chance. He threw everything at me so fast, and it felt rushed, and I didn't want to piss him off, and-"

"Hey. Hey. It's okay." His voice calmed me down. "Don't worry about it, okay? Everything's going to get taken care of."

"How did you know I didn't write it?" I searched his now tired eyes.

"When I was in your apartment the day we met, I saw some of your notes from school by your computer. The handwriting didn't match," he explained.

Damn, he was good.

"How are you not a detective yet?"

Joey shrugged and set his mug on the coffee table. "Haven't been on the force long enough."

Joey deserved to be a detective, I thought. He was a better and more dedicated cop than probably ninety-five percent of them. Being a detective would probably be a cake walk for him someday.

"Okay. Tell me how you ended up with Brad's car in the first place."

His eyes seemed to darken as he thought about it. "When I realized the witness statement had been faked, I asked the detective who had brought it in and he told me it was Brad who took your statement. I told them I needed a bathroom break and when the cop who was supposed to be keeping an eye on me got sidetracked talking to somebody, I slipped out and tracked down Brad. I questioned him about it and he lied to me at first, swearing you'd written it, but I got him to fess up. Then he told me what he'd done, giving you to Lux's men, and I nearly snapped his neck right there in the hallway. But by that time, the DA had realized I'd given them the slip and I needed to get the hell out of there. I grabbed Brad's keys and made a run for it."

The thought of Joey being worried for my safety and chasing after me despite all the shit he would surely face with the DA's office made my heart swell. I was definitely more than work to him. Otherwise, he would've just reported it and let some other policemen try to find me. He'd put his life and his badge on the line for me countless times and I'd been heartless enough to accuse him of not truly caring about me.

"I just don't understand why Brad turned on you," I said. "He seemed like such a nice guy. He was your partner, for fuck's sake! How could he do that to you?"

"Brad's had a problem with debt for as long as I've known him. Lux made him an offer he couldn't refuse."

I finished my coffee and set the mug aside, stretching out my legs until my feet were touching his calf.

"Ron used to visit here," Joey mumbled, staring off into space. "That was mostly back before the storm tore the original structure down. He and my grandpa used to play poker on the porch. He came by a couple times since I've owned it, though. We had a few beers together. Watched a few sunrises. He gave me advice when I needed it. It's hard to believe he's gone."

I watched him suck in a harsh breath and he blinked away tears, trying so hard to hold on to his tough façade. I crawled across the couch and laid back against him, cuddling up in his arms and resting my head against his shoulder. I ran my fingertips through the back of his silky hair.

"I've lost everyone." Joey's breath hitched. "My grandpa, Ron, my parents, my brother... Hell, I even lost my partner."

I didn't say anything when he mentioned his family. He didn't need to know I'd seen the articles. He could tell me when he was ready. It wasn't my place to ask.

I buried my face in the crook of his neck and breathed in his musky scent. There was a hint of the soap he'd used. He smelled intoxicating. I was so comfortable wrapped up in his arms, I could've stayed in that spot forever.

Joey went on to tell me other things, but I'd started falling asleep fast. Eventually, he carried me into the bedroom and we laid down together. I curled up against his side and he kept an arm around my waist, sliding a soothing hand up and down my arm until I fell asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.

"I love you, Jess," I heard him whisper just before I passed out.