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But it has to be done.

Ray’s car yard looks the same as always. Rows of glossy blacked-out SUVs and overpriced sports cars lined up under bright white lights, polished so hard they look fake. His office sits at the back of the lot, a stark glass box overlooking everything like a control tower.

He likes to play the humble small-business owner. That’s what he calls himself. In reality, he owns a whole network of businesses just like this. Car yards, storage units, laundromats. Places money can move without making too much noise. But the businesses aren’t where his real money comes from.

That comes from his other work.

I hop out of the Mustang, and one of the salesmen pops his head out from behind a black Range Rover. The second he sees it’s me, he disappears again.

I head up the metal stairs toward Ray’s office.

I don’t know how this is going to go. Ray has been unpredictable as hell lately, and betting on his mood is a dangerous game.

But my decision is made. I choose Carmen. That part is simple. Everything after it is going to be brutal.

Especially the part where I have to come clean with her. Because I will. She deserves that. I’ve been dragging my feet, lost in whatever this is between us, letting myself pretend a little longer, but it’s not right to keep this from her anymore.

Not when she’s looking at me like I’m part of something.

She asked me to get tested because she doesn’t want us using condoms anymore. She did hers first, showed me the results all nervous and practical, like it was just another step.

Like we’re normal.

Like there’s a future sitting there waiting for us.

Mine came back clean this morning, and all I could think was that she’s letting me closer while I’m still standing on a lie.

I’m losing control again.

She asked if we should tell Theo about us. Just casually, like it was a reasonable thing to bring a kid into this. Like I’m not the kind of man who ruins everything he touches.

And my head turned to goo.

I said yes before I really thought about what that meant.

Now Theo knows.

Carmen thinks we’re building something.

And I still haven’t told her what I am. What I do. Why I moved next door.

She already said she couldn’t forgive what Drew does for a living, and I’m no different.

No.

That’s a lie.

I’m worse.

Still, some stupid part of me is praying she finds a way to forgive me anyway.

What other option do I have?

I’m telling her after Theo’s school dance.

I push through Ray’s door without knocking. He’s kicked back behind his massive desk, bald head gleaming under the lights, gold chains resting against his chest. He looks at me with those flat shark eyes, like he is already measuring how this conversation ends.

Then the grin comes.