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“They stole so much time. They stole everything.”

“And they’ll pay,” I assure her. “Once I get you and Charlie back to Vegas⁠—”

“No.” She shakes her head and pulls away again, her face mutinous. “I’m not taking Charlie to Vegas.”

I tip my head to the side. “Why?”

“This is his home. He has school and friends, and he loves it here. He doesn’t know you. He knows of you, of course, because I talk about you all the time, but he thinks you’re in heaven, Carson.”

“Even if I was dead, you and I both know that I’m not going to heaven.”

She snorts but then sobers again. “I don’t know you anymore. And you don’t know us.”

I go very still as the heart that just started beating again cracks. “Are you saying that you don’t want⁠—”

“No.” She scrubs her hands over her face in agitation. “Fuck no, I’m not saying I don’t want you. You’re all I’ve wanted for seven godforsaken years. But we can’t just pack up and go with you.”

“Sure you can. I’ll hire movers.”

“I don’t know anything about your life, Carson. Where do you live? What do you do?”

I swallow hard, but I don’t take my eyes from hers. She needs to know the truth. All of it. And, eventually, she will, but I can’t just announce to her that I’m a motherfucking assassin. She’s still shocky, trembling, and she’s known I’m alive for about three minutes. That will have to wait for later.

But for now, I can tell her the rest of it.

“I run Vegas alongside my brothers. I own the King of Spades.”

Her jaw drops at the mention of the resort that she named all those years ago.

“I’m the motherfucking boss. One of the Kings of Vegas. I can’t believe you never googled or anything.”

“If I googled your name, there was a chance it could be traced back to me, and those assholes that I ran from would find us. I ran away to disappear because I thought everyone I loved was gone.” She sniffs and then stands and starts to pace. “I was too afraid to do anything. I didn’t even have a cell phone for the first year, but then I was afraid that something might happen with Charlie and I wouldn’t be able to call for help, so I got one. But I didn’t search for you guys online because it would only make me sad, and I couldn’t risk it.”

I drag my hand down my face. Jesus, I wish I could make all the fear go away for her. She’ll never have another reason to be scared again. I’ll make sure of it.

“If you won’t go back with me for now, that’s fine. I’ll stay here. I bought this place and can base out of here. I bought yours, too, actually.”

“You bought my house?”

“I paid it off,” I clarify. “You don’t need a mortgage. We can stay here and get to know each other again. My businesses are running smoothly without me. I can check in with my team virtually, and if they need me, I can fly back and forth.”

“You paid off my house. Carson, that wasn’t cheap.”

I smile at her, and it feels so foreign on my face. “You’re fucking adorable. We’re rich as fuck, Sunshine.”

“We’re rich?”

I narrow my eyes on her now. “I told you once before. You’re my wife. Everything I have is yours.”

“Jesus.” She shakes her head and checks her phone.

“If you’re waiting for a call from Dr. Fuckwad, you probably won’t be hearing from him.”

She scowls. “I was checking on our sleeping son. And . . . Carson, did you kill him?”

“I restrained myself.” I cross my arms over my chest. “I think you just chastised me like a married woman. It’s hot as fuck, Sunshine.”

“What did you do to him?”