Jackson felt anything was possible. Ryn surprised him, amazed him with her ability to see past the ugly parts. If he were honest, he needed that reflection he saw in her eyes. That man she saw, he liked him. He wanted to spend the rest of his life being him.

"You said yes."

She shrugged. "I have a light schedule Monday."

"Then we leave."

"Honeymoon?"

Jackson shook his head.

"Now I'm confused again. What's going on?"

"By the end of the day on Monday, I need you to have only the things from your house that you can't live without. I'll take care of Maddie."

"What does that mean? You'll take care of Maddie?"

"I a.s.sume she's something or someone you can't live without."

She shook her head slowly. "You're scaring me."

"If you're with me, you'll never have any reason to be scared."

Ryn took a step back. "And where exactly is with you?"

"I'm not sure yet, just not here."

"This house?"

Jackson shook his head. "Nebraska."

"So the moment I become Mrs. Jackson Knight, we're leaving? And taking Maddie?"

"Yeah ... about that."

"About what?" Ryn's eyes widened. They seemed to dare him to say another word. Her mind had to be at capacity with everything.

"You won't be Mrs. Jackson Knight very long."

Ryn took another step back, meeting the window with her back. "I think I rescind my yes then."

"You can't."

"I just did."

"Too bad. We're still getting married Monday. You may not be Mrs. Jackson Knight very long, but you'll always be my wife."

"Oh my G.o.d. You're running."

"I like to think of it as relocating."

"This is about AJ."

"It's not."

"Then your past?"

"Yes."

She covered her face with her hands. "I don't know if I'm ready for this."

Jackson agreed. She wasn't, but he no longer had time on his side.

"Don't hate me." Ryn's hands slid down her face, revealing the regret in her eyes. "I want you to be a piano teacher. I want you to be deathly boring, yet wildly s.e.xy. I want to spend the rest of my life in this dream state, the one where I just can't believe you love me. I'm forty and you make me feel twenty, or what I imagine twenty should have felt like."

A tear slid down her cheek. "We don't make sense, but I don't want us to. I can't think of one logical reason to marry you. That's why I said yes. I want to love you with my heart, not my mind. But..." she shook her head "...you're going to make me look back, and I'm afraid ..."

He cupped her face, wiping his thumb along her cheek. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid if my mind sees your past, my heart won't remember how it felt about our future."

"Ryn," he whispered. "I'm sorry, but I have to tell you everything."

The floor beneath Ryn's feet shook, like every bit of foothold she fought for in her life was about to vanish. She loved him and that was enough.

"Don't tell me. I'll go. Just ... I'll go." She nodded like a bobble head.

"You'll go."

"Yes." She stood tall, chin up, resolute.

"You'll marry me Monday and leave here for forever, no questions asked?" The disbelief in his voice bathed her in guilt. When he said it like that it made her sound irresponsible-crazy.

"Yes." She cleared her throat. "Now, I'd better get home and start packing." Ryn brushed past him to get her things from the bedroom. Her hands shook. Her teeth chattered. Her heart thundered in her chest.

"I used to be Jude Day." He stood in the doorway to the bedroom.

She fumbled around, shoving her things into a bag. "Jude Day. Jackson Knight. Cute." Too bad she couldn't speak without her voice shaking just as much as the rest of her body. The key was to not look at him.

"I've never lived in New York."

Ryn fished her arm under the bed, searching for her sock. "Just as well. I hear it's quite crowded."

"I was a computer engineer in San Francisco."

"A shame. You're ... you're good at the piano." Sucking in the biggest breath her lungs could take, she squeezed past him toward the front door.

Ten steps. That's all she needed to reach her coat and boots.

"Gunner, come."

Five steps.

Her knees wobbled.

Two steps.

"Jude Day killed twenty-three people."

The floor disappeared, so did the final two feet to her destination. She slammed into an invisible wall, hugging her bag as she collapsed to her knees.

"No!" she cried.

Just. Like. That. He blew up her world.

Step Four: Be prepared to gently hold her in captivity until she snaps out of her inevitable conniption fit because realistically there is no way Step Three would ever fly.

Jackson balled his hands, the hands that wanted to hold her. Instead, he watched her sob, folded over on the floor. Gunner lay down next to her, resting his head next to hers.

"I was trained to defend-trained to kill. The people I killed had more blood on their hands than I did. I killed to save lives. I was a soldier in an unofficial army, and I was good at it. That was my life. I hated my mother. She cheated on my father. I hated my father for being so blind. I hated my sister just ... just because I couldn't tell her, and I needed to tell someone. Instead, I lived a very lonely life filled with random women, secret missions, and a family that lived a lie."

"Stop ..." Ryn continued to sob.

He hunched down beside her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"No! Stop!" She fought him.

He fell back against the wall, pinning her arms to her sides and her legs beneath his. Then he waited.

"Our parents were murdered, so we were in danger. There are two headstones with our names on them. We were supposed to be safe ... miles away from our past with no one having any reason to look for us."

At some point the body encased by his gave up its fight. He still held her tight, more for him than her.

"But our past found us. Luke and Lake came to find my sister-Jessica Day."

Her body tensed again. Lake shared her brother's fiancee's first name, but not her last.

"Oh my G.o.d," she whispered, slowly lifting her head.

He loosened his grip a fraction and released her legs from beneath his, allowing her to turn in his arms and face him.

"Jillian was going to marry Luke."

"No. Jessica."

"Same-"

Jackson shook his head. "Not the same person. Jessica loved Luke. Jillian loved AJ."

"Who did Jude love?"

He paused before answering. "His sister."

"And now?" Ryn sniffled.

"He doesn't exist."

"He existed the moment you told me his name."

"He died." His jaw clenched a little in spite of his effort to stay calm.

"I'm looking at him."

He released her and stood. Taking a deep breath, he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Believe me when I say Jude Day would not hold you in his arms or give a f.u.c.k about your feelings. What happened against your refrigerator would have happened in the bathroom of a bar and then it never would have happened again."

She flinched.

He sighed, releasing enough anger to feel some regret. "I'm sorry. I love you. Jackson loves you."

Ryn grabbed her bag and stood, Gunner heeled. "Well, I love Jude."

"Don't say that." His voice hardened.

"It's true."

Jackson shook his head. "Why would you love someone you've never known?"

"Because he died so I could be with you."

"Dying was the best thing that happened to him. He lived a miserable life."

"I'm sorry."

"The only thing I'm sorry about is what I have to go through to keep him in the grave. I don't want that life back, but Luke and Lake showing up here ... they're trying to resurrect the dead."

Ryn rubbed her temples.

"Headache?"

She nodded.

"Is forever too much to ask?"

Ryn chuckled in spite of the pain etched on her face. "For me? Of course not. But I think what you were trying to tell me earlier is that Maddie would have to come too, right?"