I put the steaming cup of coffee to my lips, unable to tear my eyes away from the TV.

"The disappearance of Camryn and Riley Hastings has taken the entire state of New York by storm. Thousands of volunteers showed up at the park where Camryn's car was found to do a foot search yesterday afternoon. They joined the entire Hastings Family, including Senator Sidney Hastings himself. Camryn is married to Hastings' son Robert, who is a New York State Detective. The home he and his wife share was also subject to search early this morning. It's unclear if either search turned up any additional evidence, but the anticipation has everyone on their toes waiting for information."

Robby's face flashed on the screen again, fake tears pooling in his eyes. "All we want is to bring Camryn and Riley home safely. Whoever has them, we'll do whatever we have to. Just please, let them go."

For a second, I almost believed him. He played the part well, and it made my stomach turn. I hated the way he was drawing sympathy. Why didn't they report anything about the evidence Derek's team had planted? Why did they still think it was a stranger abduction?

We were safe now, but that wasn't enough for me. It was like now that we were away from him and I knew he couldn't hurt us, I wanted him to pay. I had been so focused on just getting away from him, but now that I could think clearly, I wanted him to suffer. I wanted him to hurt in every imaginable way, and I wanted him to be terrified the same way I was. And at the end of the day, I wanted him dead.

"Mommy, look! Daddy is on TV!" Riley chirped, skipping out of her bedroom. She was already over-the-moon excited. Today was the day that Derek was going to take us up in his plane to find whales.

I grabbed the remote and quickly shut it off so that she wouldn't hear anything that was being said.

"Yep!" I forced a smile. "Are you hungry? It's going to be a fun day—you better eat up!"

I handed her a bowl of cereal, hoping the change of subject would distract her. Derek had this place stocked with everything imaginable, but I wasn't feeling up to cooking just yet. Lucky Charms would have to suffice.

"Mommy, are we living here now?" She asked, shoving a bite into her mouth.

"We're just visiting for a while. Like a vacation!"

"Is daddy going to come on vacation with us?" She asked, glancing back at the TV.

I sucked in a sharp breath, trying to find the right words. How could I explain this to my five-year-old? How could I make her understand why we left and why we would never see her daddy again? I could give her an easy answer—that he was busy and couldn't join us—but it would just be putting off the inevitable.

"Sweetheart, daddy isn't going to come with us. It's just going to be you and me for a while. Is that okay?"

"And Derek?" She arched her eyebrow at me.

I let out a sharp laugh. "Derek will be with us for a while, yes. But even when he goes home, it's going to be you and me. Okay? Like partners!"

"And we won't see dad anymore?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so, Riley. No."

Riley shrugged her shoulders. "Okay. I don't like when daddy hurts you, anyway."

Her answer was a knife straight to my heart. All I wanted to do was protect Riley from what went on between Robby and I. I never wanted her to know the truth or what really happened, but apparently I was oblivious. I didn't know what she'd seen or heard, or how I didn't realize it.

"Can I be done now?" She asked, stirring just a few remaining pieces of marshmallow in her milk.

"Of course you can." I bit back the tears in my eyes, kissing the top of her head. "Why don't you go get changed, so when Derek is ready, we can go?"

Riley disappeared down the hallway and I squeezed my eyes shut, holding on to the counter so hard my knuckles turned white. Every time I felt like I was getting over it, even a little, something like this hit me and made me realize how deeply ingrained Robbie's hurt would be ingrained in us forever.

"She's a smart girl." I heard Derek's voice from behind.

"I had no idea." My voice was barely above a whisper. "I wanted to believe... I'm such an idiot."

Derek put his hands on my shoulders and gave me a gentle squeeze. "You're not an idiot, and I don't ever want to hear you talk about yourself like that. That little girl in there listens and watches your every move and if she hears you talk about yourself that way—the way Robby taught you to—that's how she's going to talk about herself. And I know you don't want that."

I let out a heavy breath, wiping at a few tears on my cheek.

"Camryn, I've told you this before and I'll tell you every day until you believe it." Derek spun me around so I was facing him and put his finger to chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. "You did what was best for Riley. You stayed until you had a safe way out, even if that meant putting yourself in danger, and when the opportunity came up to get out, you took it. Someday she'll be old enough to understand that and she'll know that her father was a disgusting person and that her mother did everything she could to save her from that."

I bit my lip. "Why are you doing all of this for us?"

Derek hesitated for a minute, choosing his words wisely. His eyes burned into me as if he was trying to read into my soul. It was chilling and electrifying all at once. The warmth of his finger still on my chin was comforting, and made me want to collapse into his body and let him hold me like he had that first night.

"I don't just mean helping us escape, but all of this. Taking Riley whale watching, talking me down every time I get worked up. You could have sent us on our way and already been done. Back to your own life."

"I care about you, Camryn." Derek's voice was gentle. "You're so much braver and stronger than you realize, and I'm doing this because someday I want you to know that. Really know and believe it."

"Maybe at one point I was. But I don't even know that girl anymore."

A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Well, I'm looking forward to helping you find her again."

My cheeks flushed as if I had completely forgotten how to function in the presence of an attractive man. I couldn't stop staring at the perfect peak of his lips, realizing just how close they were to my own. Did he want to kiss me? Did I want to kiss him? Was that what he was trying to do?

The possibility caught me off guard, but I couldn't say I hadn't thought about it. What woman wouldn't? Derek was exactly the kind of man I wished I ended up with. He could be soft and sweet when he wanted to be, but his protective side was just as attractive to me. He was commanding and forceful, but in a way that made me feel safe. Safe like I'd never felt with Robby. Safe like he'd do everything he could to protect us. Safe like I could finally let my guard down and be myself.

There was a slight glimmer in his eyes when he smiled, and I loved the way his tattoos peaked out from underneath his shirt. It left me wondering what the artwork looked like on full display, stretched across the canvas of rock-hard chest muscles. He was playful, and so good with Riley it made my heart melt. Even if we were never more than what we were right this second, Derek was everything Riley and I needed.

I felt more myself in a few hours with him than I did in the last several years with Robby. It might have been my vulnerable state, or an overwhelming sense of gratitude, but everything in my heart was screaming for me to kiss him.

I took a step back, trying to put some space between us and compose myself. Derek was the first guy to treat me with respect in years. Had my standards dropped so low that all it took was a man being nice to me and I was ready to jump his bones?

It was like he knew what I was trying to do, though, and he was having none of it. I could tell his mind wandered in exactly the same way mine did.

He put his hand to my cheek, brushing my hair back. "Camryn..."

The way he said my name was almost desperate and needy, and my heart just about fell out of my chest right there. He leaned in closer now, his palm moving to the base of my neck and pulling me deeper in to him. My mind was all over the place, bouncing between excitement and fear and guilt and shame.

My stomach fluttered with anticipation as he hovered above me, our bodies pressed together and his lips so close to mine I could almost taste them.

"I'm ready!!" Riley announced, coming back into the kitchen. Derek and I pulled apart as fast as humanly possible and tried to act like we hadn't just about crossed a very serious line.

"Wow!" Derek grinned, turning his attention to her. "You look like a real life whale watcher."

"Do you think we're really going to see them?" She asked skeptically.

"Of course we are. I know just where to find them!" Derek laughed. "How about you, Cam? You ready to go find some whales?"

He never called me Cam before; it had always been Camryn. So official and businesslike. Cam was different. Cam was personal.

"Yeah." I nodded, afraid to make eye contact with him. "I just need to grab my jacket."

I left Derek and Riley in the living room and disappeared into my bedroom for a minute. What the hell was that? What was that moment? For a bit, we'd both forgotten why we were here, and while it felt great, that couldn't happen. I was in no place for a relationship, having just escaped my abusive marriage, and Derek was the man who helped me. That crossed all kinds of ethical lines, didn't it? Did ethics even really exist in a situation like this?

I was angry at myself for letting it get even that far, but even more angry at how much I wanted it to go even further. To feel his lips on mine, to feel the warmth of his kiss and the strong embrace of his arms. To know what it was like to kiss someone who actually genuinely cared about me.

We left the apartment and headed down to the bay. Derek took Riley and me out onto a dock that had a plane tethered at the end of it. Riley climbed on immediately, but I was a little hesitant.

"Are you really going to fly this thing?" I asked, staring at it. I wasn't a plane expert by any means, but this seemed a little questionable.

Derek chuckled. "This is perfectly safe. I've been through months of training and my plane is checked weekly by safety inspectors. But if you don't feel comfortable with it, we certainly don't have to."

"I do." I sighed. "It's just... a little scary." I wasn't the biggest fan of flying in normal conditions, and this was a big stretch.

"Did you forget you just left your asshole husband and moved to another country?" Derek furrowed his brow, offering me his hand to get on the plane. "I'd say you're pretty good at conquering scary things, Cam."

Cam. There it was again.

Derek frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

I blushed. "It's nothing, really. You've just never really called me Cam before. It's usually Camryn."

He looked at me strangely and laughed. "Is that okay?"

"Of course. I like it."

"Okay then, Cam." He grinned. "What do you say we give it a shot?"

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***If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence of any kind, please reach out to someone in your community. In the US, that number is 1-800-799-7233**