Page 13 of Point Blank

“How could he flee the scene if he was dead?”

His shoulder lifted. “Maybe he didn’t. Maybe the guys you said were after you went back and collected his body.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. Murder, self-defense, hiding bodies . . . it was all too much.

“Try not to think about it. You reported the incident, wrote your statement, and had your vehicle towed. There’s nothing more to do right now.”

She nodded and coiled her arms tighter around her. A few minutes later he pulled into the attached double garage of a large stucco house.

Is this his house?

The single-family home was in Lakeside. Not where she’d expect to find a bachelor, let alone Milo.

Oh my god . . .

What if he wasn’t single? Milo’s marital status was as foreign to her as that of a stranger. Hell, he could even have kids.

Maybe she should have gone to Dani’s. But in that moment at Tasha’s bar when she’d been so close to losing it, she’d grabbed on to all the safety and security he’d offered. Being at Dani’s would only bring trouble to her door. Being at Milo’s would keep her family safe, and he was more than capable of protecting her. Even after all this time, and all the shit that had gone down between them, in her heart she knew he wouldn’t turn his back on her when she needed him.

She closed her hand around the door handle, and her gaze took in the interior of the garage. The second half held a bike, tool bench, lawn mower—no room for a second vehicle.

Milo got out and grabbed her bag from the back. “You coming?”

She hopped out and followed him into the house. Her gaze took in the light wide-planked hardwood floors and cream-colored walls of the entryway. Not too feminine. She removed her shoes and then curled her toes. Despite the change of clothes, she hadn’t been able to shake the chill.

“I have a spare room you can use. Want some coffee?”

“Sure.”

“Feel free to shower if you want.” He reached over and flicked on the hall light, illuminating their way to the kitchen.

She swept her gaze around the tidy living space. No high heels at the door, purse on the kitchen chair—nothing that indicated a woman lived here.

She cleared her throat and flung her hair over her shoulder. “Uh, does anyone else live here?”

He turned on the coffee maker and leaned against the gray granite countertop of the island. His lips twitched with amusement.

Damn him.

Her fingers ached to brush the dark strands of hair back from his forehead, but god, they only made him even more tantalizing. The cords of his bare forearms flexed. She trailed her gaze up his body, tilting her head back to take in every towering inch of him.

“Relax, Serena. There’s no one else.”

That one word drummed into her. “Else” indicated there was someone—her. The playful smile flew from his face. He’d caught the slip. She floated closer to the island. Only a few feet separated them. His eyes never left her body, coasting over her shoulders and down to her fingers with a feather-light caress. They moved back up to her face, and the earthy-green irises slammed into her. She tucked her chin and narrowed her eyes.

He’d walked away from her when she was seventeen, not giving a shit about the turmoil in her life. Her ruthless uncle had taken custody of Dani and her when they were eleven and nine years old, after their mother died from a drug overdose. They’d never known their father.

Losing their mother had been a devastating blow. She remembered the day she’d gotten the news, remembered the funeral and how Milo, at the ripe age of fourteen, had held her while she cried. They’d been close before that moment, and inseparable every moment after.

Life with Uncle Sebastian had been hell. He’d used Dani and her to lie, cheat, and steal from everyone and everything. And he’d always held their sick aunt’s well-being over their heads as collateral. Serena had needed Milo then. He’d been her rock. The only piece of stability in an ocean of sharks. If he thought for one second that they’d pick up where they left off eleven years ago as if none of it had ever happened, he was sorely mistaken.

His eyes sharpened. “What?”

She tucked her top lip into her teeth.

Don’t do it, Serena. Don’t fight with him.

He lifted his eyebrows. “Did I say something wrong?”