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he would dismiss any connection. Just as he’d dismissed the danger earlier.
    However, he didn’t dismiss it now.
    “Most of the women I’ve been personally involved with have encountered some kind of violence.”
    “Excuse me?” And Collena held her breath.
    “You heard me,” he snapped. His posture and tone became defensive. “That’s why I’ve sworn off having a relationship, and it’s the reason I adopted a son and not a daughter.”
    She shook her head. “But Adam—”
    “There hasn’t been an incident since I adopted him.”
    Collena pointed to the fire. “What about my car? You don’t think that’s an incident?”
    “That might not be related to the other fires.” And he didn’t add anything else, as if waiting for her to confirm or deny it.
    Sweet heaven, she couldn’t.
    Dylan finally made it to the end of the dirt path and turned onto the main road that would take them back to the ranch.
    “Now you understand why I can’t consider your marriage proposal,” he continued. “Though my past is only one of many objections I have.”
    Collena understood. In fact, his past terrified her. But not as much as the alternative of losing Adam. “We might both lose custody if we don’t work together.”
    “Working together,” he repeated. “I’ll give you that. But marriage is out.”
    Not being married to Dylan would put a serious wrinkle in her plans. Besides, this fire might not have anything to do with his past or with Sean’s father. “Maybe this was some kind of prank. Kids are out of school for Thanksgiving. Maybe someone was bored and decided to light a match.”
    Dylan didn’t answer right away. “Maybe.”
    Collena released the breath she’d been holding and hoped they weren’t deluding themselves.
    Individually, they both had some old baggage, but she hoped that it wouldn’t surface. Above all, she had to do whatever was necessary to keep Adam safe. And if that meant taking her son and fleeing, she would.
    But she also knew an action like that would heavily impact her little boy. After all, she’d be taking her child from the only parent Adam had ever known.
    That was the very thing Collena was trying to avoid.
    While they sat in silence, Dylan drove through the gates to the ranch. There was still no sight or sound of the fire truck. Of course, it was winter, and the weather wasn’t cooperating. Her car was gone, as was everything inside it—including the copies of the documents to prove she was Adam’s mother. The only thing left for the fire department to do was tell them how the fire had started.
    And then the sheriff could maybe determine who had started it.
    Dylan had been with her the entire time, so she knew he wasn’t the culprit. Besides, this wasn’t his approach to things. He wouldn’t have set fire to a car to destroy documents or to intimidate her.
    He was a face-to-face kind of man.
    “I have a visitor,” Dylan commented.
    Collena picked through the other vehicles that were near the house and spotted a black luxury car parked in the circular driveway in front. She didn’t recognize the car, but she had no trouble recognizing the tall dark-haired man who was pounding on Dylan’s front door.
    “Oh, God,” Collena mumbled.
    “You know him?” Dylan asked, firing an accusatory glance at her.
    She nodded. “Yes. That’s Curtis Reese, Adam’s biological grandfather. He’s probably here to try to take him.”

    W ELL, THIS WAS SHAPING UP to be the day from hell.
    Dylan braked to a halt directly in front of the house and barreled out of his truck. He was not going to let Curtis Reese anywhere near Adam.
    “I’m sorry,” he heard Collena say. “I didn’t know he’d follow me.”
    Dylan didn’t take the time to respond to that. Besides, what could he say? He certainly wasn’t going to give her a pass.
    Yesterday, his life was as close to perfect as it could get, and now mere hours later, things were tumbling down around him.
    In the distance Dylan