Police officers are taught to protect, and to do so, that means we’re also taught to kill. I’m not immune to taking a life. I felt the impact with each one I ended tonight. But I also know I didn’t have a choice. Not this time. Not if it meant saving the woman I love and the baby she’s carrying inside her.

I hold on to Tess and let her cry, ’cause that’s what she needs to do. By the time the EMTs arrive to take Lu to the hospital, she’s calm enough to let me help her to her feet.

We walk to where they’re securing Lu to a stretcher. Tess holds tight to my hand as she bends to squeeze Lu’s arm. “Thank you for watching over me,” she tells her, softly. “You saved me and our little one.”

Lu nods and offers her a tight smile. I can tell that shot to her shoulder is killing her, but she manages to stay strong and be nice to my girl. She’s a good cop, and an even better woman. I lean in to tell her as much. “Lu, I—”

“Thirty years, O’Brien.” Her scowl and husky voice cut me off. “Thirty fucking years and two shifts left till retirement.”

I straighten and swipe at my face. “Ah, yeah, sorry about this, Lu—”

“No stab wounds, no bullet holes, not even a damn black eye. Then I meet you and take one to the gut.”

“It’s only a flesh wound to the shoulder, ma’am,” the EMT interrupts.

“Was I talking to you, asshole?” Lu growls back.

“Um, no ma’am,” he answers.

“Then shut the hell up. You ain’t no doctor.”

The EMTs exchange glances, then hurry to shove her in back of the ambulance. “Thirty fucking years!” Lu yells.

“I swear I’ll make it up to you,” I promise. “Do you like muffin baskets?”

“Fuck you, O’Brien.” The doors shut, but not before I hear her call me an asshole.

Tess rubs my arm. “She’s just upset about what happened,” she offers.

I take in her beautiful face, her eyes reddening the longer I look at her. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m a mess, and I think I have glass and pieces of bone in my hair. I’d like to go home. Can we go home?”

“As soon as we’re done here. I promise, baby.” I motion to the detectives waiting to take her statement. “It’s just procedure. Tell them everything you remember, and then we’re out of here, okay?”

The two suits step forward. I release Tess and step back just enough so it doesn’t look like I’m coaching her. I reach for my phone and hit the icon for my email. I rattle off the facts in a detailed report and send it directly to my sergeant, all the while keeping tabs on Tess. More cops show in the time it takes us to wrap up.

“Oh, shit,” someone says.

Three rookies gather around the last body, pointing to what remains of the man’s head. “Clean shot. All the way through. Do you know anyone who could do that? I sure don’t.”

“Hell, no. And did you see the perp by the building? O’Brien got him right through the heart.”

“Good job, O’Brien,” the one closest to me calls.

They mean it as a compliment. But they’re young, and still have a lot to learn. Maybe I’ll be able to show them. For now, my girl needs me. I reach for her and lead her back to my truck.

We’ve had enough bad lately. It’s time to start our life of good.

Epilogue

Tess

The autumn breeze is chilly, but the sun warms my face as I step onto the porch. Curran warms the rest of me when he presses his chest against my back and winds his arm around my growing belly. We wave to his siblings and friends. One by one, they climb into their vehicles and pull out of our long driveway.

My father and I settled out of court. For as much as he resents me, he hates scandal more. At least, when it’s directed at him. The figure we settled on paid the majority of my law school expenses; the rest I’ll work off as a prosecuting attorney in the DA’s office. Although I was only sworn in two months ago, I already know the public sector is where I belong.

I smile when Joey laughs at something Finn says. He pulls himself into the passenger side of Finn’s truck while Finn tucks his wheelchair in the rear cabin.

“Place is coming along nice,” Curran says to me. “Way better than it looked on paper.”

“I know,” I agree. “My favorite room so far is the master bathroom.”

He nibbles on my neck. “Not the bedroom?”

I laugh. “Oh, that room has its advantages, too. But our bathroom is gorgeous. I find myself going in there all the time just to stare at it.”

“I hear ya. I wasn’t sure when Sofe suggested that quartz shit, but that girl has damn good taste. Looks awesome with the cherry cabinets—and did you see the stone tile in the mudroom Finnie and Joey put down? Hell, they killed it.”

“Tell me about it. And they were so fast.” I turn to face him. “At this rate, we’ll be able to have Thanksgiving here.”

“Probably Christmas, too. It’s a big place.” He frowns when he lifts my hands and examines them closely. “Hey, where’s the rock?”

I smile and reach into my shirt, pulling out the long silver chain that holds my platinum engagement ring and wedding band. “I didn’t want to risk getting anything on them.” I shrug. “It seemed like a good alternative.”

That’s what I say, but my husband is no longer listening. “Hey. What else have you got in there?” He pulls at the collar of my T-shirt and peeks inside. “Damn, those are nice. Can I see them without the lace?”

We’ve spent another long weekend working on the interior of our newly constructed house, and both of us have to work the next day. But as my hands splay over the hard muscles of Curran’s chest, and I catch the gleam in his eyes, my exhaustion dissolves, replaced with a need that deepens my voice. “You can see anything you want, cop.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, hell yeah,” I answer.

He lifts me in his arms, crushing his lips against mine as he carries me inside. The moment we hit the couch (incidentally, the one piece of furniture we haven’t broken in), it becomes a race to see who gets naked first.

I’m struggling to catch my breath when we finish, and he lowers us onto our sides, his rough hands sweeping over my bare breasts as his eyes latch on to mine. “I love you,” he rasps.

My arms link around his neck and draw him closer, allowing me to savor the sweeps of his tongue and the heat from his body.

As we lie there, I remember the words of his brother. Declan said that what I know will only take me so far. It’s who I know that will ultimately decide where I end up. I know Curran, his strengths, his faults, and how much he gives me. So I suppose “happy” is where I’ll be.

I smile and stroke the side of his face. “Thank you for loving me,” I tell him, quietly.

His blue eyes soften as he takes me in. “I didn’t get a choice,” he says. “Once I kissed you, I knew there was no going back….”

To those in law enforcement who risk their lives and practice their profession with strength, heart, and honor.

Acknowledgments

To my editor, Sue Grimshaw, for her kind words and for her continued support and encouragement, and to Team Random House for their patience and dedication to my work. You have my respect and admiration.