“Don’t kill him,” Kade said. “You can’t take something like that back. I’ll do it.”

“No,” I said, pushing his hand away. “He would’ve killed you, me, and our baby. He deserves to die.” Hatred coursed through my veins and I didn’t take my eyes off James.

“Yes, he does, but you don’t need to be the one to do it,” Kade insisted.

“In this case, yes, I do.”

James closed his eyes, raising his face heavenward. “I’m ready. Kill me, my angel.”

“Go to hell.” I pulled the trigger, the report of the one bullet left in the chamber reverberating through the room. The aim couldn’t be off, not this close, and the wound was dead center in his chest.

James’s body collapsed.

Kade lifted me bodily from the bed, holding me so tight I could barely breathe, but I didn’t mind. Shock was setting in and my skin felt ice-cold.

“How did you get free?” I asked, twisting to look at the chair he’d been taped to.

“James tossed that knife and it landed near me,” Kade said. “He hadn’t taped my legs, so I got bendy and managed to get the knife up to my hand.”

“I want the blood off,” I said.

It took three washings before I felt clean, Kade grabbing Blane’s robe and wrapping me in its depths once I was through.

“Come on,” he said, helping me from the room.

My gaze caught on James’s body lying on Blane’s bed, blood pooling underneath him, his sightless eyes staring. Never again would he be able to terrorize me or the ones I loved. I didn’t have an ounce of regret for killing him.

From the den, Kade called Chance. It took him less than fifteen minutes to get there, and he brought Lucy, too.

Lucy sat with me on the couch, holding my hand, while Kade took Chance upstairs and explained what had happened. The kitchen door had been the one James had broken in through, then hitting Kade with a stun gun before searching the house for me.

It took a couple of hours for Chance to call it in, the ME to come collect the body, and for Kade and me to give our statements. Chance looked grim as he took my statement, giving me a long hug when I was through.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said roughly, his eyes wet.

“Me too.”

Mona and Gerard came to see what the fuss was about, alarmed that the police had come to the house in the middle of the night. I kept things vague. No need for Mona to know the details of what had transpired in Blane’s bedroom. She made me a cup of tea, which helped warm me up.

I refused to go to the hospital. I was all right. Nothing damaged that wouldn’t heal. I just wanted to be alone with Kade. I kept looking at him as he handled the police and the questions and the paramedics.

James could so easily have killed Kade. I knew that if he had, I wouldn’t have been able to fight James off. I’d have made him keep pulling that trigger until both of us had a hole in our heads.

Finally, Kade was bundling me into his car. I think we both knew we didn’t want to stay at the house tonight. He drove us to a hotel, and not one that rented rooms by the hour.

The guy at the desk didn’t bat an eye at the robe I was wearing, and soon Kade had whisked me up the elevator. I wanted another shower—I still felt like James’s blood was on me. Kade set me gently on the bed in the suite before running a bath. He helped me into the steaming water, then sank to his knees on the floor next to the tub. His hands dipped into the water as he tenderly washed me, his touch so careful, as though he thought I would break apart.

Afterward, he lifted me from the tub, the water soaking his shirt, then patted my skin dry with a towel and wrapped a hotel robe around me. He carried me to the bed and tucked me against him as he sat with his back to the headboard. I noticed that his free hand, resting on the mattress, held a gun.

“Put that away,” I said quietly. “Rest with me.”

“I let down my guard once and look what happened,” Kade rasped. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear it.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said, twisting to look up at him. He glanced down at me and the pain and guilt I saw in his eyes made my heart hurt. “You couldn’t have known what James was going to do,” I continued. “He had a crazy fixation on me. You can’t predict crazy.”

“If he hadn’t emptied the gun of five bullets, you’d be dead right now.”

I sat up and took Kade’s face in my hands. “I refuse to let what happened tonight poison our lives,” I said. “James has taken away my peace of mind before, has hurt me before. None of it was your fault or your responsibility to prevent. He’s dead now. It’s over. Now I just want to forget.

“Only you can help me do that,” I said. “So stop blaming yourself. Put away the gun and hold me. I love you. You’re safe. I’m safe. The baby’s safe. That’s all I want to think about.”

To my relief, Kade reluctantly set aside the gun and wrapped both arms around me. It seemed we couldn’t get close enough, and even though I knew Kade would probably lie awake all night, I heaved a sigh of contentment and drifted to sleep almost immediately.

Morning had sunshine streaming in through the windows and I woke with a stretch. Amazingly enough, I wasn’t very sore. My ankles and wrists hurt, but other than that my body was okay. Surprisingly, I hadn’t had any nightmares. Maybe that had been because my subconscious knew James was dead and therefore no longer presented a threat, or maybe it was because I’d been with Kade, or maybe both, but my sleep had been peaceful.

I heard the low rumble of Kade’s voice and got out of bed. He’d nearly closed the French doors dividing the sitting room from the bedroom, leaving them open a scant inch. I realized he was talking to someone on the phone.

I brushed my teeth and used the bathroom, using my fingers to try and tame my hair, before I emerged from the bedroom. Kade glanced up from where he sat in an armchair, but kept talking.

“Yeah. It was close,” he said. “Too close. And you’re going to want to burn that bed. I never want to lay eyes on it again.”

I grimaced, then spotted the pot of coffee Kade must have ordered from room service. I poured myself a cup and listened to him talk.

“Chance took care of it,” Kade said. “And Gerard’s planning on fixing the door today.” He paused, listening. “Yeah, she’s right here. Hold on.” He held his cell phone out to me. “Blane wants to talk to you.”

I was suddenly nervous as I took the phone from him. Did Blane know everything that had happened the past few weeks? Had Kade told him we were married now?

“Hey,” I said softly.

“Kat,” Blane said, releasing a sigh, “Kade told me what happened. Jesus. I’m so sorry, Kat.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said. “Just like I told Kade. No one could have predicted he’d go so far off the deep end. I just want to forget it and move on.”

Blane was quiet for a moment. “Then I won’t mention it again, okay?”

“I’d appreciate that,” I replied. James was part of the past now.

Blane cleared his throat. “I hear congratulations are in order,” he said. “Kade told me you two made it official. Mrs. Kade Dennon.”

Hello, awkward. My stomach felt like I’d swallowed a ten-pound rock. “Um, yeah,” I said. “I . . . yeah, we did.”

“I’m really happy for you, Kat,” Blane said, and if I hadn’t known him so well, he might’ve fooled me.

“It’s okay not to be. You don’t have to lie,” I said, drifting to look out the window. “I understand.” After all, if things had worked out differently, I’d be Mrs. Blane Kirk instead. It was unspoken, but I could hear his thought as though he’d said it aloud.

We were both quiet for a moment.

“I, um, I hear you’ll probably replace the senator,” I said, changing the subject. “That’s really something. Congratulations.”

“Yes. Unexpected, but I think if it happens, I’ll accept the appointment.”