Page 87 of Under My Skin

“Our feeling is that it’s safer for Isaac if we keep him and Dani separated,” he said apologetically. “Vicki can only be in one place at a time, and since she’s made specific threats toward Dani already, there’s a higher risk of something happening to the baby if Dani’s with him.”

Tears stung the backs of my eyes as I swallowed the lump that was rising in my throat. The truth was, Leo was right. Keeping me and Isaac separatedwassafer for him. No matter how much danger I’d be putting myself in, I had no choice. I had to do whatever it took to keep my son out of harm’s way.

“He’s right, B,” I sniffed quietly, then took a deep breath. “Does Lina know yet?”

“Brian’s talking with her right now,” Leo told us. “I’m going to keep him and Connor with Lina, and Henry and I are going to stay with you two.”

“Got it,” Braden clipped out. “When do we leave?”

“Can you be ready in ten minutes?”

“Yeah, we can,” I said. “We’ll see you then.”

As Braden ended the call, he turned to me with pure horror written on his face. I knew it wasn’t fear for himself, though. It was distress for me. For my safety. He cared more about my wellbeing than he did about his own. He always had, from the very beginning.

But that was also how I felt about him. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to protect him from the monster who had terrorized him for months and tried everything she could to tear us apart. Because the thought of a world where Braden Hicks didn’t exist was too painful to even contemplate.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

BRADEN

My head was spinningas I got out of bed and robotically pulled on some sweats and a t-shirt.

Someone was dead. Because of me.

Sure, I hadn’t particularly liked Leslie, but she hadn’t deserved to die like that. Her only crime had been hoping for something that would never happen. And after the way I’d treated her, she’d earned every bit of the bitterness I’d seen yesterday.

Fuck me, she’d been aliveyesterday. And today she was lying in a morgue with a bullet in her skull. Because a deranged psycho – a deranged psycho who used to be on my payroll, at that – had seen her as a threat. An obstacle in her path to get to me.

“Braden?” My favorite voice in the world cut through the haze, sounding far away.

I turned to face Dani, who was now dressed in yoga pants, a tank top, and flip-flops. I had no idea what she saw on my face, but her expression morphed from fear and trepidation to heartache and compassion in a split second, and she slid her arms around me, squeezing tight as she rested her head on my chest.

Returning her embrace wasn’t even voluntary. It was automatic. Instinctual. Because where this woman belonged was right here, in my arms, for the rest of our lives.

“It’s not your fault, B,” she whispered.

Damn, how did she know me so well? How did she know how much this was eating me up inside?

“How is it not?” My voice broke as I squeezed my eyes shut, trying like hell to contain my emotions. “Leslie’s dead. Because she had history with me.”

“No.” Dani pulled back just enough to look me in the eyes, gazing all the way down to my soul. “She’s dead because an obsessed creep killed her.”

“Yeah. A creep who’s obsessed withme,” I reminded her.

“And if it hadn’t been you, she would have found someone else to obsess over.” She put a hand on my face, and I curled my fingers around her wrist while kissing her palm. “You’re not responsible for anyone’s actions but your own, and you didn’t do anything wrong. You and Leslie were both consenting adults. She didn’t deserve to die like that, and I’m heartbroken for her family, butyoudidn’t pull that trigger. Vicki did. No one else. Do you hear me?”

With a sigh, I nodded. I wasn’t sure I really believed that, but I could deal with my feelings about this later. Right now, I needed to focus on getting us out of Miami in one piece.

“Okay, so I’ve got our clothes from last night back in their garment bags, all the rest of our stuff in the duffel bags, and I did a once-over of the closet and bathroom,” she told me. “Am I forgetting anything?”

“Yeah. This.”

Cupping her face in my hands, I crashed my lips to hers, pouring everything into it. All my love for her and our son. All my heartache and regret over everything I’d put them through.And all my heart-stopping terror at the world of danger and uncertainty we now found ourselves in.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the sinking feeling in my gut that something was going to happen before we made it out of Miami. Something big. Something devastating.

One person was already dead thanks to this maniac, and she’d made direct threats to the woman I loved already. How many more people would she hurt before this was over?

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