Page 119 of If We Never Met

"It's strange to think that someone was willing to kill me. We'd never even met before last night. She didn't know me. She didn't know my mother," Keira said, a shaky note in her voice.

He put his hand on her leg. "Mandy clearly has mental health issues. It wasn't about you. It wasn't even about Mark."

She nodded as she met his gaze. "It was about her sister, a loss she couldn't get past."

"Which doesn't excuse anything."

Her expression hardened. "You don't have to worry about me wanting to go easy on her. She destroyed our home. I want her to pay for that."

"She will."

"I know. Adam will make sure of that." Keira blew out a breath. "I don't want to talk about Mandy. I'm so happy this is over now. I know that seeing my house in the light of day will hurt a lot. There were a lot of memories in those walls and things from several generations. I don't know if our family treasures survived. Although, we did move some boxes of albums and other knick-knacks into the garage a few years ago. Maybe they made it through the fire."

"I hope they did." He could see fresh pain in her eyes and wished he could do something to make it all better, but he couldn't change what had happened.

"If they didn't, we still have our memories. And we're alive to make more memories." She lifted her chin. "We'll bounce back."

He knew she would. "You have impressed me in so many ways tonight… Actually, not just tonight, but since I met you. You're a strong woman, Keira. Brave, loyal, fiercely protective of the people you love, incredibly unselfish, and you're a fighter. You never play the victim, even when it's warranted, like tonight. You just put your head up and square your shoulders and are ready to march on."

She blinked away a tear. "That's very sweet, Dante."

"It's not sweet. It's the truth."

"Well, you need to stop being so nice. You're going to make me cry. I don't know why I'm suddenly feeling emotional."

"You're feeling emotional because you've had a rough night. You're allowed to cry. I can offer you a shoulder."

She gave him a faint smile. "I might take you up on that. But I have to say, Dante, you've impressed me, too. The way you ran into my house and refused to leave…" She shook her head. "You could have been seriously hurt or worse. But you stayed with me."

"There was no way I was going to leave you."

He took her hand in his as she gazed back at him with her beautiful brown eyes. She was feeling emotional, and, damn, if he wasn't feeling the same way. He was trying to focus on the fact that they were both alive, but he was still acutely aware of how close he'd come to losing her.

"You should have left," she said. "But you're stubborn and very confident."

"I can't argue with that," he said lightly. "Sometimes it comes in handy."

"It did tonight. And I really hope your arm is okay."

"I told you not to worry about that. I'm fine. And I want you to feel better, so tell me what I can do for you?"

Her smile slowly lifted her lips. "Hold me?"

"I can do that." He took off her shoe and the awkward boot, careful not to jar her foot, which had been wrapped in a bandage. Then he kicked off his own shoes and turned off the light, finally stretching out next to her. He pulled her into his arms so she could rest her head on his chest.

As the dark quiet enveloped them, he realized how much time he'd spent thinking about where he needed to be, but he hadn't realized until just this moment that the only place he needed to be was right where he was: next to Keira. He had to find a way to make that happen after tonight.

Dante woke up to the sun streaming through the curtains. He was shocked that it was almost ten. Keira shifted away from him as her eyes fluttered open.

She gave him a sleepy smile. "Hey."

"Hey," he echoed, as he stole a kiss from her soft mouth. "How did you sleep?"

"Surprisingly well. What about you?"

"Best night's sleep I've had in a while. I like sleeping with you."

"Even if all we did was sleep?" she teased.

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