Page 77 of Last Resort

“Maci! Maci, open your eyes, baby. Come on.”

Chance? She could barely hear him.

“Stop screaming, sweetheart. It’s okay. I’ve got you. Dorian is dead.”

All that noise was coming fromher. She hadn’t even realized it. She closed her mouth and silence surrounded them.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Chance was frantically pressing his hands all over her body, searching for wounds.

Luke was standing over Dorian, weapon raised. Dorian wasn’t moving.

“I’m okay,” she managed to get out. “I’m okay. I had to stop him. He was going to hurt you. Hurt everyone. I couldn’t let him—”

Chance’s lips pressed hard against hers and he pulled her against his chest.

“You did it. Dorian Cane will never hurt anybody ever again.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Three weeks later

“No, don’t you dare touch me, Chance Patterson! If we are late to family dinner everyone will know what we’ve been doing.”

Chance grinned from where he was stalking Maci in the kitchen of his house, loving the way she laughed as she threw her arms out in front of herself to keep him away.

As if she could keep him away.

As if anything was ever going to keep him away from her again.

He grabbed one wrist and used it to yank her closer. “We both took a full week off work and locked ourselves in this house without talking to anyone. I’m pretty sure everyone knows what we’ve been doing.”

But they’d needed it. They’d needed a chance to decompress after what had happened with Dorian. Needed a chance to rest and be with each other.

Chance had definitely needed the opportunity to hold Maci close to him and reassure himself that she and the baby were really okay.

That could’ve so easily not have been the case.

Getting to Maci at that warehouse had been the longest twenty minutes of his life. Kicking open that door and watching her drop down onto a serial killer? Watching Dorian lift that knife to end her life?

Even knowing he and Luke had each plugged three bullets into Dorian, he would have nightmares about the image until the day he died.

Nicholas and Stella LeBlanc had been traumatized too by the thought that someone they’d trusted had been so evil. Stella had then figured out how to use it to become even more popular on social media.

Maci pressed her lips against his. “We can’t be late. Mom is going to be there.”

It was a first step for Evelyn, one they were delighted she was taking. She was a long way from kicking her drug habit, but joining them for dinner was at least a step in the right direction. Hopefully they would be able to show her some rehab options and she’d agree to treatment.

Maci had made it clear to Evelyn that if she wanted to be a part of the baby’s life, she was going to need to be clean. They would help her as much as they could, but ultimately the choice had to be Evelyn’s.

He kissed Maci tenderly. He’d kissed her so often over the past few weeks that they both should’ve been tired of it by now, but neither of them could get enough.

“I love you,” she whispered. He would never get tired of hearing her say it.

“I love you too.” And he would never get tired of saying it back.

He planned to do it every day for the rest of their lives.

Epilogue

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