Page 87 of The Killer Who Kept Me

“No, it seems they could not.” Saros handed Eugene a tumbler of whiskey. I wasn’t a fan, and Saros knew.

“Very good. Once I’m home I will make a statement, thanking you and your family for your help in recovering my son.”

“The good press is always appreciated.” Saros clinked his tumbler with Eugene’s, and they gulped down the liquid.

“I feel like we will do a lot of great things together, Mr. Tancredi.”

Saros smirked. “I certainly hope so.”

That night Saros held me,kissing me and making me feel only the good parts of this world. I didn’t ask what he was going to do with Ramsey or Shyla; I didn’t want to know. The end game would be the same, and details didn’t matter.

I woke alone in bed with a note on Saros’s pillow, reading that he’d return tomorrow. I didn’t rush to get up. I decided to be lazy. When I did finally tumble out of bed, I showered and changed and made my way downstairs.

Saros, Cosmo, and Benny were nowhere to be found, but Gino was. I overheard him talking to Dafni as I approached.

“The guys will be okay. Whoever grabbed Em tranqued them, practically killing them.”

“Who?” I asked, and they both faced me.

Dafni grimaced but answered me. “The day you were taken. Saros had more than the one guy back there, but it turns out the ones who took you tranquilized the others. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t kill them.”

“Oh wow, and they’re okay?”

“They will be.” Gino nodded. “It was a horrible error in judgment. We assumed nobody would trek through those woods. It’s unsafe, and with as many men as we had, nobody expected Ramsey to come that way, or that he’d have the manpower to do it. It’ll never happen again.”

I couldn’t believe the mess Ramsey had left in his wake. All the lives he’d ruined…or at least he’d tried to. He was adangerous man…or at least he once had been—I didn’t know if he was still alive.

The rest of my day was spent relaxing, mostly. I watched a movie with the kids—a mindless cartoon movie that numbed my brain. I made personal pizzas with everyone and then tucked in early.

I missed Saros, wanted him to hold me while I slept, but I knew he’d be home tomorrow. I read until my eyelids got heavy and I slipped into a dream, a perfect dream where the prince saved me and we lived happily ever after.

When I woke the next morning, that same exact prince was lying beside me with a smile on his face.

“I missed you,” I said.

“I’ll always come back to you, Em.”

“And I’ll always welcome you back.”

EPILOGUE

“Get busy living, or get busy dying.”

~ Stephen King

Ten Years Later

Saros

Life was a funny thing.It took you in directions even the most well-planned people never saw coming. For example, I was currently sitting in an auditorium, watching my daughter do what I believed was a dance about butterflies. She was five, and I loved her, but she was awful. Half the time she faced the wall, she stepped on the girls’—on both sides of her—feet about four times, and as she was finishing up, she was crying. Like she had to finish the number but would rather have lightning strike her at that very moment.

“I better get back there.” Em patted my leg. “She’s a mess.”

“This entire performance is a disaster.”

“Hush.” He laughed and kissed my cheek. “They’re kids.”

“Thank God Paulo likes sports. I can handle that.” Our son was seven and currently obsessed with baseball.

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