Page 220 of At the Edge of Surrender

A single shot rang from out of nowhere, and the man dropped to his knees before he slumped facedown onto the dirt.

And the mayhem that surrounded us slipped into a tacky silence.

The bright sky suddenly burned too bright against my eyes. Spinning in a way that it shouldn’t.

A moan tore out of me, and Theo was suddenly there, rasping, “Oh, fuck. Kane.” He dropped to his knees and pressed his hands low on my side. “It’s okay, brother. I’ve got you. You’re gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay.”

And the only thing I could see behind my eyes were two faces.

Two sweet fucking smiles.

My Little Warrior and my Angel Face.

And I remembered the promise I had made that I would always make it back to them, just as Theo was on his cell, words raking in low desperation, “Dr. Reynolds…fuck…Kane was shot, and we’re in the middle of fucking nowhere. Tell me what the hell to do.”

FORTY-EIGHT

EMERY

“How are they so cute together?”Raven gushed it from where she sat on the top step of the wooden porch that overlooked Kane’s backyard. She, Charleigh, and I were watching Maci and Nolan run across the rambling expanse of grass that flowed into the woods that fenced in his property in the distance.

The area open.

Gorgeous and whispering of peace.

Though I felt little of it right then.

Peace.

I couldn’t shake the nerves that had rattled through me since the moment Kane had left.

Unable to sleep, I’d tossed in his big bed, hugging the covers as if it might provide the type of comfort he normally held me in each night.

Foreboding had seeped down into my being. A sense of uncertainty. Like I was at the edge of something profound but had no access to what it really meant, only knowing that it threatened the one who’d captured my heart.

What made it even worse was he wouldn’t give me those answers, his own dread so stark whenever he mentioned it. Like if he admitted it, I’ddisappear.

Which only made me worry about how bad it could really be if he reacted like that.

And the spiral had gone on that way, compounding with each scenario that I’d conjured in my mind.

Just as Kane had promised, the rest of his family stood guard, River, Otto, and Cash taking shifts around the clock.

They had refused to come in the house.

Vigilant in their watch.

Charleigh, Nolan, and Raven had shown up at nine this morning with easy smiles on their faces as they’d come through the door carrying a bunch of reusable grocery bags. Raven had lifted them high with a shimmy of her shoulders as she’d proclaimed, “We come bearing gifts. Prepare for us to make your day.”

She’d strode right into the kitchen and prepared a delicious brunch.

Mimosas included.

Now, we sipped them as we watched the children playing out back.

A peal of Maci’s laughter breezed through the warm, summer air.

“She loves it here,” I murmured.

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