Lilah kneels beside him and yanks up his shirt. “He’s wearing a vest. Are you okay?”
I never get to answer. Rick is suddenly in the tiny room with us, pulling me to my feet, enclosing me in his arms, and I’m molded close to his big, hard body. And the world instantly calms but I can hear Lilah calling in the incident and other voices. There are other voices but they don’t quite compute right now. “Tell me you’re okay,” he whispers, cupping my head and tilting my face to his inspection. “Tell me you’re okay.”
“I am. I tried to shoot him. I did shoot him. He had on a vest, but I didn’t hesitate.”
“Shoot for the head,” Lilah says, kneeling at our feet, and now wearing gloves, as she bags my weapon. She stands. “Aim for the head next time. Those bastards always wear vests.”
“I hope there won’t be a next time.”
“You’re in love with this man,” she says, motioning to Rick. “There will be.”
“You saved my life, Lilah.”
“You can save your own next time.” She eyes Rick. “She did a fucking good job. There are cops that hesitate more than she did. Get her out of here but don’t leave.”
Rick catches my hand and when he leads me out of the bathroom, we settle into a corner where he proceeds to shelter me from the growing law enforcement presence with his big body.
“This is over, baby. A few more hours of this hell and this is over. We can start our new life together. And I can actually ask you to marry me properly soon, if you’ll have me.”
Those words are music to my ears. “I can be Candy Savage?”
He laughs and I laugh, and I know then, that the future is going to be savagely good, despite a savagely bad path to get here.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Candace
The shock of Alejandro’s attack is oddly not much of a shock at all. The relief of knowing all this hell is now over dominates to such a degree, there is room for little else but joy. Of course, washing the blood off in the shower at the police station helps that happen, and thankfully Kara and Blake bring me clothes to change into.
Not long after I’ve freshened up, I have half the Walker clan there to accompany them, Asher, Smith, Memphis, and Adrian. I’m swarmed by all concerned, standing in the center of it all with Rick holding onto me. It’s wonderful chaos, but Lilah isn’t having it. She runs them all off but not before I experience the warmth of family. These people helped Rick find his path to being human again, not me. They’re the reason he felt he could come back to me and for that, I will forever willingly be indebted to them.
I leave the police station hours later sandwiched between Savage and Lilah and greeted by Kane Mendez resting against his 911 Porsche. To say that the man makes an impression is an understatement. He’s got that Latino dark and good-looking thing going on, with a big dose of arrogance and finesse. And the minute those hard eyes land on Lilah they soften, and he’s pulling her close.
“Agent Love,” he greets, kissing her before she rotates to stand next to him and facing me.
“Candace,” he greets. “I heard you handle a gun quite well.”
“Except that I shot at his chest and he was wearing a vest. I’d be dead if not for Lilah.”
“Be glad it worked out as it did,” Kane says. “Once you kill someone, it changes you in a way you can never undo.”
“Spoken like a man with experience,” I say.
“Spoken like a man who’s standing next to a woman who just killed a man,” Lilah comments dryly.
Rick wraps his arm around my shoulders and curls me to him, kissing my temple. “On that note, I’m taking her home.” He starts to move away, but I dig in my heels.
“Pocher’s really controlled?” I ask, looking between them all.
“He is,” Kane replies.
“How?” I ask.
“That’s between me and Pocher,” Kane replies. “You’re just going to have to trust me.”
“Trust him, baby,” Rick says. “Because I trust him.”
Kane arches a brow in my direction. “My father is my concern,” I explain.
“Everyone connected to you has my protection.”
“Your protection,” I repeat. “That must be a heavy burden to bear, protecting so many from a monster.”
“Pocher breathing is the burden I bear.” He pushes off the Porsche 911. “I’m taking my future wife home.”
“When is the wedding,” Rick asks.
“Not soon enough,” Kane replies, opening the door for Lilah, who pauses to point at me.
“Shoot for the head.” And with that, she disappears inside the car.
Kane shuts her inside and rounds the hood of the car and just before he climbs in himself, he points at Rick. “You owe me a favor.”