Kendra shivered against me the entire ride home.

The vehicle was far too quiet to keep my thoughts from running away from me. The worst of all, after everything that just happened, the worry that I was losing her.

Smoothing my hand up and down her arm, I could only assume she was thinking about her name being on the kill list. While she had every right to know, I’d kept it from her for as long as I did to protect her from her growing list of worries.

Shifting my gaze up to Maxwell, he kept his eyes forward.

I’d be sure to add a bonus to this month’s paycheck. His timing to come rescue us from the swelling crowd of reporters couldn’t have been better. It would have been so much worse if I’d had to do it myself.

Breathing out a heavy sigh, I couldn’t keep myself from feeling vulnerable.

The more evidence being thrown in my direction was more than I could keep up with. This latest set of photos was my last straw. I saw the angle, knew their approach. It wasn’t like that at all. Kendra and I were at Echo before I knew the details of Maria’s murder, before anybody knew anything about Tonya—besides Madam. Yet here it was, coming back full-circle, haunting us both and keeping us on edge wondering what the spin would be when the story was finally written.

Glancing over my shoulder for the second time in five minutes, I could only assume that one of those reporter assholes would be stupid enough to follow us.

Maxwell was taking the obscure route, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t be found. My penthouse was well known. Luckily, getting past the front entrance was near impossible without a personal invite from a resident.

Kendra tucked in her upper lip and kept shaking her head.

Closing my eyes, the pain from earlier still festered inside her.

It was hard to argue against what she’d said. It was all true: I was the problem. The common denominator. The lit fuse leading us to the eventual detonation. That was what it seemed we were all waiting for, the final explosion that would take us all out.

Leaning forward, I mentioned to Maxwell about a possible tail.

Kendra refused to look, let alone acknowledge that we might have been followed. I kept my hand moving up and down her arm, trying to warm her cold skin, get her slow pulse to spike. It scared the hell out of me how she was reacting. It reminded me of the days before Nora took her own life.

Maxwell took the next right and knew exactly how to lose any potential tail that might be following us. After several dizzying maneuvers, we finally arrived at the hotel. Taking Kendra by the hand, we entered the hotel lobby and were whisked to my suite in an empty elevator.

Kendra sank back into the corner with her arms crossed over her chest. “You really think that man can spin a story about us being the masterminds behind the murders?”

I stared into her jades, wishing for this to be over. These were the first words I’d heard her say since I showed her the images, and though I wished we had something other than this to discuss, at least now I knew what was on her mind.

“Of course you do,” she huffed.

I flashed her an arched look.

“It’s not what happens, but how the story is told. Isn’t that what you like to say?”

Not wanting to get into this now, I kept my gaze forward. Tapping my toes, I anxiously prepared to leave this metal box as soon as I was allowed.

What Kendra failed to realize was that there were more important questions that needed answering. The first one being, who was that man? Quickly followed by, who was he working for?

Each beat of my own heart had me thinking it was Stone sending me a message. If that was true, then it only confirmed what I already felt about him—that he would do anything to convince me I worked under him and not for him.

The moment the doors opened, I hurried down the hall and stepped inside my apartment to the smell of home. Rather than feeling relaxed, I found myself faced with another surprise.

I stood and stared, wide-eyed and in disbelief, as I wondered who could have brought this here and how.

Kendra brushed past me, having noticed it, too.

As the fresh fruity scent wafted into my memory, it brought me back to the night I’d first brought Kendra here.

My feet were heavy as I followed Kendra to the sofa table. I was tired of the surprises, anxious to know what would be waiting for me around the next corner. It was weighing heavily on my stamina and soon—when mixed with the constant worry—it would find a way of breaking me down.

Kendra wrapped her fingers around the wine bottle neck and gave me a look. “You can’t buy my happiness, Counselor.”

“I’d do anything for you.” I stepped up to her as I plucked the card from the bouquet of flowers. “Except this wasn’t from me.”

Kendra lifted the bottle, reading the label. “Whoever it was knows the kind of wine I like to drink when I’m feeling down.”

I grinned, pretending like I had arranged this myself.

She popped the top as I opened the card.

An orchid fell from the inside and it was hard not to notice the color. It was identical to the ones I had given Kendra on our first date. I bent down to pick it up from the floor and memories of Sylvia browsing my apartment, days after that night with Kendra, filled my mind.

Kendra pulled hard off the bottle and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Fuck, that’s good.”

I smiled, unable to shake the irony of thinking Sylvia was inside my apartment while I was inside of hers. The link was clear. She’d taken this orchid flower to keep after she’d browsed my walls and told me about the death threats she was receiving. Now she was the one dishing them out.

Flicking the card open, I read what it said.

Black,

Kendra is in grave danger. There is nothing you can do to stop the evil forces coming her way. New faces are manipulating her, and they’re doing it under your nose without your knowledge.

I lifted my gaze to Kendra, but all I could hear inside my head was Adrianna’s voice telling me to get Kendra out from Madam’s control before it was too late.

Protect her, Black, because if you don’t, no one will.

I felt the blood drain from my face as I lifted my eyes to Kendra.

She still had her lips wrapped around the bottle. When she noticed me staring, she slowly lowered it away from her mouth with a guilt ridden face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be drinking in front of you, not now that I know why you choose not to.”

Shaking my head, I stashed the note in my back pocket before Kendra asked what it said. “It doesn’t bother me. You can drink all you want.”

Her eyes flickered to the bottle, then back up to me. “It must remind you of your son, though.”

I gave her a knowing nod as I reached out to touch her elbow.

“What did the card say?”

My voice heated. “To enjoy my time with you.”

“Did it not say who it was from?” Her voice was soft, vulnerable.

I took her face inside my hands and kissed her forehead. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s just enjoy the food and drink and be glad we’re home.”

Leading Kendra around the couch, she brought the bottle of wine with her. She sipped off of it with her knees drawn into her chest. Looking around the room, she wondered aloud, “Kelly, why don’t you have any photos of Patrick here?”

My muscles tightened as I kept my gaze glued to the floor in front of me.

“He’s not at your office, either. Why?”

I had walls full of memories of my son at my main residence but it was too much to live with the constant reminder of the mistake that ruined my life. Shaking my head, I murmured, “It’s too hard.”

Her soft hand drifted to my shoulder. Rubbing my back, Kendra asked to hear stories of my son.

It took me a while to warm up and clear the lump lodged in my throat that had formed from just thinking of how much I missed him. Then I told her how Patrick loved to toss soccer balls down the hill just to watch me chase after them.

Leaning forward, Kendra set the bottle down on the coffee table. “Is he buried next to his mother?”

“No.” I hadn’t visited his grave since his funeral. Then I turned to Kendra, finding her still curious about why. Before she could ask, I said, “I couldn’t do it. The way Nora died, something made me believe her soul was restless. It wouldn’t be fair of him to spend eternity next to her anxiety.”

Kendra’s eyes watered as she stared with a frown.

Reaching my hand over, I rested it on her thigh and asked, “How are you doing?”

More water pooled in the corners of her eyes.

“If you’re depressed, and are still thinking of…” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word suicide.

Turning her head away, she said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Then tell me about your childhood.”

A minute passed before she told me a story of how she loved to dance and sing in front of the TV as a little girl. Wiping her eyes dry, a smile curled her lips and I could see joy radiating from her cheeks. When she finished, she turned to me and said, “That was before Marvin ruined me.”

I pulled her broken spirt against my body and hugged her with all the love I had to give.

“Do you think what Giselle suggested could be right?” Kendra asked thoughtfully. “I mean, what if my dad doesn’t have ALS like Mom said?”

With raised brows I said, “I’m more curious to know how Marvin got his hands on your grandmother’s will.”

Kendra angled her head toward me. “Kelly, I’m afraid.”

Tucking her hair behind her ear, I murmured, “I promise I’ll find a way to make Marvin pay for what he did to you. He’ll be burning in hell by the time I’m finished with him.”

“No,” she whispered. “I’m afraid for you.”