DOMINIC

I’ve shot many people during my career as an officer. More than I care to admit to.

But none of those people had a gun to the head of the woman I’ve fallen for.

In two days, Addison Kent has turned my world on its axis.

That’s why, when I came around the corner of that alleyway dumpster and saw her father raise that gun to her head, I didn’t flinch.

I pulled the trigger.

Not a maiming shot to the back of the knee just to wound him. I aimed for his head, over the dumpster, and I’m a damn good shot.

The man was dead before he even hit the ground.

“Addison?” My gun is still pointed at him as I sidestep around his unmoving body to get to her.

She’s wide-eyed and still.

My heart plummets at the thought that she’s now watched both her parents die.

“Addison,” I say again, this time a bit more assertive, trying to measure her current cognitive capacity.

Her eyes are staring incomprehensibly at the body in front of her. “He…he was…”

“It’s okay. You’re safe now.” It’s all I can do to keep myself from wrapping my arms around her and pulling her to me. The backup I called in would be arriving within seconds.

Addison suddenly looks up at me, as if she’s only just realized that I’m there. “Dominic?”

“Hey…” I can’t help it. I lower my gun, and reach my empty hand out to pull her gently away from the wall. Wedged into the corner of the wall and dumpster like that, she looks suddenly so small, so fragile. It does something to me. “You’re okay,” I reassure her softly.

She lets me guide her around to the other side of the dumpster, closer to the sidewalk and away from the crime scene. A small crowd of onlookers has formed.

“Nothing to see here. Move along.” I give them all a withering look, and the crowd quickly disperses.

“How did you know…I mean, I didn’t...” Addison’s hands begin to tremble. Shock is setting in, and I squeeze her hand in mine.

“I’m a cop, Princess,” I whisper, giving in. I pull her to my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around her. The relief I feel at knowing she’s safe is all-consuming and irrational, but fuck it.

And fuck the officers that come around the corner and stare at me as I hold her against me as if my own life depends on it.

“How?” She asks again, melting against me.

“After you told me what he’d done, and where you were from, I cross-matched what little I knew with information I got from…well, it only took a few calls to a few detectives I know in New Hampshire. The case was public, Addison; it wasn’t hard to figure out. And the phone number he called you from was in the incoming call history on your phone—”

“You took my phone?”

“This morning,” I admit quietly. “I’m sorry, but I—”

“Saved my life.” She looks up at me, and I see the remnants of the tears she cried earlier. There are fresh tears brimming atop her lower lids now, but the anger is gone.

And so is the fear she’s been laden with since I met her.

“You saved me from the only thing I’ve ever feared, Dominic.”

A small, crooked grin forms on my lips, meant only for her. “You’ve done the same for me.”

Her forehead scrunches, not understanding.

“Until you walked into my office yesterday morning, the only thing I feared was commitment. I wasn’t one of those guys. I’ve been married to my work, and that was good enough for me. Then I saw that bastard with a gun to your head. In that moment, the only thing I feared was losing you…before I even had you.”

Her eyes glisten, and she sucks in a breath. Her words are barely a whisper when they fall past her lips. “You’ve got me, Dominic.”

“Right back at you, Princess.” Then, I lower my face to hers and kiss her without giving the officers or our surroundings another thought.

Because they don’t matter.

Addison is safe. And her nightmare is over.

That’s all that matters.