Two hours later, they had the story. Ethan was in custody and Derrick Ayers had been caught when he’d walked into a clinic with a gash in his head. He didn’t put up much of a fight when the police caught up with him there.

Ethan had come home to help his father, knowing he was likely responsible for the water poisoning that was causing his illness. When the chemical drums had been dug up and Caufield Furniture named the transport company responsible for shipping the drums to the disposal site, his father had put two and two together. He’d known Ethan and Derrick had worked for the two companies. The fact the drums were found on land that used to belong to the Knights was too much of a coincidence.

Ethan and his dad had fought. Ethan said he didn’t push his dad down the stairs. In the heat of the argument, his father lost his balance and Ethan couldn’t get to him in time to stop it.

He swore his dad was already dead when he left the house. He had planned to say he found him lying there when he got home, but forgot Cora came out most Sundays to see his father. Cora didn’t know what to believe but that would be for a judge or a jury to figure out.

For now, she wanted to go home.

No, that wasn’t true. She wanted to go wherever Justin would be.

Her family had other ideas. They were currently all packed into the Evers Police Department lobby.

“Really, mom, I’m okay.”

Justin stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders, the firm pressure calming her. “I’ll get her home, Mrs. Walker.”

“She should have someone stay with her tonight,” Cora’s mom said. “She shouldn’t sleep alone.”

“I think he’s got that covered, too, mom,” Ashley said.

Cora flushed but Justin squeezed her shoulders again and she had a feeling he was trying not to laugh.

In the end, she went home with Justin to his house, preferring his larger bed. They stopped at her house for her to grab her toothbrush and a change of clothes.

He flipped the lights on in his bedroom when they finally made it to his place. “Do you want me to make you some tea? Or hot chocolate?”

“No. I want you next to me.”

He nodded and slipped into the bed next to her, pulling her against him.

She snuggled in, needing the warmth and strength of his arms around her. “I heard your voice in my head when I was in the truck with him. I heard you coaching me on what to do and how to get away.”

He kissed the top of her head, his arms wrapped around her. “I’m so damned glad you fought back. God, I don’t know what I would have done if…”

He didn’t finish the sentence. She shivered in his arms at the thought of what might have happened if he didn’t get there when he had. She had been running out of energy to fight and Ethan had been so much stronger than she was.

Justin held her through the night. She wasn’t sure if he slept at all. She drifted in and out of sleep, often not sleeping for more than a few minutes, it seemed. She would jerk awake and Justin would be there to soothe her.

At some point, when the sky started to lighten in the morning, they both fell asleep for a little while. Cora woke more slowly that time. Maybe because it was daylight then.

She watched Justin sleep and felt herself relax. She felt the tension that had been with her, even in sleep, drain.

He opened his eyes. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.”

He made a show of looking around. “I thought for sure your father or brothers would show up to check on you in the middle of the night.”

She laughed. “Nah, if anyone was that crazy, it would be my mom. Ashley probably had to hold her down.”

“I know how they feel.” He ran a large hand over her arm and up to her shoulder. “We’ll let them get eyes on you again today, so they don’t start to worry.”

“Not yet,” she said and wrapped her arms around his neck.

When they kissed, it was slow and deep, long. They were soothing kisses. The kind she needed right now. Justin spoke to her, as he ran his hands over her body.

There were promises in his words. Promises to keep her safe, to cherish her. Promises that he would come for her, always. That no matter what happened, he’d always protect her.

Cora couldn’t touch him enough. She ran her hands over his skin, through his hair, over his mouth. She wanted to feel all of him, to know she was there, alive and safe.

He made love to her slowly and gently.

When he was deep inside her, her arms and legs wrapped around him, he spoke. “You’re everything to me, Cora.”

She held his gaze. “I love you, Justin.”

Truth burned in his eyes when he spoke. “I love you, Cora Walker.” He began to move slowly with her again. “I love you with everything I am.”