Dane heard a scream at the same time he felt the unmistakable searing pain of a knife cutting through his flesh.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. He didn’t know if he’d said words aloud. In his head, with the loud buzzing, his thoughts screamed his worry over Shana. He tried to look for her, tried to see her, but the buzzing turned his head fuzzy and light flashed, then faded like the pop of an old-fashioned camera bulb. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t stand, couldn’t tell his legs to move, couldn’t tell his hands to twist Emeline Chambers’ neck to end her miserable destructive life.

Shana screamed as she watched Dane fall to the floor, his blood spurting. She would not panic, she would not let go of her control. She leapt over Emeline’s body. Still holding her gun, she threw Preston aside, aware of the melee in the room around her, shouts and rushing people. Someone else would take care of Preston.

She went for Dane. Collapsing to her knees next to him, she tore and wadded a piece of her dress and covered the wound on his neck. There was a lot of blood. Some of it had to be from Emeline, please God. She shut her eyes for a beat and forced herself to check the wound, to see if an artery had been severed. The way he went down, almost instantly, looked like she could have severed some nerves. No, don’t think like that.

She looked up and around and shouted, “I need an ambulance, a doctor. Now.”

It seemed like forever, but later she realized it had only been a minute, less than two, before EMTs rushed to her side and lifted Dane into the stretcher. He remained unconscious and still, not even a flicker of his eyelids. Shana ran with the gurney out the front door to the lawn as they pulled it into the ambulance. When she tried climbing in, she was pulled back by someone.

She screamed and lashed out, kicked and clawed at the restraining arms. When the door was shut and the ambulance careened off with its sirens blasting, she collapsed. Cap had held her back.

“Why didn’t you let me go?” She turned to him and realized then that she’d been sobbing. He held her.

“Because there was nothing you could do and they needed to work on him.” She felt his unspoken words as if they were lead anvils weighing on her chest. She felt his arms around her and became aware of all the other people, the federal agents, the party guests. The governor stood a few feet away from her, watching her with a serious expression, the kind eyes telling her he wanted to cry too.

She stopped crying and swiped the tears from her face as best as she could. She realized she didn’t have her bag, or her gun.

“My gun—”

“Andrews picked it up. We need to go to State Police—”

In a calm and steady voice, Shana said, “No way in hell am I going anywhere except to the hospital right now.”

Cap paused a beat then nodded. “I’ll take you. Andrews can cool his heels.”

A voice sounded from behind them.

“I’ll join you at the hospital at some point.” It was Andrews. The Governor stood with him.

She had no smile for Peter though she wanted to. If she were better, more under control, she would smile, but as it was, she felt like her heart was disintegrating in her chest and she hoped to be able to walk to the car with Cap without collapsing.

“Let’s go.” Her voice was raspy, as if her voice box had lost its power, like an electric guitar with no electricity.

Cap moved her forward. She wanted to go, felt an urgent need to be with Dane right now. But she dreaded going to the hospital. Dreaded what she would find.

They went in through the emergency room doors amid chaos. The first thing Shana noticed was the trail of blood on the floor. She covered her mouth with her hands. With an arm around her, Cap kept her steady and marched them through to the nurses’ station where they found someone to talk to.

Cap asked the question for her, showing his badge. She realized that because she wasn’t Dane’s wife yet, she had no standing to insist on seeing him. None except sheer will and her let them try and stop me attitude.

“Dane Blaise is being prepped for surgery now. Neck wound. Serious blood loss though the major artery wasn’t sliced.”

Gritting her teeth against wincing or vomiting, Shana stiffened every muscle in her body with her effort to stay calm.

“Does he need blood? I have blood.” She sounded like an idiot, but anxiety bubbled as high as it could go without spilling over.

“We have the blood supply under control. They’re giving him blood now.” The doctor’s kind eyes lingered on her and she remembered what she looked like.

“Do you need treatment?” The doctor reached out and touched her fat lip and tilted her head to look at her temple where she knew there was a cut and a lump.

“Let’s get you looked at. While you’re waiting. It’ll be at least an hour before they’re finished. I can treat you in this room right here.” The doctor pointed to a door ten feet away off the short corridor leading to the swinging surgery doors. He was quiet and gentle, his words soothing and calming.

Cap only had to nod his head to convince her.

“Promise to let me know immediately if anything happens,” she said.

“I will. I’ll be right here.”

She hadn’t needed the doctor to tell her she had a concussion, but she was surprised at his adamant instructions on what she needed to do to treat it properly. Shana didn’t tell him she’d already broken most of the recommendations. She’d been overexposed to stimulation, lights, noise, and activity and had had no rest if she didn’t count the time while she was unconscious.

At least when she walked from the examining room she felt refreshed and was bandaged where she needed to be, including her hand. Plus, she’d swallowed a few super Tylenols or whatever they were called. Her head still pounded, but not as loud. She found Cap leaning against the wall a few feet from her.

The only one thing the doctor couldn’t do for her was remove the lump of anxiety in her throat. She looked at Cap and he shook his head.

“No news yet. Must still be in surgery. He’ll be fine.” Cap put out an arm and she went to his side and let him hold her while they stood waiting.

Dane opened his eyes almost before he was awake. How else to explain the vision of loveliness at the center of the bright light above him. He was either in heaven—and that was damned unlikely—or he was dreaming.

It only took an instant of screaming pain in his neck to tell him he was neither in heaven nor dreaming—unless it was a nightmare. Or he was in hell. He’d shut his eyes again as if to block the pain. He didn’t dare move otherwise. He didn’t want to test his hypothesis about being in hell.

But the soft familiar warmth of Shana’s hand on his face convinced him he was alive and, if not well, who the hell cared? Once he blinked his eyes open again and her gorgeous angel’s face came into focus, he smiled—in spite of the searing pain.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” He could have sworn he’d said the words out loud but he could hardly hear his voice. Maybe he didn’t want to know what was wrong.

Shana brought her face to his and kissed him gently as if he were a lamb. A badly hurt lamb. He wanted to grab her by the hair and crush her to him, but a quick check of his right arm’s mobility discouraged him.

“Dare I ask how you feel? You have more stitches in your neck than Frankenstein. Or so I’m told.”

As soon as she spoke the events crashed into his head like bombs. He felt like he’d lost the war, but he hoped to hell someone had made Emeline and Preston pay.

“Emeline?”

“Dead.” Shana’s lashes fluttered and she darted her eyes away from his. He knew she was the one who’d killed her. After a beat, she looked back, her jewel-green eyes clear and guiltless.

“Preston is in custody and the President is fine.”

“Don’t tell me I’m the only lucky casualty.”

She smiled then and he looked past her warm glowing eyes to see her still puffy lip and the bandage on the side of her head and on one hand. And his heart wept to see her bruised and bandaged. It was as if he could feel the pain she’d felt and wished he could have prevented it or taken it on himself rather than allow her to endure it.

He reached out to touch her face, but the excruciating pain stopped him. The right side of his neck and shoulder were heavily bandaged. He closed his eyes against a wave of light-headedness and nausea.

When it passed, he opened his eyes again to see her concerned and leaning close, examining his face and neck.

“I’ll be okay but recovery will be a bitch,” he spoke as if he knew what he was talking about and maybe he did. He’d been injured before and he felt relatively whole.

“What do you know?” she said.

“I know I’ll need you to take care of me, nurse me back to health.”

She smiled. “The doctor said no strenuous exertion for a few weeks.”

“The hell with that if it means no lovemaking.”

“I can find a way to minimize your exertion. Leave it to me.” She kissed him lightly again like the tease she could be sometimes. He loved her for it.

“But maybe we should postpone the wedding—”

“No.”

“Okay, but we might need to postpone our honeymoon because—”

“Hell no.”

She laughed. This time when she bent to kiss him, he used his left hand to hold her lips against his, caressing them and taking his fill of nourishing warmth and goodness, the essence of Shana.

She stood abruptly when the doctor came into the room with Cap.

“That is most definitely against the rules. For both of you, Miss Shana.”

“I couldn’t help myself, Dr. Oki. But I was always of a mind that affection is good for the body and soul.” She meant it. The way Dane held her, toying with her hair the way he always did, comforted her, made her feel the world was all right again.

She stepped aside and waited patiently while the small Japanese doctor with the oversize smile and kind eyes examined, poked and prodded and checked the monitors and dials.

The door opened again and another doctor came through with Sassy on one side and Ronnie on the other. Peter followed them inside and gave her a hug and kiss.

She skirted through the growing group of people to get back to Dane’s side. Then Agent Andrews swung the door open, pushing Agent Goodley in a wheelchair, making the room officially crowded. After his obligatory disparaging remark about Dane’s bandages, he told them what happened with Preston Chambers.

“It was surprisingly easy to get a full confession with all the names and contact information he had. Seems all the fight went out of him without Emeline.”

“I’m not surprised,” Shana said. She had sensed the connection between the two assassins. A sigh escaped her, but there was no regret about the fate of Emeline and her lover.

“He’d planted explosives. Planned to plant the detonators on you and Dane. The plan was elaborate. He had sophisticated knowledge and equipment. It was amazing that we got him.” Andrews paused and added, “With the help of you and Dane.”

Shana let it go. Even that mote of acknowledgment by Andrews had probably caused a stab to Goodley’s heart.

Andrews went on to tell Sassy she could have her pie shop back soon, that they were almost finished with the crime scene investigation. Cap filled in his boss and pal the governor on some of the details he’d missed.

“Where’s Acer?” Dane asked.

Andrews turned and smiled. “I almost forgot about your friend—or should I say accomplice. He’s still in jail as far as I know.”

Everyone looked at Cap. Cap shrugged.

“I forgot about him. I’ll let him out as soon as I leave here.” He looked at Shana.

She knew why he’d forgotten about Acer. He’d spent the night at the hospital with her waiting until Dane was out of surgery and stable before going home to sleep. He’d tried to pry her away from Dane’s side, but she wouldn’t go. Without her asking him to, he’d brought her fresh clothes that morning, to replace her torn bloody dress. She owed him.

She tore her eyes from his and looked back at Dane.

Dane was lying back on his pillows, eyes closed, but she knew he was awake and listening. She felt it in the firm squeeze of his hand

Shana sighed and stayed at Dane’s side, keeping hold his hand—the one without the needle stuck in it—and wished she could have him all to herself. For a long time. Forever.

The smile took over her face then when he opened his eyes and looked at her as if he knew what she was thinking. A faint lift of one corner of his mouth confirmed that he’d read her mind.

She knew they would be together forever. They both knew it.