I gripped her hand tighter and opened my door. I pulled her over the center console. She did exactly what I needed her to do. She screamed and fought me. Ryan and I talked about it while we were prepping the plan, so I knew he wouldn’t send the police after me, but I wasn’t sure what Mosley would do if he heard her screaming.

“Get the fuck out of the car.”

“I’m trying, you piece of shit.”

I reached in, grabbed her shirt, and pulled her out the rest of the way. “When I tell you to get out,” I bent down and screamed in her face, “get the fuck out.”

I grabbed her arm and pulled her behind me. She’d probably have bruises where I was gripping her, but they’d heal. I only hoped the rest of her healed for what I’d done to her.

“Come on. I thought you’d be happy to get back to your daddy.”

“Why didn’t you take me back to his office? I don’t know who’s in there.”

She was playing her part well and was getting harder to hang on to. She was a strong person when she first entered my life, but I sculpted her body to make her physically strong, as well. I opened the door and shoved her inside, but didn’t let her get too far from me before I grabbed her other arm and kept her close as I walked through the office.

“Where the fuck are you, Mosley?”

We got to the empty showroom and saw Marco standing on the other side with a duffle bag. I assumed it was my money. “Where’s Mosley?”

“He wanted me to handle the drop.” Marco smiled at Laney. “Hey there, pretty lady. We’ll get you home soon.”

“No, you won’t.” I turned with Laney and pulled her toward the door.

“Now, look.” Marco took a few steps toward us, but stopped when I turned and glared at him.

“No, you look. I’m dealing with Mosley only on this. I’m not dealing with some scum sucking piece of shit like you.”

“What, now you care about her feelings?”

“I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about her feelings, but I won’t have you having a little fun before you take her home and blaming it on me. I may be an asshole, but I’m not stupid.”

Mosley stepped out of the back office. “It’s okay, Marco.” He looked at Laney and smiled. If I hadn’t heard what he was capable of, I would’ve sworn he loved his little girl. He didn’t. He loved owning her. “There’s my baby.”

She broke down when she saw him. It was hard to keep her upright, but I needed her to stick with the plan. “Stand up.”

“You can stop yelling at her. Take your money, Michaels. I’ll take her home now.”

She took a few steps toward him when he motioned for her to join him, but I pulled her back. “Not so fast. I need to see the money before I let her go.”

“This was all over money?” She looked at her father. “Why did it take so long for you to pay him?”

“Pay me?” I laughed.

“Michaels.” It was a warning, but I wasn’t afraid of him.

She knew everything I was going to say anyway, but we had to get it out in the open and start the conversation so Mosley could hang himself.

“Your father hired me to take you. This was his idea.”

“Dad?” She shook her head. “Tell me that isn’t true.”

“We’ll talk about everything when we get home.”

“No!” She wrenched her arm free of my grasp, but didn’t walk toward her dad. “You’ll tell me right now, or I’ll leave without any of you.”

“It’s for your own good, sweetheart. Bryce is not the man for you.”

“You did.” She covered her mouth and let the tears fall. “You did this. You took me away from my life, from my fiancé, and from my boutique.”

Marco tried to help make his case. He did, but it wasn’t the case he was trying to help. “We’ve been taking really good care of your boutique. You’ve got a lot of new clients. You’ll be proud of the business we’ve been putting through there.”

“Shut up, Marco. She doesn’t care about her business.”

“You shut up, Dad.” She dried her eyes and tried to stay strong. “You don’t know what I care about. You know nothing about me. And, you know nothing about Bryce. I will marry him with or without your blessing. You are finished, finished, controlling my life. Do you understand?”

She turned to walk out, but Mosley gave it one last-ditch effort to show her how bad Bryce was. It was exactly what we needed him to do.

“Bryce has multiple accounts. He’s hiding money from you, and I think he’s stealing it from other clients at the bank.” He shook his head as if he were worried and didn’t know what the information would do to her. “I shouldn’t have gotten him a job at the bank. I didn’t know he’d redirect millions from innocent people into his own accounts.”

She turned around and looked at him. “He wouldn’t do that.”

“He is doing it. He needed the start-up money for the new life he keeps promising you. I know he’s threatening to take you away from me. I can’t let that thief take you down with him.”

“That thief?” She stepped forward, but I held her back. “That thief loves me. The only thing he’s stolen is my heart.”

“Oh, cut the shit.” Mosley was getting angry. “The only reason you’re with him is to get back at me. You’re angry because I’ve told you no for once in your life, and this is how you lash out at me. He isn’t good enough for you.”

“Nobody ever will be!”

“I’m finished talking about this.”

“No. No, you’re not finished because I’m not finished. You set him up to lose his teaching job. You ruined his career, took his passion from him, and now you expect me to believe that he’s taken money from people he doesn’t even know.” She scoffed. “That smells more like you, Daddy Dearest, than my future husband.”

“You want to play that way?” Mosley slid his hands into his pockets and gave her a look he reserved for those who’d wronged him. No matter what went down, she wasn’t leaving with him. “Come home. Now.” He cocked his head to the side and lifted his shoulder. “And I’ll see about making the paper trail on your Mr. Perfect disappear.”

He took a step forward, took one hand out of his pocket, and pointed a finger at her. “But if you still choose this fucking guy over me, that paper trail will be the last thing you see when you’re sent to prison for the same damn thing. Don’t fuck with me.”

She squared her shoulders and stood as tall as she could. “Go to hell.”

He cracked his neck and smirked. “As of today, I have no daughter. I’m done.” He turned and snapped his fingers on the hand he had just pointed at her as he turned and walked away.

It shouldn’t have come as much of a shock since my father had turned his back on me, but I couldn’t believe he was walking away from her.

The movement from Marco’s jacket caught my eye, and I looked at him just as he was bringing his hand out from behind his back. I didn’t need to see the metal to know what he was about to do.

I swung my arm in front of Laney and pulled her behind me just as he pointed the gun at her. He readjusted and pointed it at me. “You can go first. I don’t care.”

He shot three rounds off before the police had tackled him. They’d come in from behind as soon as Mosley snapped his fingers, but they weren’t quick enough to get to him. I relaxed when they took him and Mosley down. Laney was safe. I’d hoped I pulled her out of the way in time.

I turned and could see she was screaming, but I couldn’t hear anything. The adrenaline was running through my body, causing my heart to pound in my ears. As soon as I saw she was okay, I dropped to my knees.

“Brody!” She dropped with me and held my head up. I was so tired. The stress of the past few months had caught up to me. I’d barely slept. I always said there would be time for sleeping later. It must have been later.

“No.” She cupped my face and lifted it again. “Brody, I need you to stay with me.”

“Ryan will be here soon. You’ll be safe.”

“I’m safe with you.” She looked down and back up to my eyes. “Do you still want that kiss?”

“What?” It was still hard to hear her, so there was no way I was believing she’d kiss me. Not after everything I’d done to her.

“Don’t leave me.” She leaned in and pulled my face to hers. “Keep fighting for me.”

She placed her lips to mine and wrapped her arms around my neck. They were as soft as I imagined they would be when she was relaxed. She wasn’t holding back or trying to distance herself from me. My arms were heavy, but I managed to wrap them around her waist. I didn’t care who was watching.

Her tongue slid against my lips, and I parted them for her. She was sweet and intoxicating. My head started spinning, but I didn’t want to stop. Even though in the back of my mind I knew it was more for gratitude for getting her freedom than love, I took every ounce she poured into me until I couldn’t take anymore.

I placed my forehead to hers. “Thank you.” She stole my breath away with that kiss. I started to sway, and she tried to keep me up. I was too big for her. I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling.

“I wish we were in the backyard looking at the sky again.”

“Sir, I’m going to put this mask on you. You need to stop talking.”

I batted the mask away. It was just a kiss a fool had never felt before. I’d catch my breath again on my own. “That was my second favorite day.”

Laney was sobbing as she bent down and put her cheek next to mine. “What was your first favorite?”

“The day I set you free.”

I closed my eyes, and it was as if time had gone backward. I remembered the days, weeks, and then months I’d spent with Laney Mosley. I was so stupid in the beginning the way I treated her, but I wouldn’t have changed a single minute that had led up to that kiss.

I smirked as I remembered the very beginning when she was riding Bryce in the car. I was wrong that day. She was worth everything. Her happiness was worth everything. And, her freedom was worth dying for.