Daylight greeted me with sadistic pleasure. Blinding fingers of light speared across the room and straight into my face. The pain alone was enough to send me tumbling towards the opposite end of the mattress, groaning and rubbing my eyes.

I sat up, blinking and squinting, trying to understand why Kieran hadn’t shut the blinds like he usually did when he woke up first, especially since his side of the bed lay rumpled and empty.

“Kieran?”

I pushed the sheets back and slipped to my feet. I grabbed my robe in passing as I padded in the direction of the door.

Despite having lived there for months, I still had to pause at the bottom of the stairs and remember which side of the house the kitchen was located in. I knew it was away from the conservatory, which was on the right.

I turned left.

I knew I’d made the right choice when I spotted the open doorway. Relief had me blowing out a cheek full of air before stepping inside.

“I really should get a map...” I trailed off when I realized I was the only one in the room. I did a slow turn, just in case. “Kieran?”

Willing myself not to panic, I shuffled back towards the stairs and the general area I was sure his office was.

It too was empty.

My next stop was the front doors. I wrenched them open and peered out at the empty spot where his car was usually parked.

Maybe he’d gone to work, I thought to myself. He’d been missing a lot of days because of me and all that had been happening.

I shut the door and locked it for good measure before sprinting back upstairs to get dressed and grab my phone.

It sat on the nightstand, next to a note with Kieran’s fluid and perfect loops. I read it twice, neither time made sense. There was no mention of work, only that he would return soon, but return soon from where? Where would he go in the middle of the night and why would it take him so long to return?

Heart a wild horse galloping in my chest, I dialed his number and stuffed the phone to my ear while it rang ... and rang, and finally ended in his voicemail.

“Hey!” I said, struggling to sound like I wasn’t freaking out. “Just checking in. Hope everything’s okay. Give me a call when you get this.”

I hung up and fought against hitting call again.

He was okay, I told myself. Of course he was. Why wouldn’t he be? David was in the hospital. There was nothing he could do to hurt Kieran now. He was probably at work and unable to pick up. He’ll probably text me any minute to assure me everything was fine and he was in a meeting. I knew it.

Yet my hand trembled as I stared at the blank screen, willing it to light up.

I paced downstairs, working through all the rooms I recognized before rounding back up the stairs. I repeated the path several times with no purpose in mind, except that I couldn’t sit still. A gnawing beast had formed in the pit of my stomach, an anxious prodding that threatened to make me sick. I didn’t know what to make of it. It wasn’t over the scope of possibility that I may have been overreacting, turning an ant hill into a mountain, but the sensation wouldn’t quit.

Something was wrong.

I could taste it, almost touch it.

I texted him. Let him think I was clingy and insecure. I didn’t care. My nerves couldn’t take the not knowing any longer.

Me: “Please call me. Are you okay?”

Tears of frustration blurred the screen, smudging the brightness around the edges. I had to blink to clear my vision, terrified I might miss his message.

Nothing.

The time difference between the sent text and the clock at the top of the screen informed me that ten minutes had passed without a response.

I closed my eyes and prayed, begging whatever holy being was listening not to take him away from me. I couldn’t bear it. It was a loss I would never recover from. It must have worked, because no sooner had I finished when I heard the front doors open and my name ring out.

Stifling a sob, I sprinted down the stairs, taking each step with a recklessness that could have gotten me killed. I hit the bottom just as Kieran closed the doors behind him and turned.

The weight of my ambush sent him back a full step, but he caught me mid lunge and pressed me close. I shut my eyes and breathed him in.

“I’ve been worried sick,” I breathed into his shoulder.

“I forgot my phone,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”

Of course. I hadn’t even bothered to check to see if he had his phone on him. I probably could have saved myself a lot of worrying if I had.

“I’m just glad you’re all right.” I drew back to peer up into his face. “I had a weird feeling and I guess it made me a bit crazy.”

With a small smile, he skimmed my cheek, his touch featherlight and warm despite the chill outside. “I’m fine. Have you eaten?”

At the shake of my head, he captured my hand and tugged me along after him towards the kitchen. I was nudged towards the stools around the island while he continued on to the fridge.

I watched him shuffle things around until he found what he was searching for.

“I was thinking we could look at some places today.” He kicked the fridge door shut with the heel of his foot and turned with a carton of eggs in one hand and the milk pitcher in the other. “Did you want to stay in the city or leave for another country?”

“I don’t want to go too far,” I said. “So, maybe not leave the country.”

The items were set on the counter. He dusted his hands before reaching for a mixing bowl from a nearby cupboard. It was placed in front of him.

“That definitely narrows down our options.” Eggs were cracked into the bowl and sprinkled with salt and pepper. “I can find an agent to help us, or we can grab a booklet the next time we’re out and do the search ourselves.” He whisked the eggs together while pouring milk in. “I’d like a house, personally, but I’m willing to consider a condo.”

I shook my head. “House sounds nice, something with a big yard.”

We both fell silent as he dropped butter into a skillet and added the egg mixture. We watched the liquid become solid, then scrambled into chunks and heaped into plates. Strips of bacon and toast were added to the side with tall glasses of orange juice.

“I’ve always wanted something by the ocean,” he mused, taking the seat next to me. “On a high cliff.”

“Can we find something like that around here?” I wondered.

His shoulder rose. “We can try.”

Mulling the idea over in my head, I reached for my fork. I used it to spear several pieces of egg when the doorbell chimed.

We both looked at each other, his expression blank.

“Who—?”

“It’ll be fine,” he cut in.

I hadn’t thought it wouldn’t be fine, but him trying to assure me made the knot in my stomach return.

Together, we slipped off our stools and padded to the foyer. The walk seemed to strain on forever before the doors came into view. I held my breath as Kieran answered.

The two detectives from the previous day darkened our doorway, neither looking any friendlier. They glanced from Kieran to me, then back to Kieran.

“May we come in?” Hale asked.

Kieran stepped aside and allowed them into warmth they were chasing away with just their presence.

I shivered and crossed my arms.

“Sorry for disturbing you so early,” he began. “But we wanted to get to you before you heard it on the news.” Those dark eyes found me again and stayed. “We’re sorry to inform you that your father died last night.”

“He’s not my father,” I blurted without thinking.

Hale inclined his head. “I apologize.”

“How did he die?” I asked instead, stiff fingers digging into my upper arms.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Kieran shift. It was a subtle movement, barely noticeable beyond the crossing of his arms over his chest, but something prickled along the back of my neck.

“Acute respiratory failure,” Hale answered. “Air pocket in the lungs. Apparently, it’s common after trauma to the lungs.”

After all that, the great and monstrous David Thornton was dead. I had never thought it possible. In fact, watching him get wheeled out the day before, still alive, I truly believed he was immortal, some ancient demon put on earth to terrorize the innocent. Hearing that he was finally gone seemed so impossible. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“You’re sure?”

Hale nodded, studying my face.

“So, it’s over.” Even said out loud, I couldn’t place it as a question, nor could I hide my relief as I turned to Kieran. “He’s gone.”

He was already waiting when I stepped into his arms. They closed around me tight as I choked back a sob against his shoulder.

“Thank you for letting us know,” Kieran said to the men behind me.

“It’s odd, really,” Hale said as if Kieran hadn’t spoken. “An hour earlier, the doctors were convinced he’d make a full recovery. Strange how he just passed so suddenly.”

“People pass suddenly all the time,” Kieran replied simply. “People like him deserve to rot in hell.”

“That’s where we will have to disagree, Mr. Kincaid. I believe people like him deserve to rot in prison.”

Silence descended over the crowd, fraught enough to pull me from Kieran’s arms to face the other two men. They were both looking at Kieran.

“Does it matter where he rots so long as he’s not hurting anyone anymore?” I ventured. “Dead or in prison, the world is a safer place.”

Hale turned his attention down to me. “Perhaps.” He shifted slightly from one foot to the other. “Where were you both early this morning?”

Kieran raised an eyebrow. “Are you accusing us of making his lungs stop working?”

His lungs stop working.

The four seemingly harmless words echoed along the walls of my realization. They sank into that dark, twisted place where I always fantasized about all the ways I wished David would meet his end, gruesome and violent ends. Suffocating because his own body — the vessel he spent years crafting and honing to be fit and impressive — had finally given up on him, had betrayed him was equally satisfying. It would have been excruciating and he would have been powerless to do a damn thing as I had been for years because of him.

I felt no remorse.

A humorless grin perked up one corner of Hale’s mouth. “Humor me.”

“We were home,” I stated firmly, coming to Kieran’s defense.

“Both of you?”

I prayed there was no evidence to the contrary when I opened my mouth to assure him we were.

“Yes, both of us, all night and all this morning,” Kieran said for me. “We were just having breakfast.”

The lie scuttled down my spine with razor point tips. It settled at the base of my stomach, a crouching spider with too many legs. It burrowed beneath my skin, creating a twinge I had to grit my teeth to ignore. It took all my efforts not to let my face project my surprise, my wince. It was harder pretending not to realize what that lie meant.

Hale hummed deep in his throat. “Well, sorry to have disturbed you so early. Someone will be in touch if we have any further questions.”

We watched them make their own way out and close the doors behind them. Neither of us moved until we heard their car doors slam shut, followed by the rumble of their engine. Only then did we lock eyes, both of us knowing that the other had lied. It was a defining moment, a test to accept or walk away. Now or never. I knew I should probably ask. A normal person would. But it wouldn’t make a difference. If he had done what I was fairly certain he had, it wouldn’t make me love him less. Why would it? He’d done it for me and I had lied for him. If he hadn’t, well, then he hadn’t. The only important fact was that David was dead. Everything else was just background noise.

“Our eggs are getting cold,” I said, taking his hand.

I gave it a squeeze before tugging him after me back towards the kitchen.