Megan had worried the entire time that if she saw the grave then she'd break into tears. After Gabe parked in the driveway and they stepped onto the gravel road, she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Now she'd see firsthand how Maddox had changed from bullied but still sweet teen who ensured she had her packed lunch to someone who murdered and knocked over their mother's grave.

Part of her hoped he hadn't.

Gabe put his hand on her back and walked with her toward the grave. At least his warmness gave her a sense of home and belonging. She stayed in his arms.

A caretaker stopped them in the office. He stepped in front of them and said, "Miss Murdock?"

She blinked but held Gabe close. "Yes?"

The caretaker lowered his head. "I'm sorry that someone targeted your mother's grave. We are repairing all the damage now and hope to take care of everything as soon as we can."

Numbers ran through her head. A few months ago the figures of how much dying cost astounded her. She pressed her lips together until the figures dissipated from her brain and she asked, "Did the insurance payment cover damages?"

"Yes." The caretaker glanced up and met her gaze.

At least she wasn't going to be charged another exorbitant amount. She swallowed and then glanced behind the guy and to the door. She had to know what her brother had done. "Okay. Thank you."

The moment they walked out the front door of the small office and toward the graveyard, they heard blue birds singing. The grass was freshly mowed and the cemetery seemed peaceful instead of fearsome. Her mother had always loved nature and the distant palm trees and butterflies would make her smile.

They walked closer to the corner lot near the palm trees enclave and the tightness in her chest grew as she pointed to the split tombstone where someone likely used a jackhammer and then chicken blood and heads to act like this was a Santeria ritual. Her mother would hate this. Tears washed down her check and she turned into Gabe's shoulder and hugged him. "This is where we buried my mother."

He patted her hair and held her tight. Having him here with her helped her trust. Being alone would have been unbearable. She left the hug and wanted to say I love you but instead said, "I needed your shoulder for a minute."

He tucked her hair behind her ear. "We'll come back and pay homage to your mother once all of this is repaired and cleaned."

"Thanks." The gleam in his gaze made her hope that he'd feel the same. Once her brother was captured, perhaps they could go on a date, relax and learn about each other like normal people. Right now her feelings were intense.

She turned to walk away, but he tagged behind her, for a second until he caught up and took her hand in his. "Glad I could be here with you."

"I'm glad too." She turned away from the grave that was knocked over with some heavy, mechanized hammer. The moment they were about to walk away, her stomach went into knots. She swallowed and her throat felt bitter, like acid. She took another step forward and said, "Something is in the air. I feel uneasy."

Gabe held her hand close to his heart. "We'll pay someone to clean all this up. Let me get you home."

A twig snapped behind them. The moment became crystal clear in that second she heard the unmistakable voice of her brother. "I thought you'd come alone, sis."

"Maddox!" She turned around and stared at the barrel of the rifle that her brother pointed at them.

Gabe stepped in front of her and tried to block her. "Let your sister leave and we'll keep this between the two of us."

Maddox flicked the barrel of the rifle at her head and then toward Gabe again. "You left me for dead and now you've stolen my only family."

"Maddox, it's not like that." She tried to step around Gabe. He wouldn’t die because of her.

Gabe refused to let her go around and he stayed in front of her.

Maddox aimed right at Gabe. "Sis, stay out of this. Your boyfriend left me to die and now he's stolen you too."

No. She couldn't lose Gabe too. She cried out. "This doesn't have to end in violence."

"Tell that to my parents." Gabe refused to step aside.

“No.” Megan screamed for the two of them while sirens echoed in the distance. "Don't. Stop. The police are here."

“I had called them earlier, Megan.” Gabe told her without one glance in her direction. “I thought this might happen.”

"Gabe, for you touching my sister, I will repay you in kind. You have two sisters.” Maddox shot.

Gabe threw her on the ground in the same second. The shot hung in the air—then she felt warm goo on her hand. Gabe still blocked her, but she moved her hand up from his thigh and saw blood on her fingers. She knew it wasn’t life-threatening, but she cried out, "Gabe!"

"You've chosen the wrong side, sis." Maddox said.

At the same time the police circled around them in their cars.

She sat forward and was stunned. Gabe’s wound oozed more than she realized and he needed to get to a hospital, soon. Right now he was still alive, but her brother was her issue. She held Gabe in her arms. "The police have you surrounded. There is no escape. Maddox, don't do this."

While the police began to open their doors, her brother put his rifle on his back, grabbed her off the ground, wrapped his arm around her neck and held a small gun toward her temple. "Sure there is. I have you."

He began to drag her toward the trees. His skin smelled like gun residue and all traces of her once good brother were gone the moment he squeezed her neck. She struggled and yelled, "Get off."

He continued to drag her away while the police all pointed their guns at her. Every inch they took felt like an eternity, but then she glanced down at Gabe and he wasn't where he’d been slumped over, shot. Her body felt numb but her mind raced.

Everything was a blur.

A twig underneath her brother's feet snapped as they were close to the palmetto trees. The sound hadn’t warned her. Suddenly she was shoved to the ground. She grunted and realized that someone jumped both her brother and her from behind.

The weight on her lifted. She lifted her head, but felt the men struggle beside her. Dirt splashed in her eyes and she twisted away. A split second later, she felt cold metal next to her knees while she stood.

She glanced down at the gun next to her.

Maddox reached for it. Her heart pounded, and she kicked it farther away. She stood taller and was ready to help more.

Her heart beat throbbed in her ears when she realized that Gabe had tackled them. He punched her brother hard against the jaw.

She winced and her own jaw throbbed from pain, when she wasn't even in the fight. Her mother would want her to stop this. She felt the presence and she screamed out, "Gabe!"

He stopped the next punch midair. "I couldn't let him hurt you."

Gabe was her hero. Her heart fluttered. The moment was almost surreal and black and white, but it became vivid and bright the moment the police came and read her brother his rights.

The instant the police took Maddox into custody, Gabe limped toward her and hugged her.

In that flash of color, nothing stirred. She could smell the testosterone and the sense of belonging she felt in his arms made her forget everything except they were together.

She felt in his arms that the world circled around them. Her body ached for him, but she pulled away. The world came back into its intense hue while the police blue and red lights shone in her eyes and the clatter of her brother being handcuffed into a car broke the peace of the cemetery. She sighed and grabbed Gabe's arm. "Let's get you to a hospital."

"Only if you're right next to me." Gabe fingers intertwined with hers.

Good. Yes. There was nowhere else she'd be. His fingers warmed her.

A police sergeant nodded like he had some voice in their lives. "We can question you both there."

Right. At some point they'd give statements and this might seem real. She unlaced her hands and held a finger up. "I need to talk to Maddox."

As she walked away, Gabe called out, "He's in the police car."

"One second." She turned around and met his gaze. A huge part of her wanted to stay in his arms, but this was her last chance. Maddox was her brother and once upon a time, he’d protected her from school bullies that tried to knock over her lunch tray. She walked toward the car that her brother was in and talked through the open door, "Maddox."

He refused to look at her. "I have nothing to say to traitors."

In his profile, she still saw flickers of the boy she remembered. She felt her eyes begin to swell with tears. "You will always be my brother. Our mom loved us both, and you were her favorite."

He turned and his blue eyes met hers. "You don't know what family is."

Right and wrong sometimes swirled in her head, but she had done everything to do the right thing but at the same time protect him. Her mother instilled in her that she would always find her way, and that she needed to help Maddox.

She hugged her waist and tried not to let his words act like a slap to her face. "Maddox, you're wrong. I will see to it that you're offered help. I miss the boy who used to protect me."

He turned away. "Go away, Megan."

The police slammed the door closed and she felt her entire body drag until she returned to Gabe. Then he leaned on her for support. In unison, they walked, and she held him tight. "Let's go."

She walked him toward an ambulance and felt a peace growing inside of her. She was with the right man. Alone, she'd tell him that she was in love with him. Right now she kept the conversation light. "How did you call the police? I never saw you make a phone call."

"I had an app built on my phone. I don't have to dial 911 now. The app sends my exact location to my security team and the police. I hit the button when we arrived at the cemetery because I guessed your brother’s every move."

"You're a genius. That app alone will probably net you millions." Numbers swam in her head and her logical brain wanted to crunch the numbers of how much that could earn him. This thought helped her carry more of his weight and become numb to what her brother said earlier. Right now she was helping everyone she loved.

He pressed more of his weight on her until the stretcher with the EMT came toward him. "I created it fast when my family was being targeted."

Someone reached out and helped him onto the ambulance bed and he didn't struggle. She let go and hopped in once the crew member invited her. The team of people who helped him worked on stabilizing him. She took his hand while they placed his leg in an orange brace to keep him still. The EMTs worked, but she stilled and patted his hand. "How is your leg?"

"At least it wasn't my chest." He tilted his head and ground his teeth.

Goodness. This was her fault. The thought weighed on her while she massaged the side of his face. If she could've stop what happened, she would have. At least the threat was over. She lowered her gaze as he face felt hot. "Maddox was arrested."

"And I kept my promise not to kill him." He took her hand in his again.

The ambulance blazed down the street, away from the grave. "Gabe, your family will be worried."

The second the ambulance made a turn, the crew held all the equipment despite how everything was strapped into place, and she swayed.

"Wheel me into their room later, but right now, don't leave me."

"Never! You're my hero." She kissed his forehead. Today he’d saved her. She'd never leave him.

He mumbled, "I'm no one's hero."

On that he was wrong. Gabe Hawke was the best man she’d ever met.