Sometimes, the best of things happened at the worst of times, Anandur mused as he hoisted the body up, looping the noose fashioned from the guy’s leather belt around the corpse’s neck.

Mortal danger had a way of bringing out the worst or the best in people.

Love could flourish even when surrounded by pain, blood, and death. But then this was no news to him. Anandur had always been a romantic, and today’s events had just proven what he’d already known.

But it was no doubt shocking news to Brundar. Poor guy was completely out of his element. The love part, that was. Brundar was no stranger to blood, pain, or death.

Taking one last look at the body swinging from the noose, Anandur admired his handiwork. An excellent job if he said so himself. The angle was consistent with the way he’d snapped the ex-husband’s neck.

I wonder how long it will take until he’s found.

Did the psychopath have friends? A family that gave a shit?

Calypso should know.

To spare her the gory sight, Anandur had loaded the girl and his brother into Brundar’s Escalade. Later, he would drop Callie at her home, deposit Brundar into the capable hands of Doctor Bridget, and then take an Uber back to the scene of the crime for his Thunderbird.

The neighborhood seemed safe enough to leave a car overnight. Besides, he had one hell of an alarm system, and a tracker he’d installed himself on top of the LoJack. Whoever dared to steal his baby wouldn’t get far with her.

His next task was to clean the blood off the tiled floor. A roll of paper towels in hand, Anandur got down on his knees, not an easy feat given the protective suiting he was still wearing, and got to work. It was a good thing Brundar hadn’t made it past the entry and onto the carpet before getting shot. Nothing save torching the place would’ve eliminated all traces of his blood if any of it had gotten on the carpet.

He finished the job with a thorough wipe down, using up an entire container of bleach. When the cleaning was done, including the ex’s guns, Anandur put the empty bleach container into a large trash bag, then filled it with the wadded paper towels.

The guns went into a dresser drawer in the bedroom.

Trash bag in hand, he walked out the door. The fireplace in his and Brundar’s apartment would finally be put to good use.

Dropping the bag in the trunk, Anandur glanced at the back seat, where Brundar was lying propped against the door with his legs resting in Calypso’s lap. Apparently, the girl wasn’t scared of a little blood. As badly bruised as she was, her main concern was to keep Brundar as comfortable as possible throughout the drive.

The thing was, after dropping her off at her apartment, Brundar would have to manage without her support for the rest of the ride.

“How are you holding up?” he asked his brother.

“I’ll live,” Brundar said. “The bleeding’s stopped.”

“That’s good. I don’t think you could’ve gone any paler.” Anandur turned to the girl. “I need your address, Callie.”

“What for?” She lifted her chin and threw him a challenging look. “I’m not going home. Wherever Brundar goes, I go.”

With a slight tilt of his head, Anandur signaled Brundar to take it from there and explain why it wasn’t possible.

Instead of doing the smart thing, Brundar did the opposite. “Bridget should take a look at her bruises.”

“I can take Calypso to a hum—” Anandur stopped himself in time “—hospital before I take you to Bridget.”

Brundar shook his head. “They will ask questions.”

“So what are you suggesting we do? If we bring an outsider in, Kian is going to tear us new asses.”

“I have clean strips of fabric in the glove compartment that I can use to blindfold her.”

Calypso snorted. “Aren’t you guys going a little overboard with this? I’m sure your cousin is not that mean.”

“He is,” Anandur and Brundar said simultaneously.

“Maybe we can sneak her in to see Bridget and then I’ll take her home.”

“I’m here, guys. Don’t talk about me as if I’m not.”

“Sorry,” Anandur said.

Brundar shifted, a pained groan escaping his throat. “Call Bridget and tell her we’re coming in.”

To make that sound, Brundar must’ve been in unbearable pain. Anandur punched the glove compartment open and pulled out one of the soft white cloths. “I don’t want to know why you keep this in your car.” He tossed the fabric to Brundar.

“To clean my weapons. What do you think I use it for?”

“Never mind.” Anandur turned the engine on and eased into the street, then called Bridget once he reached the freeway.

“What’s the emergency?” She sounded tired.

“I’m bringing Brundar and his lady friend in. He was shot in both knees, and his friend is badly bruised. They are both in the car with me, and you’re on speakerphone.”

“ETA?”

Smart woman. Not that he’d left much room for misinterpretation. “Fifteen minutes or less.”

“I’ll bring a gurney.”

“Much obliged.” He ended the call.

In the back, Calypso took the cloth from Brundar’s hands, folded it on the diagonal to fashion a blindfold, and then tied it loosely around her eyes.

“Everything hurts too much for me to tie it securely, but I promise not to peek.”

“It’s fine. I trust you.” Brundar took her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss.

Anandur barely managed to stifle a shocked gasp, forcing himself to look at the road instead of spying on his brother in the rearview mirror. But what he’d just witnessed had been a fucking miracle. Brundar acting affectionate?

Anandur had thought he would never live to see the day.

The woman deserved sainthood for pulling that off.

It was imperative that he kept her safe from Kian and anyone else who might think to separate her from Brundar. Given what she’d accomplished, her humanity was almost irrelevant.

Brundar needed her.

“Listen, Calypso. When we get there, don’t wander away from us. You stay glued to either Brundar or me, and you do exactly what we tell you. Understood?”

“Yeah. I got that. I have to hide from the big bad wolf.”

“You have no idea.”