Everything happens in the blink of an eye. The rush from watching the Russian bodyguard’s bullets rip my father apart before one pierces my brother right through his black heart fizzles with the sight of Quinn falling to the ground beneath Kellen.

My heart slams against my ribs.

She’s bleeding.

A lot.

And when I start in her direction, her eyes flutter closed.

Fuck!

I take the remaining bodyguard out, stopping short when I find Agron’s the last man standing. Face darkened with anger, white shirt streaked with blood from the shot I hit him with in the stomach, his eyes take on the wild look of a man who’s desperate to survive. I’ve seen it a hundred times, and I know there’s nothing he won’t do in trying to make it out alive.

He takes on a stance that makes it clear he’s not giving in.

And he’s pointing a pistol at Quinn’s head.

His bloodshot gaze passes between me and Duke as we close in. “I’d advise you to think very carefully. I’m an important man—not someone you want to murder in cold blood.”

Duke cocks the barrel on his Colt. “You sound like one of those little Russian dolls…so full of yourself.”

Agron’s lips coil. Holding my hard stare, he bends down at Quinn’s side. “This girl, does she mean something to you?”

“She’s everything,” I snarl. “So I’d strongly advise you to think carefully. You’ve already hurt her enough by killing her father. You hurt her again and I’ll hunt down every last person who ever meant anything to you, and do the same to them right before I cut your beating heart out with a dull knife.”

“I don’t wish to hurt her, but I will not go to prison.” His brow furrows. “How do you propose we end this?”

“With you in a body bag,” I answer.

I fire into his hand, knocking the gun to the ground. He cradles his injured hand and howls while rising to his feet. He makes a mad dash for the elevators as another bullet grazes past his head. Duke’s only a few steps behind him.

“Fuck!” I roar, glancing down on Quinn. As much as I want to see the Russian fucker die, I can’t let my girl bleed out.

“Get her to a hospital!” Duke yells over his shoulder. “I’ve got ‘im! Rogers is waiting downstairs—he won’t let him get away!”

I shove my gun into the back of my jeans and hurry over to touch my father’s neck. A wave of closure rises in my chest when I’m unable to find a pulse. He’s as dead as they come. I only wish his death had been drawn out further to cause him a fraction of the agony he inflicted on Quinn and her mom.

My brother rolls off Quinn and lands on his side, wheezing and clutching his massively bleeding chest. Eyes identical to my own look up. “Linc…help me.”

My first instinct is to dig my fingers into his wound and make him squeal like a stuck pig, but I don’t have time to fuck around if I’m going to save Quinn. I bend down to analyze her wound. The shot appears to have passed all the way through her shoulder. She doesn’t move when I rip a square of material off the bottom of her sweatshirt to press over the pool of blood. At least her pulse remains strong and steady.

From where I’m crouched on the floor, I look over at Kellen. I can only hope he’s in a lot of pain and bleeds out slowly. “You finally got what you deserved. You won’t be able to hurt her anymore.”

“Please…call…ambulance.”

“I only wish I had the pleasure of shooting you myself,” I snarl.

“You…that was you…in those pictures…in the Caymans…you took my money.”

“Your money?” I shake my head, laughing. “Quinn hacked into your computer. She knew you and Agron were stealing from this place. She was only pretending to marry you so she’d have time to get her hands on it.”

His eyes squeeze shut. “Keep it…every last cent.” He pauses to cough up a splatter of blood, then passes me a pathetic, pleading look. “Just don’t…let me die.”

I grunt with an ill-humored laugh. “Thanks, but I plan on keeping it either way, you spineless coward. If Quinn had told me earlier what happened that night at senior prom, I would’ve killed you myself.”

A sickening smile spreads across his bloodied lips. “She…wanted it. She slept with me first…Alan’s party…freshman homecoming.”

When I stop to think back to that night, his words hurtle into me like a torpedo. I remember finding Quinn throwing up outside Alan’s house. She was so loaded that I practically had to carry her to the bus stop.

“She was smashed out of her mind!” I snarl through clenched teeth.

“Not like you…never fucked her…when she was drunk. Maybe we could…get her drunk again…talk her into…both of us…at the same time.”

All at once I get the full scope of how demented my brother has become. He’s never lived by a moral code, thanks to our father. He’s as sick as they come, and gets gratification out of hurting others. If I let him walk out of here, he’ll likely ruin more lives, even if I don’t let him come anywhere near Quinn again.

I start for my brother, retrieving my gun.

“Linc…what are you—?”

“That’s my future wife you’re talking about, motherfucker.”

His head jerks back when I fire directly into his skull, right between his eyes. Pressure fills my chest. For a satisfying moment, his body convulses.

Then he becomes still, lifeless eyes fixed on the ceiling.

As a kid, I always wondered if anything bad were to happen to him if I’d feel it too because of some twin connection. As I carefully lift my girl off the ground and stare at my brother’s lifeless body, the only thing I feel is closure.

“Twitch, you there?” Duke asks inside my earpiece. “We got ‘im. It’s time to clean up this mess and get the hell outta here.”

“On my way,” I tell him.

With one last glance at half of my family lying dead behind me, I kiss Quinn’s forehead and start for the elevators. Whether she decides to forgive me or not, I’m at peace knowing she’s finally safe from the Farrington men.

After telling a well-crafted story to the police that involved a domestic dispute between Kellen and Quinn before he shot her and fled the scene, I pace the shitty emergency room tile while waiting for news from the doctors. Quinn was still unconscious when I brought her in, but the paramedics were confident she’d pull through.

I haven’t heard from Duke or Rogers since leaving Luxco and removing the earpiece, but I’m certain that no news is the best fucking news all things considered. The loose ends were left in the hands of the best possible crew for the situation.

Finally, after what seems like days, an attractive little blonde in a white coat emerges from the swinging doors and calls my name. When I rush toward her, her gray eyes skate over Quinn’s blood dried on my arms and shirt before meeting my gaze.

“I’m Dr. Kendall, your fiancé's surgeon. She sustained a high-velocity gun shot wound. It was necessary to operate to remove damaged tissue, but everything went as well as I could’ve hoped, and I expect her to make a full recovery.”

“Thank fuck,” I mutter, running both hands over my tired face. Then I offer a hand to the woman. “Thank you, Doc. Can I see her now?”

She shakes my hand, frowning. “She’s coming down from anesthesia, so it’s best if you let her rest.”

“Please?” I squeeze her hand, flashing a grin that I hope comes off as charming. “I just need to see with my own eyes that my girl’s okay.”

A blush fills the surgeon’s cheeks as she ducks her chin and smiles. “I guess as long as you promise to let her sleep.”

“I will,” I swear.

Dr. Kendall leads me back to the private recovery room where Quinn’s hooked to machines. Eyes closed, hospital gown pulled down off her shoulder to reveal a mess of bandages, she looks too vulnerable. With sharp pain rippling through my chest, I hope like hell that I never have to see her this way ever again.

“If she wakes, press the call button beside her bed and a nurse will come to help manage her pain,” Dr. Kendall tells me. Then her fingers rest on my forearm. “You might want to take a minute to wash up before she’s awake. I’ll have one of the orderlies drop off a clean shirt. There’s a private bathroom back in the corner.”

“Thanks, Doc,” I say, turning to her with a nod. “I don’t mean for the shirt—I mean for taking good care of Quinn. She’s everything to me.”

“Sounds like she’s lucky to have you, Mr. Farrington.” With a kind smile, she pats my arm before leaving the room.

I clench my fists, ready to bust something up. Lucky to have me? That couldn’t be any fucking further from the truth. Every bad thing that’s happened to her since her dad’s death was all because I couldn’t let her go. Even now that my father and Kellen are dead, I can’t help wondering if I’ll only bring more pain into her life.

What if something happens to me while I’m gone on a mission? How can I ask her to suffer through more bullshit because of my choices? And what if she still hasn’t forgiven me for everything I’ve done?

Unsure that I’m making the right decision and thinking I should bust out of the place before she wakes, I cautiously move over to the side of the bed. Taking her cool hand in mine, I bend to kiss her forehead and breathe in her natural scent, my throat thickening. I’d give anything to absorb her pain.

Without letting go of her hand, I settle into the plastic chair beside the bed and click on the TV, quickly muting the sound before navigating through the local channels. I lean forward on my knees when finding a live feed of a female reporter standing in front of a fire truck with several firemen scurrying behind her.

The camera pans out to show the Luxco building completely engulfed in flames. The banner on the bottom reads:

I carefully squeeze Quinn’s hand. “See that, baby? No one fucks with my girl.”

Her thin fingers jerk against mine before she lets out a quiet little moan.

I pop to my feet and smooth down the hair on top of her head. “Quinn? Baby?”

The sight of her crystal blue eyes fluttering open and staring back at me has the effect of a sucker-punch to the face. “Linc?”

“Yeah, it’s me, baby,” I coo, brushing my fingertips along her cheek. “They had to operate on your shoulder, but you’re going to be okay.”

A tear slips down her temple. “I was terrified that Kellen had done something to you! I didn’t think I’d get the chance to tell you that I forgive you! I love you so damn much, Linc! My life would be shit without you!”

The words—her forgiveness—cut through me like a sharp blade. It’s more than I could’ve hoped for.

“I love you, too,” I say with a twitch of a smile.

I press my lips to hers, intending for the kiss to be gentle until she grips the short hair on the top of my head in her fingers and plunges her tongue into my mouth. A growl slips from my throat. I cradle her face in my hands and kiss her back with uncertainty and fear that she’d reject me melting off my shoulders.

Who the fuck do I think I’m fooling? There’s no letting my girl go, whether it’s what’s best for her or not. She’s become a part of me in every way imaginable, and that’s not something I can walk away from.

The only thing I can do is protect her in every way possible.