Home Is Where the Heart Is
Page 15
Killing the engine, he stepped into the night air, took a hearty breath, and heading for the house. Tonight, he’d ask her to stay. Tonight, he’d ask her to be his forever. As he reached the bottom step he heard angry female voices. The words were muffled, but the anger was clear.
Dylan quietly eased up the porch and slowly opened the front door, the voices in the kitchen loud and clear. Kyra’s words bathed in fear turned his blood to ice. What the hell was going on here? He crept down the hall to the kitchen door. The next voice he heard stopped him dead in his tracks. Harley.
“If you won’t leave, I’ll fucking kill you. You can’t have him. He’s mine. Do you hear me bitch?”
Kyra didn’t reply. She knew Harley wouldn’t believe a word she said. Her stomach ached from Harley jabbing it into her flesh over and over again.
Dylan stepped into the doorway, his eyes finding Kyra’s immediately. Harley’s back was to the door, allowing them a heartbeat or two to silently communicate with one another. Kyra’s eyes went wide. She regretted her reaction instantly. Harley swung around, gun raised high as she reached out and gripped Kyra’s throat with her free hand.
“Nice of you to come home, lover,” Harley snarled.
“Harley, there’s no reason for this. Let them go. It’s me you want.”
“You’re right. I do want you… but this bitch… she has to go away.”
Dylan closed his eyes knowing what he was about to say would hurt Kyra, but he had no choice. He swallowed the lump in his throat, his voice thick. “She doesn’t matter. She never has. It’s always been you, baby. Come here.”
Harley smiled, lowering the gun. “Do you mean that, baby?”
He smiled weakly, feeling sick to his stomach. “Of course I do, darling.”
Kyra gasped as she watched Dylan pull Harley into his arms. When his mouth crashed against Harley’s, Kyra’s heart shattered. How could he? Paula grabbed Kyra by the arm in an attempt to run for safety while Dylan had Harley’s attention.
Dylan broke the kiss, his eyes landing on Kyra. “Run, sweetheart! Run! Call for help!”
Paula wasted no time in jerking Kyra through the kitchen and down the hall, grabbing her cell phone off the table near the front door as they fled from the house. Harley’s screams could be heard loud and clear as the two women ran down the driveway into the darkness.
Paula gripped her phone tightly as she called for help. Harley’s screams were drowned out by the crack of a single gunshot. The house was silent after that, but Kyra’s scream shattered the night as a dagger of ice sliced into her soul. Her heart thrummed against her chest. She pulled away from Paula and ran for the house, fearing the worst. Paula charged after her. The sounds of police sirens barely registered as Kyra busted through the door to find Harley kneeling on the ground, hovering over Dylan. She looked up at them, tears streaming down her face. “I… I didn’t mean to,” she wailed. “Oh God!”
Kyra pushed Harley aside, her attention on Dylan. Blood seeped through his shirt, pooling beneath him.
Paula grabbed the gun from the floor, her hands shaking. “You!” she shouted at Harley, aiming the gun at her. “Get back and don’t you dare move.” Harley scooted back on the floor, pressing herself against the cabinet.
Kyra jumped up from the floor, grabbing several towels from the kitchen cabinet. She fell to the floor beside Dylan, pressing them against the wound on his stomach. “Don’t you dare die on me!” she shouted. “Dylan! Look at me, damn it!”
Dylan groaned. “I love you.”
Kyra didn’t try to stop the tears this time. There was no reason to. “I love you, too. Help is on the way. Stay with me, baby. Please!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Kyra hadn’t left Dylan’s side for a second. The surgery to repair the damage from the gunshot had been successful. The pain medications kept him asleep for the most part, and the few minutes that he was awake, he made little to no sense at all. But that didn’t matter to Kyra. He was alive. He was going to make it.
Three days had passed since Harley had broken into Dylan’s house and held her and Paula at gunpoint. Three days since she had shot Dylan. The police had arrested her for attempted murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Jealousy had been the driving force of her rage. Her long-time anger over being left at the altar by Dylan had seeped deep into her soul and she had never recovered from that day. It was sad to see Harley’s life fall apart like that. But she had crossed a line. Kyra’s only thought in regards to her was that she hoped Harley would get the help she desperately needed to heal. Hopefully, it wasn’t too late for that.
Kyra took a sip of her coffee, even though it did little to keep her awake anymore. She continued to sit at Dylan’s side, reading as she waited for him to wake up. She missed the sound of his voice. She missed the light in his eyes. She missed his touch. To be honest, she missed everything. All she could think about was how she had felt when she entered the kitchen and saw him bleeding. The fear of losing him so soon took her breath away. Even now, as she sat beside him, holding his hand and reading a romance novel, she knew he was it for her.
“Kyra,” Dylan said, his voice hoarse and gravelly.
“Oh my god, Dylan!” she cried, squeezing his hand. “How do you feel?”
“I’m okay, sweetheart.” He licked his dry lips. “Harley?”
“She’s in jail. Let me get the doctor.”
“Wait. Don’t go.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I love you, Dylan.”
“And I love you.”
Three months later…
Dylan and Kyra sat on his front porch, sharing a bottle of wine, enjoying the beautiful afternoon. Ty had been hired on as the new chief of police and was cleaning up the town. Sizzle was beginning to revert back to the town it had been before everything went terribly wrong. Paula had loved Sizzle so much that she expanded her business by opening up a small cozy little bookstore downtown. Kyra was extra busy getting it off the ground.
Ty had tried to persuade Dylan and Jake to return to the police department, but they refused. Their business was booming and they felt that was where they were needed most. Ty had respected their decision but left his offer on the table if they changed their minds. Dylan had other plans for his life. Life was too damn short to put off the important things.
“Come here, sweetheart,” Dylan said as he stood from his chair, holding his hand out to Kyra. “Let’s take a walk.”
“Sure,” Kyra replied, kneeling down to slip on her boots.
When they reached the hilltop overlooking his property, Dylan stopped and smiled. It was a beautiful day for what he had planned.
“We’ve been through a lot the last few months. Having you in my life has made me a better man. If you’ll let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life making you the happiest woman in the world.” He dropped to one knee. “Kyra Michaels, will you marry me?”
“Yes!” Kyra cried. “A million times yes!”
Dylan slipped the ring on her finger and she gasped. “It’s gorgeous, Dylan.”
“A gorgeous ring for a very gorgeous woman. I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you so much, Dylan. Forever. Home is where the heart is and my home is with you.
****
Table of Contents
Copyright
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
&nbs
p; CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE