Order of Protection

by Lexi Blake

  “Who goes through the everyday things?” Mary’s tone had gone cautious, a bit stilted, as though she was trying to sound casual. It wasn’t working. “Like who would get Brie’s mail?”

  Henry saw the immediate danger but before he could reply, Noah answered.

  “Oh, that all comes to us,” Noah admitted. “Win wanted that to come to us. We’ll go through all the mail and paperwork and ensure everything gets done. No problem.”

  The color drained from Mary’s face as she looked up at Henry. She stared for a moment and he realized the ruse was over.

  “I would never do anything to hurt Win,” he said quietly.

  “You know.” The spoon she’d been holding clattered to the floor. “You know.”

  “Damn it.” Noah flushed. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry, Henry.”

  Mary’s face contorted as tears formed in her eyes. “I always knew it couldn’t last forever.”

  “I need to know where your daughter is,” Henry said quietly. “You do understand that Bellamy killed Brie Westerhaven.”

  “She was threatening us, threatening Win. She came to me with the first of those terrible tests and told me she would send us all to jail,” Mary argued. “That terrible girl was going to take away everything we worked for. Win doesn’t know.”

  “I understand that.” He was absolutely certain Win had nothing to do with what happened years ago and that she would be devastated to learn the truth.

  He also knew she would want to make things right. There was no question in his mind that Win would give it all up. She would do it without blinking an eye.

  He trusted her. He believed in her.

  But he needed to find out whether Mary Hannigan would choose her child or the life she’d become accustomed to. “If you know that Bellamy murdered Brie, you must know what he did to Win.”

  How much did Mary know about what had happened? Bellamy had been very careful to keep her far from the investigation. There was a chance she didn’t understand how close Win had come to dying.

  Mary’s eyes widened. “He wouldn’t do anything to Win. He loves Win. He loves her like she’s his own. What we did, we did so we could salvage one thing from tragedy. I lost my Milo, and my baby lost her father. Bellamy was going to lose the company. We would have had nothing. It didn’t hurt anyone. It gave them hope. It made some people believe in miracles.”

  The rain had started to pound on the roof.

  “Ms. Hannigan, I don’t think you understand. The night Brie was killed, Win nearly died, too,” Noah explained, his voice calm and soothing. “The killer hit her with a fireplace tool. She spent days in the hospital recovering. We think he was trying to make sure she didn’t see him, but it was a brutal blow to the back of her head.”

  “He hit her?” Mary held on to the walker like she would fall without it.

  Now he had her. This was what he needed. “Where is the shop? Let me take her away from here before Bellamy finds out we know. Let me make sure she’s safe.”

  “But he wouldn’t hurt her,” she insisted.

  “I’ve got the medical documents that say differently,” Noah replied. “Why don’t you come with us, too. I think it’s time for you to tell Win everything. We can go somewhere safe and sit and talk. It’s going to be okay.”

  “But I need to get Win,” Henry insisted. “He can’t kill her, but I don’t know what he’ll do if he thinks she knows. He’ll have to do something because you know as well as I do that Win won’t go along with this.”

  “The shop is the building to the west. Please get my daughter,” she said, her eyes tearing.

  Noah moved in. “I’ll get you out to the car. We’ll be ready to go.”

  They would drive away from Bellamy Hughes. They wouldn’t be subtle about it, and he was probably declaring war on a man with more resources than Henry could count, but it didn’t matter. He would do it for Win.

  He raced outside, the wind blasting against him. Damn, the storm had picked up. The rain was coming down in sheets. He was immediately soaked through, but it didn’t matter. The gun was safe in the pocket of his trench coat. He took comfort in that. He needed to be able to defend Win if things went poorly.

  He jogged toward the outer buildings. He could see the warmth of lights coming from the shop. It would be all right. He had zero reason for Bellamy Hughes to have figured out that someone else knew. As far as Hughes knew, they hadn’t gotten the final tests back and he would assume the others were with Brie’s estate, ready to be tossed out with the rest of the trash. Henry was sure the man had a plan in place, but he hadn’t realized Win was letting her lawyers handle the estate.

  So he would go in that shop and find Win and everything would be fine. Bellamy wouldn’t realize something was wrong until they were driving away.

  He realized that plan had gone to hell when he saw the door had been left open.

  He rushed into the shop. “Win?”

  Nothing. No one was here. He ran a hand through his hair, slicking it back. Where the hell was she?

  And then he saw it. His heart threatened to stop. There on the ground was the fireplace tool taken from her room. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  She’d found it and Bellamy Hughes had been here. He knew Win knew he’d killed Brie.

  Pure panic threatened to overtake his system. She hadn’t run back to the house. He would have seen her.

  He ran back out. There were footprints in the sand, though they were faint because of the rain.

  Where would she run?

  The answer hit him like a kick to the gut. She would go where she felt safe. She would go where she knew she could get away.

  She would have run toward his place. When she’d stayed with him the first time, she’d gotten to know some of the neighbors. They would take her in. That’s where she would go, but she didn’t realize the beach was flooded.

  She could drown.

  He sprinted or tried to. The sand sucked at his feet, but he wasn’t about to give up. The wind whipped around him as he made his way toward the point. The trails were hard to navigate, but he could see them when the lightning flashed and the world around him cracked.

  He heard a shout and then saw a figure in front of him. It was a shadow against the night sky. Henry watched in horror as the shadow raised a gun and shot.

  That wasn’t Win. The figure was far too large, and that meant Bellamy was trying to hurt her. Henry drew the gun Noah had given him and prayed he remembered how to use it.

  He leveled the gun and fired. He saw the figure stiffen and then drop out of sight.

  Had he hit Bellamy? Where was Win? Was she down? He raced over the dune, losing his footing. He slipped, the gun lost as he scrambled to find some traction. He landed in a thud against something in the water.

  Henry rolled, trying not to get drawn out further into the water that was flooding the beach. Here it was only an inch or two, but even a few feet away it would go deep and there would be a current taking it all back out to sea.

  “Win!”

  “Help her,” a ragged voice said.

  Henry looked down and realized what had stopped his fall. Bellamy Hughes was lying in the water, a hole in his chest.

  He looked up at Henry, blood on his lips. “Didn’t know what to do.”

  He knelt down. “Where is Win?”

  “She . . . Damn it. Never meant to hurt the girl. Shot her but it was only a tranquilizer. Didn’t think about what would happen. Meant to get her back home so we could figure out what to do.”

  “Where is she?” It was obvious Henry’s shot had been a good one. Bellamy Hughes wouldn’t be around for long. Where was Win? She’d taken a tranq dart? How much had been in it? Was she passed out in the sand somewhere?

  Bellamy’s eyes glanced over. “In the water. She went down in the water. We were worried the f
irst time we put her in. Had to make it look good.”

  She was in the water? She was unconscious in a current that could go anywhere?

  Henry threw off his coat and waded in. Where was she?

  Please. Please. He prayed to anyone who would listen. Please don’t let her be dead. Not when he could see home. His home was close. If she’d just made it fifty yards more, she could have been on his porch.

  Where they’d met.

  Close. They’d come so fucking close.

  He strode in farther, the water rushing around his knees. It didn’t matter how deep it got because he was going to find her or die trying. He would let the current take him to wherever she was. They would find out together.

  Lightning flashed and he caught sight of something in the water. It was moving ahead to his right, caught on something.

  Henry rushed to get there. Win. She was floating, her jeans caught on a log that had been left behind. His sweet Win was floating facedown, her hair a halo in the dark water.

  He picked her up. Pure dead weight. She didn’t move as he flipped her over and started to make his way to the other side. They were closer to Chappaquiddick now. He had to get her somewhere dry.

  If she was dead, he might lie down beside her and wait. Just wait because he couldn’t go on without her.

  He forced his way to the other side, the water beating at him. Win looked pale in the moonlight. He hit sand and ran, shouting for help. The lights were on in the bungalow he’d grown up in. He laid Win on the porch and pounded on the door. There was no time to wait. Every second was taking her further and further from him. There was no life in her body, no warmth, and she was always so warm.

  CPR. He had to give her CPR. He had to stop the panic in his brain long enough to save her. Nothing was more important than saving Win.

  He felt for a pulse. Nothing. Her skin was smooth and chilled, but there was no discernible pulse. No spark of life. She was cold from the water. Her lips were blue.

  No. He couldn’t give up.

  “Don’t leave me.” He felt for her xiphoid process and moved up two fingers. Calm. He had to stay calm. One. Two. Three. Four. Five compressions.

  “Please, Win.”

  Her eyes came open. He rolled her on her side as her lungs released what had to be a gallon of seawater. She shuddered and shook as she came back to life.

  She turned her eyes to him. “Henry?”

  “You were drugged, baby. Try to stay with me. I know it’s hard. I’m going to get some help. The cell service is out. I have to find a landline.” He couldn’t leave her. How was he going to leave her here to go find help?

  She sagged in his arms. “Where are we? Are we at your house? I was running for your house.”

  She sounded stronger, but he wouldn’t feel safe until an ambulance came. “We’re on the porch, but the bastard who bought it won’t open the fucking door.”

  Her lips curled slightly. “Key’s under the mat. Who do you think bought it? Meant to tempt you back with it. I’m tired, Henry. Oh god, he’s after us. Henry, you have to run.”

  Relief poured through him as he found the key.

  “Never again.” He wouldn’t ever run from her. He lifted her up and took her inside.

  He wouldn’t ever run from home again.

  EPILOGUE

  SEVEN MONTHS LATER

  Win closed the door on the last of their guests. It was almost midnight, but she wasn’t tired. She was ready to get to the good part of the day. Not that it hadn’t been pretty spectacular up to this point.

  The bungalow and yard had been covered with twinkle lights, and a band had played while she and Henry and their guests had danced the night away.

  She may have given up the big house on the island, the Manhattan penthouse, and all the other properties, but this bungalow had been bought with funds from her reality show. It was hers and Henry’s. She hadn’t come out of it with nothing.

  She’d gotten the best prize of all.

  “So, Daisy Jarvisch, how do you like your new name?” Henry had taken off the bow tie and shrugged out of the jacket to his tuxedo. Though they’d been married on the beach, she’d wanted a formal wedding. After all, she was only doing this once.

  She smiled. “I think I’ll stick with Win Garrison. I never got used to Daisy.”

  Daisy, she’d learned, was her real name. It was the one on her birth certificate, but she was too far from that baby who’d been chosen to replace the lost heiress.

  She’d never really been Daisy and never truly been Taylor Winston-Hughes, but she thought she would be a spectacular Win Garrison.

  Henry smiled as he crowded her. “Have I told you how gorgeous you are, Mrs. Garrison?”

  Seven months of living with that man had made her comfortable with a lot of things, mostly with how intimate he needed to be. If he was in a room with her, he wanted to touch her, even if it was simply her leaning against him as they sat and watched TV. “You might have mentioned it. Did I thank you for getting the trial pushed out so my mother could come? Actually, I should simply thank you for letting Margarita handle her case.”

  He kissed her forehead. “No need. You know we always handle family cases. And I think we can expect leniency. She was in a desperate position and your mother didn’t commit any acts of violence. The DA is getting anxious about it. He knows he could lose. We might get him to plead down. After all, you’re considered something of a miracle.”

  She shook her head. “I was definitely not a miracle.”

  “I don’t know, sweetheart. What do you call a woman who has everything and decides to give it all up to make things right for a group of people who died long ago? I think the hospitals and charities that have money flooding in think you’re quite the miracle.”

  She wasn’t sure about that. There were angry people, too, but she was dealing with it. She’d found not being the heiress to a billion-dollar corporation was incredibly freeing.

  Especially since she was still employed. The foundation wasn’t going anywhere, and she’d been shocked to discover the board didn’t care what her name was. They wanted her running the same charity she’d worked at since she was a child. Between her job and getting her MBA, she was going to be a busy lady. Though she was transferring to NYU because there was no way she was going to be apart from Henry.

  “Well, I think we should enjoy the calm before the storm.” She wrinkled her nose because she’d kind of hoped she wouldn’t be the one to tell him. “Uhm, I got the news tonight.”

  Henry groaned. “I know. Noah told me. They’re making a new movie about you. I don’t even want to know what that script is going to look like. I could sue Alicia if you want me to. It would be fun.”

  The weird part was she kind of liked Henry’s ex-wife. Alicia Kingman was a force of nature but she could also be quite kind. And she knew a good story when she saw it. “I couldn’t turn her down. It’s too much money and it’s all going straight into your pro bono fund. Now that I know what it means to worry about money, I think I should help out people in trouble, like I was. After all, not everyone has an amazing lawyer for a husband.”

  He pulled her close. “If she didn’t do it, someone would. Tell her she better get someone incredibly handsome to play my role.”

  “Only the best will do.” She went up on her toes and kissed him. “But he still won’t hold a candle to you. I love you, Henry.”

  He hauled her up into his arms. “I love you, Win. I think I knew it the minute you fell into my arms that first day.”

  Such a liar. “You did not.”

  He shrugged. “That’s not how I remember it. I remember clearly falling for you then and there. That’s my testimony and I’m sticking to it.”

  Revisionist history. She could handle that. “Well, you are an expert witness. Who am I to question you?”

  “Rememb
er that.” He cuddled her close and started for the bedroom. “It’s going to get better. One day, I’ll buy your house back.”

  She shook her head. “Absolutely not. This is our house. This is where we’ll bring our kids. I love this house. I don’t need the other one.”

  “Our house,” he said as he took her into the bedroom. “Our history. Our kids. I like the sound of all of that, my wife.”

  He kissed her and eased her onto their bed. The house was small, but it was good and right. It was theirs, with no tragic ties.

  She’d given up a fortune, but she’d found a future.

  Win lay back and welcomed her new husband home.

  COMING SOON FROM NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR LEXI BLAKE

  EVIDENCE of DESIRE

  THE SECOND COURTING JUSTICE NOVEL FOLLOWING ORDER OF PROTECTION

  AVAILABLE IN WINTER 2019 FROM JOVE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lexi Blake is the New York Times bestselling author of the Lawless novels, including Ruthless, Satisfaction, and Revenge, and the Masters and Mercenaries series, including Submission Is Not Enough, Dominance Never Dies, and From Sanctum with Love. She is also coauthor with Shayla Black of the Perfect Gentlemen series, including Big Easy Temptation and Seduction in Session, and the Masters of Menage series, including Their Virgin Mistress and Their Virgin Secretary. She lives in North Texas with her family. Visit her online at lexiblake.net.

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