by Meghan March
Plan has changed.
* * *
Three words that are going to change all our lives.
Now all I can do is hope like hell that Ransom gets it and calls me, or we’re all fucked.
11
Kane
Hours later, after we return from the swamp and finally leave that motherfucker Elijah’s warehouse, I’m in my command center with my heart still beating like the war drums of my ancestors.
I watched him watching her.
I watched him wanting her.
But what made me rage?
Watching him make her fucking question herself.
Elijah may have let her go like a noble son of a bitch once, but I could read it in his every move—he wouldn’t let her go again if she ever gave him another chance.
I hate that he’s making me face the question I’ve been putting off.
Will I be able to let her go?
I glance up at the monitor to see Temperance sitting at my kitchen counter, working on her laptop.
I like seeing her in my space. I like seeing her period.
Could I handle seeing her with another man?
Before I can answer the question, one of my secure lines rings, and I tense.
Ransom.
I answer. “You hear us today?”
“What the fuck are you doing letting my sister poke around the swamp? What if they’d been there? You’re supposed to be keeping her safe, you piece of shit. Keep her locked up in a safe house and sit on her.”
“Nothing happened,” I say, because I can’t tell him that I would die before I’d let anything hurt her.
“I don’t fucking like it.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have taken a fucking job trafficking human cargo.”
Ransom goes quiet. “I didn’t know. I swear to fuck, I didn’t know. You know I wouldn’t.”
“But you did, and now your sister’s ass is on the line too.”
“You think I don’t fucking know that? You think I don’t want to hand you my bowie knife to gut me for doing this? I fucked up. I fucked up bad, but I’m not gonna let this touch her. You have to promise me this doesn’t touch her.” Desperation rings in his tone.
“There’s only one way I can promise that.”
“Tell me!”
I glance up at the monitor and watch as Temperance surveys the contents of my fridge.
She’s going to fucking hate me for the rest of her life. I squeeze my eyes shut.
“What? Tell me!”
I can live with her hating me forever, as long as she lives. That’s the only thing that matters.
“You have to die, Ransom. And I’m going to be the one to kill you.”
12
Kane
I’m going to lose her. There’s no question about that. The only thing I haven’t figured out yet is how soon.
Ransom agreed to my plan, and now my life is like the sand draining in an hourglass. The closer I come to the end, the sooner Temperance will be safe.
I could spend the rest of the time we have left being pissed off because I finally found the woman who could handle the life I live, only to lose her just as quickly.
Or . . . I can make every single second of it count.
I’m choosing the latter.
I know it’s the selfish choice when the screams of my name echo off the rock walls of the basement room at the club. The club that brought us together.
It should only be fitting that the woman I suspect of putting this entire mess in motion confronts us as we leave Haven.
I can almost empathize with how frantic Magnolia is, until she tells Temperance exactly what kind of cargo Ransom was smuggling. Now I want to fucking strangle her.
“Was that really fucking necessary? Does that make you feel better?”
Temperance looks up at me, her eyes begging me to tell her Magnolia’s lying. “Is it true?”
No matter how pissed off at Ransom I am for putting us all in this position, I hate seeing Temperance’s heart breaking. I try to soften the blow any way I can. Fucking Magnolia.
“It’s true. And I’m sure that’s why he couldn’t finish the job. He couldn’t live with himself if he did. Your brother has lines too. We all do.”
“I can’t believe he would . . .”
“Believe it,” Magnolia says, “because he did. But now someone has to tell me what the hell is happening. Where did he go? If he ran, I’m going with him.”
It takes everything I have not to tell her that she’s never going to see him again, but I lock myself down.
“Can we please go?” Temperance sounds broken, and there’s nothing I want to do more than get her the fuck out of here.
“What? You can’t stomach the thought of things your brother does to pay the bills? Feeling a little high-and-mighty since you got that fancy paying job from Ke-Ke?”
I open my mouth to verbally shred Magnolia, but Temperance speaks first.
“You don’t know shit about how I feel right now. And how could you not tell me you were with Rafe? You draw me in here, telling me half-truths and giving me bullshit warnings. What game are you playing, Magnolia?”
“The only game I’ve ever cared to win at—life.”
“Enough,” I bark out. “We’re done here. I don’t know where he is. If I did, I wouldn’t tell you. Not here. Not now. Too many ears. Too many eyes. Besides, I don’t fucking trust you any further than I can throw you, Magnolia. So you’re gonna have to wait while we sort out this mess.”
“You son of a bitch—”
“We’re done.” All I want to do is get Temperance the fuck out of here as fast as possible, but as soon as I open the door, I freeze as a man with a face from my past steps in front of me.
Lewis Giles.
My former stepuncle. The dirty DA who teed up who knows how many innocent people to be sentenced to death row by my stepfather. The stepfather who started me down this path I now walk.
For a moment, I wonder if he’ll recognize me before I remember that not even my own mother would after the plastic surgery I’ve had.
Blood roars in my ears, drowning out everything as Magnolia steps up beside me to speak with Giles. He extends his hand, and I stare down at it. He’s fucking insane if he thinks I’ll shake it.
I catch a piece of him saying something about buying an interest in the club because someone sold out, but I’m struggling to keep a tight grip on my control and don’t fucking care about anything but getting out of here.
He keeps holding that fucking hand out.
“We’re leaving,” I say before I get Temperance as far away from him as possible.
With every step I take away from Giles, I can feel his gaze boring into me.
If I believed in omens, I’d say it’s a fucking bad one.
13
Kane
After the speed-dating debacle, I can’t help but shake my head as I watch the security footage, trying to figure out who the fuck would dare pull a fire alarm at a property connected to Lachlan Mount. It’s the man I saw at the bar, and I want to kick my own ass for not getting a picture of him to run through facial recognition.
He has to be connected to the human-trafficking ring. Only someone with balls that big would dare cause a shitstorm on a property protected by Lachlan Mount.
I thought Seven Sinners would have been the safest place for Temperance outside of my warehouse, but apparently, I was wrong.
That means the plan and the timeline need to be moved up. We can’t risk letting it drag out.
The knowledge claws at me, and even though I want to be selfish and keep Temperance with me as long as I possibly can, I know I can’t.
I keep watching the footage. Every camera. Every angle. Every frame. I freeze it on an image.
Temperance and me, pressed together after she rushed out of the bathroom. I hit Print Screen and wait until the picture is done before I snatch it off the printer.
I stare down at it.
&nb
sp; I wish I could hold her like that forever.
But I can’t. Our time is almost up, and then she’ll hate me forever.
After I’m done, she’ll want to burn every memory of me out of her mind and spit on the ashes. And as much as it guts me to think about it, I know it’s the only way.
As I fold the piece of paper and tuck it in my pocket, one of my secure phones buzzes with a new message. It’s from the number I gave Ransom.
* * *
I’m ready whenever you say. Cargo won’t be found.
* * *
Fuck. It’s almost time.
But at least she’ll be safe. She’ll live. And that’s all that matters.
I tap out a reply.
* * *
I’ll tell Mount. Be ready to move.
* * *
Ransom responds just as quickly.
* * *
I’ll be ready.
* * *
That makes one of us.
14
Kane
I make her happy.
That’s what Temperance said before she slammed the car door and stomped her way to the warehouse elevator.
I make her happy. She wants me in her life.
She doesn’t know there’s nothing I want more than to keep making her happy for the rest of her life, but there’s no way that can happen unless she gets to live.
I can’t tell her how I feel . . .
That I want what she wants.
That I’ve never wanted a future with anyone before.
That I’ve never loved anyone like I love her.
That not having that future with her will be the only true regret of a life that should be filled with them.
I can’t tell her any of this. But I can show her.
I pull out my phone to call in a few favors.
As Temperance hammers her way through my spare parts and then dives into the two pallets of scrap metal I had delivered from a contact, I watch her.
I suppose it comes as no surprise. Watching is what I do.
But this time, I’m thinking dangerous thoughts.
What if I tell her the plan? Maybe there’s a way to make this work so she doesn’t hate me.
As she welds two pieces of metal together, I wish I could see inside her head to the vision she has there, but I can’t.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Temperance Ransom is the strongest woman I’ve ever met. She’s been forged in the fires of life and emerged as something unique and beautiful. Somehow, even though she’s been hardened, she retained enough softness to care about a man like me.
Maybe even love a man like me.
Which is why I can’t tell her.
The best way to protect her is to keep her in the dark. Let her hate me. Let there be no question to anyone watching from the outside that this is one hundred percent real.
Her grief.
Her pain.
It will shred her. It’ll shred me too. But I don’t have a choice.
I’ll do anything to protect her.
Even die for her.
I pull the picture out of my pocket and stare at us together as I make the last calls I need to seal my fate.
15
Kane
I didn’t know words could hurt worse than being shot until Temperance looked into my eyes this afternoon in the car and said, “Please don’t be noble, Kane. I can’t give you up. I won’t. Don’t ask me to.”
I’ve never been accused of being noble before. It’s not part of my job description.
But for Temperance, I will be anything she needs.
When I pull the gun, I see the confusion and then horror on her face as the shots explode in the airport.
Ransom goes down, just like we planned.
Temperance’s scream is infinitely more painful than the bullet that hits my vest. The squib pack bursts, and my shirt and suit jacket are soaked in blood.
I go through the motions, needing to make it convincing as I destroy everything Temperance feels for me.
Her eyes are on mine as I hit the carpet and mouth two words. I’m sorry.
I watch as she loses consciousness. She probably didn’t even feel the prick of the needle when that bastard tackled her too fucking hard. He’ll pay for that.
I’m so fucking sorry, princess.
Again, I didn’t have a choice. She has to stay unconscious for this part. She can’t see anything that will put her in danger. She needs to wake up thinking she saw me murder her brother and then die.
It’s the only way.
16
Temperance
Present day
“I’m sorry.”
I can still see the words on Kane’s lips, just like I can see them on the paper he left in my Bronco.
Because he planned all of this.
Betrayal slices through me again, along with gut-wrenching guilt. I helped him kill my brother.
What kind of sister does that? A stupid one.
I look down at the crumpled paper in my seat.
* * *
I’m sorry. It had to be this way.
* * *
“Fuck you, Kane! You don’t get to be sorry!” I scream like a woman with nothing to lose as I jump out of my truck and spin around to face the tools. I came here to get the Bronco, but now I have a completely different objective in mind.
I stomp toward the workbench and look for a lighter and gasoline.
I’m going to burn this motherfucker down.
I spot the torch I used to weld the sculpture I was making for him that day my world ended with three gunshots. Perfect. Fucking poetic. I scan the expansive space for anything I can use as an accelerant. A red gas can on a shelf on the opposite side of the warehouse stands out like a homing beacon.
“Fuck your apology, Kane. Fuck this warehouse. Fuck everything. I’m done!”
I start toward the gas can, but before I reach it, a large hand closes over my arm.
“I don’t think so, princess.”
The rage thrumming through my veins dies for a second at that deep voice.
The deep voice that belongs to a dead man.
I’m imagining things. This isn’t real.
My gaze darts down to my forearm, and the fingers wrapped around it are flesh and blood. Not those of a ghost.
Those big hands send an avalanche of memories tumbling down, crushing my lungs.
No. It’s not possible. He’s—
“Temperance—”
He says my name, and I snap out of my momentary paralysis to whip around to stare up into icy blue eyes that are now as familiar as my own.
My heart slams in my chest as shock floods my system.
Kane.
He’s alive.
He’s alive.
This isn’t possible. I shake my head, trying to break whatever hallucination I’ve somehow gotten lost in.
He’s a ghost. That’s the only thing that makes sense.
The hand on my arm grips tighter. It’s big and strong and real.
“How . . . you—” I can’t get out anything coherent as I jerk my gaze back to his face. “I don’t understand.” My entire body shakes, sending vibrations through my voice.
“I did what I had to do.”
His words send a completely new level of rage boiling through me.
“You did what you had to do? You killed my brother!”
My scream ends on a ragged note as I rip my arm from his hold and flail to grab the closest object that can double as a murder weapon. My fingers wrap around a piece of pipe, and I swing it at his head. Kane latches onto it before it can connect, not even wincing at the impact against his palm.
“Temperance—”
“How could you?” My scream echoes through the warehouse, sounding as demented as I feel.
I jerk the pipe back, intending to swing again, but he yanks it out of my grip and sends it flying. It clangs when it hits the concrete floor, and my instincts roar.
I’m going to make hi
m hurt as badly as I have.
I reach for the wrench, but before I can close my hand around it, Kane’s thick arms wrap around me, caging me like a straitjacket.
“Let me go!”
“Never.” His deep voice rumbles in my ear, and I struggle against him as he holds me tight. “Never, Temperance. I will never fucking let you go. And I swear to Christ, I didn’t kill your brother. He’s as alive as I am. I promise. I would never fucking hurt anyone you love. Never. I’d end my own life first.”
I jab an elbow into his gut before his words sink into my brain. I’m still fighting him like a wild thing when I finally comprehend what he’s repeating over and over.
Rafe is alive. He’s alive. I swear.
“What?” The single word comes out on a ragged breath as his hold loosens.
“He’s alive. I swear to God,” Kane says. “It was all—”
I spin in the circle of his arms as disbelief wars with soul-burning rage. Kane’s icy blue gaze blazes with tortured agony that matches the emotions fueling my wrath. Drip by drip, a fraction of the pain drains away, and my brain spins in a completely new direction.
“You played me?” I stare at him like he told me they were both abducted by aliens. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“It was the only way.”
The admission might as well be a Golden Glove boxer’s combo that knocks me on my ass. I barely stay upright as reality pummels me.
They’re alive.
Both of them.
Rafe is okay.
Kane isn’t dead.
As much as I want to believe every single word of what he’s saying to the very depths of my soul, I’m done living on faith. I’m done trusting blindly.