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Of course he did. A man like that would have the survival instincts of a shark after years of being in this business. But I hadn’t lied—he would be found.

We would take in as many of the animals that survived that we were able to, and get them the care that they needed. I was sure that Cori would want to look at them and treat their injuries.

Lucas entered from another room. “They hadn’t moved the money yet. We’ll get you yours back, Noah.”

It was honestly the last thing that I was concerned about. Charlie was across the room, giving orders about how to clean this up. Between the drugs and the weapons, they would be here awhile. All I wanted to do was go home with Kate.

“Where’s the girl?” Kate asked.

Daniel turned and scanned the room, eyes sharp. “We let her out. One of the SWAT members was going to wait with her until the ambulance gets here.”

“You should get checked out too,” I said.

“I’m fine. The only thing I have is a bump on the head. And some bruises.”

“Still.”

I walked with her out into the night, where red and blue lights were flashing everywhere. Kate did let them check her over, because I begged. But the other woman—who’d been in worse shape—was nowhere to be found.

“She’ll be okay,” the paramedic said about Kate. “Anything seems strange or you have any persistent headaches, head to the hospital.”

“We will.”

Kate made a face, and I smiled because we were alive, and she was able to make faces at me. Leaning close, I whispered in her ear. “Want to go home?”

“More than you know. But Brandon?”

I checked my phone. There wasn’t a message from the hospital yet. “Let’s call. He may not be ready for visitors until tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Kate said, shoulders drooping. She was exhausted. So was I. “If we can’t see him, let’s go home.”

Chapter 30

Kate

I stared into the warmth of the fire, sprawled over Noah’s chest on the couch. This was as far as we’d made it when we’d come inside, neither of us saying anything, and neither of us willing to stop touching each other for more than a few seconds.

The fact that I was here and breathing was a little unbelievable. I hadn’t thought I was going to make it out of there alive. I hadn’t thought Noah was going to make it out either, and the sight of him with a gun to his head was going to haunt me for a long time.

Everything seemed like a marvel now. A miracle. The scratch of his shirt on my cheek and the warmth of the fire. The tiny, wheezing snores from the kittens asleep on the armchair.

Noah’s hand kept moving through my hair. Stroking. Like he couldn’t believe we were alive either.

I looked up at him and startled. He had blood on his face. Everything had been so hectic that I hadn’t noticed or processed it. “Blood.”

His eyes flew to mine. “What?”

“You have blood on your face.”

That spurred him into action. Sitting us up together, he swung me into his arms and carried me to the stairs.

“Noah, you got the shit beat out of you. Let me down.”

His arms tightened around me. “Please don’t ask me to do that.” The words were soft and fervent. “I can’t.”

He took us straight into the bedroom, and then the bathroom. The time it took for us to strip and let the water warm up was the only time we came apart. And then we were skin to skin, drinking in the heat of the shower.

The cold tiles against my back made me shiver as he kissed me. Softly at first and then harder, mouth slanting over mine to make it deeper. I wanted to crawl inside the feeling of this kiss. It woke me up and made me want and now that we were both alive to want things, I was suddenly desperate.