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She’s safe. Good god, she’s safe.

I hug her close. Her arms come up around my waist, squeezing me back, and a sudden wetness coats my cheeks.

“Of course I’m okay, are you okay?” I manage, bewilderment prickling my awareness. I pull away from her, checking her perfect, beautiful face, eyes scanning the body I treasure.

“I’m—” she swallows, “I’m really tired. And somehow, hungry again. And tired of being shot at. Like, really fucking tired of being shot at. But I’m okay. I am.” Her mouth purses, and she closes her eyes. Her body goes soft against me, and my heart swells. She still trusts me.

“You said fucking.” Why is that the thing I latched onto?

“I did. Sorry.” She winces. “Fudging adrenaline.”

“Thompson?” I ask.

“They slipped something in his food, he’s on the way to the hospital. He’s going to be okay.” Her throat bobs.

“You’re okay, holy shit, you did great, June.” Charlie appears next to the ambulance, relief clear on her face.

For a moment, June’s eyes narrow, irritation leaking out of every pore. Charlie takes a step back, a look I’ve never seen on her face before—uncertainty.

I nearly intervene, but I stop myself. They need to work this out, and no way anything I say is going to help.

“I’m sorry,” Charlie says. It comes out like a question and my brows shoot up.

I’ve never heard her say that before.

“I’m sorry,” she repeats. “I used you. I did what I had to do, but I know you’re hurt.”

“Charlie…” June shakes her head, “it’s okay. I understand why you did it. But you know you’re buying the next round of margaritas. And the queso. And the fajitas. And you still owe me a whole girls’ night. How am I supposed to browbeat the rest of the faculty once you leave?”

Charlie tips her head back, laughing, a real laugh, one I rarely hear from her. “You’ll have theSantu Espirituto hold over their heads now. They’ll be lucky to keep you on staff.”

June grins, radiant despite the glow of police lights.

I exhale a massive breath in relief. Lucky. I was so damn lucky. Should I press it? She nuzzles into my chest, and it tightens at her simple gesture, at how she finds comfort in my arms.

“Pierce got away. Pierce is gone.” Her forehead scrunches up, and I smooth it out with my thumb.

“I’ll deal with it later. Charlie,” I call out, “Call it in. We need to let them know Pierce is still in play. Who’s the stiff?”

“Russian. The one I hit the other day.” There’s a feral light in Charlie’s eyes, and her phone’s already at her ear. “Should have tried harder.”

I make a mental note to stay on Charlie’s good side before turning all my attention back to June.

“The important thing is that you’re okay.” I can’t seem to stop touching her. Sheisokay. She’s here, in my arms. I’m never letting her go. “You come first. Always, June. I never should’ve left. I’m sorry. If I hadn’t left, they never would’ve gotten this close.”

I capture her face, my mouth finding hers, pressing a kiss to it. Her fingernails dig into the fabric of my shirt before I break the kiss.

“Stop it.” She holds up a furious finger, and her eyes sparkle with tears. “I took care of it. I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can, June. You’ve showed me that so many times. So,” I paused, staring into her beautiful eyes, “you’re not mad at me? That I ran off and left you vulnerable?”

She throws her head back, a bark of a laugh sounding. “No, you left me as safe as you could while you went off to save the world. You don’t control Pierce, you didn’t make him do that. You’re going to have to work on this blaming yourself for everything nonsense if you want to be with?—”

“June, I…” She needs to say it. I need her to say it.

Her eyes press closed, her mouth a thin slash. “I know I’m assuming a lot, but…”

“No, I want that. I want to be what you need.” I draw her close, sealing her mouth with mine.