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As soon as the words leave my lips, he’s pulled off me and I hear the sound of a fist hitting flesh and a pained yelp before I open my eyes to see Dean hovering above Christopher.

“Dean,” I say on a breath.

“It’s okay,” he says back, growling down at Christopher.

He pulls out his radio, talking over it as I slide down the wall, the dress I’m wearing getting covered in soil. I can’t tear my eyes away from Christopher and the sneer that is on his face as Dean yanks him up.

“What on earth is going on?” My head whips up at the sound of my father’s voice and for a fleeting second I think he’s going to come over to me, to tell me that everything is okay, that I’m going to be okay. “Get your hands off him, Dean.”

“Sir, he was trying to—”

“I don’t care what he was trying to do! Let him go.” Spittle comes flying out of his mouth as his face turns red.

“He was trying to hurt Kit- I mean Katherine, I was just protecting her,” Dean fumes, widening his stance. “She was telling him no—”

“Get up off the floor, Katherine, you’re embarrassing me.” He shakes his head and walks toward Christopher, asking him if he’s okay.

“I think he broke my nose,” he moans to my father, narrowing his eyes at me and then Dean.

“I’m so sorry about this, Christopher. It’s all Katherine’s fault, let’s get you inside and tended to.”

My breath catches in my throat and I must make a noise because all their heads swing my way.

“I said get up off the floor! Look at you, you’re an embarrassment, I don’t know why I even bother!”

“Did you not hear what I said?” Dean growls, taking a threatening step toward them. “She was telling him no and he wouldn’t get off her.”

“You’re done, you’re fired!” he shouts back at Dean, looking at me and tutting. “Look at the state of you, go and get cleaned up while I sort out your mess again.”

I hardly hear the last of his sentence, focusing on the four words he said before that make me feel like my life is over. Dean was the only person who made me feel like I was worth anything and now he’s going to be gone and there’s not a thing I can do about it.

He spins around to me, his face falling as his eyes mist over with emotion.

He steps forward then helps me up and bends at the knees so he’s level with me as he cups my face with his large, calloused hands. “You need me, you call, for anything, Kitty. I’ll always be there for you.”

“Please,” I whisper, looking into his light blue eyes, begging him. “Don’t

leave me with them.”

He turns his head to look at my father and I do too, noticing my father’s security detail running over to us.

“No!” I scream when they take ahold of Dean, dragging him away from me.

The memory spins around and around in my mind as I watch the senator walk up to a man dressed in a tailored suit. I haven’t spoken to him since then and I can’t help but wonder if I called him now whether he would come.

I snap several pictures, watching as the senator and the man shake hands and exchange a briefcase.

“Gotcha.” I smirk, taking the photographs and knowing that I have the evidence to put him away now.

It’s that time of year again. Today marks four years and all I want to do is stay in bed all day with a bottle of Jameson and drown my sorrows; to wallow in self-pity.

But I won’t, I’ll get up, I’ll have a shower and go to Ma and Dad’s, just like I do every year on this day.

Scrubbing my hands down my face, I turn my head to the other side of the bed. It’s been a couple of weeks since I threw Kitty out and I know that I need to talk to her, and I will, when this day is over. I just need to survive today and then I’ll be able to clear my head and talk to her.

The sound of my alarm echoing through the bedroom has my ass moving out of bed and into the bathroom. My body works on automatic, my mind not really in the here and now. I’m in a fog, just like I have been the last three times on this day.

I pull on some dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt, strap my gun to my belt and then make my way out of the house and into my SUV.