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W hen Celia came out of their bedroom in clean clothes, Noah was gone. Nick wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against him. The rise and fall of her chest against his reassured him that she was alive. Unhurt.

And thanks to Celia, he was also unhurt.

He brushed a kiss over her mouth, savoring her taste. “That was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said. “If you hadn’t acted, we’d both be dead on the floor right now.”

She tightened her arms around him, and Nick never wanted to let her go. He could stand here forever, wrapped in her arms. Finally she leaned away and looked up at his face. Brushed away a smear of his father’s blood from his cheek.

“What I did wasn’t that brave” she said. “After living with Bobby for six months, I knew him. Knew that he underestimates women. He thinks we’re all weak and stupid. It wasn’t that hard to cut him like that. It was the very last thing he would have expected me to do.” She smiled up at Nick, smoothing her hands over his cheeks, leaning in to finally kiss him. She cupped his face in her hands and leaned against him, as close as she could get.

He loved the cool softness of her hands. Loved the way they rasped over his whiskers. “He probably expected me to beg for our lives,” she said. “He would have loved that. Gloated about it. But he still would have shot us if he’d had the chance.”

Nick buried his face in Celia’s neck. In spite of her brave words, he knew she was shaken. Her adrenaline had burned off, and she trembled in his arms. Nick breathed in her scent, holding it in his lungs. He stayed plastered to Celia until her trembling subsided. Until her breathing evened. He’d just begun to kiss her when he heard someone thundering up their stairs.

He tightened his grip on Celia, then put her behind him when the steps grew closer. “You still have that knife?” he murmured.

“No,” she said. “Noah took it, remember? It’s evidence.” She swallowed hard. “Damn it! We’re alive, but I had to use one of my new knives to stop him. I hate that! It was my favorite one, too.”

“God, don’t worry about that. I’ll buy you another damn knife. Right now, I’ll grab another one.” Nick ran into the kitchen and pulled a knife out of the block. When he returned to Celia, the footsteps were closer. He shoved her behind him and tightened his grip on the knife.

The door burst open, and Anne ran into the room. Looked around wildly, as if she expected to see both of them lying on the floor. She finally looked up and blew out a relieved breath. “You both okay? Neither of you are hurt?”

Nick shook his head and tightened his arm around Celia. “The only one on the floor was my father, and he was gushing blood.” He nodded at the pool of blood near the couch that had begun to clot. “I guess we should clean that up.”

Anne shook her head. “Don’t touch it. There’re a company in Helena that cleans up crime scenes and suicides and other nasty stuff. Hire them.” She put her hand on Nick’s arm. “You shouldn’t have to clean up your father’s blood after he tried to kill you.”

Nick curled his arm around Celia. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll look them up and give them a call. I sure as hell don’t want Celia to clean up that mess. And I don’t want to do it, either.”

“I have to get back to work,” Anne said. “But I needed to make sure you were both okay.”

“We’re fine, Anne,” Celia said. She forced a smile. “Thanks for checking on us.”

Anne hurried to the door, waved once, then ran down the stairs.

Nick tightened his hands around her. “Do you have any idea how guilty I feel about almost turning you into a killer?”

She cupped her hands around his face and stared into his eyes. “Don’t you dare go there. That was your father’s choice. I had to stop him. Better than both of us ending up dead. You shouldn’t feel guilty about me using your gift to defend us from your father.”

“God, Celia, I wish this had never happened.”

“Me, too,” she murmured against his mouth. “But we didn’t get hurt, and your father survived. Best of all possible options.”

Celia’s phone rang, and she grabbed it. She didn’t recognize the phone number. “Hello?” she said cautiously.

“Is this Celia Remington?” a woman asked.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“This is Dolores Woods at St. Peter’s Health hospital. Deputy Brewster gave me your phone number and asked me to call when there was an update on the patient who was brought in a while ago. A Bobby Doyle.”

“Yes. He’s my former employer.” She glanced at Nick with a tiny smile. As if she had no dog in that fight. “Is he still alive?”

“Yes, he made it through surgery. The note I have says he needed six pints of blood, but the artery and the wound were both sutured. He won’t be doing any dancing for a while, but he’s going to be fine eventually.”

“Thank you for the call, Ms. Woods,” Celia said. “I appreciate the update. We were all worried.” She rolled her eyes at the last statement.

“You’re welcome,” the woman said, then hung up.

Celia looked over at Nick. “Your father made it. They had to give him six pints of blood, but they were able to suture both the artery and his leg. He’ll live to spend the rest of his life in prison.”

“Good,” Nick said. “I didn’t want him to die. I want him to rot in prison, paying for all the lives he’s taken. All the misery he’s caused. And with him in prison, I can live my own life. I won’t have to hide. Worry that he’ll show up at our place like he did today.”

Celia frowned. “What about all of Bobby’s men? Won’t they try to get vengeance for him?”

Nick shook his head and pulled her closer. Relished the weight of her against his side. “Bobby’s men are all about themselves. They have no personal loyalty to Bobby.” He shook his head. “When Bobby goes to prison, they’ll find other families to work for. Bobby came here to kill us. I’m sure he told Murray what he was doing, and if Murray is smart, he’ll cooperate with the police. Testify against him. With the pictures and tapes of my father talking about killing Robert, and Troy Murray’s testimony, my father is never getting out of jail.”

Celia looked up at him. “Unless someone gets to him like someone got to Fingers.”

Nick shook his head. “I think the feds are smart enough to prevent anyone from getting to him. He’ll spend the rest of his life in isolation.”

Celia frowned. “Won’t he call one of his guys and send them to kill us?”

Nick shrugged. “He might try. But the feds will probably monitor his phone calls and impound all his money. If they hear him trying to arrange a hit, they’ll grab the hitter. And my father wouldn’t be able to pay for it anyway.” He blew out a breath. “And the guys who worked for him? They’re sure as hell not gonna do the job for free.”

* * *

The next night, everyone but Noah was sitting at the bar at The Trailhead. When Noah finally walked in, he threw himself into his regular chair across from Hiram. “Bobby’ll be released from the hospital in a few days,” he said.

Nick frowned. “He’ll be arrested, right? He won’t be able to just walk away, will he?” Celia reached for him and twined her fingers with his.

“Hell, no,” Noah said, shaking his head. “Two FBI agents will pick him up, and they’ll drive him back to Vegas. He’ll be staying in the Henderson County Correctional Facility until his trial. Same place Fingers stayed, but Bobby’ll be in protective custody. That means he’ll be in isolation. He’ll have thirty minutes every week in the prison yard by himself. Once he’s tried and convicted, he’ll be transferred to a federal prison, where he’ll also be in isolation. I doubt Bobby Doyle will ever get out of prison. With his attempt to kill the two of you, the murder of Troy Murray -- the bullets taken out of Murray matched your father’s gun -- and the tapes and photos of him ordering Fingers to kill your brother, he’s going away for the rest of his life.”

Noah looked at Nick, then at Celia. “Neither of you are gonna have to worry about Bobby Doyle ever again.”

“Thank God,” Celia said. She leaned into Nick, absorbing his warmth and reaching for his hand. “You’re free. He’ll never be able to come after you again.”

Celia frowned. “What about all the men who worked for him? Are you sure they won’t come after us?”

Nick was already shaking his head. “Hell, no. Those guys had no personal loyalty to Bobby, because Bobby had no loyalty to them. He was their employer. Nothing more. The feds might have tried to round them up, but as soon as they heard Bobby was injured, they scattered like roaches.” Nick shrugged. “They’ve probably already found jobs with other families.” Nick leaned forward. “I’ve seen a lot of guys come and go from my father’s house. No drama. No fuss. One day they’re at dinner, the next day they’re gone and someone new is at dinner. If the worker bees were killed every time they changed jobs, there’d be no one left to do all the dirty work. And none of the families want that.”

Noah raised his beer toward Nick and Celia. “Here’s to a very uneventful life, you two.”

Celia grinned. “An uneventful life sounds really good right now.”

“Yeah,” Nick said, raising his glass of wine. “Here’s to many more nights at The Trailhead and no more drama.”

They all chatted for another hour or so, then Nick slid off his stool. “I’m beat,” he said, grabbing Celia’s hand. “And I’m guessing you are, too, Cece.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I still haven’t completely recovered. Even today, when all the adrenaline should be burned off, my legs feel like wet noodles. All I want is sleep.” She smiled at all her friends. “Other than coming to The Trailhead,” she said. “And celebrating my freedom and Nick’s with all of you.”

Everyone raised their almost empty glass in her direction. Noah said, “To a life lived in sunshine instead of in the shadows, Celia. You earned it.”

Celia slid off her stool and staggered to the side, and Nick wrapped his arm around her shoulders, steadying her. “Come on, Wonder Woman. Let’s go home.”

She leaned into him. “Home. That sounds damn good.” She smiled wearily at Noah, Anne and Hiram. “Thanks to all of you for welcoming Anne and me to Helena. We’re home now, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

“Sorry to cut the evening short, but Nick and I are both exhausted. We needed to see everyone, though. Needed a dose of normal after the past week.”

She nodded at Hiram. “I’ll be here tomorrow for my shifts,” she said.

“See you then,” he answered.

Nick twined his fingers with hers and they walked out the front door of The Trailhead. They walked for a few minutes in silence, and Nick finally said, “I can’t believe it’s all over.”

“Yeah,” Celia replied. “Glad we don’t have to watch over our shoulders every time we leave the apartment. Glad your father’ll be locked up in Vegas.” She frowned. “Is there anyone else we have to worry about?”

“I doubt it. My father might try to send someone else after us, but they’ve all probably found new jobs. And the Feds’ll impound his money, so he’ll have nothing to pay for a hit.” Nick’s arm tightened around her. “We can live our lives in peace, now.” He glanced down at her. “Are you and Anne going to continue working at The Trailhead? Or are you going to pursue your dream of opening your own high-end restaurant?”

“Even before your father showed up, Annie and I had been talking about it. Talked to Hiram, too,” she said. “I didn’t tell you, because I was afraid I’d jinx it. We’re gonna stay at The Trailhead and work on a new menu. We’re not turning The Trailhead into a place that charges three or four hundred bucks a meal -- that’s for places like Vegas or other big cities. But we’re gonna put together a menu that’ll change probably every few months. Fancier than The Trailhead serves now, but not out of reach of regular people.”

She glanced at Nick, excited to tell him about their plan. “And we’re gonna buy Hiram out, slowly, over time. So that when he’s ready to retire, we’ll mostly own The Trailhead. He’s thrilled with the idea of owning a high-class restaurant. He’s coming up with all kinds of schemes to promote it. And he’s happy we’ll take over the business after he retires.”

“Sounds like the three of you are gonna have a lot of fun,” Nick said with a grin. “I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

“We’re excited about it, too,” Celia said, nestling closer to Nick’s side. “We’re still working out the details. But Helena feels like home to both me and Anne, and I’m thrilled to be here.”

She frowned and turned to look at Nick. “Unless you want to go back to Las Vegas,” she said. “With your father in prison, you could do that. Vegas has a lot more to offer than Helena.”

“Why would I want to go back to the place where I was miserable?” Nick said. “I love Helena. And all my best friends are here -- you, Anne, Noah, Hiram. Although I think we should look for another place to live. Too many ugly memories in that apartment.” Their apartment had been cleaned up and held no trace of what had happened there, but Celia wanted something more permanent.

“Some really good memories, too,” Celia reminded him.

“Yeah,” he said. “Some of the best memories of my life. But I still think we should find a house to buy. Maybe on a few acres.”

“Yeah,” she said with a shudder. “I don’t want to live in the place where Bobby Doyle tried to kill us.”

She noticed Nick shoved the hand that wasn’t holding her into his pocket. “Me, either,” he said. They reached the door to their apartment and Nick unlocked it. Guided Celia up the stairs and unlocked the second door. But he still insisted on going in first.