Page 17

The next morning, Izzy was practically floating as she walked into the bright kitchen, where the world seemed so different. The house truly felt like home today, but different. Everything did, especially her body and her tight inner thigh muscles. But she was so deliciously satisfied, the soft smile would not leave her face as she filled the kettle, then slid on her boots.

Staring at the wildflowers in the vase on the kitchen counter, she finished brushing her hair, damp from their shower. It had been a long time since she’d felt this level of peace. To not worry or stress. To not have her mind raging on a list of tasks. Just bliss.

And she had Craig to thank for that.

‘What do you want to do today?’ Craig slipped on his shirt, then brushed his fingers through his damp hair. ‘I vote we stay in bed all day. Wife.’ He kissed her cheek.

‘Aren’t you hungry?’ They’d skipped dinner last night, greedily exploring each other’s bodies, just like they used to. But it was so much better than she remembered.

‘Hell, yeah, I’m hungry…’ His eyes slowly crawled down her body, with his open palm slowly gliding over the curves of her shirt, to slide one of her trouser braces off her shoulder, creating a trail of goosebumps to lift the fine hairs on her forearm.

‘I meant food.’ Izzy laughed, pushing him away. She lifted her brace back up to her shoulder, then passed him his cup of tea to keep those wandering hands of his busy. ‘How’s the leg? And the ribs?’ He’d gone hard on her last night, relentlessly giving her body a workout. Craig would have to be feeling it, too.

‘I’m not complaining after what we did last night, sweetheart.’ Craig boyishly grinned as he sipped his tea, his eyes never leaving hers, then flicked over to their dining room table.

It was a mess. Chairs were knocked over and the bowl of fruit was scattered everywhere.

Both laughing, Craig used the kitchen counter to limp towards the dining room and picked up the chairs while she scooped up the oranges and carried them to the sink.

But then Craig inhaled heavily, his cheeky demeanour becoming serious. ‘We need to tell Finn about Everlight and the danger you’re in. Finn is a detective. He could talk to this other detective, Alistair, to see what they can do to help us.’

‘Do you trust Finn?’

‘I do, but I’m guessing you don’t. Or you would have said something earlier.’

‘All I want to do is pack the whole issue into some box, and crash on the couch and binge-watch a documentary or ten.’

‘That’s your brain’s overthinking causing that, and I know you’re close to a burnout. So, first, let’s do something fun. I’ll order you some bees…’

The smile burst so wide her cheeks ached. It was really happening.

‘… Then I think we should clean up that sunroom and get your office ready.’

Whoa. That would make it official. She was moving back home.

Craig pointed down the hallway. ‘We can make it—’

His words were cut off by an almighty crash.

His cup shattered into pieces, with hot tea splashing across the walls.

‘CRAIG!’ She rushed to the hallway to find Craig sprawled across the floor. Did he fall?

Then someone roughly grabbed her arm. The grip cut off the circulation, as the barrel of a handgun was waved in her face.

She gasped, freezing in the purest of icy fear as she stared into the eyes of her greatest nightmare.

‘Hello, Isobel. Remember me?’

It was the man who’d murdered Meghan.