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It was only after Weston and his brothers made it back inside the house that Kayleigh felt like she could finally breathe again. The bat she’d been holding slumped to the floor, all her fight disappearing as the adrenaline faded.

“You okay?” Weston asked, stepping so close she had to tilt her head up to see him. His eyes ran over her face like he could see inside her mind, but Kayleigh didn’t hate it. In fact, she kind of loved it.

She kind of loved him .

She shoved that thought away immediately, though she knew she’d take it out the next time she was alone.

“I’m fine,” she said. “You guys are all okay?”

“Yes.” He kissed her swiftly before stepping away. “Brax and Luke went home. Chance went back to the hospital. Ends up it wasn’t as dangerous as we thought.”

“Who was it out there?” Clinton asked, turning to place his gun back in the hidden safety drawer on the bottom of one of the bookshelves.

A genius place to hide a weapon, especially in a house where kids played. Kayleigh couldn’t even see the drawer now that he’d shut it again.

“Jasper, Leo’s head of security,” Weston said.

Kayleigh couldn’t stop her gasp. “He was after me? Going to hurt your parents?”

“I thought you said he was fired,” Sheila said, dropping the golf club she’d picked up into the little caddy near the front door.

Weston reached out and massaged the back of Kayleigh’s neck. “Technically, he was placed on leave, but either way he shouldn’t have been here. He was actually trying to help. Has men watching the hospital to make sure Leo is okay, and wanted to do the same when he found out Kayleigh was here.”

“Do you believe he was telling the truth?”

“Yes.” Weston stared down at her, letting Kayleigh see the conviction in his eyes. “We all did. If his intention was to infiltrate this house, he could’ve done it before we were even aware there was a problem.”

The thought made Kayleigh sick. “We have to get me out of here. I don’t want to put anyone else in danger.”

“I don’t think anyone else will come here, but we’ll put a couple of our men on the house just in case.” Weston turned to his dad. “Don’t go picking any fights with the friends.”

Clinton chuckled. “As long as they don’t start anything, I won’t finish it.”

Weston turned back to Kayleigh. “We’ve got to go. Until this merger is complete, you’re going into a proper safe house.”

Kayleigh nodded. She wasn’t about to argue.

“Be safe,” Sheila whispered as she hugged Kayleigh then turned to her son. “Take care of her.”

“I will, Mom,” he said, his eyes locked on Kayleigh’s.

With a final hug from Clinton for both of them, they were out the door and in the car. Kayleigh stared through the window at the Pattersons’ house while Weston drove them away. She hoped she’d see the adorable little house again.

Hoped her luck wouldn’t run out.

They dropped by Weston’s place long enough to grab their things. Kayleigh stayed in the car and dialed the hospital for an update on her dad.

When she’d called every other time, she’d talked to Dr. Appleton almost immediately, but this time she was put on hold. She waited so long she was just about to hang up and try again when someone picked up.

“Are you holding for someone?” a female voice asked.

“Yes, this is Kayleigh Delacruz. I’m calling to check on the status of my father, Leo Delacruz.”

“Who?”

“Leo Delacruz. He’s in a coma.”

What the hell? Dad had his own dedicated staff members—a perk of the private and affluent section of the hospital he was in. Why would someone not know who he was?

“Coma? There’s no one in a coma here. I’m not sure—” The woman broke off and Kayleigh could hear another voice but couldn’t make out what the other person was saying. “I’m sorry. Please hold.”

Kayleigh gripped the phone tighter as the elevator music played softly, trying not to panic. What did this mean? No one in a coma?

Oh God, what if Dad had died and his body had been taken to the morgue? Maybe that’s why there was a new nurse who didn’t know him. But surely they would’ve called her, right?

She threw open the car door in the garage, about to run inside to get Weston, when someone picked back up on the line.

“Hello, this is Dr. Appleton.”

Thank goodness. “Dr. Appleton, this is Kayleigh. Is my father all right? The woman I talked to before didn’t know who he was and I—”

“Yes, he’s fine, Kayleigh. Sorry for the confusion. Um, your call got routed to the wrong department, so who you spoke to didn’t have all the information.”

She leaned against the car in relief. “Okay.” She pressed her hand against her chest, trying to calm her thundering heart. “That scared me. My imagination went wild.”

The doctor cleared his throat. “I can see how this entire situation would be stressful for you. I’m so sorry.”

“No need to apologize. You’re the one taking care of my father.” He’d been the one there to give her updates every time she’d called.

“Right. Right.”

“Has there been any change?”

She wanted Leo to wake up. Wanted him to be able to deal with this merger. She wasn’t sure how important it was to him for it to go through. If he was awake, would he tell her to forget it and cancel the entire proceeding? Would he tell her it was critical the merger go through no matter what?

She wished she could talk to him for just a few minutes.

“I’m sorry. There’s been no change. He’s still not responsive.”

“That’s not normal, right?” She rubbed her eyes. “It’s been two days. Shouldn’t there be some sign of why he’s not awake? Should we be doing something else? More?”

Dr. Appleton cleared his throat again. “Let’s give it another twenty-four hours. At that point we can reevaluate.”

She wasn’t sure what another day would do, but didn’t argue. That would get them through the merger, and once that happened, at least neither she nor Leo would be a target anymore.

“Okay. Thank you for your time.”

“Sorry I don’t have better news for you. We’ll notify you if anything changes.”

“Either way—good or bad?” she asked.

“Yes, absolutely.”

Kayleigh disconnected the call, still feeling a little shaken by the whole thing but glad her father was, in fact, still alive.

She was about to go inside to help Weston when her phone buzzed in her hand. Worried it may be the hospital again, she connected the call immediately.

“Hello?”

“Kayleigh, sweetheart. How are you? Are you okay?”

“Hi, Gwendolyn.” Kayleigh relaxed a little. “I’m fine. What about you?”

“I’m fine, but no one will give me any info on Leo. Said it was a security issue.”

Kayleigh grimaced. “I’m sorry. They’re keeping everything about Dad on lockdown. But I just talked to the doctor and nothing about Dad has changed. Stable, but still hasn’t woken up.”

The older woman blew out a breath. “I know this makes everything doubly difficult on you. Not only your dad in the hospital but you having to deal with this crazy merger stuff.”

“Believe me, I want Dad to wake up more than anything.”

“Me too, sweetheart. Me too. Is there anything I can do for you? Are you going to go ahead with everything if Leo doesn’t wake up?”

Kayleigh leaned back against the hood of the car. “Honestly, I don’t want to. I want to bury my head in the sand and just wait until Dad wakes up and let him take care of it. But...”

She faded off. She had to face that Leo might never wake up.

“I know, honey,” Gwendolyn whispered. “It’s scary. We all understand.”

Between Sheila and Gwendolyn, Kayleigh felt like she’d gone from having no mother to having two.

“I am going through with the merger.” She straightened. “I’m not going to let these people win, whoever they are.”

“Good for you. Leo would be proud. Are you somewhere safe?”

“I’m with Weston. He’s taking me to a safe house. Honestly, I don’t even know where.”

Gwendolyn let out a soft laugh. “That’s probably best. Go somewhere no one knows and let that man keep you safe.”

Kayleigh smiled as Weston entered the garage, their bags in his hands. “Here he is now, so I’ve got to go. But I’ll be sure to keep you updated about Dad as soon as I hear something. And you’ve got this number if you need me.”

Kayleigh hadn’t had her regular phone since they’d left the hospital. Weston had said it was too easily traced. Instead she was using a disposable noncontract phone—a dumb one that couldn’t be tracked.

“Thanks, hon. Take care of yourself.”

“You too.”

She disconnected the call and smiled at Weston. “Get everything?”

He nodded and put the bags in the back seat. “I brought all your stuff and a couple changes of clothes for me. This shouldn’t be a long stay.”

They got into the car. He pulled out of the garage and took them toward the south side of town. Once again, his eyes were darting around, looking for anyone who might be following.

“Anything new with Leo?” he asked as they drove.

“No change. Once the merger is over, I wanted to go there and see him myself. Talk to him. Maybe he needs to be around people he knows—hear my voice, know everything is okay.”

Weston reached over and clasped her hand. “That’s a good idea. By tomorrow afternoon, the merger will be complete and there won’t be any reason not to see him.”

“Good. How far is the safe house?”

“Not too much farther. And calling it a safe house is pretty generous. It’s more a fortified couple of rooms off the side of a warehouse. It’s in the industrial side of town near the airport. I should warn you, there aren’t even any windows.”

“Oh.”

“I know having to stay somewhere like that might be a little triggering for you. I’m sorry. If there was anywhere else we could go, I wouldn’t bring you here.”

She squeezed his hand. “I’ll be okay. Thanks for the warning.”

“This place has absolutely no ties to me, no associations. It’s our best chance to ride out the next day and a half unscathed.”

She didn’t ask any more questions as they drove. She knew he was going in circles to make sure there weren’t any tails. She reached into the back seat and snatched her film camera from her bag.

She hadn’t touched it since the day they’d gone out on the lake. She glanced it over. It seemed to be fine, thank goodness. “This is my last camera.”

“What?”

“The mugger got my main one and the people who broke into my house destroyed the others. I’ll have to replace everything. But at least I still have this one.” She sighed. “As soon as I can, I’d like to get what I need to develop the pictures we took at the lake.”

He nodded. She was glad he didn’t suggest she take care of the hundred other things first. The photos she’d taken at the lake were special. She wanted to see them.

“What do you need for a darkroom?”

“Photo paper, changing bag, development tank and a few chemicals. It doesn’t have to be overly complicated or expensive. Although so few people have film cameras anymore that darkrooms are a lost art.”

“What if I had one of my brothers bring whatever you need to build a simple darkroom?”

Her eyes got big. “Really?”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t sound like it would be too complicated. And if you have to be trapped in a dark, windowless room for the next day or two, you might as well make some use of that time.”

The dread she’d been feeling at the thought of the windowless building lifted a little. “That would be amazing. Of course, I can think of a few other things we can do in a darkroom.”

His dimple appeared. “I’m sure we can do both.”

They pulled up not long after. At first glance, the building looked like every other industrial warehouse on the block. Nothing special, which was exactly what they needed.

They gathered their things from the car and Weston unlocked the door with a pass code, not a key, and they stepped inside together.

Despite how dark it was, the building wasn’t that bad. It had plenty of lamps, which they both immediately began to turn on, and some comfortable-looking furniture. Plus, it was huge. More like a studio apartment than a room in a random building.

There was a bed in the corner, a small dresser pressed to one wall near the TV, and a couch in the middle of the room. Kayleigh was pleased to find the little kitchenette stocked with some basics.

“Okay, I texted Luke and he’s going to get what you need for your darkroom and bring it over in a couple hours.” Weston looked around then over at her, worried. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“I may have some rough moments,” she admitted. “But it won’t be so bad. I’m thankful you’re here with me.”

She walked over to him and hooked her arms around his neck, pulling him down so her lips could touch the exposed skin of his throat.

“Don’t you want to get situated here? Get ready to make the darkroom?” He groaned as she kissed her way toward his jaw.

“That can wait. I can think of a few other things I’d rather do right now,” she whispered, her voice already husky.

Weston’s fingers tangled in her hair and tilted her chin up, giving him the perfect angle to capture her lips. Kayleigh’s hands slid under his shirt as he backed her into the closest wall, pressing himself tight against her so he could deepen the kiss.

They pulled apart long enough for Kayleigh to shove his shirt off and then he was back, his hands on her hips, pulling her closer as he explored her neck with lips and tongue. She was panting by the time he dropped his hands down her body to grip the back of her thighs. With a single squeeze as a warning, he lifted Kayleigh into his arms and took her to bed.

The darkroom would definitely have to wait.