Kade’s hand reached for mine, bringing it to his lips to brush a kiss across my knuckles before settling our hands on his thigh.
We had a lot to talk about, but it could wait. It was enough to just be together.
We pulled into Blane’s driveway right behind his car. I got out with Kade, my eye catching something as Blane joined us.
“Who’s here?” I asked, pointing to a man standing in the shadows of Blane’s front door.
Blane frowned. “I have no idea.”
We followed Blane up the walk until he paused, about ten feet from the man. I could see him more clearly now and recognized him.
“Geoff,” Blane said. “What are you doing here at this hour?”
Kandi’s father took a step closer into the light cast from the lamppost.
“Did you think you could just get away with it?” he asked, and only now did I see the gun in his hand. “You killed my daughter, Kirk.”
Kade stiffened next to me and I remembered with a sinking sensation that his gun was still in the car.
“I didn’t kill Kandi,” Blane said, his voice calm and clear. “We found the person who killed her. She confessed just hours ago.”
“I don’t believe you,” Geoff said. “I know the evidence. I know what they found, the DNA match.” The bitter anger in his voice made me wince. “You strung Kandi along for years, treated her like she wasn’t good enough for you. Then you killed her, defiled her, and are blackmailing James so he won’t prosecute.”
“I don’t know what you’re—”
“Don’t lie to me!” Geoff shouted. I was terrified he was going to shoot right then and there, but he seemed to get a hold of himself. “James told me what you did. How there’d be no justice for my little girl unless I took matters into my own hands.”
Kade slowly dropped his arm from my waist, his palm settling on my stomach and giving me a push backward until I was forced to take a step away from him.
“James put you up to this?” Blane asked.
“He didn’t put me up to anything,” Geoff said. “Sometimes it’s just what a man has to do. What a father has to do. I won’t let you kill my daughter and get away with it.”
“You don’t want to do this,” Blane said, sounding a lot calmer than I was feeling. “Put down the gun. Let’s go inside and talk. I’ll explain—”
“Always the smooth talker, aren’t you, Kirk?” Geoff cut in. “That won’t save you this time.”
I knew what Geoff was going to do a split second before he did.
Kade did, too.
He shoved me hard to the side, then stepped in front of Blane just as Geoff pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A scream tore from my throat as the impact of the bullet sent Kade falling into Blane. Geoff shot again and Kade’s body jerked. Blane pulled out his gun even as he supported Kade, firing back at Geoff in a rapid hail of bullets. Geoff fell and didn’t move. Blane gently lowered Kade to the ground.
I dropped to my knees next to Kade. Blane ripped Kade’s shirt open and the air froze in my lungs.
There were two holes in Kade’s chest, both oozing blood.
“Fuck, that hurts,” Kade gasped.
“Why the hell would you do that?” Blane cried, furious.
“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” Kade groaned, his eyes squeezing shut.
“Don’t talk,” Blane said. “I think your lung got hit.”
“Then stop asking me questions.”
“Blane! Kade!”
I turned to see Mona and Gerard running toward us. Mona skidded to a stop, her hand covering her mouth at the sight of Kade.
“Call nine-one-one,” Blane ordered. Gerard turned and ran to do his bidding.
“Help me,” Blane said, grabbing my hand. “Cover this wound here.”
My hands shook, but I did as he said. Kade’s warm blood seeped between my fingers. I couldn’t see properly, tears spilling from my eyes, but I didn’t move. Blane shrugged out of his jacket and tore a sleeve off, pressing it against the other wound in the middle of Kade’s chest that was bleeding even more profusely.
“Kade, can you hear me?” he said loudly. “Stay with me, brother.”
Kade’s eyes flickered open. “This is why I’m not the hero,” he managed. “Getting shot hurts like a sonofabitch.”
“If I’d known you wanted to play target practice, I could’ve shot you myself,” Blane said, his voice thick.
“You’ve got shitty aim.”
Kade’s hand lifted slightly, as though searching, and Blane grasped it, holding him fast.
Sirens screamed in the distance. Thank God. They were on their way. My hands were slick with Kade’s blood as I struggled to keep any semblance of composure and not fall into hysterics. I didn’t want to break down, not yet, though tears poured down my face. I swallowed down a sob.
“Don’t cry, princess,” Kade murmured, his gaze swinging to me. He blinked, his eyes slow to reopen. Blood had begun to seep from his nose and mouth as he breathed, a bubbly red-tinted foam. The sight of it sent my panic ratcheting even higher.
“If you die, I’ll never forgive you,” I managed to say through my tears.
The barest hint of a smile curved his lips. His breathing was becoming more labored now and I prayed for the ambulance to hurry.
“And you still have to take me to see Britney,” I said quickly. “I can’t go by myself.”
Kade tried to speak, but the words were too faint for me to hear. He pulled at Blane’s hand until he leaned over, placing his ear next to Kade’s mouth. I couldn’t hear what Kade said, but Blane pulled back and looked Kade in the eye.
“I promise.”
The solemn sincerity in Blane’s voice terrified me more than all the blood. It had the finality of a vow made to a dying man.
“No, Kade, please!” I cried as his eyes slipped closed. His grip on Blane’s hand went lax just as the ambulance screeched to a halt in the driveway.
I was vaguely aware of men around me, crouching down next to me.
“You can move aside, ma’am. We’ll take it from here.”
I shook my head. I couldn’t move my hands. Kade would die if I did. Blane had said to keep them on the wound.
“It’s okay, Kat. Let them do their job.” Blane wrapped his arms around me, lifting me up bodily. I struggled in his grip.
“No! He’ll die!” I sobbed.
The men were moving fast, doing something to Kade that I couldn’t see. A stretcher sat next to him, but they hadn’t yet moved to put him on it. Kade was motionless on the ground.
Blane turned me toward him, away from the scene.
“Don’t watch,” he said in my ear. He held me tight, one hand pressed against my head, keeping me from turning.
I clung to him, sobs racking me. I tried to breathe, tried to pull it together, but all I could think about was that Kade might die and I hadn’t told him the truth. I hadn’t told him I loved him.
“Let’s go,” Blane said, loosening his grip on me. “They’re taking him.” He took my hand and we hurried to his car, speeding down the road in the wake of the ambulance. The sirens cleared the path and the Jaguar kept pace, so we pulled into the hospital nearly right behind them.
Blane filled out paperwork for Kade while I paced the hallway. Dried blood still stained my hands, smears marring the pink of my dress, but I didn’t care. Somewhere close by, Kade was fighting for his life.
Mona and Gerard came hurrying into the waiting room, both of them wrapping me in a tight hug. We didn’t talk. We didn’t have to.
Blane finished the forms and sat, knees spread with his head in his hands. I continued to pace, watching the clock as the minutes crawled by. No one spoke.
“Mr. Kirk?”
Blane looked up, then jumped to his feet as the doctor approached.