The knot in her stomach seemed to ease. “What do you want from me?” As direct as she could be.
Those blue eyes, so intense, searched her face. Then… “Forever. I want forever, baby.”
And the fear melted away. Her lips lifted into a trembling smile. “So do I.”
His mouth took hers. Desperate hunger, need, lust. Love.
Max.
Hers.
“Everything’s been so screwed up,” Max murmured against her lips. “Started it all wrong, then the case, Frank, Quinlan…”
Pain echoed in his voice. But she’d help him to deal with the pain, just as he’d helped her.
His head lifted, and he gazed down at her with gleaming eyes. “Can you be with me, knowing what he did, can you—”
“Try to stop me.” Max wasn’t Quinlan. “You saved me in that river. You came into the water and—”
“And I wouldn’t have come out without you.” Flat. “Don’t you know yet, baby? Haven’t you realized…?”
She waited, waited.
“I love you.” Simple. Solid. His stare never wavered. “I never thought I’d love a woman like this, but I swear, when I’m with you, I can’t even think straight half the time. I want you, I need you, and I damn well love you more than anything in this world.”
She put her left hand on his shoulder. “And I love you, Max Ridgeway.” The stranger she’d taken to her bed. The lover who’d comforted her in the night. The man who’d pulled her from hell.
They’d started fast, started red-hot, and gone barreling through the darkness. More darkness might come—that was just part of life—but they’d be together.
She’d spent her whole life looking for a man like him. Someone to fight for her, someone to hold her, and someone to stir her desire. Someone who thought she was worth fighting for, worth dying for.
Someone… Max.
She stood on her toes and kissed him.
Worth the world. And more.
Epilogue
Six months later…
Quinlan Malone shuffled down the prison hallway. Catcalls sounded around him. Loud whistles and taunts were hurled from the other inmates as he passed. The orange jumpsuit hung on his shoulders, and the shackles jingled a bit as he walked.
Keith Hyde watched Quinlan head to his new home, one that was a far cry from the mansion that could have been his. A mansion that Max Ridgeway had recently donated to the American Cancer Society. It would be a haven for recovering patients.
The guard opened cell door number 185. Quinlan walked inside. He turned back and offered up his bound hands to the guard. He knew the drill well by now.
Hyde stalked down the corridor. He glanced in the cell. A toilet. Two bunks. Quinlan would have company.
“Happy now, a**hole?” Quinlan demanded. “You think this is the end of me? It’s not! I’m gettin’ out of here, you’ll see. My lawyer’s working on an appeal.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Haven’t you heard? I’m crazy! I should be in a mental institution, not jail.”
“Your psych sessions will start soon.” Because Hyde knew the truth.
Quinlan Malone was crazy. There’d been no remorse from him in the courtroom. No empathy for the victims. The guy didn’t seem to get that he’d actually done something wrong.
And four days ago, they’d caught him in his cell cutting his upper arms with a shiv.
The guards would have to watch Malone. The longer he was in there, the more desperate he’d become.
“And if you ever do get out,” Hyde said, watching as Quinlan shifted quickly from foot to foot. “You won’t have a damn thing waiting on you.” They’d recovered all the money from the kidnappings before the trial. Quinlan had kept the cash at one of Malone’s rental houses, a little place on Sycamore Lane. A house that had smelled of bleach and death, but that had been stuffed with a fortune.
“My brother will be waiting!” Quinlan snarled.
Waiting to kill you. Hyde knew about that threat. There wasn’t anything that happened in the SSD that he didn’t know about. Hyde turned away.
“Peter and Jeremy were in on it,” Quinlan’s voice was nearly lost beneath the catcalls.
Hyde paused and glanced back.
“Didn’t realize that, did you?” Quinlan’s smile held a cocky edge. “Why do you think it was so easy to take them from the bars? Pete just walked right out with Veronica. He thought it was a great damn joke, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on some of his trust fund money.”
Peter Hollings. He’d been sent back to his family in pieces. Hyde stared at Quinlan and kept his expression blank. “If Peter was in on the kidnapping, why’d you kill him?”
“Because his dumbass father wouldn’t pay.” Quinlan shrugged. “I told Pete that he’d die if the old man didn’t pay. But, damn, you should’ve heard the way he started screaming when I pulled out my knife.”
Because Peter hadn’t realized just how deadly serious Quinlan had been. Easy prey—he used his own friends.
“And poor Jeremy,” Quinlan shook his head. “He was so sure his father would pay for him. Jeremy already had that cash spent in his mind. He was heading back to Europe.”
But he’d just gone to the grave. “And what about the others?”
Quinlan grinned. “Those a**holes just pissed me off. I figured I’d give them a little payback.”
Sick sonofabitch. “Guess you’re the one getting that payback now.” Life in Wallens Ridge State Prison. This time, Hyde let the icy façade melt, and he knew his disgust showed when Quinlan stiffened.
Then because there was no more to say, Hyde turned away.
He walked back toward the warden. Hyde didn’t usually follow the criminals to their cells after conviction, but this time, he’d made an exception.
A man who should’ve had it all now had nothing.
One more killer off the streets. More victims buried in the ground. Not a fair score sheet. Not even close.
Not yet. But, God willing, soon.
We’ll stop them.
Because he’d made a promise a long time ago. A promise to a girl that he hadn’t seen in over thirty years.
The sunlight hit him when he walked out of the prison. So hot and clear. Hyde stopped just outside and pulled out his wallet. He glanced down and stared at the grainy photo.
Some promises time broke. Other promises, the soul kept.
I won’t give up.
His daughter had been missing for so long, but one day, dammit, one day, he’d find the man who’d taken her away. And Hyde would make sure that the bastard paid.
Because he’d be damned if he let the monsters win.
Those blue eyes, so intense, searched her face. Then… “Forever. I want forever, baby.”
And the fear melted away. Her lips lifted into a trembling smile. “So do I.”
His mouth took hers. Desperate hunger, need, lust. Love.
Max.
Hers.
“Everything’s been so screwed up,” Max murmured against her lips. “Started it all wrong, then the case, Frank, Quinlan…”
Pain echoed in his voice. But she’d help him to deal with the pain, just as he’d helped her.
His head lifted, and he gazed down at her with gleaming eyes. “Can you be with me, knowing what he did, can you—”
“Try to stop me.” Max wasn’t Quinlan. “You saved me in that river. You came into the water and—”
“And I wouldn’t have come out without you.” Flat. “Don’t you know yet, baby? Haven’t you realized…?”
She waited, waited.
“I love you.” Simple. Solid. His stare never wavered. “I never thought I’d love a woman like this, but I swear, when I’m with you, I can’t even think straight half the time. I want you, I need you, and I damn well love you more than anything in this world.”
She put her left hand on his shoulder. “And I love you, Max Ridgeway.” The stranger she’d taken to her bed. The lover who’d comforted her in the night. The man who’d pulled her from hell.
They’d started fast, started red-hot, and gone barreling through the darkness. More darkness might come—that was just part of life—but they’d be together.
She’d spent her whole life looking for a man like him. Someone to fight for her, someone to hold her, and someone to stir her desire. Someone who thought she was worth fighting for, worth dying for.
Someone… Max.
She stood on her toes and kissed him.
Worth the world. And more.
Epilogue
Six months later…
Quinlan Malone shuffled down the prison hallway. Catcalls sounded around him. Loud whistles and taunts were hurled from the other inmates as he passed. The orange jumpsuit hung on his shoulders, and the shackles jingled a bit as he walked.
Keith Hyde watched Quinlan head to his new home, one that was a far cry from the mansion that could have been his. A mansion that Max Ridgeway had recently donated to the American Cancer Society. It would be a haven for recovering patients.
The guard opened cell door number 185. Quinlan walked inside. He turned back and offered up his bound hands to the guard. He knew the drill well by now.
Hyde stalked down the corridor. He glanced in the cell. A toilet. Two bunks. Quinlan would have company.
“Happy now, a**hole?” Quinlan demanded. “You think this is the end of me? It’s not! I’m gettin’ out of here, you’ll see. My lawyer’s working on an appeal.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Haven’t you heard? I’m crazy! I should be in a mental institution, not jail.”
“Your psych sessions will start soon.” Because Hyde knew the truth.
Quinlan Malone was crazy. There’d been no remorse from him in the courtroom. No empathy for the victims. The guy didn’t seem to get that he’d actually done something wrong.
And four days ago, they’d caught him in his cell cutting his upper arms with a shiv.
The guards would have to watch Malone. The longer he was in there, the more desperate he’d become.
“And if you ever do get out,” Hyde said, watching as Quinlan shifted quickly from foot to foot. “You won’t have a damn thing waiting on you.” They’d recovered all the money from the kidnappings before the trial. Quinlan had kept the cash at one of Malone’s rental houses, a little place on Sycamore Lane. A house that had smelled of bleach and death, but that had been stuffed with a fortune.
“My brother will be waiting!” Quinlan snarled.
Waiting to kill you. Hyde knew about that threat. There wasn’t anything that happened in the SSD that he didn’t know about. Hyde turned away.
“Peter and Jeremy were in on it,” Quinlan’s voice was nearly lost beneath the catcalls.
Hyde paused and glanced back.
“Didn’t realize that, did you?” Quinlan’s smile held a cocky edge. “Why do you think it was so easy to take them from the bars? Pete just walked right out with Veronica. He thought it was a great damn joke, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on some of his trust fund money.”
Peter Hollings. He’d been sent back to his family in pieces. Hyde stared at Quinlan and kept his expression blank. “If Peter was in on the kidnapping, why’d you kill him?”
“Because his dumbass father wouldn’t pay.” Quinlan shrugged. “I told Pete that he’d die if the old man didn’t pay. But, damn, you should’ve heard the way he started screaming when I pulled out my knife.”
Because Peter hadn’t realized just how deadly serious Quinlan had been. Easy prey—he used his own friends.
“And poor Jeremy,” Quinlan shook his head. “He was so sure his father would pay for him. Jeremy already had that cash spent in his mind. He was heading back to Europe.”
But he’d just gone to the grave. “And what about the others?”
Quinlan grinned. “Those a**holes just pissed me off. I figured I’d give them a little payback.”
Sick sonofabitch. “Guess you’re the one getting that payback now.” Life in Wallens Ridge State Prison. This time, Hyde let the icy façade melt, and he knew his disgust showed when Quinlan stiffened.
Then because there was no more to say, Hyde turned away.
He walked back toward the warden. Hyde didn’t usually follow the criminals to their cells after conviction, but this time, he’d made an exception.
A man who should’ve had it all now had nothing.
One more killer off the streets. More victims buried in the ground. Not a fair score sheet. Not even close.
Not yet. But, God willing, soon.
We’ll stop them.
Because he’d made a promise a long time ago. A promise to a girl that he hadn’t seen in over thirty years.
The sunlight hit him when he walked out of the prison. So hot and clear. Hyde stopped just outside and pulled out his wallet. He glanced down and stared at the grainy photo.
Some promises time broke. Other promises, the soul kept.
I won’t give up.
His daughter had been missing for so long, but one day, dammit, one day, he’d find the man who’d taken her away. And Hyde would make sure that the bastard paid.
Because he’d be damned if he let the monsters win.
