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“What is it?” Saint stepped closer to her, shifting in between her legs to block out the world.

“Oh shit! Gio’s dead!” Kristi answered before she had to say anything, staring at Riley’s phone.

The surprise she expected to see—needed to see—was absent from Saint’s face. Cold pushed down on her, drowning whatever Wheeler and Aaron said. Riley couldn’t understand the words.

“Was this you?” She barely got the words past numb lips.

“Damn, Daddy, you work fast!” Kristi jumped back up onto the counter, humming the tune to “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead,” beaming at Saint.

Wheeler choked, spraying cracker crumbs over the kitchen, and caught Kristi before she fell off the edge, again.

Riley couldn’t breathe.

Saint swiped a thumb over her cheek and caught a single tear.

“I’m never going to let anything happen to you,” he said. He slid his arms around her and picked her up. She couldn’t move.

He murdered someone. He broke the law. He was going to jail.

He’s going to leave.

Panic blackened the edges of the room.

Saint ignored Aaron calling after him and carried Riley away from the chaos. He closed the bedroom door behind him and set her down. She let the brick wall hold her up and tried to get feeling back into her legs.

The pressure eased in the quiet. Sun still streamed through the windows, highlighting dust motes in the air. Traffic was a low hum.

“This doesn’t change anything,” Saint said and braced an arm on the wall. He cast a shadow over her, odd and misshapen.

Riley looked up at him, really looked, and saw what other people must see. A very dangerous man, quiet and deadly. She hadn’t understood Kristi’s concern, or why people crossed the road when they walked together.

“Saint… you killed someone,” she rasped. “That changes everything.”

His eyes widened.

“I didn’t,” he said, warm and steady and him. Breath filled her chest.

“I don’t under—”

“But I would have, without a doubt in my mind. You are the most important person in my life,” he whispered, words rushing out. He leaned closer. “I would have.”

Riley’s lips parted. I would have. The dark brown in his eyes was indecipherable from the darkness that lurked there.

She should have been scared. Terrified.

He ducked his head, fast as ever, and kissed her so gently it hurt.

He watched the single tear roll down her cheek but didn’t wipe it away. Like he deserved it, should suffer for it.

Two thumps rattled the door in the frame. Riley’s heart thundered in her ears. Saint didn’t look away.

“Scott Cooper’s on his way,” Aaron said, and the footsteps retreated.

Riley watched a flash of devastation cross Saint’s face, and he closed his eyes.

“Saint—”

He brought a finger to her lips, touching where he’d just kissed. His face went blank, a wall between them, and she scrambled against it.