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I scramble to my knees, desperately wanting to help in some way, but scared I may distract Kai if I do and he’ll get shot. Camila and Harley get to their knees next to me and we all watch the scene unfold. Kai’s back is facing us with Phillip in front of him, the gun held between them.
All of a sudden, there’s a loud blast and the sound is deafening. It seems louder than the one before it.
Alarm bells go off in my head when both men freeze. My breath gets stuck in my throat, and I jerk to my feet. “Kai!” I yell his name.
Just as I get to him, Phillip falls to his knees. I look at his chest and see a growing red spot forming on the center. His eyes, wide with panic, dart from Kai to me then down to his chest. His mouth drops open like he wants to say something, but before he can, he falls forward. Kai grabs my hand and quickly moves me out of the way. I don’t need to be told that he’s dead before his head clunks against the floor. The lifeless sight of his eyes tells all.
“Baby.”
Kai’s hoarse voice has my eyes moving from Phillip up to him. I’m yanked hard against his chest in the next second.
“I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life,” he says with his face buried in my hair. When he pulls back, his eyes slide up and down my body, seemingly looking me over to make sure I’m okay. When he spots no apparent injuries, he begins kissing my cheeks, forehead, and chin. My whole face is covered in his kisses.
“I’m okay,” I tell him, my throat tight. For a moment there, I thought he was shot.
“The baby?” he croaks, jerking his gaze to my stomach.
Grabbing his hand, I press it over the spot where our baby is. “Perfectly okay.”
I jerk away from him and turn to my sisters, who are on their feet staring down at Phillip’s dead body with shocked expressions.
“Are you two okay?”
Their heads bob up and down. “Yeah,” they answer in unison.
I look back at Kai. “How did you know we were in trouble?”
He wraps his arms around me before answering. “I got a call from Mrs. Morrison. She said she saw a strange man come into the house. I knew right away it was Phillip because I had just gotten off the phone with Wesley. The guy he hired to watch Phillip’s movements said he got back to town this morning. I know the type of man Phillip is. I knew he wasn’t going to let shit go with you. I came in through the garage door and heard his voice.” He squeezes his eyes closed before snapping them open again, his gaze tortured. “Jesus, seeing that gun pointed at you scared the fuck out of me.”
I drop my forehead to his chest and wrap my arms tightly around his middle. “Thank God you came when you did.”
His hands run up and down my back soothingly. “I only wish I had gotten here sooner.”
A siren comes from off in the distance, and I lift my head. “You called the cops?”
“I called Spencer as I was rushing over here.”
I look down at Phillip. “I feel like I should feel sorry he’s dead, but I can’t muster any other emotion than relief.”
“That bastard is exactly where he deserves to be; rotting in hell.” He lets me go and gestures to Camila and Harley. “Come on. Let’s go out front to meet the police.”
Camila and Harley warily eye Phillip as they walk around his body, like he’s going to suddenly jump up and attack them. They walk out of the room first and Kai and I follow. We walk out of the front door just as the first car pulls in front of the house. Spencer Erikson steps out and approaches.
Kai tosses his thumb over his shoulder and says with zero remorse in his tone. “He’s dead; in the mudroom.”
Detective Erikson lifts a brow in question.
Kai pulls me to his side with an arm around his waist. “He had a gun on them. I jumped him and we fought for the gun. It went off and got Phillip in the chest.”
“Stay here. I’ll be right back. A squad car should be right behind me.”
The minute he walks off, I turn and snuggle against Kai’s chest. My adrenaline is waning and a wave of exhaustion suddenly hits. Out the corner of my eye, I see Camila and Harley get closer. Both of them are looking at me. I let Kai go and face them. As a unit, they both wrap their arms around me, and I do the same to them. I close my eyes at the realization that I almost lost one or both of them.
“Don’t ever put yourself in front of us like that again,” Harley says, her voice cracking at the end.
“I couldn’t let him hurt either of you,” I tell her.
They let go to give me squinty eyes. Harley grabs my hand. “And you think we would be okay with you and the baby being hurt? Just because you were born mere minutes before us doesn’t make you the older sister. I hate to break it to you, Pen, but you don’t love us any more than we love you. We would have hurt the exact same if something happened to you.”
