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We both nodded.

“As for the guy on the pavement, am I safe to assume that you’re not done with him?” Doc asked me. His whole kindly doctor demeanor had faded away.

“You have assumed correctly.”

“Just drop him off with Nash when you’re done. He can call in someone from Sevierville to fix him up.”

I gave him a chin lift.

Doc got back into his Roadmaster and drove away.

“You good with taking a little bit of a drive?” I asked Marlowe.

“Where are we going?”

“Onyx Security.”

She shrugged. “Okay.”

When we got back to where her assailant was, things had changed. Instead of the scumsucker being under Dave’s boot, he was now on his stomach with his hands and ankles zip-tied.

“Nicely done,” I complimented Dave.

“Here.” Dave held a gun and a knife. “They’re his.”

I nodded my appreciation.

“Are you taking him away in his van, or your truck?” Dave asked.

The man was covered in blood, but that wouldn’t hurt the bed of my truck. Still, somebody might notice a tied-up man in the back of my truck as I drove to Simon and Roan’s office.

“The van,” I said.

“Let’s get him on up there.”

“I can—” I had to stop myself. “Yeah, let’s,” I ended up saying. It sucked that I needed help. It fucking sucked.

22

I knew Kai was doing something majorly illegal by not getting the sheriff involved with my attacker, but I couldn’t really bring myself to care. For that minute that he had me in his grip, I thought I was going to die.

I rolled my head on the passenger seat and looked at Kai’s profile. He looked fierce. I could see him on the cover of some Scottish romance novel. He’d be like a warrior with a sword in a kilt, and he’d be faithful only to me.

Want only me.

Forever.

But that was the rub. Where was our relationship going?

It was funny that I thought I needed to talk to Sue. I didn’t need to talk to Sue about a damn thing. I knew where my heart was at. It was here. Right here, connected to Kai’s. That is, if Kai would have me.

He was nothing like Denny. Kai had only talked me up. He had made me feel like a better version of myself. Plus, he was such. And I mean, such. A good guy.

I’d met Sam the one night that I was allowed to bring over dinner. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of me thought that someone who worked with Pearl for all those years would have had to be a little bit crotchety, but then again, Harvey had hurt his feelings. So I went in with no expectations. What I wasn’t expecting was a man with Old World manners and charm. I was stunned he was living alone, but after dinner he took out a photo album and showed me pictures of his wife who had died thirty years ago.

It was after that that he and Kai went into a back bedroom to work on the exercises, and I listened to Kai constantly tell Sam to go easier. Apparently Sam was a lot like Kai—hard on himself, and anxious to get better. No wonder Kai liked him so much.

“Whatcha looking at?” Kai asked softly.