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"I loved you," Janine said. "I wanted to build a life with you. When I found out I was pregnant, I was so happy. I couldn't wait to tell you." Her voice caught. "And then I saw you in that parking lot."

She was looking past Declan, at a spot on the wall behind him. Her eyes were wet but nothing fell.

"You lied to me, Declan. You lied about who you were, about what you did, about the world you lived in. I shared a bed with a man who beat people for money and smiled at me over breakfast." Her voice held. "I made the only choice I could, and I would make it again."

Declan flinched. His good hand curled on the table, and his jaw worked before he spoke.

"If I could take it all back, I would. Every bit of it. I'd give up everything I ever had to go back to that apartment and be the man you thought I was."

He meant it. I could hear it and I didn't want to hear it, because a man who means it is harder to hate than a man who doesn't.

Janine's hand found mine under the table.

"That's not going to happen, Declan. It can't." Her voice was quiet. "I'm sorry."

She took a breath.

"Hazel is going to grow up safe and loved. And if she ever asks about you, I'll tell her the truth. But until then, I'm going to protect her innocence for as long as I can." She looked at him. "If she wants to meet you someday, that'll be her decision. Not mine and not yours."

Declan's eyes filled. He didn't wipe them. He didn't look away.

"Goodbye, Declan." Janine stood.

I stood with her. She reached for my hand and I took it. Her chin was up but her lip was trembling and her eyes were filling fast. I pulled her into my side and walked us toward the door.

"Holloway."

Declan was looking at me. His eyes were hard, the old Declan surfacing for one last moment through the exhaustion.

"You take care of them. Janine and my daughter. You take care of them, or so help me God, I will find a way out of here and I will come for you myself."

I held his eyes. "You don't have to worry about that."

They wheeled him out. The door closed behind him.

In the parking lot, Janine turned to me.

"Hazel and I are safe because of you," she said. "I need you to know that."

I held her under the gray sky. This woman sat across from the man who had haunted her for six years and held it together for every word. Who didn't break until she was outside. Until she was with me. I already loved her. I didn't know it was possible to love someone more than I already did.

"I won't ever let anything happen to either of you."

I kissed her the way I wanted to love her for the rest of my life, and then longer.

CHAPTER 28

Hogmanay

JANINE

One Year Later

Hazel scored the winning goal in the third period.

She took the pass at center ice, deked left, shifted her weight to the outside edge exactly as Alex had taught her, and put the puck past the goalie's glove. The arena erupted. Her teammates swarmed her. Hazel disappeared into a pile of seven-year-olds screaming and hugging in the corner of the ice, and the scoreboard above them read BRUINS HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT — 8U FINALS, and the number beside her team's name was one more than the other.

I was on my feet before the puck crossed the line.