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Lia was certain the girl was dead after her mother had put a bullet through her chest. But, remarkably, she’d managed to hang on while an ambulance arrived and loaded her into the back. A hysterical Jolene had been cuffed and taken to jail by a grim-faced Anthony.
“She’s in stable condition. Or at least she’s physically stable. Mentally . . .” Kaden shook his head. “I assume she’ll be transferred to a secure facility as soon as she’s strong enough to be moved.”
Lia shuddered. She still had nightmares of Sunny’s evil smile as she described her violent attacks.
“It’s so twisted. And awful.”
“Too awful.” Kaden turned onto a narrow path as they reached the edge of town. “Let’s not spoil such a beautiful day with the past.”
Lia agreed. She’d done her duty. She was ready to concentrate on something else. Or rathersomeoneelse.
“Where are we going?” she asked, not really caring as long as she was with Kaden.
“I have something I want to show you.”
“Out here?” She glanced toward the rolling hills that spread toward a distant valley. She’d been out this way with her grandfather when she was young. “I’m pretty sure this road is a dead end.”
“Trust me.”
Lia arched her brows. “You said that in Paris and then you shoved a snail into my mouth,” she reminded him.
Just days after they’d escaped death, Kaden had whisked Lia off to Paris to enjoy their Christmas holidays in peace. She’d been acutely thankful that she always had her passport updated just in case she needed to travel. It had been a glorious two weeks.
“It was escargot, and many people consider it a delicacy,” Kaden chided.
“It was nasty,” Lia insisted, even as a smile of remembered pleasure curved her lips.
Until Kaden crashed into her life, she’d been content to spend her days in Pike, never daring to expand her horizons. Now she never knew if she was going to be in Paris or Vegas or whatever other place captured Kaden’s interest.
It was like being caught in a constant whirlwind. And she never wanted the adventure to end.
“Lesson learned,” he assured her. “No more snails.”
She reached over to touch his arm. “Everything else in Paris was sheer perfection,” she assured him.
Kaden pulled to a halt as they reached a cattle gate that blocked the road, indicating they’d reached private property. Glancing in her direction, he sent her a mysterious smile.
“Including our discussion about our future together?”
Excitement fluttered in the pit of her stomach. Kaden had taken her to a dinner on a private balcony that overlooked the Seine. There had been candles and roses and champagne that made her tipsy. It was there he’d asked her to spend the rest of their lives together.
Lia hadn’t hesitated. She nearly tipped him off the balcony as she rushed into his arms. She was always smart. She knew a good deal when she found one.
And Kaden was a good deal.
“That was the best part,” she assured him.
“Good.” Kaden waved his hand toward the nearby fields. “Because I think I found us the perfect plot of land to build our house.”
Lia leaned forward, studying the landscape and picturing the image of a house angled to overlook the valley. “It has a stunning view.”
“It’s not too isolated?”
“No. I like the idea of living in a place where I can wander outside without having nosy neighbors watching my every move.”
She glanced toward Kaden as she recalled the chaos of the hours after Jolene’s arrest. Not only had a horde of reporters set up camp outside her store, there’d been a shocking number of strangers who were determined to make a movie about the sordid events. With Kaden playing the starring role, of course.
After a couple of days of being harassed, Kaden had endured enough. They’d packed their bags and disappeared to Paris. And even when they’d returned to the States, they’d spent the past week in Vegas. Not only to check on his business, but for Lia to meet his best friend, Dom Lucier.
