“I know.” My throat burns. “I’m sorry, I should’ve—you’re safe now. I’m here.”
“She killed my dad. She hunted me. She was going to…” Her eyes drop. Her hands shake harder.
Seeing her pain and fear guts me.
“Sadie, look at me.”
She lifts her eyes, and something tears inside me.
“I am so fucking proud of you,” I tell her, voice cracking. “You fought. You survived. You faced her, and you didn’t break.”
A sob leaves her chest like a punch.
I gently pry the gun from her fingers. “No more,” I murmur. “You don’t carry this alone.”
She sags into me as I pull her against my chest.
“Wyatt,” she whispers against my throat, trembling now that it’s over. “I thought?—”
“I know,” I say roughly. “Me too.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers again and again. “I shouldn’t have left the cabin. I didn’t know. I thought it was Shay… Wyatt, I’m sorry. Is Shay okay? Are you okay? I walked right into their trap?—”
“Sadie.” I cup her face, forcing her to meet my eyes. “Breathe.”
She drags in a shaking breath.
And I hold her, anchoring her, bringing her back into her body. Reminding her she’s alive. Here. With me.
“How did you find me?” she asks.
A rough groan comes from the corner. “That’d be me.”
Sadie startles. “Harry?”
He’s still bleeding, one arm clamped to his shoulder as he pushes upright with a grimace. “Federal Agent Hawk, technically.”
“Son of a bitch,” Tex mutters.
“Should’ve known,” Tank grunts.
I stare. “You’re FBI? You sent the coordinates?”
He nods, pale but steady. “Undercover for eighteen months, building a case against Clarissa. The FBI needed her to access the account and move the money so we could trace the shell corporations before we could take her down.”
Sadie’s voice trembles. “The anonymous texts the night my dad died… that was you?”
He nods. “Saved your life. Barely.”
Rage flares behind my ribs. “You put her in danger. You let her get dragged into this. Were you the one who shot her?”
“No! That was one of Clarissa’s men. She wanted to scare Sadie. I didn’t know she’d sent someone after her until it was too late.” His jaw clenches. “If I’d stepped in early, Clarissa would’ve vanished. You’d never have been safe.”
Henry and I lunge at him at the same time—because he jeopardized the lives of the women we love.
Tank steps in fast, grabbing Henry.
Sadie grabs me.
