“Yeah,” Anja said, expression grim.“From Tyler.Financials on Danica Giordano.”
“I ran a background check.I know she has massive credit card debt.”
“Tyler dug deeper.She owes money to a private lender, the kind that doesn’t send friendly reminders.She took out the loan in her mother’s name.”
Kayne closed his eyes briefly.That’s why he didn’t find it on the initial check.
Jealousy, debt, access, and a sister whose success was everywhere from billboards to television screens to magazine covers, while Danica drowned quietly beside it.Close enough to touch, too far to reach.
Anya watched him carefully.“You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I’m thinking I don’t want it to be her,” Kayne said flatly.“And that makes it dangerous.”
Because if itwasDanica, then this wasn’t a stranger stalking from the shadows.It was someone Chloe loved.Someone she would never see coming.
Kayne looked toward the staircase again, toward the woman who’d trusted him with her body and her life.And now, unknowingly, with the possibility that her own sister might be actively trying to destroy it.
His diaphragm knotted.
This wasn’t about eliminating a threat anymore and stopping a shooter.If Danica Giordano was the villain, then this case was about saving Chloe from betrayal that could break her in ways bullets never could.
Kayne would burn the world down before he let that happen, even if the fire had to start inside the family.
#
Chloe knew Kayne waswatching her the way he did when he’d already made up his mind and was just waiting for her to catch up.
She was growing to detest that look.
“It can’t be her,” she said quietly, arms folded tight across her midsection, physically attempting to hold the thought in place.“Kayne, it just doesn’t fit.”
He leaned against the counter, broad shoulders rigid, jaw set.He didn’t interrupt her.That restraint felt deliberate.He was giving her room to arrive at the truth on her own.
“Yes, she’s dramatic.Totally impulsive.She gets jealous, sure,” Chloe continued, words rushing now, stacking up to barricade the truth.“But she’s notthis.Danica doesn’t plan.She doesn’t wait.She reacts.”
Kayne’s eyes softened, and that nearly broke her.
“People change when they’re cornered,” he said gently.“Debt does that.Fear does that.”
“She wouldn’t shoot someone.”Chloe shook her head hard.“Danica wouldn’t hurt Leo.She wouldn’t hurt me.”
She loves me, she almost said.The words hovered, fragile and already cracking under their own weight.Then she remembered the defaced photos, the violence and malice in the ink, and wondered when love had morphed into something pointed enough to draw blood.
Kayne pushed off the counter and crossed the room in two strides.He stopped in front of her, close enough that she could feel the heat of him, the steady gravity that had been keeping her upright since the day he’d walked into her life.
“I don’t want it to be her either,” he said softly.“But wanting doesn’t change the math.”
Tears burned, sudden and furious.“I can’t lose her,” Chloe whispered.“I’ve already lost so much.”
Kayne didn’t argue.He cupped her face instead, hands warm and sure, thumbs brushing beneath her eyes.His forehead rested against hers, his breath steady.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured.“No matter who this turns out to be.”
Her heart cracked open.
She surged forward before she could overthink it, pressing her mouth to his.The kiss wasn’t desperate.It was hungry in a quiet, aching way.It was relief.It was choosing each other in the middle of chaos.
Kayne made a low sound in his throat and kissed her back, slow and deep.His hands slid to her waist and anchored her to the present, to the certainty of him.His kiss reassured her that he wasn’t going anywhere.That she wasn’t facing this alone.
