“I’ve missed you, angel,” he said softly. “I need you, honey. I need you so much.”
He looked down at her, and there was something in his eyes, a hint of vulnerability she had rarely seen. He needed her, he had said. Could it be true?
She let him sweep her around the floor, along with the other couples who danced to the beautiful love song.
Chase didn’t say more as the song played out and slowly came to an end. Couples left the floor, but Chase held on to Harper’s hand.
“I love you, angel,” he said. “I’ve known it for a while. I wanted to tell you. I hope it’s not too late.” Pulling a small blue velvet box out of the pocket of his dinner jacket, he dropped to one knee on the floor in front of her. “I love you, Harper. Will you marry me?”
Her heart constricted.Oh, dear God.Her eyes filled with tears that spilled onto her cheeks. “Chase...”
“I don’t care about your father. He has nothing to do with us. He never has. Marry me. Will you, angel?”
He loved her.“Are you... Are you sure?”
He rose to his feet. “I love you. I’d be the proudest man in Dallas to have you as my wife.”
More tears slipped down her cheeks. “I love you so much. I don’t want to live without you, Chase.” She went into his arms. “I’d be proud to be your wife.”
A shudder rippled through his hard body, relief, she realized. How could he think she’d say no?
He stepped back to slip the ring on her finger, and the room erupted in cheers, whistles and applause. Chase kissed her, and love for him washed through her.
She had thought this part of her life was over. Told herself she would learn to live without him. Instead, tonight her life had just begun.
Epilogue
Three months later
Chase sat behind the desk in his Maximum Security office. It was Saturday, the office mostly empty. He’d taken some extra time off, so the quiet day gave him a chance to catch up.
A lot had happened in the months after his brother’s wedding. He thought of Michael that way now—as his brother, not just a friend. In a way, he always had.
Michael was happily married. So was Chase. He smiled to remember the wedding ceremony a month after Harper had accepted his proposal. No way was he taking a chance his angel would change her mind.
They’d been married in a small, private ceremony at the ranch, followed by a quiet, intimate week alone, just the two of them. Harper had fallen in love with the ranch, which pleased him because he loved it, too. Eventually, he would take her on a real honeymoon wherever she wanted to go, but for now, both of them were content just being together.
Harper had moved in with him as soon as they returned to Dallas. In a way, her town house burning down had worked in his favor. He had given her carte blanche to make the condo a place for both of them, and she had changed a few things. He liked what she had done, the little feminine touches that made the place feel like a home.
Things had been good. Even the endless media reports about Knox Winston’s criminal activities hadn’t interfered with their happiness. Winston was in jail and would be for the next ten years. With all the charges against him, it was the best deal Knox could cut. Chase figured he deserved a helluva lot more, but for Harper’s sake he was satisfied with the way things turned out.
Roberto Chavez, the man who had led the kidnap attempts, had been wounded in the warehouse shooting, but survived. Chavez had refused to give any information on Montoya, members of the MS-13 gang, or anyone else—probably wise, considering his connection to the Colombian drug cartel. Bobby was currently in prison and would be for a very long time.
Harper had worried that all the media about being Knox Winston’s daughter would hurt her business, but the opposite had happened. Maybe the old P. T. Barnum adage was true and there was no such thing as bad publicity. Chase figured it was because his wife and Shana were producing good quality products that people wanted to buy.
On a different but extremely satisfying note, Betsy Dickerson and her lover, Dr. Bernard Atwood, had been arrested and charged with premeditated murder. They were currently awaiting trial, facing the possibility of a death sentence in Texas.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer couple, Chase thought.
Aside from now being happily married, he was back to his usual routine, running the Dallas branch of Maximum Security while loosely keeping tabs on the offices in San Diego and Phoenix, and occasionally taking an interesting case. All in all, things had been pretty mellow lately.
He glanced up at the sound of his door swinging open. A shot of adrenaline hit his bloodstream as Raymond Martinez, the man he’d sent to prison for pimping underage girls, walked through the door.
“I thought you were in jail.” Chase quietly eased the bottom desk drawer open. His Glock waited inside.
Martinez continued toward the desk, a hard smile on his face. He looked leaner, tougher, his head shaved, tattoos ringing his neck. “Food was rotten. I decided it was time to leave. I owed you a visit for putting me in there—so I came here first.”
Martinez stopped right in front the desk. Reaching behind his back, he pulled a big semiauto from the waistband of his pants. “You should have minded your own business, Garrett. The little whore—she wasn’t worth your life.”
