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Duggan reaches for something near his ankle. Knife. I catch his wrist before he can use it and slam his hand against the floor until the weapon falls loose.

Then I hear Dan’s voice. “Roman.” That one word cuts through everything.

I look toward him. He’s conscious. Alive.

That’s all I need. I restrain Duggan and kick the knife out of reach before getting to Dan. River has the other man under control by the time I reach him.

“About fucking time,” Dan mutters.

Relief nearly knocks the air out of me. “You look like shit.”

“Feel worse.”

I cut the restraints around his wrists. He tries to stand and immediately sways.

I catch his arm. “Easy.”

“I can walk.”

“Didn’t ask.”

Even battered and exhausted, he glares at me. Good. If he can still be pissed at me, he’s still Dan.

River joins us after securing the other man. “We need to move.”

I nod, but Dan catches my arm. “Duggan?”

I look back at the man on the floor. “He’s done.”

There are copies of the evidence now. Royal has the files. We have Duggan, his associate, their phones, the warehouse, and whatever else they were stupid enough to leave behind.

This doesn’t disappear with one destroyed drive. Neither does what they did to Dan.

We make one stop before going home. Dan argues about it, but I don't give him a choice. He gets checked out, treated for dehydration and the cuts and bruises covering more of his body than he wants Cora to see, and cleared to recover outside the hospital with instructions to rest, hydrate, and come back if anything changes.

By the time River and I get him back to my apartment, the adrenaline has started to wear off. Dan looks like hell, but he’s alive.

Right now, that’s enough. He looks like hell, with bruises darkening one side of his face and exhaustion carved into every line of his body, but he is standing on his own two feet.

And after the last week, that is enough for me. River helps him out of the truck while I scan the area out of habit before leading them toward the building. And when we step inside my apartment, Cora is already waiting.

Her eyes find me first, but then they move past me. Everything about her changes. “Dad.” She runs.

Dan barely has time to brace himself before Cora throws herself into his arms. And despite the obvious pain it causes him, he catches her and holds her tightly. She starts crying immediately, clutching the back of his shirt as if she is afraid that letting go will somehow make him disappear again.

And Dan presses his face against her hair while his arms tighten around her.

“I thought they killed you,” she cries.

“I’m here, baby.”

“I thought I was too late.”

“You weren’t.”

Cora pulls back just enough to look at him, her hands immediately moving to his face as she takes in every bruise and cut. “You’re hurt.”

“I’ve had worse.”