“I was the father. It was my job to protect them, and I failed.”
“No one can protect the people they love from everything. Sometimes staying alive is the bravest thing a person can do.”
Maxwell rested his head on her shoulder, and she held him. Two lonely souls sharing pain in the darkness.
One afternoon, Cassidy went to the grocery store while Gloria watched Emma. On the way back, she saw Derek. “Found you, Cassidy. You thought you could hide from me.” Cassidy ran into a dead-end alley. Derek advanced. “I want you dead, Cassidy. You dared to leave me. That baby is mine. You are mine.”
He lunged at her, hands tightening around her throat. He punched her, kicked her. Cassidy thought of Emma. She clawed at his face. He caught her and pinned her down. “This time you’re not getting away.” Darkness was closing in. Then the weight vanished. Two men in black pulled Derek away. Maxwell Thornton stood at the end of the alley. His eyes were burning with hellfire. He knelt beside her. “Who did this to you?”
He pulled her into his arms. “He’ll never touch you again. I swear it.” Derek was dragged away into a black car. Maxwell drove her back in silence. His private doctor treated her injuries. “He’ll never look for you again,” Maxwell said quietly. Derek was dead.
“Why? Why did you do this for me?”
“Because I couldn’t save my wife and child. But I could save you and the baby.” He wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m a devil, Cassidy. But with you, with Emma, I want to be someone else.”
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