The doctor’s voice shook. His eyes had welled up in righteous anger, and Alexei’s teared up in shame.

“I am sorry.” It was all Alexei could think to say.

“Yeah, I can see that. It won’t bring her back.” The doctor turned.

He pointed at the sheriff. “You get that asshole out of my town, Nate.”

The sheriff spoke quietly, as though trying to placate the other man. “The feds are coming for him. The roads are keeping them out of here tonight, but they should make it by tomorrow night. Until then, he’s going to be here.”

The doctor huffed and stormed out as quickly as he’d rushed in.

Callie’s big brown eyes stared at him sympathetically. “Please forgive Caleb. He lost his wife a few years ago, and his family no longer speaks to him. Once he was a very highly paid surgeon. Well, I won’t tell you that story, but he’s got a lot of anger. Don’t take it personally.”

“He is right.” Self-recrimination tasted bitter on his tongue. He deserved whatever these feds gave him. He deserved whatever hell waited on him.

A soft hand covered his own. He heard Zane curse, but Callie simply tightened her fingers over his hand. “Tell me something, Alexei, do you honestly believe that you would have stood there and allowed this Ivan person to kill that girl?”

He didn’t recognize himself anymore. And he had no idea what the word honest meant in reference to his own life. He’d lived a lie for so long. “I don’t know.”

Her breath came out in a tiny sigh. “I do. I know you’ve been through some bad things, but deep in your heart, you’re good and worthy, and you can fix the things you’ve done wrong. You would have stopped him. You would have saved her.” Tears fell from his eyes. The room seemed oddly still. Only Callie’s voice meant anything in that moment. “You do not know me.

How can you possibly know what I do?”

“Because you saved me.” She leaned down and placed a single chaste kiss on the back of his hand. “Because you saved Jen. And because you saved my baby.”

The men in the room gasped. Their deep, shocked voices were one. “Callie?”

She smiled at Alexei before turning, opening her arms wide. She nodded, her voice choked with emotion. “I just took a test this morning. Three actually. I was going to tell you this evening. We’re finally pregnant.”

The men crowded her, their arms forming walls around her. They squeezed her tight, kissing and nuzzling her.

Alexei watched the scene. He no longer cared that theirs was obviously an odd relationship. They loved, and it filled the room.

They loved, and it filled him with longing. He had absolutely no one who would put their arms around him and shut the world out. He’d given it up for the pursuit of revenge, and suddenly it seemed like a terrible thing to have missed out on.

He let his head rest against the cold metal bars. He would probably see a lot of metal bars in his future. An image of that pretty waitress slid across his mind. Holly. He would never have a chance to date a nice woman like Holly. He would be lucky if he survived at all.

“Hey.” A gruff voice pulled him from his misery.

He looked up, and Zane’s hand was out. It took him a moment to realize what the other man was asking for.

“You are sure?” Alexei had to ask. It felt wrong to simply accept that hand. The man should be sure.

“Yeah.”

Tentatively, Alexei put his hand in Zane’s. He wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been a trick. He wouldn’t have been shocked if Zane had used his hold to pull Alexei through the bars and bash his skull against them. A part of him kind of wished he would do it, but that large hand strongly pumped his own.

“Thank you. I don’t know why you did it, and I don’t care. You saved our wife and our baby. I don’t think I can ever repay you for that.”

Emotion choked Alexei. One good thing. He’d managed one good thing. He would have to settle for that. He wasn’t sure if it would save his soul, but it began to make it feel lighter. “I am glad I do this.”

“I’m calling Logan.” The sheriff hadn’t taken his hands off his wife. “I want to go home, Zane. I want to show our wife how well we’re going to take care of her.” He kissed the top of her head and walked to his desk.

Fifteen minutes later, they left, their arms around one another. The lanky deputy took over.

“You okay in there?” Logan’s face was open and slightly curious.

He was young, so young, to have a badge on his chest.

Was he okay? Perhaps not, but he was more okay than he’d been in years. His future looked bleak, but he had a chance to be something more than he’d become. He could not erase past mistakes, but maybe, just maybe, he could find a way to earn forgiveness.

“Yes. I am good.”

The young man smiled. “All right, then. I’m the night shift. I’ll probably fall asleep at some point in time. Just bang on the bars if you need something.”

“Yes, I will bang the bars.” He wouldn’t need anything. He settled himself on the cot, feeling lighter than he had in years. The oppressive sadness he’d felt was gone, only remnants clinging to remind him of his past mistakes.

“Oh, and your cell phone’s been ringing. I know I’m not supposed to, but did you need to talk to someone?” It must be a mistake. Everyone he knew was either dead or half a world away. It didn’t matter. He lay down on the cot and pulled the covers up around his chest. “No. There is no one to call me. Ignore this.”

Logan tipped his hat, a grin curling his lips up. “Can do. I’m really good at ignoring stuff. Only thing I’m better at is avoiding work.”

The deputy sat down in his chair. He propped his feet on his desk and leaned back. He tipped his hat over his face and was asleep in no more than five minutes.

Alexei stared at the ceiling, the events of the day playing through his mind, and a deep sense of relief spread through his body. Deep in the night Alexei heard the cell phone buzzing from its place in the small locker where the sheriff had placed all his personal items at the time of his booking. He ignored the sound. After a long while, he fell asleep and dreamed about what it would be like to have a best friend and a wife. He dreamed about how it would feel to share a life.

* * *

Jen woke and stretched, her limbs deliciously sore from repeated and vigorous sexual encounters with the man she could only think of after last night as her boyfriend. A smile stretched across her face.

He’d said it. He’d said I love you.

Oh, he’d looked a little terrified at the prospect, but he’d said it, and he hadn’t taken it back or tried to pretend like it was a friendly thing. No, he’d said it and held her and let her fall asleep in his arms and then promptly woke her up twice more in the night for some rough sex.

She might need to take up yoga. Nell taught a class at the rec center. Maybe limbering up would help her keep up with her old man.

She chided herself mentally. Never call him that. She couldn’t tease him about their age difference.

A heavenly scent wafted into the room, and Jen opened her eyes to discover she wasn’t alone.

“Whoa!” She pulled the covers up because she was looking at someone she hadn’t expected.

“Good morning, Miss Jennifer.”

Mrs. Truss was a solidly built woman of roughly sixty-five years with a very upper-crust British accent. She smiled down at Jen and placed a mug of what smelled like coffee on the nightstand.

“Good morning.” Jen glanced around the room. It looked like Stef had put up all the toys they had played with last night, but they were still in a dungeon. The woman’s grandmotherly smile and crisp white apron was incongruous in a room that had a whipping chair, a doctor’s table with a TENS unit, and a St. Andrew’s Cross.

“Don’t you feel self-conscious, Miss Jennifer. I’ve been cleaning up after Master Stefan’s parties for years. I received very thorough training on how to take care of all the toys and sterilize them.” Dear god, Stef had hired Mary Poppins to watch after his collection of vibrators. “I am so sorry.” Her laughter trilled through the air. “Not at all, dear. The master is a bit odd when it comes to his sexual proclivities, but he’s a very dear boy. I’ve been with him since he turned sixteen. Miss Stella hired me to take care of the house.”

Jen’s curiosity was on full alert. Carefully keeping the covers around her, she sat up and grabbed the coffee. “Stella hired you?”

“Yes. Stella practically raised the master, you know. After his father left, Stella took over. She didn’t trust the nannies, you see. She was only in her twenties herself, and she’d never had children, but she loved Master Stefan like he was her own.” Stef had been lucky. Stella was a natural mother. It had always been a bit confusing to Jen why someone with as much love to give as Stella had never gotten married. As far as Jen could tell, Stella never even dated. She’d thrown herself into her business and caring for the people around her.

“Why did Stella take over? Max and Rye’s mom was alive then.

So was Callie’s mom. That would have made more sense.” She shrugged. “I have my theories, but nothing concrete. Stella felt a deep connection to the young boy. He felt it, too. I came in to let you know that Master Stefan is having breakfast. I don’t believe he wanted to wake you, but I thought it might be a good idea if you joined him for breakfast. He’s dining with his father, you see.” That could go very poorly, and the last thing she needed was for Stef to screw things up with his dad. It had become very apparent to Jen that part of Stef’s problem was his unresolved conflict with his father. She wanted to be there to referee.