“Name one,” Kade said.

I thought. “My parents.”

“Both dead.”

Ouch. “Well, they were happy before that,” I argued. “It is possible and it does happen.”

Kade just glanced at me before looking back at the road. “If you say so.”

Staring at his profile, faintly lit by the glow from the dash, I began to doubt myself. Maybe he was right. Maybe there really were no happy endings.

I rested my head against the seat, turning my body more fully to face him. I watched him as he drove and if he noticed, he didn’t say anything. The darkness gave me courage.

“Why did you leave?” I finally asked, hoping I wouldn’t regret the question.

Kade’s eyes flicked briefly to mine. “I told you why.”

He’d told me he hadn’t wanted to stay and watch me marry Blane, that it would be a huge mistake for me to do so.

“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t come back,” I persisted. “Even after…” My voice faltered. “After Blane and I had broken up” was what I left unsaid.

Kade was silent, his only reaction the tightening of his grip on the steering wheel.

I cleared my throat and ventured out onto that shaky limb again. “I could have really used a friend.”

Kade still didn’t reply and I didn’t have the courage to say anything more. An awkward silence descended.

After a few minutes, we pulled into my lot and he turned off the car. He shifted to face me and suddenly the inside of the car felt much smaller. The air between us was heavy, pressing on my chest. I wondered if I’d said too much, had again made myself stupidly vulnerable to a man who had the power to hurt me.

“Don’t depend on me, princess,” Kade finally said. “I’ll disappoint you every time.”

He went to get out of the car but my hand flashed out and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, stopping him. The look he gave me had me rethinking that move, but I swallowed hard and gamely held on.

“Stop saying things like that,” I said. “You’ve been a friend to me, saved me, more times than I can count. I hate it when you talk about yourself that way.”

“I’m not the hero, princess,” he said roughly. “Hell, I’m not even the good guy. Don’t try to pretend I’m something I’m not.” He untangled my fingers from his shirt and got out of the car.

I was out, too, by the time he rounded the car to my side.

“So am I staying or going?” he asked.

Apparently our conversation was over and Kade wasn’t going to tell me why he hadn’t come back.

That hurt.

I’d thought, perhaps irrationally given his absence, that Kade would be there for me when the chips were down, that we were really friends. But now he wouldn’t even say why he’d come back only when I’d asked him to. Would he have ever stepped back into my life if I hadn’t made that phone call?

Had I done it again? Did I care more about Kade than he did about me? I remembered how Kade had helped Blane when he’d gotten back from deployment.

“Made me go out, do things. Normal things. Go to a baseball game, see a movie, have dinner. He didn’t pity me and he didn’t baby me,” Blane had said.

I suddenly wondered if that was what going out tonight had been about. And here I’d been hoping Kade had just wanted to spend time with me. What had I thought? That he’d come back because he’d missed me? What a pathetic idiot I was. Foolish, foolish Kathleen.

The thought had me slipping back inside my armor. I wished I hadn’t let my guard down so much with him. It seemed I was doomed to allow men to keep hurting me.

“No, I’m fine,” I said stiffly, wishing I had pockets so I’d have something to do with my hands. I felt awkward now, anxious to go inside.

Kade tried to catch my eye, but I glanced away. My earlier good mood had plummeted.

“Still have your gun?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, well, I’m gonna bug out then,” he said. For the first time this evening, he seemed awkward, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking away from me.

“You’re leaving again?” I couldn’t stop from blurting out the question. My insides froze in dismay to think of him leaving again so soon.

He shook his head. “Nah. Got a new place. It’s… not far from here.”

I nodded wordlessly, relieved.

“I’ll probably leave in a day or two,” he said. “I have some business to take care of.”

My stomach was in a hard knot again and I didn’t speak.

“I’ll stop by first, say good-bye.”

I cleared my throat. “Um, yeah. But, I know you’re busy, so, you know, if you don’t get to it…”

If he didn’t “get to it”—what? It was fine? Okay? I wouldn’t care if I didn’t see him? My throat closed up again.

“You should… ah… call Blane,” he said out of the blue.

“What?” I was sure I’d misheard.

“You guys should talk, patch things up.” He still wouldn’t look at me as he said this.

“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?” I said. “You didn’t seem like you were in any mood to ‘patch things up’ with him earlier.”

Kade looked at me now. “I’m still pissed.”

“So am I.”

His lips twisted at my sharp retort.

After an awkward moment, I said, “So, I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

“Guess so.” Kade’s face was unreadable.

“Thanks for the movie.” I walked past him, noticing his hands were clenched in fists, but he made no move to stop me and said nothing more.

My steps were slow as I climbed the stairs to my apartment. When I reached my door, I glanced back at where Kade still stood in the parking lot, watching me. The sight of him reminded me too vividly of how he’d looked in Denver after he’d stuck me in a taxi bound for the airport.

I couldn’t take seeing him get in his car and leave, so I hurried into my apartment. It was blessedly cool inside for a change, but I knew I needed to turn the air off. Mechanically, I went from window to window, opening each one wide. A slight breeze wafted in, which was nice, but it still got warm fast.

I brushed my teeth and washed my face before climbing into bed. I didn’t bother changing, it was too hot to wear much, so I just shucked my shorts and the shirt I’d thrown on over my cami and lay on top of the sheets. I glanced at the bureau across the room. All my textbooks were stacked neatly on it. None of them had been in the kitchen or living room where Kade might have noticed them.

Huh.

As I lay there, I realized it was the first day in a long time that I hadn’t had a drink. I decided that was a Good Thing. I was even mildly concerned about Gage and the threat he posed. At least, enough to make sure Blane’s gun was fully loaded and within easy reach on my bedside table.

Which didn’t help me at all when I was jerked awake sometime later by someone’s hand covering my mouth.

My eyes flew open and I saw a man standing over me. I screamed, but the sound was muffled under his hand. I struggled, trying to pry his hand off me, only to freeze when he leveled a gun to my forehead.

“Don’t make a sound,” he said. “Scream and you’re dead. Understand?”

I nodded ever so slightly, my eyes glued to the gun.

He slowly removed his hand and I took a deep breath, my brain working frantically.

“Now here’s what’s going to happen,” he said. “You’re going to slowly stand up…”

He moved back and I did as he said. My gaze flicked to my bedside table. The gun was gone.

“Now walk into the living room.”

I could feel the gun pointed at my back as I walked. My hands were clammy with sweat and my heart raced.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Are you going to kill me?” I’d reached the living room and saw the door to my apartment standing slightly ajar. He must have jimmied the lock and broken in.

The man grasped my arm, turning me back around in front of the couch.

“No. You’re going to kill yourself.” He motioned with the gun. “Sit.”

My knees gave way and I sat heavily. Sweat trickled down between my breasts. The moonlight filtered through the open windows.

“I’m not going to kill myself,” I said.

“Of course you are. I get a bonus if you do.”

I could see the man more clearly now and he wasn’t much to look at, though it was clear that meeting him in a dark alley would be inadvisable. Medium build with dark hair, his grip on the gun was steady and sure. I was willing to bet this wasn’t his first time at murder.

“I could give a shit if you get a bonus,” I gritted out, anger beginning to burn away the fear. How dare this bastard invade my home? “Tell Gage to go fuck himself.”

“Now is that any way for a lady to talk?” he mocked. “But dressed like that, I’m guessing you ain’t no lady. I’d give you a test drive myself, but the things they can do with DNA nowadays…” He shook his head forlornly, as though lamenting that he couldn’t rape me before killing me.

“You should leave before I kill you,” I threatened. Rage was making me tremble.

He laughed. “That’s a good one. What you’re really going to do is take this gun”—he held up my gun—“put the barrel inside your mouth, and pull the trigger.”

“You’d have a better chance of getting me to suck your dick,” I spat.

“Okay, let’s try this,” he said. “I suppose you know your friend—what’s her name, Alisha? Well, she got home a little while ago, romantic weekend getaway, you know. They must have had a real nice time, too, because she let him sleep over tonight.”

My blood ran cold at his words.

“So you either do as I say,” he continued, “or I’m going to go over there and put a bullet in both their heads.”

I swallowed. “How do I know you won’t do that anyway?”