“Go to hell, you deceitful bitch!” He took another step toward her, the gun only inches from her chest now. “I know you poisoned Mom’s mind against me. That’s why she made you CEO instead of me.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him he was wrong, but arguing with a crazy person was pointless. So instead she went along with his line of thinking. The bushes loomed closer on her right. Just a couple more feet and she could make a run for it.
Serena snorted. “I didn’t have to tell them anything. Your incompetence was visible enough all on its own.” The words were harsh, but they held more than a little truth. Nate had always been a decent student, but never a great one. He was lazy—expecting life to hand him everything he wanted. It probably never occurred to him that he might have gotten what he wanted if he’d worked hard to prove himself as the right leader for the company. No, it was easier to blame her than to admit that he’d brought this on himself. “You always were hopeless when it came to people. Why in the world would they leave the control of a global company worth billions in the hands of a man who can’t even make small talk at a party?”
“Fuck you!” Nate yelled again and raised the gun. “The CEO position belongs to me and I’m going to take it back today!”
“Serena?” a voice called from somewhere in the distance and she nearly fainted, she was so glad to hear Noah. “Are you out here?”
Nate’s eyes widened slightly and her gaze flickered to the barrel of the gun. He was going to shoot. Her brain registered that a split second before the bullet fired, giving her only a brief moment to duck and run at the bushes ahead.
The next few moments happened in slow motion. She was aware of the sting and scratch of branches against her skin as she dove for cover. The whizz of a bullet past her ear, just missing her. The pounding of feet and shouting voices as Noah and Levon came tearing across the park toward Nate.
She barely heard her brother shout over the thundering blood in her ears, but the next shot she heard loud and clear. Then Noah was there, pulling her out of the bushes and into his arms, while Levon stood over Nate’s prone body lying in the grass, blood pooling from the gunshot wound in his head.
“Did you…” she asked, burying her face against Noah’s chest, the sight of her brother dead seared in her mind forever.
“No. He shot himself before we reached him,” Noah said, his low voice settling into the black hole of grief and sorrow inside her and filling it somehow. Not completely, but enough. “I’m so sorry, Serena.”
Wrapping her arms tighter, she clung to him like the rock he was to her. “Please, don’t go.”
“I won’t,” he said, burying his face in her hair and holding her closer. “I’m not going anywhere. Not now, not ever.”
They stood that way for a long moment, until the wail of sirens drew close. Levon must have called them, Serena supposed, but she didn’t care about that. All she cared about was that all this was finally over and Noah was with her. He’d sworn to stay with her forever.
As law enforcement arrived and cordoned off the area, Noah led her over to one side of the scene until the cops could question them. He held her hand in his, warming her cold fingers with his warm ones, just like he had that first night in the safe house. Just like he would for many years to come, she hoped.
She gazed up at him, still not quite able to believe everything that had happened. “Did you mean it?”
His dark brows drew together. “Mean what?”
“About staying. With me, with Gracie.”
Noah gave a solemn nod. “I did. I love you, Serena. I spent all these weeks trying to deny it, but when I saw him with that gun held on you, I knew I couldn’t live without you. Our lives don’t seem like they would mesh, and it won’t be easy, but goddammit, I want to try. You and Gracie have my heart. My whole heart and you always will, if you want it.”
Serena couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off her face, despite her tears. “I love you too, Noah Wild. Even if you are exasperating and broody and stubborn to a fault. And yes, I’ll have your heart because you’ve had mine for weeks. Probably since our one-night stand a year ago, if I’m honest. Things were different between us from the start, special. And I don’t care how hard it will be to make things work, I’m up for the challenge. I’m a warrior, remember? I don’t give up, especially on things I love.”
She rose up on tiptoe and he lowered his head, meeting her halfway for a kiss. They were truly partners in this and she wouldn’t want it any other way. When they finally pulled apart, it was to the clearing of a throat.
Levon stood a few feet away, looking anywhere but at them. “Uh, when you guys have a chance, the cops want to talk to Serena.”
“Right.” She pulled away from Noah and smoothed a hand down the front of her shirt, picking at a few stray leaves from the bushes still stuck to her clothes and hair. “Is Olive with Gracie?”
“Yeah. She and the girls are
