Burned Hearts (Burned 3)

tion from where Tom stood. He was supposed to be with Jackson Conaway, our lawyer, working out some logistics for when the trials started and Dane was fully sequestered.

In a menacing tone, Amano added, “If it were up to Dane, he’d save the bullets and kill you with his bare hands. I’ll be sparing you the drawn-out agony by simply shooting you in the head.”

I gasped.

Amano must have deduced from his grilling last night that Tom was the culprit, our breach in security. Now apparently Amano had crept up behind Tom, but Christ, I couldn’t see a thing! All I knew was that a standoff ensued … and I didn’t expect Tom to amiably surrender and back away. These people didn’t operate that way. It was all or nothing when it came to this precarious endeavor.

My stomach knotted. I reached out for Kyle, my fingers curling around the material of his tight tank top at his spine. I leaned toward him, needing the support. My knees nearly knocked together and I swayed a little as horror rolled through me.

Kyle muttered, “Step back, Ari.”

“Behind the counter,” Dane added. “Crouch low.”

I was afraid to move. Too petrified to move, what with a gun pointed at my husband, and Kyle in the line of fire as well.

“Do it,” Kyle insisted. “He’s got no clear shot of you. Trust us.”

I did—explicitly. That didn’t keep me from shaking from head to toe.

“Ari,” Kyle practically snarled. “Fucking do it!”

I released his shirt, hunched down, and crept to the end of the island, hunkering further, not daring to steal a peek around the corner for fear there was some small gap between Dane and Kyle that Tom could aim through to get to me.

Then I remembered there were tall glass patio doors behind me, so I spared a glance over my shoulder and watched in the reflection of the panes as the impasse unraveled.

“Stand down,” Dane said to the gunman.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Is whatever they’re paying you really worth this?”

Tom shook his head. “It’s not the money. They have my wife and kid.”

Oh, my God!

“Dane.” That one word wrenched from my mouth and filled the quiet room.

“Fuck!” he yelled, enraged. I could practically feel the angst radiating from him. “Who the hell contacted you? Was it Bryn Hilliard?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t say. Obviously he’s high enough up the chain of command to capture Candace and Ruby, and instruct me on what to do in order to get them back safely. He put them on the line briefly and they sounded terrified, so he wasn’t bullshitting me about kidnapping them.”

“Goddamn it.” Dane’s fury reverberated within me.

“You really think I would have chosen this?” Tom insisted in a low tone. “You really believe I would do this if I had any choice whatsoever?”

“Jesus Christ!” Kyle’s violent outburst scared me all the more, because he was a bit of a loose cannon while he still learned the bodyguard ropes. There was no telling what he might do to save me. The very reason I’d asked him on more than one occasion to reconsider this new quest of his to protect me when Dane couldn’t be here with us and when Amano had FBI business to attend to.

“They forced my hand,” Tom continued. “That’s the only reason I let someone on-property to plant the snakes. The only reason I’m standing here, pointing a gun at you.”

“You won’t hit your mark,” Dane said. “I won’t let you. It was a good attempt, but you’re not getting to Ari. Whatever happens to your family because you failed is on you.”

“I know that.”

Despite Dane’s cold words, I suspected his mind worked feverishly with how to get Candace and Ruby out of the clutches of Hilliard’s henchmen. Dane wouldn’t let them suffer if there was anything he could do about it.

I watched as Tom’s arms dipped in defeat, in surrender. My eyes squeezed shut from relief—and to fight back tears.

He wouldn’t shoot Dane.