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no doubt it took all the willpower he possessed—and then some—to keep from either shooting Tom himself or kicking the shit out of him. Good thing the man was already down for the count.
    Forrester and his team arrived.
    â€œDo something, quick!” I urged the doctor. “He’s lost a lot of blood.”
    â€œAri, baby.” Dane planted his hand on my hip as I stood between his veed legs while still applying pressure to his shoulder. “I’m all right.”
    This made the tears fall faster. “There was a gun pointed at your head.”
    â€œThere was one pointed at yours, too.” His gaze locked with mine, holding it unwaveringly, conveying a wealth of emotion that tore at me.
    I nodded slightly. He understood exactly how I felt—he felt the same. Had been just as horrified when I’d been the target. He just controlled his emotions better, kept a cooler head.
    â€œOkay,” I said, though my voice cracked. “I’ll be calm.”
    It was a lie, of course. And he knew it. But what good would hysterics do us at this moment? I also had the baby to think about. I hated bad vibes coming his way. So I took several full breaths.
    Dr. Forrester had brought two assistants, who joined us. One saw to Tom. The other started in with stitches to Kyle’s arm. Forrester himself took care of Dane, declaring it was indeed an exit wound.
    Of course, Kyle could attest to that—and did with a smirk. Knowing my courageous and somewhat crazy best friend, he likely felt heroic for taking part of the bullet. That worried me substantially, but Kyle had superman qualities springing to life around every treacherous corner. There was nothing I could do about that.
    I helped Dr. Forrester move Dane to a bedroom. The physician patched him up and hooked him to an IV to replace the blood he’d lost. Apparently, Dane donated regularly to his own cause and Forrester kept the supply on-hand for him, and traveled with all the necessary equipment. A haunting thought, yet a comforting reality.
    Still quaking from head to toe, I washed up at the kitchen sink, and Kyle did the same while Dane rested. The assistants donned gloves, suits, and boots to clean the mess on the floors and the island. Then they disinfected, as though hazmat duties were just part and parcel of their jobs. I didn’t want to know how true that might be, given their connection to Dane’s network.
    â€œThat was a little too close for comfort,” Kyle said after they’d left and we were alone.
    â€œYou don’t have to tell me that.”
    â€œI hate to admit it, but if Dane hadn’t been here…” Kyle grimaced. “Tom wouldn’t have let me near you, and you would have been a bull’s-eye in a wide-open space.”
    A chill raced down my spine. “Nothing like one of your own turning on you.” What a fucking nightmare this had became. “I know Tom didn’t want to harm any of us. But what other option did he have? He can’t even be sure that the people he cares about are okay. This is just so bad and wrong, on more levels than I can even process.”
    â€œI’m with you on all counts—including thinking that Horton might still be involved. Something has to be done about that douche.”
    We stared at each other as we stood at the sink, fresh towels still in hand as we dried off.
    I knew precisely what Kyle meant, what he silently implied. We’d had this discussion before—right here in this very spot, in fact.
    We had a plan. It’d been formulated after Kyle had learned Amano had been tracking Wayne’s activity to ascertain the extent of his involvement with Vale’s kidnapping plot last year. Amano had kept tabs on Wayne’s comings and goings. Kyle and I both knew the results, knew Wayne’s patterns.
    â€œIt’s not exactly far-fetched to ‘bump’ into him here in town,” Kyle reminded me, “since Horton