“Thank God.” I stretched up to kiss Liam’s cheek. “I’m so sorry. This must have been my stalker. I’m the reason you got hurt.”

“Hey. No, you’re not.” He grabbed my chin and tilted my face up so I had to meet his eyes. “This is on them, not you.”

“But it might not have happened if we weren’t together.” I let all of the love that had always been in my heart for him shine through my eyes, hoping he could see it even if we hadn’t said the words. “I want to keep you safe. Maybe you need to stay away from me for a while.”

“Hell no.” He brushed his lips over mine. “I wasn’t able to be there when you needed me in the past, but I damn well will be now. Some asshole with an obsession isn’t going to stop that.”

Chapter Forty-One

LIAM

I heard you’ve been nominated for a Golden Globe. I’m not sure how I feel about that. - Unsent text message from Liam to Kennedy

“You mean that?” Kennedy whispered, her eyes shining with emotion.

“With all my heart.” I was mad as hell that some guy thought he had the right to endanger our lives, but I wasn’t about to leave her to deal with him alone.

Asher cleared his throat. “We’re going to head out. The engine is returning to the station too. Call later?”

“Yeah.” I gave him a hug. “Thanks for patching me up.”

“No worries.” He lowered his voice. “Take care of your girl.”

“I will.”

He left, and I circled an arm around Kennedy, careful not to be rough in case she was feeling as battered as I was. I suspected I’d have some nasty bruising in addition to the laceration on my thigh, but it could have been much, much worse. We were lucky I hadn’t been driving fast and that we were in town. If the brakes had malfunctioned elsewhere, I could easily have slid off the side of the road and down a gully.

Kennedy jerked all of a sudden. “I need to call Blair. If he hears about this from someone else, he’s going to be worried sick.”

“Do you have your phone?” I asked.

“It’s in the car.”

Nate handed her his. “Use this.”

She took it and dialed the number by heart, wandering further away while she spoke with her brother.

“We’re going to need to record a formal statement at the police station and keep the car in lockup so a forensic analysis can be undertaken,” Nate said, his voice low. “If this was the stalker, it’s a serious escalation. The sooner we uncover the scumbag, the better.”

“Agreed.”

Kennedy returned, her expression strained. “Blair and Tyler are on their way.”