He rested a finger on her lips. “We’re not fighting about this now—not the night before our wedding. We can fight about it later, but not now.”

“I was just going to say thanks.”

“Really? You were?”

He looked so surprised and so adorable that she laughed. “I like to think I can take care of myself, but I have a feeling that wasn’t going to end well.”

He held her so tightly that Sam felt the shudder that rippled through his big frame. “What the hell were you doing out here anyway?”

“Coming to see you.”

Pulling back, he smiled down at her. “Is that so?”

“Uh huh.”

“Um, excuse me, Lieutenant Holland,” one of the officers said. “I understand you have a protective order in place against Mr. Gibson.”

Without taking her eyes off Nick, she said, “That’s right. He’s supposed to stay at least a thousand feet from me and every member of my family.” She glanced at the officer. “Was he armed?”

The officer nodded. “Nine millimeter.”

Sam released a shaky breath. “Transport him to HQ, and if you could see to it that they delay the arraignment for about forty-eight hours, I’d be indebted to you.” She had no doubt Peter would post bail, but she and Nick would be long gone by then.

“I’ll do what I can.”

“Get Captain Malone involved. He’ll take care of it.”

“Got it. Um, congratulations to you both.”

“Thank you,” Sam said.

Nick’s guy approached them. “Sorry he got close enough to get his hands on you, ma’am. I figured you’d want me to wait until he did something to get himself arrested. I had just called it in when you came out, and things happened pretty quickly.”

“Thanks for the backup,” Sam said.

Nick shook his hand. “Take the week off. We’ll be back next Sunday.”

“Yes sir, Senator. Enjoy your wedding.”

“We will. Thank you.” Nick put his arm around Sam and guided her up the ramp to their home. The minute they were inside, he pulled her into his arms and held on tight. “This could only happen to us,” he said after a long moment of silence. “Only we could have this kind of drama the night before our wedding.”

“At least we’re never bored.”

Grunting out a short laugh, he pressed his lips to her forehead. “There is that. So what did he say to you?”

Sam wanted to forget the entire incident. If she never saw that son of a bitch again, it would be too soon. His last words would haunt her. This will never be over. She shuddered. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Matters to me.”

Reluctantly, Sam looked up at him. “He said I’m making a mistake marrying you. That you’ll never love me the way he does.”

“Thank God for that.”

Sam didn’t expect to laugh just then, but leave it to Nick.