"You're pregnant. You have to protect your child. He comes first."

"But you've always come first," Dani said, tearing up again.

"Well, now I come second, maybe third. I might let Steve go ahead of me, too," I said lightly. "But our relationship is as close as it ever was. We're two halves of a whole."

"You're my better half."

"You're mine," I said, feeling emotional as it was starting to sink in how close I'd come to losing her.

"I can't believe that man is our father or that Rachel is our mother. I don't know what to think about either one of them. They both seem horrible," Dani said.

"Rachel did try to save us. She took that bullet, so we could get away."

"But all the other things she did…" Dani shook her head in bemusement. "And what about Mom? What was her role in all of it?"

"We still need to find that out. I'm pretty sure it was Rachel who brought the trouble and Mom who kept trying to save her and save us."

"But Mom had stolen jewels in her house," Dani said. "Right?"

"Yes, she did. We'll figure it all out. What's important now is that we're safe, and Mom and Rachel are safe, too."

"You don't think there's anyone else who's going to come after us?"

"I really hope not," I said.

When we arrived at the hospital, we were checked out by an ER doc who ordered brain scans for both of us as well as an ultrasound for Dani. My tests were done about an hour later. I was diagnosed with a mild concussion and told to take it easy for the next forty-eight hours. After being released, the nurse wheeled me into the lobby of the ER, and I found Kade pacing by the window.

He immediately came toward me, taking my arm and ushering me into another chair, his gaze filled with concern. "What's the prognosis?" he asked.

"I'll be fine. I just need to rest for a few days. Dani is getting the baby checked out. Hopefully, she's all right. Do you know anything about Rachel?"

"She's in surgery. Her wound is not life-threatening."

"That's good. What about Max?"

"I thought his name was Mark," Kade said.

"That's the name he gave me, but it was a lie. His real name is Max Davino. He's part of some criminal organization in New York."

"New York, huh?" Kade's lips tightened.

"Yes. Is he in surgery, too?"

"No. He didn’t make it. He died in the ambulance."

I let out a breath at his words, not even sure how to feel about that news. The man would have killed me if it hadn't been for Kade. But that man was also apparently my biological father.

"Okay," I said, the word seeming woefully inadequate, but it was all I could come up with. "What about the other guy?"

"He was arrested and taken down to the station."