“I hate to just leave Mark in jail,” Piper said as she slumped back in Eric’s car. “I mean, he was trying to help me. Trying to stop Dante!”

“I’ve already called Kendrick Shaw. He’ll be at the station with Mark by now.” Eric cranked his Benz. “Don’t worry, Mark won’t be alone. Layla isn’t about to railroad him. She’ll find the truth. She always does.”

Weariness pulled at him. If Mark had just stayed back, Eric’s team could have contained Dante. The cops could have taken him in to custody. But the night had ended in more bloodshed. More death.

“Did Dante have a stab wound?” Piper asked quietly. “In his chest? I mean, that’s what we were looking for, right? Because Ben was able to stab his attacker…”

Eric had been able to get the answer to this question at the gallery. “One of the cops told me that he did.”

A low sigh. “Then that’s the end, isn’t it? The proof we needed? Everything is over. Layla just has to release Mark, and then life can go back to normal.”

Eric didn’t want things to go back to the way they’d been. He wanted better. He wanted different. He wanted her.

He’d had Piper in his home and in his bed. Finally, really, truly in his life, and he didn’t want to let her go.

So how was he going to convince her to stay?

***

“You’re my lawyer?” Mark frowned at the slick guy beside him. A fellow that practically oozed cash in a suit that smelled of money. “Since when?”

“Since Eric Wilde hired me.” The guy flashed him a million-dollar smile. “My name is Kendrick Shaw, and I am not only the best criminal defense attorney in Atlanta, but I’m the best on the whole East Coast.”

Uh, okay. The guy was definitely confident.

Kendrick straightened his already straight suit. “Now let me do most of the talking when the cops come in. The less you say, the better it is.”

“I killed Dante—”

“Jesus, see, that’s why I just told you…the less you say, the better it is.” Kendrick puffed out his cheeks. “You acted in self-defense that’s what you did. There was no killing involved. You saw a break-in at your friend’s gallery.”

Mark nodded. “I knew someone was inside.”

“You called Eric Wilde to alert him.” Kendrick’s eyes were hard. “That’s what Wilde told me.”

Mark gave another nod. “I wanted him to know what was happening.”

Kendrick’s hands motioned vaguely in the air. Sort of an I-Need-More gesture. When Mark didn’t add more, Kendrick said, “And because you were afraid the perp would get away. That’s why you rushed inside. You didn’t want him to get away, so you went into the gallery.”