For Bree, she was already getting hers in a way. She would have a hard road ahead with physical therapy and surgeries to mend her bones, but she had love. She had Dallas, who thought the absolute world of her, and she had her second chance at a baby.
"What's funny?" Archer asked, his thumb stroking over my cheek and coming away damp.
I met his gaze, searching his ice-blue eyes and remembering how cold and cruel I used to find them. "Just contemplating what our future might look like," I admitted.
His brow twitched. "Our future?"
I gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Yeah. Mine, yours... Kody’s, and Steele's. Ours. Is that a problem, D'Ath?" A touch of sass lit my tone, and I found I was slowly wading out of the numb haze I'd fallen into the moment my fingers touched the handle of the gun.
Archer's gaze narrowed slightly, then a grin tugged at his lips. "I wouldn't have it any other way, wifey." He cupped my face in his hands, kissing me tenderly, like an unspoken declaration of his love. Fucking hell, I thought shitty angry Archer was overwhelming? He had nothing on open, honest, and in-love Archer.
I scoffed a laugh. "You're such a liar," I accused him with an eye roll. "You hate having to share me."
He kissed me again, possessive and demanding, as his teeth pulled on my lip, making me moan.
"True," he admitted. "But I'll do anything to see you happy, Princess. Fucking anything."
"Arch!" Kody called out, coming through from the garage with his phone in his hand. "You're going to wanna hear this." He sat on the step beside me. Steele joined us, wiping blood-tinted, soapy water from his hands with a rag.
Kody held his phone out in front of us, the speakerphone icon lit up. "Alright, go ahead, Sampson, I've got you on speaker."
"Right then," the man on the other end said. "I'll send through documentation images shortly but wanted to give you a quick briefing. This guy was definitely the stalker you've been hunting. His bedroom held all kinds of incriminating evidence. Copies of your girl's schedule, printouts from security footage, codes for all our gates and surveillance systems. Boss, there's some creepy-ass dolls here, all with their hair dyed pink." He paused, exhaling heavily, and that creeping numbness froze me over again. "There's more. I'll package it all up anyway, but it looks like this kid has been obsessed for a long time. And I found different passports and licenses, all with different names and dates of birth. He could have been anything from eighteen right up to thirty-two."
The shocks weren't even hitting me anymore. It was all just noise because I'd heard what I needed to know. Scott was guilty. I hadn't just shot an innocent guy out of panic and paranoia.
Kody wrapped his arm around me, sensing I needed the comfort. Maybe because he was crazy intuitive.
"Thanks for that, Sampson," Kody said to the guy on the other end. "Box it all up and bring it back. We can have a more thorough look here."
"You got it, boss," the man replied.
Archer spoke before the call could end, asking the other pressing question. "Sampson, any signs pointing at a coconspirator?"
"None," Sampson replied, "Nah, this is a solo job for sure. Everything here screams sexual obsession, and those freaks don't play nice with others."
"Thanks," Archer replied, his tone edged with relief.
Sampson drew a breath, then hesitated like he had something else he wanted to say but second-guessed it.
"Something else?" Archer asked, frowning at the phone.
The call rustled slightly, maybe from Sampson releasing that breath in a sigh. "Yeah, boss. Just... this is some fucked up shit. If it were my girl..." He broke off, making a sound of disgust. "I understand this is crossing the professional line here, but you three better treat that woman like a goddamn queen the rest of her life. No one should have this crap happen. The fucked up psychological shit that this whack job has been cultivating? That's way worse than physical pain."
There was a pause, and my eyes burned hot with unshed tears.
It was Steele who answered, though. "That's exactly what we intend to do, Sampson." His eyes were locked on me, though, not the phone.
I didn't hear what their security guy replied before Kody ended the call, my gaze captured by the deep sincerity in Steele's eyes. He meant every word of that promise, and it warmed my cold heart.