“W-What!?” Charlene cried out in sheer panic and terror that her voice just went an octave higher. “B-But that would mean… they could c-come for me and k-kill me!”

“They won’t.” He snickered. “You no longer have the chance to die.”

“What?” She looked up in surprise. Her mind was in such a state of disarray that she did not manage to catch what Brendan said.

“I said, I’ll protect you. They were after you because of me, after all.”

Charlene nodded with tears streaming down her eyes. Secretly, her glee ballooned within her. Her lost limb was never coming back to her, and she would do whatever she could to guilt-trip Brendan with it. He needed to feel guilty—he needed to think that the only reason she would even lose her leg was because of him. That way, she would be more than rightful to be by his side forever.

“That reminds me…” Brendan suddenly said. “Weren’t you in the mansion? Why did you go to that unremarkable neighborhood in the first place? Had Deirdre not told Shea to tail