CHAPTER 79: THE EMOTIONAL AFTERMATH
The mansion felt different when we got back. Quieter somehow, like it was holding its breath.
I stood in the foyer staring at nothing while William paid the security team he'd hired for the trial. Their voices drifted from the other room but I couldn't make out the words.
Tina touched my arm. "Kate? You okay?"
"I don't know." My hands wouldn't stop shaking. "I thought I'd feel different. Relieved or happy or something."
"You're in shock." She guided me to the living room couch. "That's normal."
"Nothing about this is normal." I laughed but it came out wrong, too high and broken. "My uncle is in prison for murdering my parents and I just stood in front of the world and told them all about it and now I'm supposed to what? Go back to work? Pretend everything's fine?"
The shaking got worse. My whole body started trembling and I couldn't make it stop.
"William!" Tina's voice pitched up with worry.
He was there in seconds, dropping to his knees in front of me. "Kate, look at me. Hey, eyes on me."
I tried but my vision kept blurring.
"You're having a panic attack." His hands cupped my face, warm and steady. "I need you to breathe with me okay? In through your nose, hold it, out through your mouth."
"I can't—"
"Yes you can." He demonstrated, slow and deliberate. "Come on Kate, with me."
I focused on his breathing, tried to match it. One breath, then another. Gradually the shaking eased.
"That's it." William kept his hands on my face. "You're doing great."
"I'm a mess."
"You're human." He sat beside me, pulling me against his chest. "What you did today, what you've been doing for months, that takes incredible strength. But you don't have to be strong right now. Not here."
Something broke open inside me. All the fear and rage and grief I'd been holding back came pouring out in ugly sobs that shook my whole body.
William just held me. Didn't tell me to stop or that everything would be okay. Just let me fall apart in his arms while Tina sat on my other side, her hand rubbing circles on my back.
I don't know how long we stayed like that. Eventually the tears dried up and I was left hollow and exhausted.
"Sorry." My voice came out hoarse. "I'm getting your shirt wet."
"I have others." William's hand moved through my hair, gentle. "Better?"
"Not really." I pulled back to look at him. "But I will be. Eventually."
"You will." He brushed a tear off my cheek. "And I'll be here while you figure it out."
Tina stood up. "I'm going to make tea. The kind with way too much sugar that you pretend not to like."
She disappeared into the kitchen leaving us alone.
"Thank you." I rested my head against William's shoulder. "For everything. The trial, the investigation, putting up with my stubborn refusal to stay safe—"
"Kate." He shifted so I had to look at him. "You don't have to thank me."
"Yes I do. You could have walked away from all of this. The contract never said you had to risk your life for me."
"The contract stopped mattering months ago."
My breath caught. "What?"
William ran a hand through his hair, a tell that he was nervous. I'd never seen him nervous before.
"When we got married, it was supposed to be simple. A business arrangement that benefited us both. You got your company back, I got the merger with your family's firm." He looked down at our joined hands. "But then you challenged me at every turn. Refused to play the quiet wife. Insisted on digging into your parents' deaths even when I told you it was dangerous."
"I was kind of a nightmare wasn't I?"
"You were magnificent." His eyes met mine and something in them made my heart stutter. "You are magnificent. And somewhere between you yelling at me for being controlling and me trying to keep you from getting killed, I fell in love with you."
The words hung in the air between us. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think past the roaring in my ears.
"You don't have to say anything." William stood up fast, putting distance between us. "I know this is terrible timing and you're dealing with enough without me dumping this on you. But after everything that happened, after almost losing you a dozen times, I couldn't keep pretending that this was still just a contract."
"William—"
"I'll sleep in the guest room tonight. Give you space to process." He headed for the door.
"William stop." I stood on shaky legs. "Turn around."
He did, slowly. The vulnerability on his face nearly broke me all over again.
"You're an idiot." I crossed to him. "A brilliant, overprotective, sometimes infuriating idiot."
"Kate I said you don't have to—"
I kissed him. Cut off whatever self deprecating thing he was about to say with my lips on his.
He froze for half a second then pulled me closer, his hands in my hair, kissing me back like I was air and he'd been drowning.
When we finally broke apart we were both breathing hard.
"I love you too." The words tumbled out rushed and messy. "I think I have for a while but I was so focused on Carlos and the trial and keeping everyone safe that I didn't let myself feel it. But I do. I love you William Dray."
His smile started slow then spread across his whole face, the first real smile I'd seen from him in weeks.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." I laughed, giddy and light despite everything. "So maybe don't sleep in the guest room tonight?"
"Not a chance." He kissed me again, softer this time.
Tina cleared her throat from the kitchen doorway. "Not to interrupt whatever this is but your tea is getting cold."
"Let it." William didn't look away from me.
"Also there's someone at the door." Tina held up her phone. "Security just called. Says it's urgent."
The lightness evaporated. William's whole body went tense.
"Who is it?"
"They wouldn't say. Just that you need to see this." Tina's face had gone pale. "William, they're from the prison."
My stomach dropped. "Carlos."
We rushed to the entrance. Two officers stood on the porch, their faces grim.
"Mr. Dray, Mrs. Dray." The older one nodded. "I'm Officer Chen. We need to speak with you about Carlos Jones."
"What about him?" William moved in front of me slightly. "Did something happen?"
"He's dead."
The words didn't make sense. I heard them but couldn't process what they meant.
"How?" William's voice came from far away. "When?"
"Two hours ago. Found hanged in his cell." Officer Chen pulled out a notepad. "Thing is, the way he was positioned, the angle of the marks on his neck, our medical examiner doesn't think it was suicide."
Ice flooded my veins. "You're saying someone killed him?"
"We're saying it's suspicious. And that you both need to be very careful." The younger officer spoke up. "Carlos didn't work alone. Whoever helped him escape, whoever he was partnered with, they might see you as a threat."
"Donovan's still in custody." William's hand found mine. "Who else could it be?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out." Officer Chen handed William a card. "In the meantime, I'd suggest keeping your security team on high alert. If someone was willing to kill Carlos in a maximum security prison, there's no telling what else they're capable of."
They left and I stood frozen in the doorway.
"Kate." William turned me to face him. "Hey, we're going to be okay."
"Are we?" My voice broke. "This was supposed to be over. Carlos was in prison, Donovan's awaiting trial, we won. But it's not over is it? It's never going to be over."
"It will be." He pulled me close. "I promise you, whoever's behind this, we'll stop them too."
But his arms felt less solid than they had five minutes ago. And when I looked over his shoulder at the dark driveway beyond our gates, I could have sworn I saw someone standing in the shadows.