“SAY THAT AGAIN?” I ASKED Hope – begged. “Please, just say it again, and tell me you’re not joking.”

“George Dennis is dead, Teegs,” she repeated. “He had a stroke last month and didn’t pull through. Apparently Dad forgot to mention it. You know, with all the baby preparations and all,” she shuddered.

I sank down on the bed with a thud and just sat there for a moment, taking it all in.

My first thought was Noah.

“Thank god,” I finally whispered, when my voice found me. Relief flooded my body, dominant, pungent and incredibly welcoming.

He was safe now.

He was free from their clutches.

The big bad wolf was dead.

Looking up at my best friend, I noticed the tears shining in her eyes and realized that this was affecting her too. Noah was her uncle after all, and she cared about him.

“He’s free now,” I managed to choke out, wrapping my arms around my stomach. “They can’t control him anymore.”

“I know,” she replied, sitting down on the bed next to me. “And so are you.”

“What do you mean so am I?” I asked, twisting my face to gape at her.

“Haven’t you been worried about them, you know, coming after you?” she asked, squirming uncomfortably.

“No,” I gasped, jumping off the bed to pace the bedroom floor. “But I am now!”

“It’s fine, Teegs,” she coaxed, climbing to her feet to follow after me. “The ring of fire is gone. Problem solved.” Grabbing my shoulders, she forced me to stand still and look at her. “No one is going to come looking for you,” she said. “George is dead, Teegs, dead; as in vamoose, poof, no more. It’s over.”

“But his son isn’t dead.” Fear clawed at my gut as I thought about Noah’s evil stepbrother chasing us down that night, causing us to crash. He was a bad man – worse than his father ever was.

Oh god, I didn’t want to think about J.D Dennis being out there – anywhere on this planet was too close for comfort. I didn’t want to believe it, but what if he was waiting for us. Waiting to seek his revenge. Was I living on borrowed time?

Clutching her arms tightly, I whispered, “J.D wasn’t arrested that night, Hope. What if he’s out there somewhere…waiting?”

“He is not going to ever come looking for you,” Hope assured me. “My father has one of the best private investigators in the country out hunting that prick down,” she added, “and that’s not to mention the police and his own enemies.”

“He does?” I never knew that. “Wow, I’m liking your dad a little more now, Hope.”

“You are nothing to J.D,” she told me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. “Just a kid. Another blonde. That’s all.”

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered.

Laughing, Hope led us over to the bed before sitting down. “What I mean is J.D would never risk coming out of hiding just to get revenge on Noah. It would be insanity of the highest order,” she added after a pause.

“Do you really believe that?” I asked quietly, sinking down beside her.

“Absolutely.” Hope nodded. “My guess is J.D is somewhere far away, skulking and hiding from the cops and the gangs he messed around with.”

“Yeah…” I whispered, letting her words sink in. “I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” she shot back with a grin. “Besides, do you honestly think Gonzalez and his men are going to go down without their pound of flesh? Hell, no! They will chase that little turd to the ends of the earth.”

“Oh my fucking god,” I groaned, as Gonzalez’s face entered my mind. “I totally forgot about yellow teeth.” Gonzalez had escaped arrest that night, but from what I had heard, George sold out several members of Gonzalez’s men to save his own ass.

“Before you get your panties in a twist, Gonzalez never had an issue with Noah,” Hope declared. “There’s no beef there, so you have nothing to be worried about.”

Hope was right about that. In that weird gangster way, Gonzalez had always been sort of fond of Noah. Me, not so much, but he always had a soft spot for Noah.

“Noah’s fine,” she continued to say. “You are fine. Everyone is fucking fine. I promise.” Jumping to her feet, she stretched and said, “Now stop freaking out because I’m getting a little antsy just watching you. Let’s go get something to eat. I’m freaking starving.”

“Fine,” I replied, standing up and following her out of room. But I couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that J.D wasn’t finished with us.

Not by a long shot.