Lexie finally had her one last opportunity to see the ring and the necklace that had brought Coop into her life. It still seemed odd to her that the necklace her grandmother had worn with her housecoat was now being sold for a small fortune.

She shook her head, amazed before turning back to Amanda. “Thank you. I really was curious about them.”

The lights above began flashing and a voice on the loudspeaker announced that the auction would begin in five minutes.

“Ma’am, I have your drink,” a waiter said, speaking to Amanda as he arrived with a glass of red wine on his tray.

Amanda shook her head. “I’m sorry but I didn’t order anything.”

He cocked his head to one side. “Well, someone ordered red wine. I thought it was you.”

“I don’t drink red. Lexie? Would you like it instead?”

Before she could answer, a woman carrying a tray filled with champagne tripped and fell into the man holding Amanda’s supposed drink. The red alcohol spilled all over Amanda’s beautiful dress, while the other waiter’s glasses full of champagne also fell to the floor, crystal shattering and champagne splattering everywhere.

Amanda jerked back, stumbling into the jewel-laden table before righting herself.

“Here, let me help.” Lexie knelt down for the pile of napkins that had also fallen to the floor. As she bent lower, she saw the waiter reach out and snag the ring from the table and slip it into his pocket.

She blinked, absorbed what she’d seen and immediately stood and called out. “Security!”

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The waiter froze.

“That man took the ring!” Lexie yelled.

He turned to run, realized he was surrounded and the next thing Lexie knew, he’d grabbed her, yanking her against him. Something sharp pricked the skin on her neck.

He had a knife.

And he had her.

COOP SPOTTED CHARLOTTE and Sylvia in the crowd. He hadn’t seen the women yet this evening and he wanted to say hello.

They noticed him as well and waved.

He inclined his head and made his way across the floor.

“Ladies, don’t you two look beautiful tonight,” he said to them.

They both blushed and fluttered their eyelashes, pleased with the compliment.

“Thank you! I wanted to wear my magenta dress but Lexie and Sylvia thought this dress did wonders for my skin tone.”

“The other dress made her look like a Spanish hooker,” Sylvia explained.

Charlotte glared at her.

“Well, it’s the truth!”

Coop laughed. “You made the perfect choice for the evening,” he assured Charlotte. “So. Have you heard anything from Ricky?” he asked the two women.

They eyed each other warily.

“No,” they finally said at the same time.

Coop nodded, satisfied. He’d figured the other man would stay out of their lives and vice versa to keep their past history under wraps.

“Have you seen Lexie?” Charlotte asked.

Coop shook his head. Not since the coat closet, but he doubted her grandmother would appreciate what had transpired in the other room. He knew she’d been hurt by his reaction to her question and he was worried she’d left the gala alone.

Instead of telling her grandmother that, he said, “I was just about to ask you the same thing. I’ll go see if I can find her before the actual auction begins.”

“We’ll come along,” Charlotte said.

With the older women hooked on to either one of his arms, Coop strode through all the people milling around.

“I’m so excited to see where my necklace goes,” Charlotte whispered. “I hope it’s to someone special. Oh, there’s Lexie!” Charlotte pointed a few feet away, to the crowd near the auction items.

Coop turned and his gut cramped at the sight of her in the low-cut silver dress, his body immediately remembering hiking the hem over her waist and thrusting inside her. Then he’d let her walk away.

What kind of idiot was he?

Charlotte raised her hand to wave at her granddaughter.

A second later, chaos broke loose.

Glass shattered.

Lexie screamed.

Coop, Charlotte and Sylvia pushed through the crowd, getting to Lexie in time to see a waiter, one hand around her waist, a knife to her throat.

He wondered if he was dreaming, but clearly he wasn’t. Nausea swamped Coop as he took in Lexie’s panicked expression and the knife in the man’s free hand.

Amanda came up beside him. “One minute we were talking, the next…chaos!” she whispered.

Coop glanced around for Sara and found her slowly making her way past stunned guests, but the undercover security guard was too far away to do any good. Rafe, her ex-partner, slowly circled from the other side of the room, but he wouldn’t get near the guy in time, either.

And there was no way Coop could reach Lexie before the other man panicked and thrust the knife into her throat.

“He’s got the ring,” Lexie called out to Coop.

“Shut up!” He pricked her skin with the tip of the blade. A small trickle of blood oozed down her neck.

Coop swallowed but his mouth was bone dry. “Just how do you think you’re getting out of here?” He stepped toward them, his hands in the air, trying to buy time.

“Who the hell are you?” the waiter asked.

“I’m with the lady you’re holding. Now just relax,” Coop said to the man, attempting a step forward.

Lexie’s wide-eyed gaze never left his.

“Stay there!” the other man yelled.

Coop drew to a halt. He couldn’t turn and call attention to Sara or Rafe, but he hoped they’d had time to move in closer.

“I’m just gonna walk out of here,” the waiter explained, never moving the knife. “And nobody’s going to stop me.” He pulled Lexie along with him as he made his way toward the exit door.

Lexie teetered, tripping in her high heels.

“Faster!” the waiter yelled.

Coop lost years off his life. He couldn’t believe he’d found a woman like Lexie, only to lose her forever. If he’d agreed to go to Australia, she wouldn’t have been alone, an easy target.

The man reached the exit at the same time Sara approached from the other side. But before she could act, the guy shoved Lexie hard, forcing her to twist her ankle and hit the floor, while he bolted up the stairs without looking back.

Sara slipped her gun out from beneath her dress and took off after him.

Coop knew Rafe would go after her, so Coop ran for Lexie and knelt down, pulling her into his arms. He breathed in her familiar scent, grateful she was alive and well and shaking in his arms.




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