The wind rustled through the trees and whipped through the tall grass around them. Nature itself drew in its breath on a heavy sigh as it waited upon the handsome and undoubtedly nervous young man to complete his plans. The object of his focus stood, a few feet from him, a vision in the soft light, her wheat blonde hair luminescent as it danced idly about her softly feminine features. Moments before they?d been hiking, their damp hands clinging together as he?d drawn her deeper and deeper into the forested area in search of the perfect spot. Upon breaking through the tree line to arrive upon this serene little glen he?d stopped their romantic trek, out here away from civilization, and was even now crouched down digging in his satchel.

He needed privacy. Needed to take her somewhere intimate and alone. It was to simply be the two of them and as she surveyed his choice of locations she couldn?t deny the perfection of his choice. The moonlit valley sparkled in serene isolation and any chance of interruptions remained miles away.

She felt her throat close off as the butterflies in her stomach became more insistent, her heartbeat racing. All the hints had been there: The portents and the signs that had unveiled his intentions. She?d discovered the receipt of the engagement ring. She?d overheard the conversation with his mother as he explained that she was ?the one.? And she?d seen through his pretense of this getaway. She knew exactly what was coming and as she contemplated the meaning of his actions she felt tears stinging her lids, ?Paul?don?t.? She whispered silently, the agony of it swelling inside her, a monstrous parasite eating away at her heart until she could no longer stand the clamped lipped silence of her fraudulent smiles.

?Halston.? His voice drew her from her inner torment and she fought back the flood of tears as she turned to fully face him. His fingers had found the box within his satchel but remained hidden as he worked up the courage to go through with this life-altering decision. Could he do it? Could he seal their fates so completely?

A tremulous smile pulled at her lips as she braced herself, feet spread slightly apart in her worn and comfortable hiking boots. ?Paul??

He was having a hard time looking up at her. His throat worked to swallow against the constriction and she felt a surge of emotion that nearly destroyed her. The tight rein she had on her control weakened as she watched him fight for his own conviction to follow through with his decision.

The tension in his agile body warned of the emotions he was struggling with. She knew that body, had loved that body and let it love hers for almost a year now and as his forearm tensed in preparation she whispered, ?I?m pregnant.?

A hand fluttered in instinctive maternal motions near her flat stomach even as she cursed herself for that weak revelation. He jerked as if she?d struck him and she watched his shocked eyes leap up to find hers. The harsh rigid set of his jawline illuminating the flood of emotions he warred with.

For just a moment?a single moment?.she allowed herself to believe that it was enough. There was something in his gaze that struck her painfully throbbing heart and had it kicking into a rapid pace that revealed her hope.

And then she saw it, the hardening of his resolve and with his decision made he pulled his hand from the satchel. The glint of precious metal was dark and foreboding in this enchanted setting. The shape, the cold snubbed nose of the gun, all wrong for this. So wrong.

Halston felt something shatter within her chest as she stared at the man who had deliberately led her to believe that he was leading her out here to propose. Who had planted every small piece of silly little evidence for her to find. Who had, it would seem, led her on with every intention of performing this cold and cruel betrayal.

?Halston, I?m sorry.? His voice trembled even as his hand remained rock steady and she stared down the business end of a Glock with the same eyes that had gazed up at him full of hesitant and uncertain affection.

?No, Paul, I?m sorry.? She didn?t recognize that the hot slide of her tears spilling for what it signified. In fact, she couldn?t remember the last time she?d allowed herself to cry and was spared the knowledge that she shared this weakness with him, ?I?m sorry for thinking anyone could resist.?

For a moment he had the decency to look slightly ashamed and then that flickered away as he steeled his resolve. Rising up to his feet he made his final request of the woman he?d claimed to love, ?Turn around.?

?No.? She shook her head slowly and for the first time he might?ve noticed that she hadn?t lifted her hands before her, or assumed the mantle of the persecuted victim. The lean and limber lines of her body were aligned in an almost regal fashion as she met her fate.

Irritation darkened his handsome features and wanting to end this, perhaps frustrated by her denial in the face of such pressure, he snarled, ?Fine. Have it your way.? His finger clenched on the trigger and the satisfying sound of the bullet expelled?never came.

He blinked as confusion contorted his features. Twice more he depressed that trigger as if he might discover the reason for its betrayal. And then the rigid posture of his extended arm went slack as he turned the gun slightly to the side, his gaze drawn to the faulty weapon.

As his gaze drew back up toward Halston he was startled into an oath, ?F*ck!? at the sight of the gun leveled upon him, held in the competent stance of the seemingly delicate hands of his would-be fianc?.

?You didn?t even recognize the weight difference.?

His jaw worked as he tried to make sense of the sequence of events.

She nodded toward his useless gun, ?Between a loaded and an unloaded gun, Paul.?

The pain in her eyes gave him hope, ?Halston I..?

?Somehow knowing that she got to you, that you?re not a trained operative, you?re just ?you?? The quaver in her voice was disappearing as she finished, ?makes it even worse.?

A flutter of her lashes dispensed the last of the tears that spiked them and the look she delivered upon him had his bowels clenching as he recognized the implacability of her resolve for what it was.

?I loved you?? He quavered. And perhaps he meant it, in that moment, perhaps he realized what he?d given away for the right price.

The sound shattered the stillness of the forest. Three quick shots delivered a perfect trio of death as the hot pieces of lead tore through flesh, tissue, bone, and organ. Every last one of them ripped through the center of his chest, severing the aorta and the mitral valve and shredding the heart that had once been promised to her.

?And I you.?