Resigning himself to the fact he has no choice, Houston placed the gun on the ground, never taking his eyes off Raymond. If only he had called Novelli sooner.

"Good. Now, inside." Raymond stepped backwards into the cabin, dragging CJ with him.

Houston followed and closed the door behind him. Once inside, he found himself face to face with CJ. She had a black eye, bruises on both cheeks and a large gash on her head. Her left arm was red with dried blood and the beginnings of an infection.

Her brown eyes found his causing his heart to ache more than it had ever in his life. In her eyes he saw her pain, her gratefulness that he was there and her full trust in him to do whatever he had to.

"I do have quite the dilemma now," Raymond sneered. "Do I kill CJ first and put her out of her misery while making you suffer even more or do I kill you now, have my fun with your beautiful partner then kill her?"

Clenching his fists, Houston once again told him, "She had nothing to do with what happened to your father."

He ran the knife lightly over the cut on her arm, making her hold back a scream of pain. "You'd say anything to protect her, Houston. It's not going to work with me."

"The police are on their way out here. They'll be here any second," Houston reasoned. "If you let her go now I'll tell them that none of this was your fault."

Raymond laughed. "You really should take some acting lessons. You are the worst liar." Bringing the knife back up to CJ's neck, he grinned at Houston. "I think I'll just start with her."

Nearby sirens and a helicopter distracted him long enough for Houston to pull CJ out of the way before tackling Raymond to the ground.

It took only a few seconds for Houston to wrangle the knife away and press it hard against Raymond's neck.

"Do it, Houston. Make my father proud."

He pressed it a little more until something stopped him.

"Houston, don't," CJ hoarsely said.

Houston turned his head to look at CJ giving Raymond the opportunity to regain control of the knife. Grabbing Houston's hand, he plunged the knife deep into his neck as Novelli broke through the door.

"Houston," Novelli began.

"I didn't do it, Vince," he responded horrified. "He grabbed my hand…"

"Relax, I know. I saw him do it." Novelli looked over at CJ who had managed to crawl over to a wall and was leaning against it, then back to Houston. "We've got it covered. An ambulance is right behind us."

With a nod, he walked over and sat next to CJ. "It's over," he whispered, wrapping his arms carefully around her.

While CJ's injuries, for the most part, had been superficial, the hospital had insisted on keeping her a few days. Houston never left her side.

A week had passed since her hospital release. Holding a warm cup of tea in her hands, she stared up at the stars from the deck of Houston's cabin and sighed. Most of her wounds had healed, though her arm was still bandaged and occasionally ached.

"Are you okay?" Houston asked, stepping out and sitting beside her on the bench.

She looked at him and smiled. "I'm fine. It's just nice to be out of the hospital after all that."

Houston slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

They sat in silence, enjoying each other's company when she asked in a small voice, "Was Raymond the last of them? Are there any more out there?"

Taking the mug from her hand, Houston placed it on a nearby garden table and looked her in the eyes. "There aren't any more. And if there are, I will do anything in the world to keep you safe, that I promise."

CJ kissed his cheek then snuggled against his side. "I know you will. Thank you."

Hours later, Houston felt the steady breathing of a sleeping CJ next to him. Images of her tied up, of her bleeding, cut and bruised still haunted him. When they got back to L.A., he would have Novelli check into Castanos' family to make sure Raymond was the last but until then, his first priority was CJ. Her physical wounds were healing but the emotional ones were still fresh, as were his. Tomorrow they would talk about what happened and what they went through but that would be tomorrow.

Instinctively, he tightened his arm around her and pulled her even a bit closer, kissing the top of her head. Above and beyond all else, CJ was back, safe and alive and that was enough.

A huge, huge thank you to all of you who have been reading this. Again, I cannot apologize enough for the long wait in between chapters but it was that or wait even longer to start posting :D.

You are all awesome and I have loved the feedback - thank you so much for taking the time to send it.