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"I should get soruffly

"I'm sure it will be fine It's a shallow cut"

He nodded "For a second I thought he'd scarred you I would have killed hiroan

Blake stared at Caroline "If you ask me to, I will kill him"

"Oh, no, Blake No Not like this"

"What the hell do you mean, not like this?" Oliver snapped

Caroline looked down Obviously, he'd regained consciousness Or perhaps he'd never lost it She said, "I wouldn't mind, however, if you booted him out of the house"

Blake nodded "Gladly" He picked Oliver up by his collar and the seat of his pants and strode out into the hall Caroline scurried after hiistrate! See if I don't! You'll pay for this!"

"I aistrate," Blake bit out "And if you trespass on ain, I'll arrest you myself" With that, he tossed him out onto the front steps and slaarded his wife, as standing in the hall, staring at him openmouthed There was still a bit of blood on her cheek, and soers His heart clenched He knew she hadn't suffered a serious injury, but somehow that didn't matter Prewitt had hurt her and he hadn't been there to prevent it

"I'm so sorry," he said, his voice somewhere between a whisper and a murmur

She blinked "But why?"

"I should have been here I should never have let you see him alone"

"But you didn't even knoas here"

"That's not the point You are ently, "you can't save the entire world"

He stepped toward her, knowing his heart was in his eyes, but so this weakness "I know that I only want to save you"

"Oh, Blake"

He gathered her into his arms and pulled her close, heedless of the blood on her cheek "I won't fail you again," he vowed

"You could never fail me"

He stiffened "I failed Marabelle"

"You told me you'd finally accepted that her death wasn't your fault," she said, wiggling free

"I did I do" He closed his eyes for a moment "It still haunts me If you could have seen her…"