Текст книги "Sentenced"

Автор книги: L. L. Collins

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

Bex

I knelt in the freshly dug dirt, my body lying over the small casket. No mother should ever have to do this, but here I was, seventeen years old and burying my child. If it wasn’t for Beau and Natalie, I wouldn’t have even been able to give him a funeral.

“I’m so sorry, Gibson,” I sobbed, my tears splashing onto the smooth surface of the casket. “I loved you. I would’ve done anything to protect you. I’ll never forget you.”

I’d give anything to hold him in my arms again. Anything.

“Come on, Bex,” Natalie said gently. She and Beau lifted me, both of them holding onto me while they lowered my son into the ground.

“No! No! Don’t take him away! Gibson!”

“Bex, wake up,” Natalie shook me and my eyes flew open. As soon as I realized she’d woken me, I narrowed my eyes at her.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

She frowned at me. “You were screaming in your sleep. You’re welcome, you raging bitch.”

She was right. For the last month, I’d been nothing but that to all of them. We’d had a fabulous tour and Halestorm was wonderful. We’d been getting some great press and it was more than likely that we’d be at least a blip on their radar after this. It was my dream come true, but I hadn’t let myself enjoy it.

It would be a wonder I’d have a band left at all when we got home to Florida. Speaking of that, we should be there anytime. I couldn’t wait to get to my own bed and off this bus. Actually, I didn’t care at all if I had no band when we got home. If they wanted to leave me, I’d open the door for them. When you’re a bitch and push everyone away, this is what happens. It’s what you want, right?

“You know what, Bex? I’ve put up with a lot of your shit over the years because I understood. But this? I don’t understand. You’ve been so terrible over the last few weeks that you have me wondering if I can continue this with you. Give me something. Explain.” When I didn’t respond, she continued. “What happened with Johnny? It’s about time you tell me. We’re going to be home in an hour, and when we get off of this bus, you’re going to stop acting like this to the only people who have ever been there for you, because if you don’t, you aren’t coming home with us.”

She was giving me an ultimatum. She was going to kick me out of our house and her life. “He was a fucking drug dealer.” There. That wasn’t so hard to say.

Natalie’s mouth opened and closed, her wide eyes trained on mine. “What?”

I nodded. “When I went with him to the hearing in Denver? They were talking about him having been in prison for drug trafficking.”

“Shit,” Natalie said.

“Right. I have no idea how he got out, or how he was going to get his record expunged, but I know what I heard.”

“Bex,” she said. “Did you talk to him about it?”

Nausea rolled through my stomach, and I gritted my teeth against it. “No. I left.”

“You left without saying a word?”

I nodded, trying to breathe through the nausea.

“But what if that’s not the whole story?”

“How could there be a different part to this story, Natalie? I won’t do it.”

She nodded. “Wow. I would’ve never guessed. I mean, he had that whole bad boy vibe going on, but shit. Never in a million years.”

Visions of his face buried between my legs, pushing inside of me, and kissing me with the most talented mouth I’d ever experienced flashed through my brain like a movie. Touching myself to the thoughts of the things he’d done to me wasn’t enough. I’d never have that feeling again.

Not to mention all of the things I’d finally shared with him and the things he’d shared with me. I’d been so stupid. I’d allowed myself to have feelings. I didn’t do feelings, and this was exactly why. I hated myself for not being able to turn off what had been switched on by him. He’d changed me, and I liked to think I changed him. We’d been there for each other. Now look where it fucking got me. I’d told him so much about me without even knowing who he really was. What if he told everyone what he learned about me? No. He wouldn’t do that, especially since I knew a lot of information on him, too. But did I know for sure?

Breathing and gritting my teeth wasn’t enough to keep the nausea at bay. Thinking of him made me sick every time. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom, losing what little I had in my stomach.

“Fuck you, Johnny,” I said to my bleary reflection.

I slammed the door to the bathroom so hard it rattled the wall to Natalie’s room. I’d care if I wasn’t hunched over the goddamn toilet again.

I had to stop thinking about him. I’d woken up horny, and I’d touched myself thinking of the last time we’d had sex. Just as I’d finished, I’d had that feeling again.

I was broken. I couldn’t even think about sex anymore without being ill.

I was a head case, for sure.

I brushed my teeth and opened the bathroom door, refusing to think one more second about Johnny ever again. I’d thrown up enough over the last week.

Natalie stood in the kitchen when I walked in, pouring creamer into her coffee. “Bex,” she said in her serious voice. Uh oh. What had I done now? I hadn’t meant to slam the door.

“Yes,” I said, grabbing a coffee cup and pouring the hot liquid in. I brought it to my lips, the smell of it making my stomach roil again. Fuck.

“Did you just throw up again?”

I’d decided to chill the hell out with my band after Natalie kind of put me in check. It was none of their faults that I’d been a fool and let Johnny in, so since we’d been home I’d been nicer. Mostly.

“Are you writing a fucking book?” Ok, I was still a bitch.

Natalie sipped her coffee for a moment. “Bex, don’t fucking give me an attitude. I need to ask you something serious.”

I bit back a nasty response, knowing Natalie was like the sister I never had and truly cared for me. “Okay.”

“When was the last time you had your period?”

My mouth dried out and my heart started pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears. My mind raced a million miles an hour. Holy fucking shit.

When was the last time I had my period? I had the shot, so I didn’t get it too often. I stood, my chest constricting painfully. I fought to breathe.

“Breathe.” Natalie appeared next to me, her hand on my back. “Bex. I think we need to make an appointment with the doctor.”

I heard the words she was saying, but all I could think was how epically I’d fucked up. Again.

Natalie sat next to me in the small waiting room. I’d been here many times for my yearly exam and my shots, but this was different. She’d worked her magic and gotten me in quickly.

I was in denial.

She’d bought me home tests, but I’d refused to take them. I couldn’t.

Thoughts of Johnny had kept me from sleeping one wink last night.

What the hell would I do if I was pregnant? Would I tell him?

No.

My baby didn’t deserve a drug dealer for a father. One that had gotten out of serving his punishment.

I’d do it alone. Just like I was going to do with Gibson back when I was still a kid myself. This time, I was better prepared. I had my own career and money.

“Bexley Bryant?” I stood, on autopilot, and followed the nurse through the door. They weighed me and had me pee in a cup before drawing some blood.

“Wait right in here,” she said, ushering us into an exam room. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to give you the results, and we’ll go from there.”

We sat silently for what seemed like forever, my stomach churning and my head spinning.

“Are you going to tell him?” Natalie just couldn’t sit quietly.

“Shut up, Natalie.”

“He deserves to know.”

She was pushing me. “I don’t even know anything yet. Could you shut up?”

“You know, otherwise you’d have taken those tests. You don’t want to know the answer because you already know.”

I did already know. I remembered what it was like when I was pregnant with Gibson and had no idea what to expect. I’d felt the same way I’d felt for the last few weeks.

Sighing, I scrubbed my face with my hands. How in the fuck did I get myself into this? Oh, right. Mind blowing sex multiple times a day with the hottest guy I’d ever known. So much for the shot. Fucking failure. This was the result of me being a goddamn idiot and fucking him without condoms so I could feel his skin against mine. I closed my eyes as the memories flooded my head.

The door swung open and the nurse wheeled a cart into the room. Natalie and I watched in silence. I knew what that meant. I’d been down this road before. It was an ultrasound machine.

The nurse must’ve seen the panicked look on my face. “Bexley, the test was confirmed. You’re definitely pregnant. We’re going to do a vaginal ultrasound to see how far along you are. I take it this wasn’t planned?”

I shook my head, tears threatening behind my eyes. No. I wouldn’t cry.

“You’ll meet with the Family Planner before you leave today. She’ll give you options if you want them, as well as vitamins and literature to look over.” She flipped through my chart. “I see this is your second pregnancy.”

Please don’t say it, I begged her in my head. Don’t say, ‘your first ended in stillbirth.’ I’m not strong enough to hear that today.

“Yes,” I finally managed.

She didn’t say anything else as she set up the machine. “I’m going to get the doctor. I’ll be right back.”

I felt like my head was floating above my body as Natalie held my hand while they guided the wand into my vagina. Tears pooled in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I was stronger than the need to cry. I was Bexley Fucking Bryant.

“Here’s your baby,” the doctor said, pointing out a small blob on the screen. “He or she is measuring just about six weeks. Everything looks great. I’ll print some pictures for you. The nurse said you’ve been nauseous?”

I nodded, my eyes transfixed on the small blob on the screen. Ten years ago, I’d been in a similar room hearing I was going to be a mom for the first time. I watched as the tiny heartbeat blipped on the screen.

This was my baby.

I would die before I let anything happen to him or her.

“You let me know if it doesn’t start getting better once you hit the second trimester or if you can’t keep anything down, and we’ll give you some anti-nausea meds.”

He withdrew the wand and the screen went blank. My hand went immediately to my stomach, and my eyes met Natalie’s. The tears I had refused to shed were now streaming down her face.

“You’re going to be a mom again,” she whispered.

“Do you have any questions?” the doctor asked. “I’d like to see you back next month. On your way out, stop and see Lidia in the Family Planning office. She’ll hook you up with some goodies.”

When I didn’t have any questions, still too stunned to speak, he and the nurse left me to get dressed. I stood in front of the mirror in the small dressing area, my finger running along the scar on my lower abdomen.

Had I wanted this? No. Would I do it better this time? Yes. One thousand percent, yes.

“Congratulations,” Lidia, the Family Planner, said to me. She handed me a baggie with what looked like coupons and samples. “In your bag are some samples of prenatal vitamins. Try them and tell the doctor next time you come in which one you like, and he’ll write you a script. In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to call me.”

“Thank you,” I said so softly I wondered if she heard me.

Natalie opened the door to the small office and we both stepped out. I hadn’t taken two steps before another door opened and a couple came out.

“Bex?” My head snapped up as I heard my name.

I couldn’t contain the gasp that came from my lips. It was Julia with a good-looking man who must be her husband. Her eyes went right to the bag, and her eyes widened as she realized what I was carrying. I put the bag behind my back like I could hide it from her. She was carrying the same damn bag. That must mean . . . she was pregnant? Again?

I smiled thinly, refusing to acknowledge her. I picked up the pace and Natalie walked faster, looking back at Julia. She had no idea who she was, of course.

“Bex!” It was Julia, and she was quickly gaining on me. There was no way I was getting out of here without one of us causing a scene, so I stopped.

“Yes?”

“What are you doing here?”

“It’s a doctor’s office, Julia. I’m pretty sure it’s against HIPAA rules to ask me that.”

Anger flashed across her pretty features. Her husband looked at me, confused. “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” I snapped. I liked Julia, I did. But I knew she’d go right back and tell Johnny she saw me here. She couldn’t tell him.

“It’s my business if this is my brother’s baby,” she hissed, pulling my arm until we walked out the door and into the hot Florida sun. “You left him, Bex. How could you do that? He’s been torn up for weeks. Do you know how hard it is for him to let someone in? He let you in. He felt something for you, and I know you did, too. Why did you desert him?”

Both Julia’s husband and Natalie’s faces registered understanding at her outburst. I had to get her off of my back and quickly. There was only one thing I could do to ensure she never told Johnny I was pregnant with his baby.

I laughed dryly. “You think Johnny is the father? That’s funny. According to the doctor, I was pregnant before I even met Johnny.” I shrugged, putting on the Bitchy Bex that was my fail-safe option. “I like to fuck. I don’t even know who the father is, but it was someone long before I took a turn with Johnny. As far as why I left? I was done with him.”

Natalie gasped. She knew I was lying, but she better keep her fucking mouth shut if she knew what was good for her.

Julia’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe you for a second,” she said, leaning closer to me. “You’re not much different than him, you know. You both think hurting someone is the best way to keep them from getting too close. This is his baby I know it. I can feel it. If you don’t go tell him, I will.”

“You stay the fuck out of my business,” I seethed. “He is not the father of this baby.” Wait. She said I needed to go tell him? Did that mean he was back here, in Florida?

“You have two days,” Julia said, linking her arm with her husbands. “If you don’t tell him in two days, I’ll tell him. He’s working at The Outrigger again and you know where we live. Two days, Bex.”

I had two days to figure out how to get her off of my back.

I could do this. I was Bexley Bryant, the best bullshitter ever. I could walk into this bar and tell Johnny that not only was it over, but that I was pregnant with someone else’s baby. Then at least if Julia told him she saw me, I’d already have told him. I’d created a whole story in my head about someone before him that I’d been involved with and we’d broken it off right before I started sleeping with him. I even went as far as to say we were going to be together now and raise the baby.

I could look into his eyes and not fall at his feet. Drug dealer, remember. You do not want your child around someone like that. You can’t put them in the same position you were in as a child. Hell, for all I knew working at bars was his cover to continue to sell drugs. He’d escaped his punishment once, so what was to stop him from getting right back to it?

It had been two days since I saw Julia at the doctor’s office. I’d spent so much time staring at the small blob in the picture from the ultrasound, I’d memorized every gray spot on it. He had to believe me. I had to protect this baby with everything I had.

I flipped the mirror in my visor back up and took a deep breath. Pushing the door open, I stepped out into the humidity. It was late afternoon and I knew Johnny was in between rushes now. It wasn’t the most ideal place to have this conversation, but I wasn’t going to his house.

I took two steps before I felt someone behind me and then something cold pressed into my neck. “Try to move quickly and I’ll shoot your fucking brains out.”

Fear sent cold chills throughout my body despite the heat. I didn’t dare turn my head to figure out who it was, but I knew I didn’t know the voice. He pushed me forward towards the entrance to the bar.

“What do you want?”

“Shut the fuck up. You’ll figure it out soon enough.” He pushed me roughly, almost making me stumble. “And if you move too far in one direction, your brain will be splattered all over the place. Got it?” I didn’t bother responding because it didn’t seem he wanted one.

It was broad daylight. How in the hell did this guy think he was going to get away with this, and what the hell did he want? I didn’t have any money, certainly not any worth holding me up for. I was no one. Was he some crazy fan? Or was this just random? All I knew was, I had to get away from him. My eyes swung back and forth, looking for anything I could grab to use as a weapon. I would protect this little one inside me with everything I had, no matter what I had to do.

He moved me around the door and walked along the side of the restaurant. Smart, I guessed. No use in gathering attention by walking with a gun to someone’s head through a restaurant. As we rounded the corner, he gripped my arm harder. Why was he here at The Outrigger?

“Just who I was fucking looking for. Missing something?” His rough voice boomed through the desolate outside bar. It wasn’t until Johnny’s eyes swung around and connected to mine that I realized why this guy was here.

Johnny.

The ass with a gun knew I had a connection to Johnny, and he was here to settle a beef with him.

My stomach fell. What was the likelihood of me getting out alive? I thought of my poor innocent baby, our baby. What if something happened to him or her today? I’d never forgive Johnny if I lost this child.

Johnny

“Just who I was fucking looking for. Missing something?” I heard the booming voice, and I turned to see my worst nightmare. Bex was being led into the outside bar by someone I didn’t recognize. The look on her face said it all. I could just barely make out the glint of the gun to the back of her head through her long hair. Where the hell was Cal? Someone needed to call the cops.

Who the hell was he, and what did he want with her? I couldn’t help but notice how fucking fantastic she looked in a pair of short shorts and a tight tank top. God, I’d missed her. But fear gripped me as I looked into Bex’s eyes when he stopped a few feet from me. She looked pissed, but I knew how to read her now. She was fucking terrified.

“Who the fuck are you?”

He stepped out from around her, the gun still to her head. “Someone who’s been looking forward to this moment for a long time, Frat Boy.”

My mind reeled with the name I hadn’t heard in a very long time. He was one of them. Otherwise he wouldn’t have known that name. I couldn’t recall ever seeing him before, not that it mattered. He obviously knew me.

“Ah, I see you recognize the name. I can see your wheels turning over there, good ol’ Johnny. Your girl here is very pretty. I’d like to take this one, too. Bet she’d be even better than Jill was.”

My mind rewound all of those years. No. He hadn’t been one of them, had he? I thought I’d memorized every single one of their faces. “You leave her the fuck alone.”

“You’re a moron if you think you can stop me from having this sweet pussy. See, I’ve been locked up for awhile thanks to someone, not naming any names or anything. So I’m having quite a dry spell. And this one, well, I bet she could be a great place for my dick to hide for a while. You fucked her right, Johnny? I wished you two were a little more voyeuristic so I could get my rocks off seeing her. But that’s okay, I’ll just have her while you watch. She won’t mind this cold gun to her head while I fuck her harder than you ever have.”

Bex whimpered, her reaction purely visceral. I knew there was no fucking way in hell I could let that happen to her. This asshole was here for me. “What do you want?”

“Other than a piece of this sweet pussy? Well, I want to kill her in front of you after I do her. You see, once I figured out where you were, it was easy to see who my target was going to be. You started panting after her like a fucking dog. You were too stupid to realize the notes I left were warnings. I even left her one. Now killing her is the best punishment for you being a snitch.”

The notes? Oh fuck. The cryptic notes. Of course. She’d gotten one? She’d never told me.

“You thought I was after your sister. Well, she’s a pretty piece and all, and I would’ve if I hadn’t seen this one, but yeah. I want her. Bexley, right? So here’s the plan, Frat Boy. You’re going to take us upstairs to a room you’re going to rent at the hotel. You’re going to watch as she pleases me, and then as I fuck her. After that, I’m going to put a bullet in her brain and then in yours. It’ll be beautiful, like a murder-suicide. I walk away getting my revenge on you, and you’ll both be dead.” He shrugged, the gleam in his eye enough to make my blood run cold.

“Let her go. Your beef is with me,” I said, stepping forward.

“One step closer and I blow her brains out right here. You’ll even get some of her pretty face splattered on you.”

“She didn’t do anything to you,” I argued.

“This isn’t your fucking game, Johnny,” he spat. “Call upstairs and get a room. And don’t try anything funny like calling 9–1-1. You’ll both be dead before you even get out of your mouth that you need police here.”

Goddamn, where was Cal? He had to be in his office with the door shut. It was slow; thankfully no one was in the beach bar right now. It had just rained which had cleared everyone out, and the dinner rush wouldn’t start for at least another hour.

We were alone.

Which was both a good thing and the most fucking disastrous thing that could happen.

My eyes met Bex’s, and I tried to reassure her without words. I’d do whatever it took to get her out of here before he did anything. I didn’t care if I lived to see another day, but she wasn’t going to be dragged into it.

I walked to the phone, trying to decide how I could clue in the girl at the front desk at the hotel that we needed police. The guy stepped closer with Bex as I pressed the number for the front desk. Come out, Cal. Come out. If he walked out now, he’d see the back of this guy with the gun pressed to Bex’s head. That was good for me. Cal was strong. Or at a very minimum, he could go back to his office and call the police.

The phone rang and rang. I looked out of the corner of my eye at the freshly washed chilled glasses in a stack under the bar. I nudged it just enough with my foot that it toppled over, making the most deafening crashing sound as the glass broke all over the floor. It was a risky move, but one that would for sure send Cal out here to see what happened.

“What the fuck was that?”

“Sorry,” I said, trying to act sheepish and not like I wanted to castrate the fucking guy. “I accidentally bumped the stack of glasses.”

Asshole swung around, shifting Bex so she was facing the other way. When he was satisfied that no one else was coming in, he moved back around to face me. “Don’t you try anything smart, asshole.”

Just as I heard the girl at the front desk answer, I saw Cal out of the corner of my eye. I tried to signal to him to back off without showing Asshole that someone else was in the room, but it was too late. He turned and saw Cal, and that’s when everything happened both so fast and in slow motion. I was opening my mouth to shout to Bex to run when she slammed her head back into his nose. I heard the deafening crack of breaking bones as he dropped the gun to hold his gushing nose. Bex took the moment to knee him in the groin, making him fall to his knees on the ground. The gun laid two feet from him.

I should’ve known Bex wouldn’t take what he was doing lying down. If there was any female on this Earth that could take down that thug, it was her. She reached for the gun just as I stepped up to get it off the ground.

“You thought you were going to fucking use me as a bait to come in here and get him?” She screamed, kicking him in the stomach. He fell, groaning again. “You fucked with the wrong woman.” Bex waved the gun. I wanted to step up and take it, but I was afraid to interrupt her.

She looked back at me. “What’s he doing here, Johnny? A drug deal gone bad? Was I just a pawn in your game all along?”

Pawn? Drug deal? What the hell was she talking about? “Bex,” I said. “Give me the gun.”

“Fuck you,” she seethed. “Oh wait. I did that. I was stupid, wasn’t I, Johnny?”

She was upset, that was understandable. But I didn’t understand what the rambling was about, and I didn’t have time to figure it out right now. “Bex.”

“Don’t Bex me.” She grabbed the guy by the collar and pulled him up. I would’ve been impressed at how strong she was if I wasn’t fucking terrified of what she was going to do next.

“Police are called,” Cal called. “You guys okay?”

I nodded, afraid to take my eyes off of Bex.

“Guess you aren’t so brave now that your balls hurt and your nose is broken, huh, you worthless slug?” Bex pressed the barrel of the gun to his temple. “How does it fucking feel to have a gun to your head, motherfucker?”

I would’ve laughed if this wasn’t so serious. “Bex. Let him go. It’s not worth it.”

“He was going to fucking kill me,” she said. “Because of you. What did I do to deserve that? Fall for you?”

We both realized what she said milliseconds after it came out. Her eyes widened, and she turned back to the guy. She clicked the safety, and I found myself wondering again what Bex knew that I didn’t.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t fucking pull this trigger right now and end your sorry life.”

“Don’t do it, Bex,” I warned. “You’ll never be the same.”

She turned to look at me. “And you know this how, Johnny?”

I caught movement from Asshole a second too late. He grabbed the gun and pointed it back at her.

“NO!” I shouted, jumping on him. I closed my hand over his, trying to turn the barrel away from her chest. Between her fighting to get control of it and him, it was harder than it should be. “Let go, Bex!”

We struggled for what seemed like forever before I heard the sound I dreaded ever since she’d walked in here with him. A gunshot echoed through the empty space, and Bex fell backwards, Asshole on top of her.

Police infiltrated the area. “One of them was shot!” I screamed, lifting Asshole off of her. Her eyes were closed and blood covered her chest and abdomen.

“NO!” I screamed again. “Call a paramedic!” I lifted her to me. There was so much blood. Her head lolled and her eyes blinked open as I moved her. “Bex, can you hear me? Are you shot?”

Her mouth moved but nothing came out. I laid her on the bar and was just about to lift her shirt when a paramedic appeared. “Let me check her out, sir.”

“You have to help her,” I said, my bloodstained hands holding onto hers.

He nodded. “I’ll do everything I can.”

I watched helplessly as he cut her clothes off, searching for the source of the blood. “You said the gun went off?”

“Yes.” For the first time in years, I wanted to break down and sob. But I couldn’t. She needed me to be the strong one. If she died in my arms they might as well take me, too.

“She’s not shot,” he announced. He looked down at the ground, where his partner was working on Asshole. “Must be blood from him.” It was then that I saw the puddle of blood under his body.

“He’s DOA,” the other paramedic announced. “Shot clean through the heart.”

Fucking hell. Bex was okay. “Why isn’t she talking then?”

“Shock,” he said. “It happens a lot to victims. We’re going to take her to the rig and check her vitals and clean her up. If she’s able to talk by then, we won’t transport her. If she isn’t, we’ll take her over to the hospital for a psych eval. Do you have some clothes we could put on her?”

“I’ll get some from the gift shop,” Cal said.

“We’re going to need your statement,” one of the police officers said.

I nodded, watching as they moved Bex onto a stretcher to take her out to the ambulance. “Can we walk outside first? I need to be with her.”

The officer looked down at the body of the man I’d never seen before thirty minutes ago and then back at me. “Sure. Lead the way.”

I followed the paramedic out the side door and around the building to the waiting ambulance. They lifted Bex into it and I followed, watching silently as they hooked her up to monitors. She wasn’t shot. She was okay. Except she wasn’t talking.

Her eyes were open, but she was staring at the ceiling of the ambulance, unmoving. I didn’t even think she was blinking. Shock, they said. Come back to me, Bex. Tell me why you left me in Denver, and what you were doing here today. Tell me you love me like I love you. That you can’t live without me.

I lifted her bloody hand and kissed it. “Bex,” I whispered, knowing the police were standing there waiting for me to give them attention. Well, they could fucking wait. One of the paramedics got into the ambulance and began sponging the blood off of her. “I don’t know why you left me in Denver or why you’re here today. But I love you. I swore I would never say those words to anyone ever again, but seeing you lying on the floor covered in blood made me realize I never want to live a second of my life without you. The last several weeks have been torture. I love your foul mouth, your bad attitude, the way you smile, the way you put all of yourself into your music, the way you understand me more than anyone else ever has. I love you, Bexley Bryant. Come back to me. Please.”

I waited, refusing to look anywhere but her face.

“Sir? We need to take your statement.”

“Give him a minute.” The woman paramedic winked at me. “He’s trying to get his girl. Honey, if you said that to me I’d fall at your feet in a puddle. She’s gonna admit it, too.”

I leaned over, running my hand down her silky face. “I love everything about your beautiful face,” I started. I kissed her forehead, rejoicing when she closed her eyelids and then opened them back up, her eyes fixated on my face. “Do you hear me, Bex? Squeeze my hand.”

She squeezed slightly, and I grinned. “Did you hear me? I love you, Bex. You’re okay. The guy’s dead. You’re safe.”

She parted her lips like she wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

“Is she medically okay?” I asked the paramedic.