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Her body rises and falls as the doctor performs CPR. Cold dread covers me, and I rush to her and plead, “Bria, please, I need you more than my next breath. Don’t leave me, baby. You promised me that in the church. Remember, you said we will grow old together. Keep your promise, damn it.”
Can she even hear me? I don’t feel. I don’t scream. I just stand there, losing myself in her serene face. In my line of sight, the defibrillation machine touches her chest, heaving her upper body one more time. I close my eyes, not wanting to open them again.
The next words I hear are the beginning of my second life.
“We have a pulse, we have her.”
The room spins, everything turning black.
***
I blink and stare at the ceiling of a sterile white room with Sophia and my parents sitting at my side. Everything comes crashing back, and I shut my eyes.
“Honey.”
“I don’t want to know!”
My mother strokes my cheek, her round, blue eyes glassy. She smiles at me and says, “Damien, she made it.”
One moment I’m on the bed. The next, I jump to my feet and demand, “Take me to her now, Sophia.”
I sprint down the corridor to where Sophia points at her room and I halt to take her in fully. Bria lies in bed, her face pale, her body still frail, but alive. Which is all that matters.
I rush to her and collapse at her side, crying into her lap while she caresses my back.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m sorry I scared you. I’m here. I promised, didn’t I?”
I lift my eyes at her and ask, “You heard me?”
“I did, I just couldn’t open my mouth to assure you. Damien?”
“Yes, baby.”
“I love you.”
“I love you more.”
“Promise me, Bria, here and now, this was it, no more. I can’t . . .”
“I promise,” she answers, and a sense of peace mixed with relief washes over me.
A few hours later, the doctor informs us that without the pressure of the pregnancy on her heart, it is starting to heal again. At this news, I allow myself to breathe, to be happy at becoming a father.
The nurses bring our babies to us. Carrying them one at a time, I place the babies on either side of her. The reality of seeing my family together for the first time far surpasses my fantasy, and there’s no happier man alive than me. I would die to protect them.
It’s time to eliminate the last threat to my family and enact part two of my plan.
Chapter Forty-One
DAMIEN
With the birth of my babies and Bria recovering, I have a renewed respect toward life. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to preserve my family.
I call Liam. I have met a lot of men in my life—weak men, wannabe men, powerful men, ambitious men, cunning men—but no one like him. I have no idea what to make of him. He shows me Monica’s search on the dark web, and I ball my fists at my side.
We concoct a plan to make sure she’ll never be able to get anywhere near my wife again. There is no limit to the lengths I’ll go to protect her. It’s interesting how he and I think alike, the meticulous way in planning and the disregard for boundaries. I have more in common with him than with Alex. There’s a certain edge to both of us, a danger in protecting what we love. I know he’s dangerous—the question is how dangerous.
“Exactly how dangerous are you really, Liam?”
