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My eyes grew heavy. But I didn’t want them to close. I didn’t want to stop staring at her.
This was the end, and I knew I was destined for hell. Her beauty wouldn’t be waiting for me down there. She was too good. Too perfect.
And this time, I’d let her go. I wouldn’t drag her with me.
I hated the sadness in her eyes. Hated that the last image of her would be like this. My thumb brushed along her bottom lip.
“Smile, Wife. You’re safe.” My arm was heavy as it dropped to her stomach. “Our baby is safe.”
That was the warmth that enveloped me as my eyes finally closed. They were safe.
48
Grace
It was the second time in my life that the man I vowed myself to, my husband, was shot in front of me. But it was the first time I cared.
Vander’s blood coated my skin, just like Mitchell’s. But unlike before, it wasn’t comforting. It felt like it was my own. My life fading away before me.
When Mitchell died, Vander was there.
Vander and his strong arms protecting me. Always him watching me. Sacrificing his happiness for mine. Giving me what I needed.
“Please,” I begged, hoping someone would hear me. Some higher power would take pity on me. I couldn’t lose anything else. “Please.”
I didn’t care about his cousins who’d rushed in a minute too late. Or the body lying next to us. I didn’t see them. All I saw was him.
Blood pooled around me. It clung to my clothes. My hair. His skin. It coated the sunflower tattoo on his hand, turning the delicate black and white lines a bright red.
As I held him on the ground of this dirty warehouse, I felt those strong arms go slack.
“Vander!” The scream was ripped from my chest, pulling my heart to the bloody floor with him.
49
Vander
“Should? I don’t want shoulds and maybes.”
The sound of my wife’s voice echoing in my head pulled me to consciousness. My eyes felt heavy, but I forced them open, and the most beautiful sight filled my vision.
My little Sunflower was going toe to toe with a doctor twice her size. “He made it through surgery very well. We expect—.”
“No!” She raised her hand, forcing him back. “No, expect. Tell me right now, yes or no, will my husband wake up? And so help you, god, if your answer is anything but yes.”
I could almost hear her teeth grinding together as she stabbed his chest with her tiny finger. Her red hair was tangled and matted. She wore a hospital gown in replace of the ripped bloody clothes I’d last seen her in. Bruises covered her skin, but the cuts had been stitched and bandaged on her face.
She was so fucking gorgeous I couldn’t breathe.
Or maybe that was the relief of seeing her alive. Of knowing I’d get to keep seeing her.
Or it was the gunshot I’d taken to my shoulder.
“Ma’am, with injuries like these—.” I knew he was in trouble when he started with that. My dry lips cracked into a smile as I watched her cheeks flush.
“Get out!” Her shout made my skull vibrate, but I couldn’t care. “And find me someone competent.”
I waited until the door swung shut behind him, but before I could speak, a choked sob broke from Grace’s throat. She grasped the water pitcher on the table and threw it across the room. It wasn’t as satisfying as it should have been because it was plastic. It clunked on the floor; the liquid made a soft trickling sound as it ran down the walls.
