Page 113 of All I Feel

This woman was crazy. “So, you’ve been trying to kill me because a lying, cheating man wants nothing to do with you?” I jerked my head toward the man with the gun. “You had that man try to run me off the road two days before you had someone come into my home and turn on the gas in an effort to end my life in a fiery blast?”

“What?” Ryan seethed. “Georgia, please tell me you didn’t do that.”

There wasn’t an ounce of remorse on her face. “Tessa’s in the way. She’s got to go. And that’s why I asked you to come here. I figured you’d want your chance to say goodbye,so you can get whatever closure you need. Then we can finally be happy when she’s no longer in the picture.”

Ryan’s eyes darted between Georgia and me. His panic was plain as day. When he finally settled his gaze on her, he pleaded, “Don’t do this. You’re better than this. And Tessa has made it clear she’s moved on. I’ve made the decision to respect that and allow her to have the happiness I should’ve given her from the start.”

As relieved as I was to hear that, it was such a shame it had taken him until now, until this dreadful moment, to figure that out. Especially considering it was unlikely I’d be able to enjoy the happiness I’d found if Georgia got her way.

Georgia shook her head and moved to the man with the gun. She took it from him and positioned her body between me and Ryan. “As long as she’s alive, you’re always going to want her. And that’s a risk I’m not willing to take.”

“Georgia,” Ryan called, a warning in his tone as he took a hesitant step in my direction.

“Don’t move,” Georgia ordered.

He halted, holding his hands up. “Okay. Okay. Just relax. Think about this. If you put the gun down, we can walk out of here together. Forget this happened.”

My insides were trembling. Thoughts of my family, friends, and Ace randomly popped into my head, and all I wanted to do was focus solely on them. But I couldn’t. Because a lunatic of a woman wanted to kill me, and it seemed my ex-boyfriend had some small shred of decency in trying to prevent that from being my fate.

Georgia narrowed her eyes on Ryan and lifted the gun in my direction. Tears spilled down my cheeks.

“Georgia, don’t,” Ryan warned her.

“Please,” I begged.

“Shut up,” she demanded.

I couldn’t sit here and die like this. Forcing myself to my feet, I said, “Georgia, please don’t do this.”

Ryan attempted to reassure her. “Just put the gun down. I’ll walk out of here with you. We’ll leave together.”

“Shut up!”she shouted. “Both of you. Just shut up!”

There was a loud crash off to my left, but before I could see what it was, my body was flung back onto the couch, Ryan’s body colliding with mine as he grunted, and a gunshot rang out.

I screamed as Ryan’s eyes locked onto mine. He looked pained and remorseful, his thumb stroking my cheek. “I’m so sorry, Tessa.”

No words came out. I was attempting to process what was happening, and one moment, Ryan was there. The next, he was gone.

“Tessa?” Ace was towering over me, fear and relief and something else written all over his face. He scanned my body for signs of injury. “Are you hurt?”

Tears spilled down my cheeks, but I shook my head and rasped, “No.”

Ace tore his attention away from me, his eyes cutting to Ryan, who was on the floor, wincing in pain.

“Yeah, Ryder, I need backup and units sent to Tessa Stone’s place. We’ve got a situation, and we’re going to need an ambulance.”

Blinking away tears, I lifted my gaze and saw Kash Cunningham standing with the gun that had been pointed at me only moments ago. He had it pointed at both Georgia and the man who’d kidnapped me.

“All threats have been neutralized,” Kash said. “See you soon.”

While Kash shoved his phone into his pocket, he asked, “What the hell happened here?”

Ryan groaned, my eyes dropping to him again, and that’s when I noticed blood was pouring out of him.

“She shot him,” I said. “She was going to shoot me, but he jumped in front of me.”

“Fuck,” Ace clipped, dragging his fingers through his hair.