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The second before I lost consciousness, a tear slipped down my cheek. This was going to hit him hard. He’d lived his whole life waiting for someone to love him, and now...now I had to leave him. Not wanting that for him, I tried one last time to crawl blindly, searching for my purse with my hands alone, only to find warm, coarse fur.
Another tear trickled down my cheek, and I petted Mozart until everything went black.
I softly sang Avicii’s “Hey Brother” under my breath as I hurried out to my bike, ready to get home and crawl under the covers with Remy. I’d rushed through clean-up at the bar, thinking about her warm and naked in my bed.
I’d just swung my leg over my seat when Mandy, one of the waitresses, called, “Hey, Asher. My battery died again. Could you jump-start my car; I have cables.”
With a little internal groan, I swung back off my Triumph, and said, “Sure,” just as Quinn jogged up and said, “I can help her if you want to head out.”
I was tempted to take him up on his offer. But Quinn probably wanted to get home to his wife and baby just as much as I wanted to get home to Remy.
Home.
The word swirled through me and filled me with a lovely warmth. She really was my home. And I was going to finally tell her I loved her. Tonight. As soon as I helped Mandy.
“No, you go ahead, man. I got this.” I waved Quinn away and helped Mandy with her car.
Once she was good to go, and I’d waited until she could actually drive her automobile from the parking lot, I finally fired up my baby and drove to my familiar dark alley.
The lights were on at the end of the stairwell as I unlocked the door and eased it open.
Ooh, she’d waited up for me. Even better. Grinning, I jogged down the steps and swept into the apartment, ready to find her—hopefully—naked and spread out on some piece of furniture, awaiting me...like a good sex slave.
But there was no naked Remy. And there wasn’t even a sleeping Remy on the bed. In fact, the bed was empty and made.
I drew in a sharp breath, not prepared for her to have just left me like that. Not sure what it meant, or what I should make of her not being here, I started more slowly into the apartment when my whacked-out squirrel came flying out from under the bed at me.
“Jesus,” I yelped, dancing my feet to dodge him, not at all certain what the hell he was doing as he scurried around the base of my feet and then took off again.
“What did she feed you?” I wondered with a scowl as I watched him pick up what looked like a bonbon off the floor and disappear back under the bed with it.
But a bonbon? What?
I started to investigate when only a few steps closer revealed a limp human hand on my floor where it peeked out from the other side of the couch.
“Oh God...Remy!” I raced to her, skidding onto my knees beside the still figure.
Her face was unrecognizable, swollen with a blotchy red rash. But it had to be her; she had the purple streaks in her hair.
“Oh, Jesus. No.” I scooped her into my arms and pressed her limp body to my chest, wondering what the hell had just happened. “Remy, wake up. Talk to me. What’s wrong?”
I pressed my fingers to her neck and felt a flutter. I think I felt a flutter, anyway. Fuck, I wasn’t sure.
“There’s a pulse,” I said aloud, not t
alking to anyone but needing to say it anyway.
That’s when I spotted the empty bonbon box only a few feet away. I stared at them a moment, wondering where they’d come from, before I yanked my phone from my back pocket and dialed 911. It seemed like it took them forever to answer.
Christ, weren’t emergency operators supposed to answer instantly? When a lady finally came over the line, I tried to describe everything to her as best I could.
“Yes, unconscious,” I said. “She’s all swollen and...yeah, there’s a rash.”
After a moment of listening, the woman told me, “It sounds like an allergic reaction.”
I snapped my fingers. “Peanuts. She’s allergic to peanuts.” My gaze strayed to the chocolate box. “Oh, God. It looks like she ate...I don’t know.” How many had Mozart taken off with? “There’s an empty box of maybe two dozen bonbons here. They must’ve had some kind of peanut ingredient in them.”
“Lay her flat on her back,” I was told, “Lift her legs and cover her with a blanket.”
