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God, she’d been right not to trust the cops. They were the ones who’d put them at risk in the first place! Tom had probably waltzed in with them yesterday and then never left. “That’s why you left the rabbit, to get inside.” He nodded with a smug smile and she wanted to scream because that was on her, she’d fallen for his trick along with the rest of them. Rose took a calming breath and said as pleasantly as she could manage, “And the paparazzi tailing me? The press leaks? Those were all you?”
His footsteps were heavy as he rounded the counter, laughing cruelly as she scrambled back in the other direction and then reversed when he moved back to his original position. “The leaks, yes. The paps I can’t claim all the credit for, but I did give them the occasional nudge knowing you would blamehim. Annoying little bastards.”
It disturbed her that she agreed. “If not the paps, then how did you always know how to find me?”
“You haven’t exactly been inconspicuous.” Tom grinned and she shivered, sensing an end to his patience soon. “I might have had to sneak around at first to get that camera in – did you know it came with audio? – but once I realized how far I could get with my uniform on, I didn't have to hide or sneak around to get a keycard for the suite. You should probably fix that.”
“I’ll get right on it,” she said dryly and then swore when the knife shook and she almost nicked herself. “What are you going to do with me, Tom?” It had been over twenty minutes since she’d first texted Noah. Unless the traffic was horrific – which was possible but unlikely at this time on a Sunday – he wasn’t coming.
He tilted his head to the side, a piece of milky blonde hair falling onto his forehead. “Whatever I want.” She swallowed thickly, and he smiled. “That alarms you, I see. But it’s okay, Rose. I know that you want me. Deep down you know I would be better to you than Blake ever would.” His face twisted as he said Blake’s name, and she knew that she’d stalled as long as she could. It was now or never.
There was no way all of the cops outside could miss a gunshot. At the very least, they would be able to find and help Blake, and if she played her cards right he might even shoot her somewhere that she could survive.
“I would rather die,” she said honestly and smiled gently as she remembered what she’d said to Blake when he’d proposed her moving in –I would rather gouge out my own eyes. Maybe she did have a flair for the dramatic after all, but if she was going to die she wasn’t going to do it being nice to this bastard.
“Bitch,” he said, swinging the gun up again and aiming at her head as his face closed off to her, and Rose swayed on her feet.
“Original,” she rasped and flinched as he cocked the gun.
“You are nothing.” Tom sneered at her, spit flying through the air as he gestured, and each wave of the gun made her shrink back farther. “You weren’t worth it. You bitches never are.”
A scuff in the doorway made her look up hopefully –Noah?
Instead, a familiar blue gaze locked onto hers as Blake snarled. “She’s worth everything.”
The world became a blur as he charged Tom, knocking him to the ground and hitting him with a punch that clearly dazed him – or maybe he just couldn’t decide who to aim for: her or Blake. They tangled together on the floor and then the gun fired with a boom of sound that made her ears vibrate, unable to even hear her own scream as Blake rolled off of Tom and onto the wooden flooring. Her hearing came back fuzzy as the sound of the front door breaking floated to her but all she could see was Blake on the floor.
She ran and slipped on her own blood as she sank down beside him and pressed her hands to his lower shoulder where the blood seemed to be gushing from, trying to ignore how warm his blood was on her toes. Tears obscured her vision and she blinked them away, trying to focus on Blake. Was he breathing?
A hand grasped her chin as Tom staggered upright and then let go as he fell again. Voices called out to her, but she was frozen. Her skin felt like ice, and Tom’s touch still burned on her face despite him letting go. He aimed the barrel at her between her eyes as he stumbled upright once more and she could see where it still faintly smoked from the bullet that had taken down Blake.
Something hard dug into her hand and it was only then that she noticed the deep, throbbing ache in her leg. The knife. She yanked it out from where it had sunk into her thigh when she fell just as Tom smirked at her, saying words she couldn’t hear past the pounding of her pulse in her ears. Rose thrust the knife forward, screaming unintelligibly, or maybe she was crying, she couldn’t be sure anymore.
The knife sliced into his arm holding the gun, and she knew she would never forget the way it tugged at his flesh. Tom’s mouth dropped open in shock even as his finger tightened on the trigger. She closed her eyes, leaving her hand pressed against Blake’s shoulder to try and stem the bleeding. Not wanting to see when her end came for her.
A bang exploded and she instinctively ducked down, her head pressed into Blake’s neck, but it had come from the wrong direction. She tried to look up, but Blake’s hand tightened in her hair, forcing her eyes to his as he breathed shallowly.
“Fuck, that hurt more than I expected it to,” he said, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or scream. “Why the tears, princess? I thought you’d be glad to get rid of me.”
She sobbed harder as she cradled his face, ignoring the bloody handprint she left behind. “How could you do this to me? How could you do this?”
Blake’s face was pale but he smiled as he closed his eyes. “Save your life, you mean? Oh, I don’t know. Had nothing in the calendar, I guess. Plus, I suppose when you’ve been in love with someone for most of your life, it’s hard to just watch them die.”
She hissed in a shaking breath. “You’re delirious. This isnotokay.” His breathing stuttered and she moaned with fear. “Blake, I–” she choked, and he coughed out a laugh.
“Wow, I’m bleeding out and you still can’t admit it.”
Dizziness swept in, and she slurred words without knowing what she was saying as her hand became weightless. Hands grasped her shoulders and the yelling resumed.
“Princess? Princess, where are you hurt?”
“Was she shot?”
“I don’t think so.”
A hand tugged Blake’s arm off her lap. “Fuck.”
Then she couldn’t remember anything except a gentle pull on her hair and Blake’s voice. “I can’t believe you outdid me taking a bullet for you. Not everything’s a competition, princess.” His voice wobbled and she sighed against him, awash in a sea of warmth as the darkness finally consumed her.
