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Jack laughs suddenly. “Do you want to tell her, or should I?”
Marnie spins to face him.
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” he says, a bitter, mocking smile on his face.
“Don’t,” she whispers.
But he doesn’t have to say it. I’m not blind. I can see what’s right in front of me. The baby isn’t my dad’s. It’s Jack’s. He’s in love with her. And he just listened to her pour her heart out about my dad. That has to sting.
I don’t feel sorry for him in the slightest. Probably because he’s been holding me at gunpoint for the last hour and a half. It’s not exactly giving me warm and fuzzy feelings about him.
“Why not?” he asks her, setting his brandy aside. The glass is empty. Half the bottle is empty. “It’s not like she’s going to survive the day anyway. That is your plan, isn’t it? Have poor old Jack blow her head off, leaving you and the baby everything.”
“What?” Marnie gasps. “No, of course not.”
A movement in the hallway catches my attention. I subtly shift my gaze that way, trying not to draw attention to it. My heart leaps into my throat when I see Rhys standing in the shadows. His eyes connect with mine.
My soul cries out for him.
Even now, I love him. I don’t know what that says about me, but it’s true.
He lifts his finger to his lips, warning me to be quiet.
I blink, hoping he knows that means I understand, and then slowly shift my gaze back to Marnie and Jack. They’re still arguing. Marnie’s rambling, trying to convince Jack that her plan is his plan…whatever his plan is. I’m not too clear on that. All I know is that it involves killing me. Probably Rhys too. Who knows at this point?
They deserve each other. I hope they rot in prison together.
“Then why not tell her?” Jack says, his eyes locked on Marnie.
“She’s been through enough, Jack,” Marnie says, her voice soft. For the first time, I detect a hint of…guilt. As if she actually regrets her choices. Maybe she does. But it didn’t stop her from making them. “Can’t that be enough? Please?”
Jack eyes her for a moment and then gives in. He leans back in his chair. When he does, his gaze shifts toward the hallway. I know the minute he spots Rhys in the shadows. His eyes widen in surprise, and he lifts the gun.
The next moment, all hell breaks loose.
Marnie screams as an explosion detonates and smoke rapidly fills the room. A shot rings out and then another. Something flings my chair to the floor. No, not something. Someone. Rhys. He dives on top of me, covering me with his body as Jack starts shooting.
“Stay down, songbird,” he whispers in my ear. “Stay down.”
The next minute, he’s gone, prying himself off me.
I struggle against the tape, trying to fight my way free of the chair, choking on the noxious fumes filling the room. It burns my throat, making me gag. Marnie is still screaming. Someone is cursing. Jack? Rhys? I don’t know. I hear someone land a blow and then glass shatters.
“Reach for the sky, motherfucker!” an unfamiliar voice booms and then. “Oh, shit.”
Another shot rings out.
The room goes silent.
“Rhys?” I scream. “Rhys! Rhys!” I lunge against the tape holding me hostage, desperately trying to free myself to get to Rhys. He has to be okay. He has to be okay. Please, God. Please. “Rhys!”
He appears like a mirage, falling to his knees beside me.
I sob his name, so weak with relief I nearly black out.
“I’m here,” he says, cupping my face between his palms. “I’m right here.”
“I thought… I thought…”
“I know. I’m here.” He picks me up, chair and all, and rises to his feet. “Don’t look, songbird. Don’t look,” he croons, burying my face in his shoulder.
I don’t look. I don’t have to look. I can hear Marnie sobbing brokenly. I know Jack is dead.
“Kincaid, find me some fucking scissors!” Rhys roars, carrying me out of the house into the fresh air. He sets my chair down on the front lawn. Sirens wail, red and blue lights ripping apart the night. It’s chaos, but all I see is Rhys.
He sinks to his knees in front of me, pressing his face to my chest. “I thought I lost you. Christ, I thought I lost you,” he groans, his whole body shuddering.
For a minute there, I thought I lost myself. I thought I lost him.
“I’m right here,” I whisper, tears of forgiveness falling down my face. “I’m right here.”
