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He should have been the one to make the sacrifice. She and her family had sacrificed so much for him. They loved him and took him in when he’d been all alone in the world after his parents had died. Uncle Nikolai had loved him as one of his own, had raised him alongside Diya as her brother. And, he let them both down.
Yoshi put the car in drive and closed his eyes for a moment. Saying a prayer. He whispered to Diya, to his father and mother, his uncle and aunt, to the beautiful young boys he’d known as brothers. He whispered to all of them that he would make amends. That he would make it right and then he would join them, soon.
He opened his eyes, seeing nothing around him. Seeing none of the screaming people, watching Diya’s body as she went to heaven. Seeing nothing but the American and his woman lying on the sidewalk.Shewas alive.
As Diya lay dead before him, the American’s whore was talking to him. She was nodding as if telling him she was okay. The sight outraged Yoshi. He hit the gas and pressed down to the floor, as hard as he could. The car shot up over the curb but he kept the pedal pressed all the way down.
The tires shrieked and people screamed as they passed in blurs by his window. Then the American and his whore were in his sights. Dead center in his windshield. He closed his eyes and locked his leg down on the gas pedal. His mouth formed words over and over.
Words of love and family and coming home. Words begging forgiveness for his failures. Words to his parents and his cousins and his aunt and uncle. He spoke them again and again until all the noise around him ceased and the world went black.
* * *
Sam looked up at Logan and tried to speak, but her back burned and her chest ached. What had happened? Was she shot? Did the coat work or was she bleeding all over the place? She couldn’t tell. She felt numb.
He kept saying she was okay, but was he simply saying that to try to keep her calm until an ambulance arrived or was she really all right? Confusion swamped her and chaos seemed to be breaking out around them.
It was Diya. Oh, God, Sam had been so foolish. So naïve. She thought she could handle everything on her own.
“Logan!” Chad’s warning bark came at the same time that Sam heard even more shouting from people on the street. The squeal of tires and Logan’s big body as he shoved her. Nothing made any sense.
She saw Chad’s face gripped in horror. That look on his face scared her. Then Sam felt nothing but slicing pain through the back of her head and the world washed away at the edges. The world washed away and blackness took its place. Cold, empty blackness.
Chapter 37
“Logan?” Sam tried to push the word through her lips but everything seemed foggy and thick. She wasn’t sure if she was opening her mouth and speaking or if she was only calling for Logan in her mind.
“Do you know your name? Can you tell me who you are?” Sam didn’t know who was speaking to her.
“Can you tell me where you are? Do you know where you are?”
“On the count of three.” Another voice she didn’t know. Then a three count and her body rolled to one side.
“And, roll.” She was rolled the other way. She tried to move, but felt straps clamp down on her arms. She couldn’t move her head. And then she felt the pain and a wave of nausea rolled through her belly.
“Turn her.” The voice came out clipped. Businesslike. They rolled her again just as she vomited. Then she heard Logan.
“Is she all right?”
I’m throwing up in front of Logan. That’s attractive.
“Answer me! Is she all right?” His voice was a command not a question.
“It can happen with a head wound. Stay back, sir. Let us get her to the rig. We need to get her to the hospital.”
“I’m riding with her.”
“Are you family?”
“I’m riding with her.”
Sam heard low murmurs and she was lifted. They must have acquiesced because she heard Logan talking to Chad, telling him to follow and meet them at the hospital. Then he was there, holding her hand.
She still couldn’t turn her head but she knew it was him. The feel of his large hands holding one of hers had always made her feel so small. Like a little doll.
The voices began to fade. She tried to pry her eyes open and call for Logan. She tried to squeeze his hand, but she wasn’t sure her fingers were following the instructions.
She felt like they squeezed, and yet she wasn’t sure she felt his hands holding hers any longer. Where were his hands? Sam drifted and let herself fall into the deep sleep that continued to claw at her. She would sleep for just a little while.
