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“He’s... he’s not in a good place.” Her expression darkens. “Ace is trying to talk him out of doing anything stupid.”
“I need to see him.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good—“
“Remi, please.” Tears prick my eyes as I clutch her hand. I can’t explain it, but I need to see Cole myself.
“Okay.” She lets out a resigned sigh. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Remi hesitates, and I ask, “What is it?”
“I told him. I’m sorry, but when we realized you were gone, I panicked.”
My eyes shutter as I inhale a sharp breath.
Cole knows.
He knows I might be pregnant.
“Maybe seeing him isn’t—“
The door opens, and Ace peeks inside. “It’s good to see you awake.”
I nod, because it’s all too much.
The kidnapping. The trailer. The fire.
We could have died.
But as Ace stares back at me, I feel a strange sense of comfort. He gets it. He was there.
He almost died too.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I say, my voice cracked with pain.
“Cole wants to know if he can see you?”
“Okay.” The word falls from my lips.
“You sure?” Remi asks, and I nod. “We’ll be right outside.” She squeezes my hand before walking over to Ace. The two of them leave me alone, and, seconds later, Cole appears.
The sight of him has fresh tears burning the backs of my eyes.
“You’re okay,” I say.
He steps into the room, closing the door behind him. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” There’s no hint of softness in his face, no relief in his eyes. Instead, anger bleeds from him.
“Cole, I—“
“Shh.” He reaches me and brushes a finger down my cheek. I watch with awe as he studies my face, imprinting it to memory as if it might be the last time he ever sees me.
Panic begins to churn inside me.
He doesn’t ask about the pregnancy, and I don’t have the courage to bring it up. But it hangs in the space between us.
“I’ll never let another person hurt you, Dove,” he says quietly, his eyes burning with contempt. “He’ll pay for this. They all will.” Cole’s dark gaze lingers on me for a second longer and then, before I can formulate a reply, he turns away from me and stalks out of the room.
I want to go after him, to beg him not to do anything reckless, but fear paralyzes me.
