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Ronan
I’m a fuck up.
Bill drove me to the restaurant where my girl was currently dining with her former lover, and I was as close to flying out of my skin as I’d ever been.
Once I had pulled my head from my arse, I’d checked my phone like Iris had told me to. There, I found the evidence of my idiocy in black and white. She’d texted me about Megan, telling me it was last minute, but she wanted me there. She wanted me to meet Megan so I could see for myself they were only friends. She said she missed me and wanted to spend the time with me more than anything. My girl was honest, forthright, open, and I hadn’t been willing to see past my petty jealousy and anger for her.
Traffic came to a sudden standstill. Bill cocked his head to the side. “There are flashing lights ahead. Something’s going on.”
I glanced at the building beside us, noting the address. “We’re close enough. I’ll walk from here. Thanks, Bill.”
He tipped his head. “Don’t mention it. Say hi to Iris for me.”
He peeled out as soon as my feet hit the ground, but I’d barely noticed. From the sidewalk, I had a better vantage of where the flashing lights were coming from. Ambulances and police cars.
Something like dread sat heavy in my stomach.
My pace quickened, passing numerous people who’d stopped to crane their necks. Just as many people were going about their business, not even sparing a second glance to the events unfolding on the sidewalk.
The sidewalk in front of the restaurant where Iris was.
With that jarring revelation, I broke out in a run, panic slicing through my lungs. I stumbled as I drew close, but only for a second. I had to get to my girl, see with my own two eyes she was safe.
As I approached, piercing shrieks turned my guts to ice.
“Ronan! You’re here. I knew you’d come for me.”
A wraith that was once Olivia Grayson lunged for me, even as two police officers held her arms behind her back. If I hadn’t been frozen already, the blood staining her shirt would have done it.
It’s her. It’s always been her. I’ve been blind.
“Ronan! Don’t let them take me. I’m yours. We’re free to be together now!” She was wild, feral, foaming at the mouth and bucking so hard her feet were off the ground. The cops dragged her away from me toward a cruiser, but she fought them every step, crying out my name.
I lost interest in what happened to Olivia Grayson the moment I spotted Megan fucking Mills sobbing watching an ambulance drive away. Charging toward her, I was blind to everything and everyone else.
“Where is she?”
Her mouth fell open, but no words came out. Reaching her for, I grabbed her shoulders and shook. I had no idea how I managed not to throttle her, but I did. Her sobs caught in her throat, and her wet eyes were on me.
“Where is she?” I repeated.
“Ambulance. She’s hurt,” she choked out.
“Alive?” I couldn’t manage full sentences anymore. Not when the answer could possibly be no.
She thankfully nodded. “That girl...hurt her. And the other one. The guy. She st-t-tabbed them.”
“The other one?”
Her swollen eyes squeezed shut. “Iris called his name. F-F-inn.”
During my time in the service, I had seen a lot. Things that sometimes still haunted me. But there had never been a greater horror in my life than that moment. The love of my life and my best friend, stabbed, hurt, bloody, and I couldn’t do a single thing to fix it. My hands, which had wielded weapons and built schoolhouses, were hanging by my side, helpless.
“Alive?”
Her breath stuttered, and my heart smashed to pieces. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
If I lost Finn like this, I’d never be the same. I would ache for him until my dying breath. If I lost Iris, I might as well have been dead. There would be no life for me without her.
