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His brow comes down, lines appearing across it. “I should have thought—”
“No.” I’m not going to let Cash blame himself for this. “It was myidea, after all.”
His face jerks in shock. “It’s not yourfault, Ari. Don’t even say that.”
It very well might be.But I don’t say that, I just force a smile and say softly, “It’s not yours, either.”
Cash gazes at me, his eyes softening to a grassy field tipped with gold. “Ari…” His voice throbs with emotion. “I…”
We both jolt in surprise as the doorbell chimes. The sudden noise sends my heart rocketing into my throat, and I curl into Cash instinctively.
Cash holds me to him with one arm while he reaches for his phone with the other. After a quick glance, he says, “It’s okay. It’s just Finn. He texted earlier to say he’d stop by to—” His mouth snaps shut, jaw clenching.
“To talk about the shooter,” I finish for him, as I force my heart to settle back into a regular rhythm.
He exhales heavily. “Yes. But I’ll meet with him in my office. You can stay here and relax.”
Relax? While Cash is discussing the person who shot at us? A quick snort of laughter bursts out. “Are you serious?”
“Ari.” His tone gentles, and he strokes my hair. “You just about jumped out of your skin when the doorbell rang. You’re recovering after hypothermia. Not to mention everything else. You don’t need to be strong all the time. Let me handle this.”
“No way.” I sit up straight. “As much as it scares me, I need to know. So I’m not going to hide from it.”
My stomach disagrees, nervously flipping, but I keep my gaze steady on his.
Cash stares at me for several seconds before sighing, “Okay. But Ari—” He lifts me out of his lap and settles me back on the couch. “If it starts to be too much, please don’t try to force yourself through it.”
“I won’t.”I will. I’ll let Cash protect me from some things, but not from the truth.
Although I’m rethinking that when Cash comes back into the living room a few minutes later, Finn trailing behind him. Finn’s somber expression makes my gut clench, the soup I just had threatening to make a repeat appearance.
It’s not like I’m expecting good news, likethe police already caught the shooter and he confessed to everything, but now that I’m facing the scary reality of it, hiding isn’t sounding like such a bad idea.
Finn allows a small smile when he sees me and comes over to the couch to give me a careful hug. “How are you feeling, Ari?”
“I’m feeling pretty good.” Glancing at Cash, I add with a smile, “Cash is taking really good care of me.”
Cash sits back down, wrapping his arm around me. His lips twitch. “When she lets me.”
Finn sits on the couch across from us, his smile fading. He pulls out his phone and taps a few buttons, his jaw tightening at whatever he sees. Then he says, “Ari. Are you sure you want to hear this?”
Again? What is with these men and trying to protect me from the truth?
I almost crack my teeth to keep from snapping at him. “Yes, Finn.” I swallow back my irritation—he means well, I know he does, just like Cash—and say calmly, “Seeing as how I was shotat, I want to hear everything.”
“Okay.” Finn gives me an apologetic look. “I wasn’t trying to insult you. Just with you being in the hospital and everything…”
Now I feel bad. “It’s fine, Finn. But I can handle this.”
“Let’s just hear it,” Cash says, lifting his chin at Finn. “What do you have?”
Finn sets his jaw, frowning slightly. “The security footage from your cameras isn’t going to help us. The shooter was too well-disguised. The only information we can gather is that it was likely a male, about six feet tall, probably around two hundred pounds, although that could vary depending on body composition.”
He looks down at his phone for a second before continuing, “From the location of the shooter to about where the bullet hit, it’s clear that the shooter was trying to hit one of you two. But without knowing the exact point of entry—which we can’t, since the ice is broken—we don’t know which of you it was.”
I can’t hide my shudder, and Cash hugs me closer, his arm tensing around me.
“So there’s nothing?” Cash asks, frustration edging his tone. “We have no way of figuring out who shot at me, shot at Ari, right on my property?”
