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"Ignore them, Kenz. Everyone who matters knows the truth."
He's not wrong, but that doesn't mean he's right either. My integrity is everything. People don't hire who they don't trust. And I'll never get where I'm trying to go if everyone believes Lyle's version of events.
I think he knows it, too. I think that's exactly why he decided to pos that video. He couldn't force me to pay him, so he'll force me out of business instead. That's what all of this is really about, isn't it? His greed. He sees me as a threat. And the more popular I become, the bigger of a threat he thinks I am to his bottom line.
The buzzing grows louder around us. I practically feel their gazes on me, boring into my back. God, I wish Zion were here. It doesn't matter how hard people stare when he's standing beside me. I don't notice anything but him. How can I when he consumes every thought in my mind?
"Oh, my God," someone blurts, loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Madden's phone rings at the same time, piercing through the room. He curses under his breath, yanking it from his pocket. Whatever he sees on the screen has him answering with a furrow between his brows instead of silencing it.
"What?" he says.
Someone behind me asks the same question.
"Lyle Taggert shot someone. It's all over social media."
I'm watching Madden's face as the girl behind me answers. I see what no one else does—the split second of horror that flashes in his eyes before he's able to school it. And I know without even asking that Lyle didn't shoot someone.
He shot Zion.
The world goes dark, even ounce of light and warmth sucked out of it at once. I stumble, a broken cry tumbling from my lips as the ground rushes up to meet me.
"Move out of the fucking way," Madden growls, whipping around cars on the interstate as he rushes toward the hospital, trying to get me to Zion. I'm in the backseat with Olive, her hand clutched in mine so tightly I know it has to hurt.
I can't let her go, though. She's the only thing keeping me from falling to pieces right now. Zion's been shot, and I can't think. I can't breathe. All I see is the scars littering his body. All I hear are his words echoing in my mind.
That's the bullet that should have killed me. Instead, it took most of my hearing.
He survived once when he shouldn't have. What if…what if…
That question battles in my mind in an endless litany. What if he doesn't this time? What if Lyle killed him? What if I never see his face again or feel his arms around me? What if my life ended in a mansion, surrounded by people who think the worst of me?
If he's gone, that's precisely when it happened. The moment I lost him.
There is no future for me without him in it. At least not one I want.
I realize right then and there, that I'm nothing like my mother, willing to sacrifice everything for any man who will have me. I'm not. But I'd give up every inch of my soul for one singular man, the only one capable of owning any part of me. It's impossible for me to be like her when there's nothing in this world I want more thanhisarms around me, his voice at my ear.
This isn't temporary or easily replaced. This is forever.
If he's gone…
"Please," I pray, tears leaking down my cheeks. "Please, God."
Olive sobs quietly beside me.
Madden blows through a yellow light outside the entrance to the hospital, taking the turn at breakneck speed. He drives right up to the doors at the ER.
I don't even wait for him to come to a complete stop before I'm jumping out. I rush inside with Olive right behind me, my heart in my throat.
"Zion Carmichael," I say, my voice shaking. "I n-need to see Zion Carmichael."
The receptionist—a middle aged woman with burnished copper hair, looks at me over the rim of her glasses. "You need to sign in."
"I need to see Zion."
Someone steps up beside me, casting a shadow over the desk. "Take her back," he growls, his voice so familiar it's eerie. I look up at him and know immediately that he's one of Zion's brothers. They look too much alike not to be related.
