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“Oh. My. God.”
How was this real? For a blissful moment there, I forgot that any of it had happened. But it was real.
I lift my hand, rubbing it over my face. The pain pulsing behind my temples matched the one in my arm.
Arm in which I’d been shot.
“Damn right! What were you thinking, Penny?”
“Maybe you should calm down, Kitty,” Emmett chimes in calmly. “She looks pale as a ghost as it is. No need to scare her more.”
“I can’t calm down, Emmett. My little sister jumped in front of a gun.A freaking gun!”
“Technically, I didn’tjumpin front of anything. He…” I suck in a breath, trying to calm down as more memories flash in my mind making the anxious feeling rise in my chest.
The feel of his clammy hand on my body. The overwhelming smell of stale sweat and alcohol. His warm breath as he whispered into my ear.
Shut up before I clip those wings of yours, little bird.
A shudder goes through me as my stomach recoils at the memories. It’s like he’s imprinted into my skin, and even though I showered and rubbed at my skin to clean off the blood, I couldn’t get the feeling of his hands on me out of my brain.
Hands wrap around me. My whole body goes stiff for a split second until I hear Sebastian’s soft whisper. “It’s me. I’ve gotcha. You’re safe.”
But are we? Are we really?
After that gun fired, everything was a haze of screams and pain.
Did the police arrest him? Was he still alive? What if he was still out there? Still trying to get his revenge? He admitted to wanting to hit us with his car that night at the restaurant. What if…
Rough fingertips graze my chin, bringing me back to the present.
“You’re safe, Penelope,” Sebastian whispers. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I nod, turning my head to the side so I can brush my lips against his palm. “I know.”
And I did without a doubt. For God’s sake, the man shielded me from a shooter. But I wasn’t only worried about me. I was worried about Sebastian too. Bobby was clearly not stable, and if they hadn’t caught him…
A throat clears, reminding me that we aren’t alone. I feel the color rise up my neck, but I still force myself to turn in Kate’s direction. “His hold on me loosened, so I thought I’d be able to slip away. Which was silly since I didn’t have my cane, and I have no idea how I was planning to get anywhere but…” I shrug helplessly. The whole situation was surreal, and with everything playing out so fast, I just didn’t have time to think it all through. I just knew I needed to get away, so he wouldn’t have leverage over Sebastian. “I couldn’t just stand there and do no—”
My explanation is cut short when I’m pulled into an embrace. The smell of apples from Kate’s shampoo mixed with the sweet baby scent envelopes me, and my body relaxes. I lift my arms, wrapping them around my sister. Her familiar embrace is exactly what I needed, so I don’t let go, although I can feel the sting in my shoulder from where the bullet grazed my flesh.
“I’m sorry for worrying you,” I whisper as Kate’s body starts to shake with tears. “I’m fine, Kate. Really. It was an accident, and the bullet just grazed my shoulder. Sebastian took the worst of it.”
“Just grazed.” Kate’s shoulders start shaking more violently.
“Kate?” I ask tentatively, pushing her away. “I’m okay. Se—”
“Just grazed!” she repeats, and this time I hear the sound for what it is—laughter. Maniacal laughter.
“Don’t mind her, Little Adams,” Emmett says, his hard footsteps moving closer to the bed. “I think she’s in shock. She hasn’t slept for the last twenty-four hours.”
“I’m not in shock!” Kate protests. “What I am is livid! She was ‘just grazed’.By a bullet.And she thinks it’s funny or some shit.”
“I don’t think it’s funny at all, but I’m not the one that was hurt, Sebastian was. They had to take him to surgery because the bullet got lodged in his shoulder. And I would have answered, but I left my bag in Sebastian’s changing room. There wasn’t really time to pick it up before heading to the hospital.”
A hand ruffles my hair. “It’s fine, Little Adams. We’re just happy that you’re okay.”
“How did you even find out?”
