Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 83872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I shrugged. “The pain meds are keeping the pain away, so I don’t know.” I looked up at her. “Did you see her acting . . .” My voice trailed off. Hell, I didn’t even know what to describe her fit as.
She nodded. “It was bad. I’m hoping that when she wakes up, she’ll be calmer with you beside her. We all kept telling her to calm down and telling her it was bad for the baby, but it was like she couldn’t hear us. She was so focused on you.” She huffed in irritation, shaking her head. “Stupid, if you ask me. She has a baby to think of. It’s not just about her and what she feels anymore.”
“Put yourself in her shoes,” Dad told my mom, speaking up. “She’s just lost Luke, her mother betrayed her, and she’s an only child. She doesn’t have any biological family to turn to in her time of need. The only person she’s been able to turn to is Cole. I imagine the last thing on her mind would be her baby.”
Hated to say it, but I had to agree with my dad. I had always been Amelia’s rock, even when she hadn’t noticed it herself. This had probably ripped her apart on the inside.
“I never acted that way when you were shot when I was pregnant with him,” Mom said, throwing her thumb over her shoulder towards me.
“Yes, but you and Amelia are so alike, but yet so different in so many ways,” he reminded her. It was true. When Amelia had first started growing up and figuring out who she was as a person, I thought she was way too much like my mom. Now, I knew that Amelia was ten times different from my mom and a hell of a lot emotionally stronger, too.
“You had your dad. You didn’t have the shit happen to you that happened to Amelia,” Dad told Mom, trying to get her to understand where he was coming from. “Cole was the only person that stood up for her, got her the help she needed, and stood beside her and believed in her besides Luke. Amelia is ten times more ruthless than you will ever be, Katie, and it’s because of what has happened to her. People hate her, even our own crew. When the entire world is falling apart around her and the one person that she had has been shot, I’m sure Amelia isn’t thinking much about a baby.”
I snorted. “No shit,” I muttered, thinking of Dad’s comment about the crew hating her. I had no idea Kale had felt like that about Amelia, and I wished I had known it sooner. I could have handled it properly. I looked at Mom. “The bullet that I took was meant for Amelia.”
“I knew that she was bad for you!” She yelled at me, jumping up from the bed, throwing her arms up into the air.
My dad grabbed her and yanked her back into his chest, saying words into her ear. She glared at him. “No, I will not fucking calm down! Cole could have died because of that bitch! You expect me to be calm about this?!”
“Yes, I do,” Dad ground out through his clenched teeth. “I would have done the same thing for you if I were Cole, so just shut the hell up. I understand where Cole is coming from.”
That was a first. My dad rarely saw anything my way.
“He doesn’t even love her!” she hollered. She looked over at me, narrowing her eyes. “Do you love her, Cole?” she demanded.
I shrugged. I really didn’t know. I knew I felt something strong for Amelia. Was it actually love? Hell if I knew.
My dad gripped my mom’s arm and swung her around to face him, his hard eyes glaring into her icy blue ones. “It doesn’t matter if he fucking loves her or not, Katie. Do you remember how long it took me to admit that I loved you, to even realize that I fucking did? Before I realized I loved you, I still would have gladly jumped in front of a bullet that was meant for you because I cared about you and couldn’t stand the thought of losing you or Cole. So, step back and think about what you’re fucking saying,” he snapped down at her.
She huffed and plopped herself into a chair. I chuckled. My dad and I were really the only people that could make my mom stop and think about something that she was doing or saying. When I saw my parents like that or hell, even when I saw my mom comforting my dad when Amy got locked up, what my grandad said rang through my head. I could see that my parents truly loved each other. It was a deep, passionate, reckless kind of love, and not one that showed its face all of the time.