Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 95676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
When the feeling recedes, I dig my fingers into the thick carpeting and use my arms to drag myself forward. Even that causes another bolt of agony to rip through me, but I keep going, inching toward the living room at a snail's pace.
The banging sounds get louder the closer I get.
I'm almost to the living room when a roar erupts that sounds almost like wood splintering. And then a man shouts my name, his voice so familiar my heart leaps.
"Ivy!" he roars again.
It's really him.
Cam is here. He got my message and came for me.
He shouldn't have come. Erin is still here. She'll kill him.
"Cam!" I gasp his name and try to push myself to my feet again. Pain tears through me, pulling a whimper from my lips. I collapse onto the floor, tears sliding down my face. I'm so weak I can barely move.
Am I dying?
Footsteps rush toward me.
"Oh, God, baby," Cam groans when he sees me, and then he drops to his knees beside me. He's so devastatingly handsome, even more so than I remember. But he's not smiling as he looks at me. His expression is grim, full of fear. His gray eyes are almost black with it.
"Cam," I whimper, trying to reach him to ease that tormented look.
"Don't move, baby," he tells me, tears in his eyes. He runs his hand down the side of my face, trying to soothe me, I think. And then he rips his shirt off over his head before meeting my gaze again. "You've been shot."
"Erin," I say, trying to tell him that she's still here, but my teeth chatter so hard I can't get the words out. "She…she…"
"I know. Just hang on for me, kitten. Don't you dare give up on me now."
"I love you," I whisper, fighting to stay awake. "I'm sorry."
"Shh, kitten," he whispers. "Shh. I'm here. I'm right here. Everything is going to be okay."
I'm not sure if he's telling me the truth, or if he's just trying to console me. But everything grows hazy and then slips away.
His face is the last thing I see.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cameron
I cling to Ivy's hand, listening to the steady beep of the heart monitor. It's like a song to me, one full of life and hope. She's here with me where she belongs. For a while there, I wasn't sure I made it to her in time. I thought I lost her. I've never been so fucking terrified in my life.
When I heard the gunshot, my heart stopped beating. It stopped again when I saw her bleeding in the hallway floor. And then again when she passed out. It stopped a final time when they loaded her into the ambulance, taking her away from me. That was hours ago now. She's been asleep since. And my heart hasn't beat a single time.
It won't until she opens her pretty blue eyes again. Until I know she's okay. The bullet only grazed her shoulder. Erin's lucky she's a piss-poor shot. Had she killed Ivy… No, I can't think about that now. If I do, I'm not sure what the fuck I'll do. I already want to kill the bitch for everything she's done to my girl.
She was Ivy's best friend, the person she trusted more than anyone else in this world. And she betrayed her in a way that Ivy may never fully recover from. It's going to take her years to work through what Erin did to her. She'll never have to do it alone though. I'll be by her side every step of the way, holding her together, loving her, reminding her every fucking day that she did nothing to deserve it.
Erin's issues aren't her fault. They never were. I think Erin knows it too. She had the sense to call for an ambulance after she shot Ivy. She turned herself in and confessed to everything. Even she if hadn't, she was going down. Duke and I already had what we needed to bury her. We were just waiting on an arrest warrant.
"Cam," Ivy whispers. My name cracks on her lips, barely audible.
My head flies up.
"Kitten," I breathe, an overpowering sense of relief washing through me as my gaze tangles with hers. She's awake.
A tear rolls down her cheek, wrecking me.
"Don't cry, sweetheart. You're okay." I slide closer to her, reaching out to cup her face between my palms. My hands tremble. It feels like it's been years since I last touched her like this.
She cries harder.
"Kitten," I whisper again, gently lifting her from the bed, being careful not to jostle her shoulder. I cradle her in my arms, holding her against my heart.
She buries her face in my throat, inhaling my scent as if trying to pull it into her lungs. She trembles slightly, sniffling. Her body curls into mine, her hands drifting over me, like she's trying to make sure I'm really here. "Is it over?"