Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Blue and red lights flashed around us, and I glanced up in time to see the police cars blocking the end of the alley. No. I wanted to kill him first.
But suddenly, we were surrounded and I was being pulled off the murdering psycho.
Police pulled Gray to his feet, cuffing him as he wobbled unsteadily in their hold. Blood dripped down his nose and over his mouth, staining his teeth as he grinned maniacally at me. “You know this isn’t how it ends. We’ll see each other again.”
“I see you again, you sick fuck, and I’ll kill you.”
He choked on a laugh as the police dragged him off.
Suddenly, the pain in my side registered and I felt something warm and wet drip down my torso. Black spots crowded in on the edge of my vision as my knees began to give out.
“Sarah!” I yelled hoarsely as an unfamiliar voice asked if I was hurt.
Then she was in front of me, her beautiful face tear streaked, bruised, and bleeding as she grasped at mine. “Theo, Theo,” Sarah whispered. And then her eyes filled with horror as she looked down. “Theo, you’re hurt.”
“I … Sarah.”
She looked up at me, panic in her eyes.
“I … I love you,” I choked out just before everything switched off.
Thirty-Seven
SARAH
There were monitors and tubes attached to Theo, all of it scary, except for the one that beeped in time with his heartbeat.
I focused on that and that his hand felt warm in mine as I hunched over his bedside in a private room in the intensive care ward. When I’d used the restroom earlier, I’d seen inside the room opposite his and the woman was hooked up to so many machines, including a ventilator.
Theo didn’t need a ventilator.
He was incredibly lucky after throwing himself at a knife-wielding murderer. And by lucky, I mean he hadn’t died of the stab wound, even though Quinn Gray had hit a major artery.
“No vital organs,” the surgeon assured me. “And we’ve repaired the damaged artery. We’ll need to monitor your husband. Only time will tell whether the hemorrhaging caused damage to the muscles and nerves.”
After the police left us at the hospital, I’d lied and told the nurse I was Theo’s wife so they would keep me updated. They wanted ID. But then a man I didn’t recognize was there and said he was Theo’s brother.
Sebastian.
For some reason, he corroborated my lie.
Those long hours waiting while Theo was in surgery were interrupted by a phone call to Jared I barely remembered making. I’d tried to calm him, but I was pretty certain he was on his way to London. Then DCI English and DI Hatlock returned. They needed a statement about what happened at the Lute. Sebastian, this stranger related to Theo, stayed with me while I relayed the story like a robot. I felt like I was outside of my body, watching down as I told the harrowing story of fighting off a serial killer and having the man I love stabbed by the bastard.
“You fought bravely,” Hatlock said, squeezing my arm. “You gave us time to get there. Be proud, Sarah.”
Proud? I didn’t feel pride. I felt like I was sitting on the lid of a box inside me, wrestling to keep it sealed. To keep a panicked rage monster inside from bursting out and taking me over.
“I never told him I loved him,” I’d confessed dazedly to his brother as we sat on the hard chairs in the waiting room. “He said it so many times and I was afraid to say it back and then I wasn’t. And now it’s too late.”
“It’s not too late,” this stranger who looked a little like Theo but more like Stephen had insisted.
“Why are you here?”
“I have a friend in the police department who alerted me to what happened. And because he’s my brother.”
The relief was almost excruciating when the surgeon appeared to update us. Theo was alive. Only recovery would reveal if there was any long-term damage.
I didn’t care.
I knew Theo would care.
But I was with him. I wasn’t going anywhere, no matter what.
Sebastian forced me to drink water and eat a snack, and then he was with me when they let us in to see Theo. He’d rubbed a soothing hand on my back as I cried with relief over Theo’s sleeping body.
He would take a while to wake up from anesthesia.
Finally, Sebastian spoke again. “I need to go home and update my wife. And change. Would you like me to bring anything with me when I return?”
I looked up from staring at Theo’s handsome face and blinked, trying to process his words. “I’m okay.”
Sebastian nodded and moved toward the door. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“Wait.” I turned to meet his questioning gaze. “Thank you for being here.”