He examined it with his same boyish smile. “It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you…you would love him.”
“I already do. Diesel Hunt…he’s a fine young man.”
I looked into his face again, feeling the swelling of my eyes and cheeks.
“Then it looks like there is something worth fighting for…”
I nodded. “Yes, there is. I want to stay with you… I miss you. But—”
“Go, sweetheart. Like I said, it’s too soon for you.” He released me and stepped back. “You have so many more things you need to do, Tatum. You’ve become the richest woman in the world at the age of thirty. What else are you capable of?”
“I’ve always wanted a family of my own.”
“Good. There’s no greater joy than having a child. I know from experience.”
My smile melted away as the tears kept coming.
He grabbed both of my hands and brought them together. “Go, sweetheart. Fight your way back to him. We’ll have our time later.”
“We didn’t have enough time in the first place…”
“We have eternity.” He squeezed my hands before he let go. “Can you give a message to Diesel?”
“Yes.”
“Tell him he has my blessing.”
A smile returned to my lips.
“And tell him to forgive himself.”
Just as quickly, my smile faded away. “Forgive himself for what?”
“For not taking that bullet for you.”
3
Diesel
Twelve hours had passed.
No news.
I checked in with the nurse at the front desk, but she had nothing new to report. She ended her shift and was replaced by someone else. Then I started bugging her just as I bugged the previous woman.
My dad stayed by my side the whole time.
Thorn didn’t sleep, seeming as troubled as he had been when he’d first heard the news.
I hadn’t shut my eyes even for a second, unable to relax until I heard something. I didn’t drink or eat, and when a headache started, I didn’t care.
Thorn’s parents arrived an hour ago. We made our introductions, but I couldn’t remember their names because I hadn’t been listening. Brett talked to me about sports for a little bit, obviously trying to get my mind off the current situation.
Nothing could get my mind off it.
I wished Bruce Carol wasn’t dead just so I could kill him again.
But a bullet to the brain would be too good for him.
He needed to suffer.
At my bare hands.
Fifteen hours later, a doctor in blue scrubs finally stepped into the waiting room. With gray hair and glasses, he scanned the room in search of someone.
I hoped he was looking for me.
I stood up and stared at him, wanting to make sure he didn’t miss me. Other people were waiting for news about their loved ones, so I wasn’t the only one anxious for an update.
But I must have been the one he was looking for because he walked up to me.
Fuck.
Please, God.
My father and brothers gathered around me, along with Thorn and his parents.
I stood with my hands on my hips, my breathing already escalating even though I hadn’t received the news. If she didn’t make it, then I didn’t want to hear him say anything. I couldn’t handle those horrifying words.
I’d already heard them once. I couldn’t listen to them again.
“Ms. Titan’s family?” the doctor asked.
Not a single one of us was related to her. She didn’t have a living relative. The family she did have had come from something thicker than blood. I loved her more than anyone she’d ever known, and that was good enough. “Yes.”
He placed his hands on his hips. “She had a lot of internal damage from the bullet. It pierced her chest, hit a large artery, nicked her heart, and did a lot of damage to her soft tissue. She lost half of her blood volume, and she needed an emergency transfusion…” He continued to name off all her injuries.
I could barely take it.
“Toward the end of the surgery, we lost her for a bit…”
I immediately staggered even though I’d been standing upright before that.
As if my father had expected that to happen, he caught me in both of his arms. He stabilized me on the floor, keeping my feet planted in place.
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
“She flatlined,” the doctor continued. “We brought her back. She stabilized after that, and we completed the operation successfully. I want to keep a critical eye on her for the next twenty-four hours just in case. So she’ll stay in the ICU for now. Afterward, she’ll move to the surgical floor.”
He began with such horrifying news that I nearly missed the good news. “So she’s alright?”
“For now, yes,” he said. “Considering how much damage she sustained, she did surprisingly well. She’s strong and healthy, that’s for sure. She’ll be asleep for the next few hours, and I want to monitor her for signs of infection. She’ll be here for at least a week.”
I didn’t give a shit how long she was there. I just cared that she was okay.
That she would live. “Thank you…” I didn’t know his name. He’d probably told me, but I hadn’t been listening. “I need to see her. When can I see her?”
“We can only have two visitors at a time,” the doctor said. “Due to her risk of infection, you’ll need to scrub down and change your clothing.”
“That’s fine.” I just wanted to see her.
“I’ll take you to her,” he said. “Who’s coming?”
That didn’t take long to figure out. “Come on, Thorn.”
He walked with me, knowing we were the two people in the world she would want to see the most.
Tubes were everywhere, a machine was breathing for her, and she looked paler than I’d ever seen her. This strong and unbreakable woman had been desecrated by that madman. He tried to take her life, but he only took her strength—for a short time.
It was hard to look at her.
I should have protected her.
I stayed at her bedside in the hospital
