Chapter 10 Alec
Alec
Pain—explosive and hot. It rips through my arm as I hit the ground, tangled up with Theodore.
For a split second, everything goes white. Then my training kicks in.
Assess. Adapt. Survive.
I glance down at my arm. Blood leaks from a gash just below my shoulder. It burns like hell, but I can move my fingers. I can make a fist. The bullet grazed me—nothing more.
I’m fine.
But Claire—
My head snaps up, scanning the parking garage. Where is she? Is she hurt? Did he—
There. Standing ten feet away. Shaking, but on her feet. Unharmed.
The relief that crashes through me is so intense my vision blurs for a second. She’s okay. She’s okay. She’s okay.
Theodore groans beneath me, and I remember I have a job to finish.
He immediately tries to gain control of the gun again, but I’m actually left-handed, and this asshole is going down.
I snatch the revolver out of his grip. He’s not nearly as strong as me, and when I glare down at him, now in possession of his weapon, his hands fly up in surrender.
“We got it?”
I call out, and soon enough I hear heels clicking on the cement. When I look up, taking my eyes off Teddy only because I have a gun leveled at his head, I zero in on his bodyguards.
They’re getting ready to rush me. I clench my jaw, staring daggers at them as the gun swivels in their direction.
“Ah, ah, ah. I have no intention of shooting the asshole. But your boss has broken about a dozen laws at this point, so how ‘bout y’all back the fuck up and go find something better to do?”
There’s a brief pause, but the three men the senator brought along with him all decide it’s better to leave this to me. They turn around, get back in the car, and take off.
“The fuck?! You bastards!”
I have to smile at that one. Did Teddy really think his men were going to be loyal? Pfft.
Bringing the gun back around to the senator, I smirk. “Aww, they ran off. What should I do with you?”
Movement catches my eye. Claire is walking toward us. Her hands are balled into fists at her sides, and there’s something in her expression I’ve never seen before.
Rage. Pure, righteous rage.
She stops in front of Theodore, who’s still on the ground, cowering like the pathetic piece of shit he is. He looks up at her with wide eyes.
“Claire, please—” he starts.
She doesn’t let him finish.
Her fist connects with his face so hard I hear the crack echo through the parking garage. Theodore’s head snaps to the side, and he howls in pain.
But Claire isn’t done.
She hits him again. And again.
“This is for what you did to me,” she snarls, her voice shaking with years of fear and shame finally finding an outlet. “This is for every woman you’ve hurt. This is for making me feel like I was nothing.”
Each word is punctuated by another blow. Her knuckles split, blood mixing with his, and I should probably stop her, but I don’t.
I won’t.
This is hers. This moment belongs to her.
Theodore tries to crawl backward, whimpering and begging, but Claire follows him, landing one final punch that sends him crumpling into a ball on the concrete.
“And that,” she breathes, standing over him, “is for almost killing the man I love.”
My heart stops.
Claire turns to face me, and all that rage melts away. Her eyes are wet, her chest heaving, and she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
She runs to me, and I catch her with my good arm, pulling her against my chest so tight I can feel her heartbeat racing against mine.
“I thought I lost you,” she whispers into my neck. “When that gun went off, I thought—”
“I’m here.” I press my lips to her hair, breathing her in. “I’m right here, baby.”
“Your arm—”
“I don’t give a fuck about my arm.” I pull back just enough to look at her face.
To memorize every inch of it. “Claire, I need to tell you something. I should have said it before. I should have said it in the car, before you went to meet him. I should have said it a hundred times by now, but I was too much of a coward.”
Her brow furrows. “Alec—”
“I love you.” The words come out rough and raw, scraped from somewhere deep in my chest. “I love you so goddamn much it scares me. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I didn’t think I could feel this way. But you—” I cup her face in my hands, blood and all. “You changed everything.”
Tears spill down her cheeks, but she’s smiling. Smiling so bright it hurts to look at her.
“I love you, too.” No hesitation. No fear. Just the truth, finally spoken. “I think I’ve loved you since you chased me through my apartment like a lunatic.”
A laugh punches out of me. “That was two days ago.”
“I know.” She rises on her toes and presses her lips to mine. “When it’s right, it’s right.”
I kiss her back, pouring everything I have into it. All the fear of the last few hours. All the relief. All the love I’ve been holding back because I didn’t think I deserved it.
I love this woman. And I’m never letting her go.
We break apart when Tess clears her throat. She’s standing a few feet away, grinning at us, the camcorder still in her hand.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she says, not sounding sorry at all. “But we got it. Everything. His confession, the assault, the gun—all of it.”
Claire sags against me. “It’s over?”
“It’s over.” Tess puts a hand on Claire’s arm. “He’s done.”
Sirens wail in the distance, growing closer. Teddy is still a babbling mess on the floor, clearly terrified of his impending fate.
Good. Let him rot.
As the cops shuffle in, swarming the parking garage, I hand over the gun, and they gather up the senator. Tess goes off to speak with them, negotiating with her tape.
An EMT appears at my side, frowning at my arm. “Sir, you need to come with me. That wound needs attention.”
“I’m fine. Really.”
“GSW says otherwise. Please sit, sir.” I roll my eyes but do as I’m told. “You’ll need to go to the hospital to make sure everything checks out. We can drive you—”
“If I agree to do it, can I please drive my own car?”
Claire laughs, looking at the EMT with silent apologies. “I’ll make sure he gets there.”
“Alright, fair enough.”
I’m patched up, and it takes some convincing on Claire’s part to get me in the car and heading toward the hospital. She got a once-over too, so at least I can be glad she’s okay.
There’s still a bunch of shit we have to talk to the cops about, but they’ve released us to go to the hospital. Joy.
As we drive, Claire reaches across the console and laces her fingers through mine. Neither of us speaks for a long moment.
“Did you mean it?” she finally asks, her voice small.
I glance over at her. “Mean what?”
“What you said back there. That you love me.”
I squeeze her hand. “Every word. Did you?”
A smile tugs at her lips. “Every word.”
“Good.” I bring her hand to my mouth and kiss her knuckles. “Because you’re stuck with me now.”
Apparently, hospital stays have gotten longer over the years because it takes me an entire day to get out of that place. And a hell of a lot happens during those twenty-four hours.
The news releases an update on Theodore McDowell Jr., and to absolutely no one’s surprise, he’s looking at some serious time in prison.
The detectives who Claire spoke to previously swung by, too, looking to make amends for the fact that they completely disregarded her.
During their entire visit, I sat in the hospital bed, glaring at them. Claire was nice enough, grateful for their apology, but demanding that the department do more to protect women from now on.
I watched, utterly delighted, as they were forced to listen to Claire describe the number of times they could have prevented all this.
Priceless.
Now, I’m finally getting changed out of the damned hospital gown while Claire talks with the nurses about discharge papers.
When she walks back in, I’m struggling with the ties in the back, my injured arm making it difficult.
“Need help?” She’s grinning at me.
“This thing is a torture device. I’ve been shot, stabbed, and thrown out of a moving vehicle, and this is what takes me down. A fucking paper gown.”
Claire laughs—really laughs—and the sound is like music. She walks over and helps me with the ties, her fingers warm against my skin.
“You know,” she says, still smiling, “for a big tough military guy, you’re kind of a baby.”
“I am not.”
“You complained about the Jell-O.”
“It was green. Green Jell-O is an abomination.”
“You made the nurse cry.”
“I did not make her—” I stop when I see Claire’s face. “Okay, I apologized for that.”
She rises on her toes and kisses my cheek. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”
“Cute?” I growl, wrapping my good arm around her waist and hauling her against me. “I am not cute. I’m terrifying.”
“Mmhmm.” She pats my chest. “Very scary. Now put your pants on so we can get out of here.”
I love this woman. I love her so fucking much.
The trip back to her house is all running yellow lights and reaching across the console to touch her. Her thigh. Her hand. Her cheek. I can’t stop.
I almost lost her. I almost lost this. And now that the danger is over, now that Teddy is behind bars where he belongs, I need to feel her. To remind myself she’s real.
By the time we make it inside her apartment, I’m ravenous.
I hoist Claire up, and she wraps her legs around my waist as I carry her to the bedroom. She kisses me fiercely, her fingers gripping the collar of my shirt.
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” she mumbles between kisses. “Don’t ever scare me like that.”
“I’m sorry, baby.” I hold her tight as I cross the threshold into her bedroom. “I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere.”
I lay her down on the bed, covering her body with mine. For a moment, I just look at her. At the woman who changed everything.
“What?” she whispers.
“I just want to remember this.” I brush a strand of hair from her face. “You. Right here. Mine.”
“I am yours.” She pulls me down for a kiss. “And you’re mine. So we’re even.”
“More than even.” I work my kisses down her neck, my fingers finding the bottom of her dress. “We’re perfect.”