Chapter Thirty-Eight #2
He nodded. “Then consider us even. We both took hits for that fucking bastard, but he's rotting in hell. You put him there. You saved my sister. For that, I am in your debt.”
Shock washed over me like rain, cleansing me of the one sin I thought I would never be forgiven for.
I watched as he kissed each of the girls on their foreheads before walking out…and Agent Garner walked in.
What was the visitor policy in this place?
“Collin Stevens,” he drawled, coming to stand at the end of my bed.
“Agent Garner.”
“It seems we have a lot to go over.”
“So it would seem,” I agreed, beckoning my angel to come to me. After my hand wrapped around hers, my body calmed down a bit. We almost missed our chance.
The agent didn’t hesitate to drag the chair from the corner and place it by the foot of the bed. He spun it around and sat down, his midsection against the back. He rested his forearms on the back of the chair. His guns were hanging down from the holster. He sighed and tilted his head.
“I should arrest you right now,” he said, his voice serious.
I nodded once, challenging him. “Do it.”
“Col!”
The agent pointed to Haley. “You saved her. Where are the men who took her?”
He knew the answer, but I knew there was something inside of him that needed confirmation. Memories of the red head hanging from my ceiling, beaten and bruised, flashed before my eyes. I snarled, “I did what I do best, Agent Garner.”
He looked to Karina and then back to me. “And what’s that?” he asked.
The demon inside me chuckled, and a smile spread across my face. “I’m smarter than you think, agent.” The man had a damn recorder on him, and he was trying to get a confession out of me.
I wanted a little more time with my angel before my damnation.
He smiled, reminding me of a wolf on the hunt. “I’m not trying to get a confession out of you, Mr. Stevens.”
“And I don’t have a bullet in my chest,” I deadpanned.
He raised a brow and looked to Karina, who was frozen at my side, the grip of her hand getting tighter with each passing second. She was uncomfortable. This wouldn’t do. I frowned and lifted my chin to the agent.
“Let’s cut the bullshit, shall we? Either arrest me or leave,” I said coldly.
“What do you know about Army General Garner, Mr. Stevens?”
His father.
“I have a feeling you know a bit more than I do, agent.”
He smirked, and Dean shifted behind him. Haley came up to the bed, her green eyes pleading with mine.
“Collin, be honest with me right now,” she demanded softly.
I looked to the three people in the room who hated me.
Her agent, Dean, and Gwen, eyeing us with caution.
Something in Haley’s voice had the hair on the back of my neck standing up.
I looked up at her, and Kay’s hand pulled my arm closer.
I feared she would lose her composure and climb into this bed with me—not that I would mind.
Still, I didn’t care much for audiences.
“Look at me. Forget them. Just for a moment, please,” she whispered.
I complied and brought my brows together. “The only reason I'm doing this because of this woman beside me, you know this, correct?”
Haley nodded, her eyes shining with tears. I pointed to Agent Garner, keeping my face turned to her. “His father hurt you?”
She sucked in a breath. “Have you ever met his father, Collin?”
“No.”
“Have you done business with him?”
My stomach twisted. “No.”
She looked to the floor and back up to me. “Did Ray Romano conduct business with General Garner?”
“Once. I wasn’t there, and it was before I knew about the trafficking,” I answered truthfully.
The agent cursed and stood abruptly, before he ran a hand through his hair and charged to the door as he pulled out his phone. “General Garner is under arrest. Cuff him to a fucking chair. I am on my way.”
“He was on Casey’s list, wasn’t he?” Gwen asked softly.
Haley nodded. “That isn’t his only sin. Excuse me,” she said said before going after Garner.
Silence fell over the room; the only sounds were coming from the clock on the wall and the machines hooked up to my body. I ushered Karina to sit on the bed beside me. She was tired and needed her rest too.
This was awkward.
Every single person in this room had been on my hitlist, each one of them a regret. Karina knew this, but then again, she saw the deepest, darkest, ugliest parts of me.
And yet, she still loved me.
It was easier to confess your sins to someone who loved you for the goodness inside and didn’t judge you for the darkness that took control of you.
“This is awkward.”
I looked up to find Gwen looking at all of us. Dean chuckled and looked to the ceiling.
“What’s so funny?” Karina asked.
“Maybe I should’ve tried out for football…”
“The NFL was next on his list, Connors,” I said, my lips twitching. It was true. Romano wanted to expand to football and basketball. That monster was never satisfied.
He looked at me. “Painting, then.”
My angel began giggling beside me. I looked up to her sky-blue eyes were on her best friend, who was also trying to keep it together. “You don’t have the patience for painting, Dean Connors,” Gwen laughed. I found myself chuckling.
“I have the patience to put up with your ass,” he shot back, a smile forming on his face.
The girls laughed even harder. Kay leaned against my pillows as she bent over, her hair draped over my chest. Gwen was doubled over, tears falling from the corner of her eyes as laughter poured from her lips.
Dean was staring at her mesmerized. His features softened for her, much like mine did when I looked upon my angel.
Gwen’s laugh was rich and throaty, but Karina’s was soft, almost timid.
My angel’s eyes were closed, her shoulders shaking, and her cheeks were flushed, but not from pain or sorrow.
She was a work of art, and I couldn’t look away.
I wanted to capture this moment, frame it and put it in museums across the world.
Karina Jones was an angel sent from heaven, and while everyone deserved an angel, this one belonged to me. My hand gripped her chin, making her look into my eyes.
“You are the only one. Even if I live a thousand lives, you are the only one,” I whispered as her laughter faded away.
“Don’t you ever try to say goodbye to me again,” she whispered back as my hand slid into her hair.
The world faded, and it was just her and me.
Like in my dreams.