Chapter 107
BELLA
The world feels like it’s tilting.
There’s shouting, footsteps, movement that doesn’t make sense. I can barely hear it over the pounding in my head, the rush of my heartbeat.
“Bella, I need to know you’re okay,” Rowan whispers. His hands frame my face, and I relax when I look into those dark eyes that hold the same pain I feel.
“I’m okay, rockstar. I promise.”
Finn’s got Reggie on the floor, his hands red, but he’s so calm.
He presses a soft and steady kiss on my lips before letting me go. I rush to Reggie’s side, Rowan close behind me. He drops down to the floor with Finn.
“You good, bro?” Rowan asks.
“You took one of these in your stomach? Fuck. I wish I had more sympathy for you now,” Reggie jokes.
“We need to move. Now,” Finn orders, making all of us stop.
As they try to move him, I see the pain on his face as he hisses out a breath.
“No!” The word rips out of me. “You can’t move him like that!”
“I’m a surgeon, Bella,” Finn snaps, calm but fierce. “You think I don’t know that? He stays here, he fucking bleeds out.”
I try to go to Reggie, but Declan grabs my arm. “You need to let them work. Finn will fix him up, we can take you home.”
“Get your fucking hands off me!” I shove him back, my voice breaking. “I’m not leaving him!”
Reggie’s pale, his face twisted in pain. “Princess, I’m fine—”
“Don’t you dare,” I hiss. “Don’t you dare say that to me right now. I am not leaving you.”
I’m panicking. My mind spiralling. I need them both in my sight.
His lips twitch into something between a smirk and a wince. “You’re bossy when you’re scared.”
“You’re bleeding out, Irish,” I choke, brushing my fingers against his cheek. “You don’t get to joke.”
Finn and Declan exchange a look, and before I can argue again, they haul Reggie up between them. His good arm slings over Finn’s shoulder.
“Car. Now,” Finn orders.
I follow them out of the church, my hands shaking, my vision swimming with tears and light. Rowan’s already ahead of us, unlocking the SUV and throwing open the back door.
“Get him in,” he says, voice tight, eyes full of the kind of fear he’ll never admit to.
They ease Reggie into the back seat, Finn climbing in beside him with a towel pressed against the wound.
“I’m coming too,” I say, already moving toward the door.
“Bella—” Rowan starts.
“No!” I cut him off. “You can kill me later for being stubborn, but I’m not leaving him. Not even for a car ride, not after this.”
Rowan hesitates, his jaw clenched, then nods once. “Fine. But you sit behind me. If he crashes, you hold pressure. Got it?”
I nod, sliding in beside Reggie. His hand finds mine instantly, sticky with blood and trembling with pain.
The car lurches forward. Rowan drives like the devil’s chasing him.
Reggie’s head tips against the seat, his breathing shallow. “You should’ve gone with Declan, you don’t need to see this,” he murmurs.
I squeeze his hand tighter. “And let you bleed out without me? Not a fucking chance.”
Finn’s still working, his voice low. “Keep him talking. Don’t let him drift.”
So I do. I talk. About nothing. About everything. About how we’re getting married, about how I still owe him new shirts, about how I’m going to bake him cookies every damn day if he just keeps his eyes open.
He smiles weakly. “Sounds dangerous, Princess. Might die from sugar instead.”
“Shut up and stay alive,” I whisper, tears streaking down my cheeks.
Rowan glances back in the rearview mirror, his knuckles white on the wheel. “We’re almost there.”
I don’t take my eyes off Reggie the whole drive. Not once. Not even when Finn tells me he’s stable.
Because I can’t.
Because the second I blink, I’ll see the church again. The gun. The blood. The moment I almost lost him.
And I can’t lose either of them. Not ever.
So I keep holding on—to Reggie’s hand, to Rowan’s reflection in the mirror, to whatever’s left of my sanity—and I don’t let go.
Not until we’re safe.