Chapter Thirty-One
JAKE
A stabbing pain yanks me back to consciousness.
I open my eyes and am immediately blinded by bright lights. I’m surrounded by people, but I can’t make out any of their faces. Where the fuck am I? What’s going on?
The last thing I remember was untying Abbie after knocking Westbrook out…
“Where is she?” I shout, thrashing against the hands trying to hold me down. The pain is excruciating, but I don’t care. I need to find Abbie! I need to know she’s okay! “Where the fuck is she?”
“Mr. Ashford, we need you to calm down,” a firm female voice tells me. “We need to finish stitching your shoulder…”
“I’ll calm down when I fucking see Abbie!”
I realize where I am. In a hospital, surrounded by doctors and nurses who are trying to fix me up, but I am not going to stop fighting them until I know where she is.
“Sir,” a nurse appears above me, her gaze sympathetic but her tone no-nonsense. “As soon as we’re done here, we’ll take you to Miss Wixx, all right?”
That gets me to stop struggling for a moment, and I blink up at her.
“She’s okay?”
The nurse nods. “Yes, she’s okay. She’s wanting to see you too, but we can’t let that happen until your wound is cared for. You don’t need surgery, but that could change if you don’t listen, calm down, and let us do our job.”
Her words don’t give me any more patience, but I can at least see reason again.
“Fine,” I grumble, relaxing back against the bed. “Just make it quick.”
When they get back to stitching me up, I lay back and stare at the ceiling, trying not to snap at the medical professionals as they do their job.
Finally, they finish patching me up. I try to get out of bed, but that same nurse puts a hand on my good shoulder and stops me. “No, you’re not going anywhere yet.”
“I need to?—”
“You have people coming to see you, don’t worry, but they’re coming in here. I’ll get you a wheelchair so you can see Miss Wixx.”
I let out a low, irritated growl. “Fine. But I want out as soon as possible.”
She nods and turns to leave the room. As I’m lying there, waiting, the door opens again, and I perk up, expecting the nurse to be back. To my surprise, Carter walks inside. When he sees me, he smiles and releases a long breath, as if relieved.
“Oh, thank God!” He hurries toward me. “We were so worried about you, man. I’ve been waiting to come in and see for myself that you’re okay.”
“What happened?” I ask. “Where’s Abbie?”
“She’s okay,” he tries to assure me. “Sophie and Michael are with her. You guys were rescued from the barn and brought here. It’s only been a few hours.”
“Good. And Westbrook?”
Carter’s face darkens. “He’s here too, but in custody. Don’t worry. He won’t get anywhere near Abbie.”
There’s a part of me that wants to find that fucker and finish him off, but the nurse returns at that moment with my wheelchair and suddenly, Westbrook isn’t a priority.
Abbie is all that matters right now.
Carter and the nurse help me into the chair and wheel me out of the room.
It’s so goddamn slow, but I force myself to stay in my seat.
We make our way down the hall, past several doors, before the nurse finally pushes me into an open doorway.
I spot Abbie lying in a hospital bed in the middle of the room, Michael and Sophie gathered around her.
Ignoring the nurse’s protests, I immediately stand up and move to Abbie’s side.
“Jake!” she gasps, her eyes going wide when she spots me. She tries to get out of bed, reaching out for me with her arms open, but I hurry to stop her. Wrapping my arms around her, I squeeze her and she clutches me, a soft sob breaking from her throat. “Are you okay? I’ve been so worried!”
“I’m fine,” I assure her, leaning back so I can look down at her. “How about you? Are you all right?”
She nods. “Some stitches in my leg, but that’s all.”
“We were so scared,” Sophie murmurs. Her eyes are red and puffy and she sniffles.
Michael reaches across the bed and grasps my good shoulder.
“Thank you,” he says, his voice choked with emotion. “Thank you for saving my girl. I owe you so much…”
“You don’t owe me anything.” I squeeze Abbie’s hand, looking from her dad back to her. “I’d go to hell and back for her.”
Abbie’s smile is soft and her eyes shimmer with unshed tears.
“Why don’t we give you two some privacy?” Carter suggests moving to Sophie’s side and wrapping his arm around her shoulders to help her to her feet.
Sophie and Michael both look reluctant to leave Abbie’s side, but Carter manages to shuffle them both out of the room.
The door shuts behind them. We stare at each other for a long, tender moment. I can’t believe we’re both alive. I desperately want to kiss her again. To hold her. To feel her heart beating in her chest and just be relieved at the fact that she is okay.
“Well hey.” Abbie gives me a crooked smile. “That injury looks bad, but at least you didn’t break a leg.”
I snort. “Lucky, I guess.
Her smile widens. “In fact, I’m the only one whose leg got hurt. What the hell is with that?”
At that, I burst out laughing. She does, as well. And as we come closer to each other, I get ready to kiss her — and then stop myself. A realization occurs to me. I pull back, stare at her, and all the words I’ve been holding back for so long start pouring out of my mouth.
“I’m sorry,” I begin, bringing her hand to my lips and kissing her knuckles. “I’m sorry I stopped calling you when we were first hooking up.”
She blinks, then frowns in clear confusion. “What? Why are you bringing that up now? I appreciate it, but we’ve got enough going on that?—”
“I need to clear everything between us,” I explain.
“I told you a small amount of what happened, but not the full truth. Not the full extent that made me pull away. Back then, something happened to me. I was out partying one night and blacked out, which was weird; I never black out. The next morning, I woke up with a puck bunny in my bed and no memory of what happened between us.”
Irritation flashes through her gaze. “I don’t think I want to hear this…”
“No, let me continue. I was so mortified with myself. So disgusted. When you and I started hooking up, I didn’t sleep with anyone else and the thought that I’d fucked some random puck bunny made me sick and ashamed.
I couldn’t face you…couldn’t even bring myself to call.
A month later, she found me and told me she was pregnant and that it was mine.
She tried to force me to marry her. Threatened to tell everyone that I took advantage of her if I didn’t.
I couldn’t let that happen, but I agreed…
and gave her an ironclad prenup that I insisted she sign, including a demand for a paternity test. It was enough to freak her out and admit everything was a sham. ”
“What?” Abbie gasps.
I nod, my stomach twisting with nausea as I recall the details of Cassandra’s ploy.
“She was never pregnant… hell, it turned out I never even slept with her. Not for lack of trying, apparently. She’d drugged me, and in that state, she couldn’t get it to stay up.”
“Oh my God.” She looks horrified, her jaw dropping.
“I swore I’d never let myself be duped like that again.
” Releasing a long breath, I place her hand against my cheek.
“I know you’d never do anything like that to me.
You value me outside of what I can give you, and I know life with you—starting a family with you—would never be like the life I had growing up. Even if Lilah isn’t mine…”
“She is!” she exclaims, the words bursting out of her.
Wait.
Did she…?
I freeze and stare at her, stunned. “Wha…what?”
She swallows and nods. There’s a long moment where she seems like she’s trying to speak but can’t get the words out. Finally, she takes my hand, and she whispers, “Lilah is yours, Jake. She’s your daughter.”
I don’t say a word. I can’t seem to remember how to speak for a long moment. For several seconds, I can only stare at her, her words rattling around in my head.
“But I thought you said…”
“I did,” she whispers, tears shimmering in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I got scared and lied. I wanted to take it back right away, but I didn’t know how to.”
I’m speechless and can only stare at her in shock as what she’s saying finally registers.
Lilah is mine.
She’s really mine.
Part of me had always suspected, but to have Abbie confirm it…
Joy explodes within me and I cup her face, pulling her in and kissing her with a laugh. Abbie kisses me back but then seems to snap out of her surprise and pulls back. “Wait,” she says, pushing her hand against my chest to hold me back. “I need to say something.”
I grit my teeth impatiently but sit back. “What is it?”
“You should be mad at me,” she declares. “I didn’t tell you about Lilah. I kept that from you all these years, and yeah, I was embarrassed because you always insisted we were just hooking up and felt nothing more for me, but I also didn’t want you to feel obligated to be with me…”
“I don’t care about any of that,” I tell her, my voice heavy with emotion. “Look, I get why you didn’t tell me. I ghosted you and treated you like you were just a hookup, but you were never just that. You were always so much more.”
“I was?” she murmurs. “I thought I was just a convenient lay in your mind. Until recently, anyway.”
“You did?” My heart twists at the admission.
“Yeah…” she hesitates a moment before continuing.
“I tried so hard to be what you wanted back then. To seem cool and nonchalant about things because you were always that way. The truth is, though, I’ve loved you since high school, and it hurt whenever I thought what we were doing wasn’t a big deal to you, and I. .”
“Look, I’m sorry. I was a goddamn idiot. But I hope I’m a little smarter now,” I laugh, “Because now I know the truth. I love you. You’re the only woman I ever want to be with. And I love Lilah. I want us to be a family, together. Always. Is that clear?”
Her smile is bright and her tears break free and start flowing down her cheeks.
“Crystal clear.”
This time, she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me in for a kiss, as if to officially seal our new start. And I’ve never felt better.