33. Reese
CHAPTER 33
Reese
“Why won’t he wake up?”
I fought to focus, but my brain was all fuzzy. I was so tired, and the darkness was so comforting. But I didn’t need to open my eyes to know who it was. Laurene. She sounded fragile, barely holding it together.
Papers shuffled quietly; someone was looking through a document. “Your husband lost a lot of blood.”
“Oh lord, he gonna die!” Gigi screamed, and immediately I heard the room calming her down.
“Please, Gigi, we don’t need that right now,” Serena snapped.
“I can’t lose him,” Laurene murmured. I felt the pressure of her hand wrapping around mine, the warmth of her touch grounding me. “I can’t, please.”
“Lu. You need to get some sleep. You’ve been here for three days,” Erik said.
“He gonna die!” Gigi wailed again, and this time Walter started to howl.
“ Georgiana ,” Vincent snapped.
Three days? My mind was all over the place, like a broken puzzle.
Nina .
I rushed to our Vegas office after leaving Harold, and Nathan showed me my mother’s transactions. A quick call to my mom confirmed it all. She had trusted Nina, let her have access to her accounts for years, never realizing Nina had been siphoning cash from us, hiding it right under our noses.
“Can’t you wake him up, Doctor?” Gigi said.
“You’ve been asking that question for the past hour, Gigi. The answer’s still the same,” Serena snapped. “He’ll wake up when he’s ready.”
“I’m just saying! Shine a flashlight in his eyes? Give him those poppers? Stick a thermometer up his butt?” Gigi said. “I can get him awake.”
“ No! ” the room shouted and suddenly the bed rocked dangerously and commotion happened before everyone quieted down.
“The bullet came close to his heart. It was an intense surgery.” The doctor’s voice was steady, but I could hear the weight of it. “He just needs to rest.”
“But he’s not gonna die?” Noelle’s voice was soft as she asked, and Gigi made a sound of agreement.
“No. For the tenth time, no.” The doctor’s voice was firm.
“This is embarrassing,” Serena muttered.
I wanted to say something—anything—to assure them all. But the words wouldn’t come. My mind was trapped and my eyes were closed.
Nina had been too close, too involved for years.
How had we missed it? How had I missed it?
“How about I wake him up since he wanna take his time?” Gigi said, and I felt something shift on my right side. Suddenly there was a violent shake to my shoulders, and I felt myself be lifted and then everybody was shouting and Gigi was arguing back. “He ain’t dying up in here and haunting our family! I rebuke it.”
A groan escaped me as I plopped back down, and I tried to force my eyes open .
Light bled into the darkness, soft at first, then too sharp, too bright. I blinked sluggishly, the world around me a mess of shifting, distorted shapes—blurry outlines stretching and bending.
Slowly, the room began to come into focus, the outlines of faces forming, and the entire King family and Noelle were staring at me with wide eyes.
I turned my head just enough to see her.
Laurene.
Her smile was the first thing I saw, soft and warm, her brown eyes glistening with unshed tears.
I could feel my lips curve into a smile, instinctively, and despite the pain in my chest, I couldn’t help it. “Damn it’s good to see your face, Mrs. Ashbourne.”
Laurene let out a breathless laugh, as she cupped my face. “You scared the hell out of me.”
Before I could answer, her lips crashed into mine, warm and desperate, stealing the breath right from my lungs. It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t careful. It was everything—relief, fear, love—all pouring into one kiss that deepened as I pulled her closer, ignoring the pull of pain in my chest. Her fingers tangled in my hair, my hand sliding over her waist, and for a moment, the world faded into nothing but the heat between us.
Then—
A loud, pointed ahem broke through the air, followed by an exaggerated groan.
“Oh my God, get a damn room,” Gigi drawled, sounding both amused and disgusted. “He just woke up, can he breathe first?”
A chorus of muffled laughter followed, and Laurene tore herself away, her cheeks flushed as she shot a glare toward the door. “You could leave.”
Gigi smirked, arms crossed. “Can I just say, my method woke you up. Everybody in here needs to give me an apology.”
The room erupted in chatter .
The doctor’s voice cut through the chaos. “Well, now that Mr. Ashbourne is awake, be easy with him. He needs rest.”
He gave us a final glance before leaving the room.
I turned to Laurene, my gaze locking with hers.
“What happened with Nina?” My voice was rusty, barely a whisper.
Her face softened, and I could see the pain in her eyes. “She’s in jail. She’s not going anywhere.”
I let out a sigh of relief.
Before I could get a word in, the door creaked open. My mother stepped in. “Finally! Look who’s come to see you.”
From behind her, David wheeled in Jennie.
Bruised and battered, but alive. No tubes, no IVs. Just her, looking stronger than I expected.
“Wow,” she said with a weak smile. “I thought I looked bad.”
Everyone laughed, including me, despite the pain.
But then, something caught my attention. Jennie wasn’t just holding on to the wheelchair. No, she was cradling something in her arms—something small, wrapped in a soft, pink blanket.
I blinked.
“Meet your niece,” Jennie said as she rocked the baby gently in her arms. “Faith.”
The room seemed to quiet for a second as I took in the sight of the tiny girl, her face still partially hidden beneath the blanket. My niece. Faith. A fragile piece of our future.
David moved the chair closer to the bed, and Jennie carefully positioned the baby so I could see her better. The little one’s blue eyes fluttered open for just a moment before closing again. I couldn’t stop staring.
Laurene’s hand rested lightly on my shoulder.
I reached out with trembling fingers and touched the baby’s teeny hand, marveling at the softness of her skin.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this speechless,” I muttered, still looking at the baby in awe .
“Don’t get too attached to the quiet, Reese. She’s mine,” Jennie teased, and offered her to me. “Wanna hold her?”
I nodded, the baby’s gentle scent filling my nose as I carefully accepted her into my arms. I watched her chest go up and down. I looked up, and Laurene was smiling back.
“I love you,” I told her.
Laurene’s eyes softened, and she reached out, her fingers brushing the baby’s cheek.
“We made it,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Against everything—we made it .”
Conrad. Yvonne. Nina. Harold. The weight of the past, this town, all the forces that tried to tear us apart.
And yet, here we were, still standing.
The world hadn’t won. We had.
And as I looked at Laurene, at the life we’d fought for, I knew this was only the beginning.