Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
Grizz
“She’s just in shock,” Lucian says softly. “And the baby is fine.”
“Are you sure?” I demand. “Can you actually be sure without testing?”
“You said Dorothea didn’t hit the ground. Anastacia took the brunt of the fall, saving Dorothea from any damage.”
“But he fell on top of them.”
“But not directly.” I grit my teeth. “Look, if you aren’t happy with what I’m saying, take them to the hospital, but Grizz, if I were worried, I would tell you.”
My gaze goes to Anastacia, who is lying in the bed. She looks as if she’s sleeping. “And you’re sure she’s fine?”
“She’s been through a traumatic event. She’s stressed. If she doesn’t wake soon, I’ll be worried. But Grizz,” he looks into my eyes, making sure he’s in my direct line of sight. “She will wake up.”
I exhale sharply. “Fuck, this is such a mess.” I scrub my hands down my face, then drop them to my side and pace the room before sitting on the end of the bed and taking Anastacia’s hand. Her eyelids flutter, and then her eyes open.
“Oh, thank fuck,” I say, resting my head back. “Angel, are you okay?” I ask, slipping off the bed to kneel beside it. Lucian is there a second later.
“How are you feeling?”
She blinks, confusion on her face as she looks from me to Lucian. Then she jerks up.
“Dorothea!”
“She’s okay,” I say just as Lucian says the same thing. Kelsey comes over with Dorothea, handing her to Anastacia. She hugs her to her chest and the tears fall.
Kelsey moves back to stand in the hallway, just outside the door, and I get back on the bed, pulling both my girls onto my lap.
Lucian does a few things to check out Anastacia and asks her a few questions. When he’s satisfied by what he hears, he heads out of the room to speak with Kelsey, Kolton, and Tommy who are all just outside the room.
The rest of the guys are on the way, along with the prospects who need to clean this shit up.
Gunner’s body is still downstairs, and there’s no way they’re getting all that blood out but they better try.
I’d already heard Snapper mutter that it’s a good thing he planned to move in with Lucian.
But he isn’t going to sell this house with blood stained into the floorboards.
Guess the prospects will be redoing the floor if they can’t get it out.
“Shh, it’s okay, Angel. I’m here. I got you.”
Anastacia keeps crying, and I keep assuring her that she’s okay, that I’m here, that I won’t let anything happen to her.
It feels like hours pass before she stops crying. She gets to her feet, Dorothea still cradled against her, leaving me alone on the bed that feels emptier than it should.
“Thank you for coming. Thank you for what you did. I could never repay you for any of this, but I…” She holds her head up. “I need you to go.”
“Angel—”
“No, Grizz. I can’t do this with you, especially not now.”
“It’s not what you think,” I say.
“I don’t want to hear any more lies.”
“I did lie to you,” I say firmly. She looks shocked by that.
“I will not deny it. I lied. But I didn’t lie about what you think.
I didn’t cheat on you. I would never, and I mean never, do that to you.
” I step closer to her, putting my hands on her cheeks.
“I love you, Angel, and I would never hurt you like that. You’re the only woman for me. I mean that.”
Her bottom lip trembles and her eyes fill with tears.
“I don’t believe you.”
Those words hurt, but not nearly as much as she’s hurting right now, I bet.
“Let me tell you the truth,” I plead.
“I don’t—”
“If you still don’t want me here after I tell you the truth, I’ll go. At least let me tell you.”
She steps back out of my grip. “Fine.”
I sigh, sitting on the bed and running a hand through my hair.
“I… had Gunner locked up in a cabin.”
Her eyes go wide. “You what?” she hisses, moving further back, her grip tightening on the baby.
“I know you told me to let it go, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t sleep knowing he was out there, and then he—”
“This is your fault,” she whispers.
“What?” I say.
“You’re the reason he showed up here! He was angry because of what you did!”
“No, let me finish.”
“Get out, Grizz,” she says through gritted teeth. “Get out and don’t ever come back. I never want to see you again.”
“Angel—”
“Get out!” she screams, causing Dorothea to start crying.
It breaks my fucking heart, but I do as she says. Each footstep is harder than the last but staying is only going to hurt her more—and stress out the baby.
Anastacia doesn’t want me here, so I’ll go. I only wish she’d let me finish telling her the truth first, because she didn’t get the entire story.
The hallway is empty when I leave the room. I make my way down stairs with my tail between my legs. The mess is cleaned up, as good as it’ll be for now. At least the body is gone, but the floor is still stained.
“Everything okay?” Snapper asks.
“Nah. Not even close.”
“Did you tell her the truth?” he asks.
“As much as I could, but she wouldn’t let me finish. She blames this on me, which I guess is my fault.”
“No, it’s not,” Tommy says. “He was showing up at our house first.”
“I know that, but she’s not ready to hear the truth yet. She’s upset. She needs time.”
“You’re a good man, Grizz,” Tommy says, giving me a hug.
“Thanks,” I say, emotion clogging my throat. “Not only for that, but for ending that fucker.”
“I’ll admit, I was a little nervous. Shooting through windows is never easy, but we got lucky tonight.”
“Not sure I would have taken the chance,” I say.
“Which is why I did.” Tommy pats me on the shoulder. “I’ve been shooting for years. If I thought it would miss, I wouldn’t have done it. Come on. Let’s get home.”
“Don’t wanna go home without her,” I say, looking upstairs.
“Do you want me to talk to her?” Snapper asks, looking like he cares.
“No,” I say with a shake of my head. “She needs to know someone is on her side. She trusts you. Don’t fuck it up. I’ll talk to her when the time is right. Just… make sure she knows I love her, and if they need anything, and I mean anything, you better let me know.”
“I will,” Snapper says. “If you need anything, call me. We’ll be at Lucian’s.”
I nod, scratching the back of my head as I begrudgingly move toward the door.
My feet feel like they’re made of lead. Fuck, I really don’t want to leave her, but I can’t force her, as much as I want to.
She’s upset, and for good reason. She needs time to calm down and process what happened.
I just wish she would do it with me, at home, in our bed, where we belong.