Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
SAVVY
“Monroe, stop!”
I almost trip over my feet when I look back. Grey is sprinting toward me with Roman right beside him.
No, no, no, no, no. My chest explodes with pain. It’s how I suspect being shot feels.
The red light appears in the center of Grey’s forehead again, and a sob that starts deep in my belly rings out through the open field.
“Make them stop, or I’ll kill him now.” Riley’s completely unhinged. I know he’ll do it too.
“Stop,” I scream with everything I have. It’s wrenched from my belly, devastating in sound, soul-crushing in execution. “Don’t come any closer.”
Grey halts, his winding arms reminding me of a cartoon character running straight for the edge a ravine, then he slowly inches closer. Even from thirty yards away, I can see the fear in his eyes.
“I’ll kill him, Sin, and his blood will be on your hands.” When Riley texted me at the picnic table, I didn’t want to believe he was serious.
Then, as soon as Clover was in the ambulance, the red dot appeared on Grey’s back.
I had no choice but to run when Riley said to, and now it might be for nothing.
I didn’t even get to say goodbye.
“Grey, don’t move. Stay there.”
“What the fuck is going on, Monroe?”
“Start walking backward, Sin. I’ll tell you when to stop. If they so much as breathe wrong, I’ll shoot them between the eyes.”
This is how my soul dies—with the lies I know I must tell to save the only man who ever loved me and all my jagged edges.
“I—I can’t do this with you. Just let me go.”
His fist clenches above his heart, and his hard body appears to stand taller. He’ll never forgive me for this. No matter what happens next, Grey and I will never have a chance.
Not after I lied to him about the surrogacy app. Riley will either kill him, or Grey will hate me until eternity for lying to him again.
There is no happy ending here. There’s only death or a lifetime of pain—and both options will kill me.
“I don’t believe you,” he calls back.
Slowly I take one step away, then another, but Grey moves in tandem, and I see the red light appear on his chest.
“No!” I taste blood in the back of my throat. “Stop. Please. Stop. Don’t come closer.”
Roman holds a hand to his ear, then says something to Grey—the harsh consonants of words reaching my ears in a cacophony of mismatched sounds.
“Where is he, Savvy?” Grey has lost the edge in his voice, but it’s replaced with sheer determination that scares the living hell out of me.
I shrug with my phone in the air.
“Get rid of them, Sin. Last warning.” I’ve never wished death on someone until this very moment. If Riley disappeared, I would never mourn him.
“What do you want me to do?” I cry. I don’t know if I’m talking to Riley, Grey, or some higher power, but I feel more helpless now than I ever have before.
“Move your fucking ass,” Riley hisses. My legs comply, even though every step I take away from Grey cuts me open with a self-inflicted wound I’ll never be able to heal.
“You don’t have to do this, Savvy.” Grey’s pleading with me while also listening intently to whatever it is Roman is saying at his side.
The bright red light appears on Grey’s forehead again, and I stumble back a few more steps while pure terror is ripped from my chest in a horrifying scream.
“You have one minute to get to me before I start putting holes through that asshole.”
“Savvy, I’m going to come and get you—”
“No. God no, Grey. Listen to me. P—p—please.” I take a step, and so does he. “I hate you.”
I’m sorry.
“I hate everything about you.”
I love you.
“I hate how awful you were to me. I hate that you saw my insecurities and used them for your own benefit.” I’m hysterical. My words are a run-on sentence full of mucus and shame. Each lie sets my heart on fire.
“I know you do, baby.” Why is he still creeping forward?
“Thirty seconds, Sin. Ticktock.”
I startle and walk backward a little faster.
“I’m not your sister.” I scream so loudly, my words echo off the empty pasture that will host a petting zoo tomorrow.
Grey’s steps falter.
I’m sorry.
“I’m not a replacement or a plan B.” I choke on the hurtful words. “One day, you’ll wake up and realize I was never yours to save.”
He takes one slow step forward. “I love you, Monroe.” The tightness in his tone tells me although he’s saying the words, he’s struggling to believe them.
That’s good. I need him to hate me, wish he’d never met me, loathe me. It’s the only way to keep him safe.
“You don’t love me though—you just want to fix me. But here’s the truth, Grey, I was never going to stay. Not with you because I don’t love you.”
“You do.” He doesn’t sound mad, or even irritated, just…scared. I keep inching away from him.
“You’re not a hero, Grey. You’re just another man looking for a win.”
“In our story, I am your hero. Just keep talking to me, sweetheart.”
What?
Roman is speaking quietly, but I don’t think it’s to Grey.
“Is he on the phone?” Grey asks.
I nod, and another soul-aching sob escapes.
“You have to leave, Patch, please. Please turn around and leave.” My knees tremble. I’m not sure how much longer I can hold myself up as I creep toward the devil himself.
“I’m not leaving you, Savvy. If you run, I’ll follow. If you hide, I’ll seek. If you panic, I’ll soothe. If you break, I’ll be your glue.”
“He has a gun,” I shout when Grey attempts to come closer. “Don’t move. He has a gun, and he will shoot you.”
“Did you see the gun, sweetheart? Have you seen it?”
How is he so calm?
“I have to move, Grey. He gave me one minute.”
“Did you see the gun?” he barks.
“He has the laser trained on you. He’s going to shoot. Please, please just go.” Blood rushes in my ears.
“Can you mute your phone, Sav?”
I’m too scared to ask any more questions. I put it on mute, hoping Riley doesn’t notice.
“The laser is a paw print, Savvy. It’s a goddamn cat toy.”
My head is shaking, but I don’t understand what he’s saying.
“No, what? No. I saw it land on your chest and your forehead. He said…he said—”
“Did. You. See. A. Gun?”
Did I? Not today, but I know Riley had guns when we were younger.
“I… Not today, but he knows how to use them.”
“Now, Sin. I’m not messing around here, you insolent little slut.”
The viciousness in Riley’s tone makes my hands shake so much I bobble my phone, wasting precious moments.
“Once again, you didn’t trust me, Monroe.
” Grey inches closer, but he still feels so far away.
“You ran instead of coming to me for help. I’m really starting to get a complex, and you know how bad my trust issues run already.
” He takes a step forward, and I take two back.
“He just got out of prison, so we’re playing his game on the off chance he does have a gun, but you should have trusted me. ”
“I’m going to kill him, Sin. I swear to fucking God.” Any semblance of control that Riley had left has gone out the window. He’s going to kill us all.
“Just twenty more seconds, baby. Hold it together. Roman’s team is circling around the back of him now. We just need him to believe that we’re following his directions. It’s almost over.”
No. No, he can’t mean that. And even if he does, he’ll never trust me again. Riley wins either way.
“Fuck,” Roman shouts. “He saw my guy.”
An engine roars, tires squeal, and my night erupts into madness.
“Run, Savvy. Run.” Grey’s terrified expression penetrates my panic, but so does Riley’s shouted threats.
“Time’s up, Bitch. I warned you. I told you what would happen if you weren’t mine.”
What the hell is happening?
Grey rockets toward me like a bullet while Riley roars nonsense into the air.
An engine is getting closer, so I turn and run.
“No, Savvy! No…”
I look up.
There’s nothing human in Riley’s gaze as he drives a giant pickup truck straight for me.
He’s laughing. Manically. His shouted curses, threats, and promises of violence pierce what should be a silent night.
I always wondered how my life would end. For a few years, I fooled myself into thinking I could have a normal life here in Happiness.
But my past was always going to collide with my future. I just didn’t know it would happen quite so literally.
Time slows in these last precious moments of my life. I’m still running, zigging and zagging, fighting for my right at happiness, but then the time comes, and I know he’ll hit me no matter where I go.
I have just enough time to look over at Grey one more time.
It’s his face, his scent, his love that I’ll take with me to heaven—or hell, depending on who gets the final say.
He’s my hero, my knight in shining armor, and I never got to tell him how much his determination, how much his loyalty has meant to me. This will hurt him, break him. I just hope my death doesn’t destroy him.
I’m almost glad my end will be quick because I know I couldn’t carry the weight of his guilt that hits me when his gaze connects with mine.
“I lied,” I cry, hoping he knows I mean about everything.
I lied to protect him. I lied to keep him away from Riley.
Braxton and Sage will be able to explain it to him, right?
They’ll let him know why I said horrible, unforgiveable things in my final moments of life.
Right?
Thump.
Crunch.
Glass rains down—it’s not unlike the night of the hurricane, except this time, I know I won’t make it out in one piece.
A crack of bone.
I’m weightless—airborne.
Then I’m hit again, and I feel myself contort in ways that shouldn’t be possible.
Something crushes my lungs.
Another bone snaps.
People are yelling.
My body is shutting down. I know it is. Everything should hurt, but I can’t feel…anything.
Greyson? Is that Greyson?
He’s crying.
Don’t cry, Patch.
I did this for you.
I’m your hero this time.
He needs a hero too.
I love you, Grey.
And I’m so, so sorry you had the misfortune of falling in love with me.
I’m so sorry.
I’m so, so…