Chapter 24 - Ruby
TWENTY-FOUR
RUBY
Class was such a bore. Jezebel kept whispering at me the entire time and getting us both in trouble.
I ended up pulling out a voice recorder and recording the professor and what she was saying so I could dictate notes at a different time.
Then, I settled back and let my mind wander to Diego.
My heart leapt against my chest every time I thought about the warmth of his embrace and his tender kisses along my neck.
And before I knew it, class was dismissed.
“Well,” Jezebel said with a sigh, “another one down, and only ten more to go.”
I rummaged around in my purse for my phone. “Yep.”
She gathered her books in her arms and stood up. “See you next week?”
I leaned back and looked at my phone. “See you then.”
I felt her staring me down for a bit before she scoffed and walked away, but I didn’t care.
I had more important things to worry about than stroking my desk mate’s ego on whatever the hell she had going on in her life now.
The girl was the hottest mess I’d ever come across and for some reason she had latched onto me.
But with only ten more classes to go, I supposed I could put up with it until the semester was finished.
And I graduated.
“What the…?”
I opened my phone the second I saw all of the missed calls from Diego and noticed that I had them from my brother as well. I ignored my brother’s phone calls and dialed Diego’s number, mostly since I wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with Puck again.
And the phone didn't even ring once before he picked up. “Where are you?”
I stood to my feet. “Uh, I’m still on campus. Why?”
“Are you around a group of people?”
I looked around and saw a bunch of students standing around and talking to our professor. “Yeah. Why?”
“Stay exactly where you are and don’t go anywhere alone.”
I furrowed my brow. “Diego, what the hell is going on? Is something wrong?”
I heard him shuffling around on the other end of the line. “It’s nothing. Everything’s fine. Just a precaution. Stay where you are and don’t go anywhere alone. Got it?”
I rolled my eyes and shoved my things into my bag. “Cut the shit, please? Puck already treats me like the pretty little princess I’m not. At least be different from him, okay? I don’t need more of the same.”
“Ruby, it’s not—”
I slung my back over my shoulder. “I’m not some fragile little porcelain doll that you have to keep locked away from the rest of the world. And I’ve already showed you many times that I don’t need protecting.”
“I’m not doing that, but you just need to listen. There’s—”
“And another thing,” I said as I marched to the front of the room, “if you’re going to start keeping secrets like this from me like Puck always does, then we might not work out.
I get if it’s group shit or whatever, but you’re not part of that group.
You’re different. You don’t work for or with Stone. That means you can talk to me.”
“Ruby, there’s so much I want to say right now, but you need to listen to me.”
I scoffed. “And what could you possibly say that would make me—”
He groaned. “The damn cartel has made a threat on your life, Ruby. Jesus.”
I paused. “What?”
He sighed. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. But I didn’t want to put it so damn bluntly. But would you just listen now?”
I walked over to the corner and leaned against the wall. “How bad is it? What’s happened?”
He cleared his throat. “I want you to stay put. We know you’re on campus and we’re coming. Just stay in a public place where there’s people and you’ll be fine. Promise me.”
I looked around nervously. “Okay, I can do that.”
“Thank you. We’re all on our way. Just take some breaths and do as I’m asking you.”
I nodded. “Okay. Yes, yes. All right. I’ll see you guys soon.”
“See you soon, beautiful.”
I hung up the phone and looked back over my shoulder only to see the professor and the rest of the students from my class exiting the room.
So, I followed behind them and moved as they moved.
We eventually found our way outside before everyone dispersed and I suddenly regretted ever signing up for a night class.
I looked around, trying to find someone who was out here at fucking a quarter to ten at night.
Then, my eyes landed on a campus security officer.
“Thank fuck,” I whispered.
I darted down the steps and headed in his direction where he was seated while he sipped on a drink.
I sat at the table next to him, trying to look preoccupied with myself while I kept my ears trained on his every movement.
I peered around, trying to get a good look at anything suspicious happening around me.
But all I saw was darkness and a handful of college kids walking around in groups.
“Okay, you’ve got this,” I whispered to myself.
I waited and waited. The security officer got up and walked away and I figured I’d look like a maniac following him, so I stood and made my way toward a small group of kids.
They all looked at me with wrinkled noses before they got up and moved away from me, as if they were discussing top secret bullshit with one another.
And as they moved away, I found myself alone at the edge of the parking lot.
Before my eyes fell on my van.
“This is bullshit. No one’s out here,” I murmured.
Off in the distance I heard the rumbling sound of motorcycles, and that only spurred me quicker toward the van.
They weren’t far away, so what the hell kind of trouble could I get into within the next few minutes?
Hearing their engines revving and soaring toward my rescue made me smile.
My heart slammed against my chest at the idea of Diego coming to my rescue, even though I didn’t need anything of the sort.
But just as I reached for the unlocked door of my van, I heard a small crash before Diego’s voice sounded.
“No! Don’t touch the van!” he roared.
In a flash, he had me tackled to the ground. My purse went spilling everywhere, the contents of it flooding the pavement as he rolled me away from the vehicle. I clung to him as the rest of the guys rushed around it and got onto the ground with flashlights.
And then, it hit me.
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“Are you all right?” Diego asked as he hovered above me.
“Get down!” Stone roared.
It all happened so quickly that it took my breath away.
One moment, I was walking toward my van to get in and wait, and the next second Diego had his body thrown over mine while an explosion literally rocked the entire campus.
The ground shook with fury and the flames from the explosion licked the bottoms of my feet.
I curled my legs up and Diego crawled on top of me as I watched flames soar over his head.
And when his eyes met mine, tears dripped down my cheeks as my ears rang.
I love you so much.
Diego smiled at me and said something, but I couldn't hear him. He kept talking as his smile grew bigger, but panic rose up in my chest. I couldn't hear him, the explosion, the fire, or anything. It was as if this ringing had enveloped my entire world and I winced as it grew louder.
Then, the worst happened.
“Diego?”
I couldn't hear myself say his name, but I saw his eyes roll into the back of his head.
“Diego!?”
I watched as he collapsed and rolled off to my side.
“Diego!” I roared.
I scrambled to get on top of him and that’s when I noticed it. His leather jacket. It had the word “prospect” stitched onto the arm just like Puck’s did when he first pledged himself to the crew. Tears streaked my neck as I ripped his shirt open, taking stock of his gunshot wound.
Then, Notch pulled me off him.
“No! Diego!”
I watched my legs kick into the air as Puck and Stone rushed to his side.
“Diego, please!”
Notch put me down on my feet and turned me around. He started talking, but all I could do is shake my head and yell Diego’s name. Notch checked my eyes with a flashlight before looking over my head, and after he was done with his examination, the world slowly came back to me.
“Let me know when you can hear me,” Notch said, “let me know when you can hear me. Let me know when you can hear me. Let me know when–”
I cupped my hand over his mouth. “Shut the fuck up.”
He grinned against my palm. “Good to have you back.”
Then, I whipped around and drew in a big breath of air. “Diego Hernandez, you get up right this fucking second!”
I wasn’t sure if it was my shrieking voice or if it was something Stone and Puck had done, but the unconscious man shot upright and gasped for air as if he had just been brought back to life.
I sobbed with tears of happiness as I rushed toward him, dropping to my knees and covering his body with my own.
Just like he had done me.
“Don’t you ever do that shit again, you hear me?” I hissed.
His shaking hand started stroking through my hair. “I love you too, Ruby.”
Relief rushed through me at his words and when our eyes connected, I found him smiling at me. I picked up his hand and kissed his knuckles, then placed his palm against my heart.
For a moment, it was only the two of us.
Then, Stone intervened. “We have to get him out of here before the police come.”
I looked over at him. “What about the van?”
Stone’s stare dropped to Diego. “Can you ride your bike? Are you good to ride back?”
Puck helped Diego upright and Notch gave him a quick once-over, but I didn’t want to risk anything.
“I can ride,” I said.
Stone furrowed his brow. “What?”
I clicked my tongue. “Don’t act like an idiot. You know I can ride. Whatever bike Diego came here on, I can drive back and he can ride on the back. I don’t want to chance him passing out again.”
Notch nodded. “She’s right. That could be disastrous if he’s driving.”
“Diego?” I asked as I looked back down at him.
And instead of answering, he merely nodded.
Sirens wailed in the distance which meant we had to move quickly.
All eyes were on us as we helped Diego to his feet and got him back to the bike he dropped onto the ground to try and get to me.
I tilted it upright and swung my leg over before I cranked the engine back up, and after Diego was situated behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist.
Before his helmeted head laid against my shoulder.
“I’ll get you home safely,” I whispered.
Then, we all fell in line as we raced away from campus.
For a little while, the ride back was quiet. The wind whipping around my body made me feel free and enlightened. Hearing Diego’s echoing voice on a continuous loop with those words made me smile so brightly that my cheeks hurt.
However, once we approached the gravel road that led straight into the warehouse parking lot, the shock set in.
And my muscles tensed.
“Ruby?” Diego asked.
I tried to keep the bike on the road as I slowed down, falling drastically behind everyone else.
“Ruby, talk to me. What’s happening?”
My teeth clattered together and I white-knuckled the bars of the bike. My toes curled and my legs locked up so badly that they cramped. I whimpered as I let off the gas and eased my way into the parking lot. And I could tell by the look on Notch’s face that he knew what was happening.
And before I knew it, the guys helped Diego inside while Puck carried me in his arms.
“Sh-sh-sh-sh-shock. It’s—it’s sho—”
“I know, Roo,” Puck murmured, “Notch already filled me in.”
I curled into him and shivered. “I’m so cold.”
“I need a heated blanket!” Puck roared.
Puck settled me onto a couch in the living room before he wrapped me up in a blanket that someone had thrown to him. I closed my eyes and tried to listen to Notch’s voice as he talked me through what might help, but my mind was blank. All I wanted was Diego. All I wanted was his embrace.
And when I smelled his cologne as he sat down beside me, I leaned against him.
Reveling in the way his arms naturally draped around me.
“I gotcha, beautiful,” I whispered.
I snuggled tightly against him. “I thought you were dead.”
He kissed the top of my head. “Gonna take a lot more than that.”
I sniffled. “I seriously thought you were fucking dead.”
He pulled me into his lap. “I’m so sorry. I love you so much, and I’m so sorry I scared you like that.”
I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck. “I love you, too. So fucking much.”
Puck cleared his throat. “All right, now. What does she need?”
Diego chuckled as a small smile spread across my lips. But before anyone could answer my brother, a very pertinent and curious question fell from my lips.
“What the fuck are we going to do about my van?”