Chapter 13
13
KEELY
S uddenly, Jesse went down, and Keely’s world stopped. One second, he was standing, solid, unshakable, the man who had just ended Nico Alvarez with a single, ruthless shot. The next, his body jerked as a gunshot rang out from somewhere behind them, and a dark bloom of red spread across his side.
“No!” The word tore from her throat as Jesse staggered, his knees buckling.
Keely lunged, catching him before he hit the filthy warehouse floor. His body was too heavy, too limp, but she would not let him fall. She hit her knees, her arms wrapping around his torso, feeling the hot slickness of his blood between her fingers.
“Jesse,” she gasped, her hands pressing against the wound. Crimson soaked his shirt, and he breathed raggedly. “Stay with me, cowboy. You hear me?”
His eyes found hers, burning with a mix of pain and something else. Something softer. He opened his mouth to speak, but the surrounding chaos prevented him from being heard.
Gunfire erupted again—one last, desperate attempt from the remaining men in Alvarez’s crew.
“Cover us!” Reed’s voice was a roar, cutting through the noise. “Take them down!”
Dawson and Hawke moved in, firing shots as they systematically eliminated the rest of Nico’s crew. Gavin kicked a rifle out of a dying man’s grasp, putting a bullet between his eyes for good measure.
Keely barely registered any of it. Her hands were soaked, and her heart was pounding like a metronome on crack.
“Jesse,” she whispered again, panic clawing at her throat. “You stay with me.”
His fingers twitched where they rested over hers, his jaw clenching like he was trying to reassure her. He lifted one bloodied hand, cupping the side of her face. “You’re okay,” he rasped.
Keely let out a choked, humorless laugh. “I’m okay? You just got shot, Jesse! You’re not okay!”
His lips barely curved, something infuriatingly Jesse in the expression, even as blood seeped from between her fingers.
“We need to move, now!” Reed’s voice cracked through her panic, his boots hitting the floor beside them.
Keely turned on him, fury and desperation mixing in a volatile storm. “Then fucking move him!”
Reed didn’t argue. Hawke knelt on Jesse’s other side, yanking off his belt and wrapping it around Jesse’s torso, just above the wound. Jesse hissed, his whole body tensing, but he didn’t fight it.
“You keep that pressure there, Keely,” Hawke ordered. “Do not let go.”
Like she would. Like she could.
Her hands were shaking, her breath coming in sharp, uneven bursts. Jesse’s skin was paler than she’d ever seen it, a fine sheen of sweat forming on his forehead.
No. No, no, no.
“You hang on, Jesse,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “You stay with me. You don’t get to do this. You promised.”
His gaze, still steady despite everything, locked onto hers. “Not to worry, darlin’, I keep my promises.”
Hawke and Dawson lifted Jesse between them, moving fast toward the warehouse doors. Jesse let out a low groan, his jaw tightening as his boots dragged against the floor.
Keely was beside them the whole time, refusing to let go of him.
“We’re five minutes out from exfil,” Gavin reported, one hand pressing to his earpiece as he moved in step with them. “SUVs are rolling in now.”
Keely wasn’t listening. Jesse’s body wasn’t moving right. His muscles were stiff, his breath coming in short, ragged bursts. Blood was still seeping between her fingers.
That bastard had shot him.
If Jesse died, no. She would not think like that.
“We’re almost there,” she breathed against his ear. “You’re going to be fine, Jesse.”
Jesse made a rough sound, something like a chuckle, but she could feel the strain in it. “Didn’t know you were an optimist.”
“Not usually,” she admitted, gripping his hand. “But I’ll be damned if I let you bleed out in this shithole.”
The SUV screeched to a stop outside the warehouse. The doors flew open. Dawson and Hawke hauled Jesse inside, laying him out across the backseat. Keely climbed in from the other side, placing his head in her lap. She was not about to let him out of her sight.
Reed was in the driver’s seat before the doors even closed.
“We’ve got a hospital two miles out,” he said, throwing the SUV into gear. “I’ll get us there. Hold him together.”
Keely was trying. Her hands pressed firmly against his side, her forehead nearly touching his as she whispered to him, every second counting.
“Jesse, I swear to God, if you die, I will...”
“Kill me?” His lips twitched again, his voice rough, barely there.
She almost laughed. Almost.
Instead, she leaned in closer, her mouth brushing his temple as she whispered, “No. I’ll never forgive you.”
Jesse’s fingers twitched against hers, squeezing, just barely. He was still there. But for how much longer?
The hospital was coming into view, the red glow of the emergency sign cutting through the darkness.
Reed slammed his palm against the horn, announcing their arrival as he pulled up hard against the curb. The moment the SUV rocked to a stop, the ER doors burst open, doctors and nurses spilling out.
“Gunshot wound—male, mid-thirties, massive blood loss!”
The second the medical team swarmed, someone dragged Keely back.
“No...”
“You have to let them work!” Reed’s arms locked around her, holding her tight, stopping her from climbing onto the gurney.
Her entire body screamed at the separation. Jesse’s eyes flickered open one last time, searching for her. She caught his hand before they pulled him through the doors.
“I’ll be right here,” she whispered, her voice fierce, desperate. “I’m not leaving you.”
Jesse’s fingers squeezed around hers. Then he was gone, vanishing through the hospital doors, doctors and nurses surrounding him, voices sharp, movements urgent.
And Keely? She stood there, her hands covered in his blood, her heart threatening to crack in her chest. Reed’s grip on her arm was firm, steady.
“He’s one of the toughest sonofabitches I’ve ever known, Keely.”
She inhaled hard, swallowing against the rawness in her throat. “He’d better be,” she whispered.
Because she hadn’t just fallen in love with the sonofabitch, she’d let herself need him. And if she lost him now, she didn’t know if she’d ever recover.
Keely paced the length of the waiting room, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
Hours had passed. Maybe minutes. Maybe a lifetime.
Reed sat nearby, arms crossed, his eyes dark, unreadable. Gavin stood against the wall, checking his watch every few minutes like time meant something. Hawke had disappeared to find coffee, and Dawson… Dawson had tried to get her to sit, to calm down, but fuck that.
She had too much energy, too much panic clawing at her insides, and no outlet for any of it. She had never been this afraid in her life. Not when she’d seen the diamonds. Not when Nico had dragged her away with a knife pressed to her throat.
But this? Watching Jesse, a man so strong, so unbreakable, bleed out in her arms? That was the nightmare she feared she couldn’t wake up from.
The doors swung open, and Keely spun so fast she nearly tripped over herself. A doctor—mid-forties, kind eyes but a face lined with exhaustion—stepped forward, pulling off bloodied gloves.
“Miss Malone?”
She shoved past Reed before anyone else could speak. “Is he okay?”
“The bullet missed any major organs,” the doctor said, “but there was significant blood loss. We had to transfuse him and repair some internal damage. He’s stable, but the next twenty-four hours are critical.”
Stable. Critical.
Keely’s legs nearly gave out, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to stay upright. “Can I see him?”
The doctor hesitated.
Reed stepped forward. “Doc, I suggest you say yes. She’s not going anywhere.”
The man nodded, stepping aside. “Five minutes.”
Keely didn’t walk to the room. She ran.
Jesse looked too pale. Too still.
Wires and monitors surrounded him, the steady beep of the heart monitor the only sign that he was still here. His chest rose and fell, but it wasn’t right—not the way it should be. Jesse was larger than life, indestructible. Not like this.
A strangled noise caught in her throat, and she nearly collapsed beside the bed, her hands trembling as she reached for his.
“You jackass,” she whispered, squeezing his fingers. “You promised.”
His skin was too warm, too clammy. His hand didn’t squeeze back.
Keely swallowed against the lump in her throat. “You’re not allowed to die, Jesse. You don’t get to leave me, do you understand?”
Her voice cracked, but she didn’t care.
“I love you.” The words spilled out before she could stop them, before she could take a breath and think about what it meant to say them. “Did you hear me? I said I love you, and I’m not losing you, so you’d better wake up.”
Silence.
Keely pressed her forehead against his arm, her entire body trembling.
Then… a slight twitch followed by a squeeze.
Her breath hitched. Keely lifted her head just in time to see Jesse’s eyes flutter open.
His gaze was heavy-lidded, groggy, but focused. His lips curved just slightly.
“Darlin’,” he rasped.
And just like that, she lost it.
Keely let out a choked sob, burying her face against his shoulder, her hands clutching his like she’d never let go. Jesse’s arm barely moved, but his fingers tangled in her hair, holding her close.
“Told you,” he murmured, “not leaving.”
She pulled back just enough to see his face, to memorize the way his lashes flickered, the way his lips parted as he breathed her in. “You asshole,” she whispered.
Jesse chuckled, but it was weak, the sound rattling in his chest. “That’s five.”
She kissed him. It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t careful. It was desperate, full of love and frustration and everything she couldn’t say. Jesse groaned into her mouth, his grip weak but possessive as he cupped her jaw, tilting her closer.
“You can’t do that again,” she whispered, her forehead pressing against his. “You scared the hell out of me.”
Jesse grinned. “I’ll try not to get shot again. No promises.”
Keely let out a half-laugh, half-sob, shaking her head. “You asshole.”
He grinned, but it was small, pained. “You already said that.”
She kissed his knuckles, pressing his hand to her cheek. “I love you, Jesse.”
His breath hitched.
Keely swallowed hard. “And if you ever scare me like that again, I will tie you to the bed and leave you there for a week.”
Jesse’s lips quirked. “Nope. If anyone does any tying anyone up, it’s me tying you to the bed—come to think of it, I kinda like the sound of that.”
She rolled her eyes, but the laughter that bubbled up was real. “You are impossible.”
His hand lifted weakly, his fingers brushing through her hair. “And you’re mine.”
Her throat tightened. Jesse let out a slow breath, his eyes slipping closed again, but this time, this time, she wasn’t afraid.