Chapter 22
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
DUCHESS
At first, I didn’t even know what happened.
One second, I’m running toward Luke, and the next, he’s hauling ass toward me. I thought I was going to jump into his arms, so when he forcefully pushed me out of the way, it didn’t register why. It wasn’t until I roughly crashed onto the tile beneath me that I understood what was happening.
Nothing could have prepared me for the string of events that happened one right after the other. My vision tunneled, and all the blood drained from my face as I watched Jameson’s body jolt back from the sudden impact of the bullet in his shoulder.
“Luke!”
My voice broke.
My heart crashed.
My soul shattered.
The despair in my voice recoiled off the walls now caving in on me. My heart jackhammered its way up to my throat, and for a few seconds, time seemed to stand still.
Everyone ran toward him, including me. There was an undeniable sense of awareness penetrating through the room.
Death.
Another gunshot blasted nearby, bringing everyone’s attention to its source.
Except mine.
I pushed off the ground with a heavy heart. I staggered to my feet, moving on autopilot toward him. Nothing or no one could stop me. A force much stronger and more powerful than either of us could ever understand was literally propelling me to him.
Was it love?
By the time I got to him, so did his men, and they sprang into action. They got us the hell out of there. There was no time to talk to him and see if he was okay. He simply grabbed my hand and basically dragged my ass out of there. I could barely keep up with his pace in my heeled boots.
After we were in his bulletproof SUV, the driver sped off like a bat out of hell. From there on out, it was straight business. Luke spent the entire time on the phone yelling at someone as I applied pressure on his wound with my bare hands and the sweater of mine I found in the back seat.
He didn’t pay me any mind. It was as if he wasn’t in any pain. However, he did keep his hand on my thigh, and every few seconds, I could feel him gripping it. I knew it was the pain he was feeling, and it was the only way not to succumb to it.
They drove us to a house I’d never been to. I had no idea where we even were. We were out in the middle of nowhere. Everything was as immaculate in this place as his condo was. I imagined it was another one of his properties.
Once we arrived, I cleaned up and changed into some of his clothes. Dying to feel close to him. Mine were ruined, covered in his blood. I’d be burning them now. I nervously stayed out of everyone’s way, simply waiting for my turn to be with him. I’d wait all night if I had to.
I wasn’t going anywhere.
I couldn’t believe he took a bullet for me…
I sat there in shock for I don’t know how long. I was in a daze, trying to keep my emotions in check but feeling as if I was failing miserably.
What the hell is happening?
One thing was for sure—if I thought I was falling for him before…
Well this, this just added a whole ass other level I wasn’t expecting, and I didn’t know what scared me more.
My feelings for him.
Or the life that he led.
LUKE
“Got it,” Dr. Reyes informed, throwing the bloody bullet that was in my left shoulder onto the table. “Clean hit, too. Didn’t nick any nerves. I’ll stitch you up, and it should close within a week. You’re lucky. Could have been your heart.” He pointed at my heart before he added, “I’ll be right back.”
When he was out of sight, Shawn questioned, “How the fuck did they get on the compound? That place is fucking Fort Knox. Who do you think let them in?”
My mind was reeling.
It could have been anyone, including Shawn, and I wasn’t dumb enough to think otherwise. For years, I had loyalty, and that wasn’t something I ever took for granted. Now, I had traitors among me who were supposed to be like family. I didn’t know who I could trust and that was the hardest pill to swallow.
I had to solve this on my own.
One versus who the fuck knows…
I didn’t reply to Shawn, mostly because my arm throbbed, and I could only focus on that. Reyes didn’t use any numbing. I didn’t want to wait to get stitched up, and I had already waited too long. I was feeling the effect of losing too much blood and feeling woozy.
Sitting through him poking around, trying to find the bullet, then stitching me up was proving to lay me out on my ass. He walked back in a few minutes later and stitched and patched me up. I had him on the payroll for unexpected situations like these, so he was used to seeing all sorts of fucked-up shit. He was a surgeon I met on the side, and for the right amount of money, anyone can be bought.
I just didn’t think my men would turn on me, and that was my fuckup.
“How many more times will I have to stitch you up?” Reyes reprimanded.
My eyes shifted to his. “As many as it takes to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
He shook his head, disappointed. When he was done, he placed a bottle of pain pills on the nightstand and left. I downed three of them with whiskey as a chaser. I don’t know how long I sat there, leaning my head against the headboard, messed up to the point of exhaustion.
Reflecting on my shitty life.
“You need to eat, or all that medication and liquor is going to tear up your stomach,” Duchess announced, walking in my bedroom with a plate of food in her hands and a glass of water.
“I’m fine,” I replied, taking another swig.
She snatched the bottle out of my hands, placing it on the nightstand next to the pills.
“You need to eat. Please…”
I sighed deeply, taking a bite of her sandwich.
The silence was deafening for a couple of minutes until she expressed, “You took a bullet for me, Luke. You saved my life.”
We locked eyes.
“And I’d do it again. I knew I should have never let you DJ there. Are you okay?”
“Define okay.”
“Doctor said he gave you a Xanax. Take it, alright?”
She shook her head, looking as lost as I felt.
“I don’t even know what to say to you right now…”
“I know.”
“No, I don’t think you do. One minute, we’re arguing, and the next, I’m jumping behind a concrete wall to avoid getting killed. I really don’t know where to go from here.”
“I’m so sorry, Duchess. I’m so fuckin’ sorry. You should’ve never been there. I know better, yet I still risked your life to have you in mine.”
She frowned.
“I put your life in danger, and I’ll never forgive myself for that.”
“I… I just… I… like what the fuck? How often does this happen to you?”
“Not often.”
“What’s happening?”
“Duchess—”
“No, I can’t experience that and then you not tell me what the hell is going on! It’s not fair.”
“Life’s not fair.”
“I know that more than anyone, but you’re still telling me the truth, or I’ll get it out of you.”
Trying to make light, I joked. “You’d torture an injured man?”
She didn’t care. “Luke…”
I looked away for a second, battling my demons. I never told anyone who wasn’t my men shit, and now she was asking me to bare my deepest, darkest secrets as if it were nothing at all. This was the first time I understood why she still hadn’t told me her name. For whatever reason, it was personal to her, and it finally made sense.
“Some things were better left unsaid. It’s for your own good.”
“My own good went flying out the window when you had to take a bullet for me. Now start talking.”
“Fuck…”
I shut my eyes, wanting darkness to take over. With the shoot-out, putting her life in jeopardy, and taking a bullet for her—it was just too much to overcome.
It finally all caught up to me, taking me fucking under. The pills and booze no longer numbed me enough. Not even nearly enough. My heart started to race again just thinking about this hell I was living in.
“Luke…”
She slowly kneeled on the ground in front of me and grabbed my hand before looking deep into my eyes, stating, “You can trust me.”
After seeing the distress on her face and the sincerity in her tone, I had no choice but to be honest with her. I tried to explain everything I knew, which wasn’t much. Once I caught her up, she didn’t say anything for a few minutes, and I thought I might have scared her off.
She stood to look down at me, and with a stern expression, she asked, “Why do you do this? Why do you live this life?”
“Duchess, I?—”
“No!” She stomped her foot with her fists at her sides. “You come from a good family. You have two parents who would literally die for you. Why would you want to hurt them by leading this life? What do you get out of it? You have more than enough money to live the life of a king. Why involve yourself in this bullshit if you don’t have to?”
Her questions fired at me as if they were the same bullets from earlier. I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything.
She was right.
There was no arguing with her.
“Do you have any idea how lucky you are?”
“I know.” I nodded.
“No, I don’t think you do. If you did, you wouldn’t be adamant about dying on this road.”
“Darlin’…”
“Don’t darlin’ me right now. Earlier, when I walked out of your office, I was so pissed at you.”
“I know.”
“Do you know what the first thing I thought of when I heard the chaos?” She shook her head again like the mere memory hurt her.
I knew she would never be able to get rid of the images. It was now a part of her, just as much as I was. That was the thing about death, it haunted you.
“I thought…” She paused, letting her words sink in. “We’re fighting, and I may never see you again.” Her honesty made me feel like a bigger piece of shit than I already did.
Her eyes started to water, and she struggled to keep her tears at bay. I hated that I was the reason she was going to cry. Especially since I knew this wasn’t in her nature.
Maybe she was going into shock.
It was hard to tell.
I grabbed her waist, pulling her toward me. She came willingly, crawling onto my lap to straddle my thighs, and she looked deep into my eyes.
“It was terrifying,” she cried. “The thought of losing you.”
“Duchess—”
“Shhh…” She placed her index finger over my lips. “Please let me say this, or I’ll lose my nerve.” She leaned forward, gently pressing her mouth against mine.
I never expected what she’d share next.
In one breath, she willingly confessed…
“My name is Sloan.”