Chapter 51
FIFTY-ONE
SUMMER
It all happens so fast I barely have time to register the action.
A quick succession of bullets being fired makes me wince.
Mase shields me, bracing both arms on either side of my head, and his body jolts repeatedly.
I feel the impact down to my bones. His mouth falls open, and the brightness in his eyes dulls, and in this moment, I feel like my entire world is being ripped apart, crumbling at my feet until it’s nothing more than ash.
A shrill scream leaves me, causing my ears to ring, and in slow motion, glass shatters from above and a rope of some sort drops into the room. Guns fire, but my focus remains locked on the man before me. The man I love more than I love myself.
Every tender moment shared is floating away, becoming a memory instead of a promise.
Each touch we ever encountered washed away in the pool of tears falling down my face at the agony in his. The dreams we had of our babies together, creating the perfect family we both so desperately longed for.
A strangled cry escapes my lips, and his attention slides toward my stomach.
Our dreams, our little family, drifts away in the blink of his eyes as the light behind them becomes extinguished.
A gurgling sound comes from his throat, and I desperately cling to him until his weight hauls me down, and we slump to the floor with his warmth coating me like a cloak of pain.