Chapter 18 #2
“They would have taken Haley from you,” she retorts. “I had it all planned out. The school would get an anonymous tip. The police would get involved. And they’d find the drugs in your house. CPS would step in. And Justin would finally get his daughter back.”
“You put drugs in my house,” I say. My voice shakes with rage.
“My home. Where my daughter lives. What if the police didn’t find them?
What if she did? Did you think of that?” As she stares at me, I get louder.
“Did you? Did you think about what could happen if a nine-year-old child got her hands on cocaine?”
Sharon flinches. Then she shakes her head quickly. “She wouldn’t have. I’m sure—”
“You don’t know that!” I yell. “You put drugs in my house! Haley could have gotten sick! She could have—”
“She should have been with Justin!” Sharon shouts back. “Her father! And me! We would take care of her. The right way! Not surrounded by a bunch of losers—”
“How dare you!” I’m so angry I can feel myself shaking. “Justin never wanted her. I told him as soon as I found out I was pregnant. He said I was on my own.”
Sharon shakes her head, sending her hair every which way. “He wants Haley. He never knew.”
“Yes. He did.” My voice turns cold. “He knew. And he never met her. Not once. He never offered me child support. He did nothing.”
“Because you hid her!” Sharon retorts. “You lied! And now you’re hiding behind your fancy lawyer—”
“Fancy?” I snort. “I don’t have money for fancy lawyers. Because I’m raising Haley on my own. Because your son decided he didn’t want to be a father.”
“Yes, he does!” Sharon’s face is bright red. Her shirt is completely untucked. She lifts the gun so it’s aimed at my chest. “He wants her. And you’re going to set things right. Finally.”
My lungs seize.
Crap. What am I doing? I’m supposed to be buying myself time. Keeping her distracted. Not escalating things.
“Okay.” I lift my hands in surrender. “No one needs to get hurt. Clearly, emotions are running high right now. But we can work—”
“You’re going to sign over custody,” Sharon interrupts. Then she reaches into her pants pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper. “You’re going to grant full custody to Justin. Right now.”
“What?”
“Yes.” She shoves the paper at me. “Everything’s all filled out. All you have to do is sign it.”
“I’m not signing over custody. Are you crazy?”
Well, yes. I think she might be.
“Yes, you are,” Sharon replies. Now she sounds eerily calm. “Because if you don’t, I’ll kill you. And then Justin will get custody, anyway. Now.” She presses the paper against my hand. “Sign it.”
“And then what?” I ask. “Do you really think the court will accept this? That I’m just signing over custody after ten years? To a man Haley’s never met? And you think I’m just going to walk away from my own daughter?”
Sharon frowns. The lines in her forehead deepen. Could this really be the first time she’s thought about the after part of her plan?
With a frown, she tosses the paper to the floor. “Then I guess I’ll have to kill you.”
Oh, crap.
“No,” I start. “Listen. There’s no reason you can’t be a part of Haley’s life.” Lie. “And I’d be happy to have Justin involved.” Another lie. “Why don’t we just sit down and work through this?”
“No.” Her eyes go flat. Cold. “You’re right. Signing over custody won’t work. The only option is to kill you.”
“Sharon.” I cast a desperate glance around the room. Is there a weapon I can use? Something I can hide behind? Is there any chance of getting clear before the gun goes off?
As if it’s happening in slow motion, I watch her finger squeeze down on the trigger.
My life spins by in a blink.
I see my dad carrying me on his shoulders, laughing, still healthy and happy before cancer took everything away from him.
I’m in the kitchen, cooking with my mom. She’s teaching me how to roast a turkey, so I can make Thanksgiving dinner when I have my own family.
Then she’s hugging me after I told her about being pregnant. She’s telling me it’s all going to be okay.
I’m holding Haley in my arms right after she was born, already desperately in love with her.
I watch a thousand memories with Haley all at once. Her temper tantrums. Her cuddles. Movies together. Mani-pedis. Our hot chocolate buffets. All the love she’s given me unconditionally.
And Ronan.
I feel his arms around me. I can smell his minty breath right before he kisses me. I hear his voice when he tells me how gorgeous I am. And I’m filled with the certainty that I love him. That he’s the one I’ve been waiting for.
“Sorry,” Sharon says. “But you’re right. This is the only way.”
But my future. My dreams.
I won’t give them up.
So I leap to the side just as the gun goes off.
Something bites my arm.
I slam to the ground with a jarring thud.
My ears ring.
Sharon’s voice is distant as she screeches, “No! You weren’t supposed to move!”
At first, my arm is numb. Then fire ignites.
Then there’s a tremendous crash. And another.
Wood splinters.
An achingly familiar voice shouts, “Go, go, go!”
Another man replies sharply, “Tango armed!”
Ronan’s voice is strained but commanding. “Can you get her?”
The other man lets out a low snort. “Of course.”
I roll over to see Ronan racing across the room. His eyes are wild. Worry and fear are etched across his features. “Angel!”
I’m just sitting up as he comes crashing down beside me. “Angel.” His gaze sweeps over my body. His expression jolts. “Ah, fuck. Fuck. She hit you.”
“Tango down,” the other man announces. “Disarmed.” He sounds a little insulted as he adds, “As if I couldn’t.”
“Her name is Sharon,” I tell Ronan. My voice sounds funny, like I’m hearing it through cotton. “Justin’s mom.”
Ronan gently pushes me back to the floor. “Angel, sweetheart. I need you to lie down. Okay? You were shot. There’s blood—” His voice catches. “Just… let me take care of you. Alright?”
I want to insist I’m perfectly capable of sitting up. But all at once, my body goes weak. As I sag to the floor, a shudder takes hold of me. “She didn’t shoot me in the chest?” I ask. “She aimed at it. But I tried to get out of the way.”
“No.” Ronan presses something against my arm, and a fresh burst of pain erupts. When I yelp instinctively, he winces. “Shit, cupcake. I’m sorry. It’s your arm. I need to put pressure on it.”
“Not my chest?”
“Not your chest,” he replies. “But your arm is bleeding quite a bit.” He leans over to look at my arm. “I don’t think she caught an artery. But she got you good.”
I start shivering. “Why am I cold?”
“Shock.” Ronan looks up, presumably at the other man who came racing in with him. “Sawyer. Call 911. And I need my medi-kit. It’s in the—”
“The car?” At the sound of a third voice, I turn my head to look. The front door is hanging on one hinge, and framed in the doorway is Enzo, holding a black bag in his hand. “I got it.”
“Paramedics are on the way,” Knox announces as he follows Enzo into the house. He glances around the room. “Shit. Who is she?”
“Justin’s mother,” I answer. “She wanted me to sign over custody. And when she realized that wouldn’t work, she said she was going to kill me.”
Ronan’s face jerks. “What?”
“I think… Justin lied to her,” I explain. “She thought I was hiding Haley from him. She’s the one who broke in. Who planted the drugs. She wanted to prove I was unfit. So she and Justin could raise Haley instead.”
Pure rage darkens Ronan’s expression. The muscles in his jaw work. He takes a deep breath and releases it slowly. I can tell he’s doing everything he can not to lose it.
“Haley.” I clutch Ronan’s arm. “Is she okay? Is she still with Alec? What about Justin—”
“Gage is watching Justin,” Enzo answers. He crouches beside Ronan and gives me a gentle smile. “He went there as soon as we heard. Justin is claiming he had no knowledge of anything. But Gage isn’t leaving his side.”
“Haley’s with Alec,” Ronan adds. “I talked to him just before your alert went off. So she’s safe. He won’t let anything happen to her.”
I don’t even realize my teeth are chattering from the cold until Enzo takes off his coat and drapes it over me. “It’s the shock,” he says, echoing Ronan’s statement. “And the adrenaline dump. They’ll get some fluids into you, and you’ll feel much better.”
In the distance, the whine of sirens approaches.
Ronan strokes my hair and presses a gentle kiss to my forehead. “You’re going to be okay, cupcake. The paramedics will be here any second.”
“Then why do you look so worried?” I lift my uninjured arm to touch his face. “And scared.”
“Because I was scared,” he replies. “And I am worried. The woman I love was just shot.” He swallows hard. “I don’t care what my medical training tells me. I’m not going to stop being worried until I’ve gotten at least five doctors to look at you. Maybe more.”
My brain catches on only one word. “Love?”
Ronan stares at me. “Yes.” His lips brush across mine. “Love. I thought it was too soon—” He stops. “No. I was scared to say it. Because… you know.”
The pain in my arm fades as I look into his eyes. “I know.”
“But I do. Love you. Maybe—no, I know this is the worst time to say it. When you’re shot and bleeding and it’s my fault for not being here—”
“It’s not your fault.” I clasp his hand and squeeze it hard. “I’m the one who let her in. Not you. And you came. As soon as you knew I was in trouble, you came. If you hadn’t…” Another shudder moves through me. “I don’t know what would have happened.”
“Still.” Ronan’s guilt is obvious. “I should have been here.”
Sirens roar outside. Tires screech. Flashing lights bounce around the room. Car doors open and slam shut.
“Ronan.” I squeeze his hand again. “You couldn’t have known.”
“But—”
“And.” Releasing his hand, I gesture for him to lean closer to me. “I love you, too.”
His face jolts. “You do?”
I nod. “Yes. And I don’t care about being shot. Well, I do. Because I don’t feel well and I have a feeling this is going to keep me from working for a while. But the part about loving you? And you loving me? It’s the best part of all of this.”
Ronan closes his eyes. When he looks at me again, his eyes are damp. “I really do love you, Angel. I think I have ever since you invited me to your hot chocolate buffet. I just didn’t want to let myself admit it.”
“I was scared, too,” I tell him. “But now”—I lift my head so I can kiss him—“I’m not anymore. Because as long as I’m with you, I always feel safe.”
“Angel.” He kisses me back. “I love you.”
My heart swells. “I love you, too.”