Chapter 12 #2
She took a deep breath, then nodded. “Okay, but if you die, I’ll never forgive you.” And with that, she turned and fled across the yard toward where he’d left Ghost and Fletch.
Chase wanted to smile at his sister’s words but couldn’t. His side hurt like a bitch, he was starting to feel dizzy from blood loss, and the woman he loved was in danger. He knew it as easily as he knew his own name.
He peeked around the corner of the house—and was on the move before his brain told his feet to move.
Sadie was kneeling next to a car up against the garage. It was lying upside down and the back end had flames coming from it. She was tugging at someone’s arm, trying to pull them out of the wreckage.
But that wasn’t what had him running after her as fast as he could go. It was the man walking up behind her. Jonathan.
Chase had known all along Jonathan had been behind whatever had hit the house, but seeing him there, walking toward the woman he loved as if he didn’t have a care in the world, flipped a switch inside Chase.
After hearing what the man had already done to Sadie, there was no way he was going to let him get his hands on her again. No fucking way.
When he got close enough, Chase could hear Sadie saying, “Uncle Sean, are you all right?” as she tugged on his arm, trying to pull him free of the wreckage. He was conscious, and the swear words coming from his mouth would’ve impressed Chase if he wasn’t focused on Jonathan.
“Sadie, look out!” Sean said, but it was too late.
Jonathan walked up behind her and easily pulled her away from the car and her uncle.
Without thinking, Chase didn’t even slow down. No one had seen him yet, and he used that to his advantage. He plowed right into Jonathan’s side.
All three of them went flying, and Chase did his best to keep from falling on top of Sadie.
They landed in the dirt with loud thumps and Chase’s vision went dark briefly when he landed right on his injured side. His hesitation when they fell was enough for Jonathan to get the upper hand.
He rolled and straddled Chase. Both hands went to Chase’s throat and he squeezed.
“She’s mine,” Jonathan hissed. “You can’t have her!”
Chase tried to gasp for air, but he couldn’t get any.
The hands around his throat were too tight.
He bucked under the other man, but nothing he did made any difference.
His side no longer hurt, in fact he didn’t feel much of anything.
The need for oxygen overrode everything but the sight of the woman he loved more than life itself.
He saw her struggle to stand behind Jonathan.
Refusing to look into the blue eyes filled with hate above him, he kept his eyes on Sadie.
She looked like a Valkyrie. Her red hair swirled around her head as if it had a mind of its own.
Her hazel eyes sparked with determination.
He lost sight of her for a moment, but as soon as he began to panic, she reappeared.
Chase watched with huge eyes as she lifted something above her head.
She brought it down swiftly on Jonathan’s back and he immediately let go of Chase’s throat.
Chase rolled to the side, away from the man who was trying to kill him, and told his limbs to move. To do something to protect Sadie…
But he didn’t need to worry. Sean Taggart rose from the wrecked car next to his niece. He took what Chase could now see was a tire iron from Sadie, and as Jonathan started to stand, Sean swung the iron rod like a baseball bat.
Jonathan’s head literally exploded from the impact.
No one said a word for long seconds. Then Sadie cried, “Chase!”
Chase’s head thunked back onto the ground and he stared up at the clear night sky, trying to catch his breath. For some reason, he couldn’t. Even though Jonathan no longer had hold of his throat, he couldn’t get air into his lungs.
Sadie’s face appeared above his, her red hair brushing against his cheek. “Chase?”
“I love you,” Chase gasped. It was the only thing he could think to say. He hadn’t told her earlier, but at that moment, lying on the ground, he knew.
“Oh my God, Chase!” Sadie repeated. Her hand came to rest on his cheek, and Chase tried to smile at her. He loved her touch. His eyes closed.
“No, Chase! Don’t close your eyes!” Sadie said desperately.
He opened his eyes and looked up into the panicked ones of the woman he loved. “Say it back,” he demanded.
She shook her head. “No. Not now. When you’re better. You have to hang on if you want to hear me say it.”
Chase’s brows furrowed. He needed to hear the words from her mouth. He knew he was dying. He couldn’t breathe and something was seriously wrong with his side. He hadn’t gotten a good look at it, but it was bad. He knew. “Please,” he begged, breathlessly.
Tears coursed down Sadie’s face, but she stubbornly shook her head. “No. You fight to stay with me and I’ll say the words every day for the rest of our lives!”
Chase heard a commotion off to his side but didn’t take his eyes off of Sadie’s. Everything was fading away, but still he couldn’t tear his gaze from hers. Her eyes looked even more beautiful highlighted by her tears. “Jonathan won’t hurt you again.”
“I know, you saved me,” Sadie said.
She moved from his side to the top of his head, and he arched his neck to keep his eyes on hers. He vaguely heard people talking above him but didn’t understand what they were saying. Someone was pulling at his shirt, but again, all his focus was on Sadie.
“I love you,” he repeated in a croak. “I’d do anything to keep you safe.”
“Then fight for me,” was her response. “Don’t give up!”
Chase opened his mouth to answer, but the darkness creeping in from the sides of his eyes was too much to fight. The last thing he remembered as the blackness overcame him was the sound of sirens in the distance.
He relaxed. The cavalry was coming. Sadie would finally be safe.
Later—he had no idea how much time had passed—Chase’s eyes opened into slits. Everything hurt, he couldn’t move, and he was confused as hell. But the second his eyes opened, Sadie’s face came into view.
“Chase?”
He opened his lips but nothing came out. They were too dry and he didn’t have an ounce of spit in his mouth.
“I love you.”
Sadie’s words settled into his soul.
“You hear me, Chase? I love you. You kept your end of the bargain. Your heart stopped twice in surgery, but you didn’t give up. I love you. I think I have since the second I crashed into you at Bexar.”
Chase stared up into the hazel eyes he loved more than anything on this earth.
He opened his mouth once more, to try to tell Sadie that she was his reason for living.
That he’d fight the devil himself if it meant he got to come back to her, but before he could do more than croak, her lips were on his.
It was a short kiss. Dry. Merely a touch of her lips to his. But it was the best kiss he’d had in his life.
She pulled back and rested her palm on his chest. “Sleep, Chase. I’ll be here when you wake up. I love you.”
His eyelids shut, and with her words echoing in his brain, he did as she ordered and slept.