Chapter Twenty-Six Gideon
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gideon
That motherfucker pistol-whipped my girl.
As soon as she’s crumpled in his arms, I lift my weapon and shoot Rogers between the eyes and then kill the other two who were with them, and rush forward to grab Lena before she falls to the ground.
Sirens blare in the distance, and the next thing I know, Ryker and Willow are next to me.
“What the hell?” Ryker asks. “How?”
“I had a bad feeling.” Rage has a pulse as it flows through my body. “No one knew she was here.”
“But she made that call,” Willow says, her voice shaking like crazy, and Ryker pulls her into his arms to comfort her. “Gid, she called Chelsea.”
That little bitch was the mole.
“Chelsea had to be in on it,” I say grimly as I dial the number for Eagle and first responders pull in.
I don’t leave Lena’s side as I climb into the back of the ambulance, still on the phone with the president and Bishop, and also talking with the local police.
“Her pulse and blood pressure are fine,” the EMT says.
“We’ll be on the ground in four hours,” Bishop says in my ear. “You stay with Blackbird.”
“I want answers, Bishop. This came to my fucking doorstep.”
“Four hours,” he repeats and hangs up, and I turn to my girl, looking so pale on this goddamn gurney. The drive to the hospital takes minutes, and then we’re running through the ER to a room, and I’m pushed aside as Lena is surrounded by doctors and nurses.
“I need this whole hospital locked down,” I bark at the security guard by the ambulance bay, who looks startled. “That’s the First Daughter of the United States, and I need this place locked down now. Do you understand?”
“On it,” he says, speaking into his radio.
I don’t let Lena leave my sight as the doctors work on her, and finally, the one who seems to be in charge steps over to me and shakes his head.
My heart fucking stops.
“If you tell me she’s dead—”
“No, she’s not dead. If you’re not her immediate family, I shouldn’t be telling you—”
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll fucking break your legs.”
His face hardens, but he must see the truth in my face, because he continues. “She’s unconscious, which tells me that hit to the head was harder than any of us would want it to be. I need to get images of her brain so I can see what’s going on.”
“Do whatever you have to do.”
He nods and drags his hand down his face. “The skull is fractured.”
No.
Baby, no.
My whole world is in that hospital bed. My life doesn’t work without her. She has to be fine.
This is all my fucking fault.
Why did I listen to them? Why did I cave when Lena ganged up on me with a friend again, only to have her end up in this hospital bed?
Fuck, I don’t deserve her. She should not be with me.
“Get the tests done. Her mother will be here in less than four hours, and we need to have answers for her.”
“I’m on it,” he says, and I run beside the gurney as Lena’s wheeled down to an imaging lab. I have to stand on the other side of a window while the test is run, and then she’s with me again as we return to the room, where Ryker and Willow wait.
“Oh, sweetie,” Willow says as she takes Lena’s hand and sits next to the bed. “Gideon, it happened so fast.”
“Yeah, well, that’s usually how it works, baby girl.” The guilt is eating away at me more and more with every passing second. “It’s my fault.”
“Whoa.” Ryker shakes his head. “No, it’s not.”
“It one thousand percent is. Goddamn it, I knew better. Until that threat was gone, we were to stay put, and I fucked up. I can’t work with a clear head because I’m too in love with her to think straight. She shouldn’t be in my care. I’m not safe for her.”
“We talked you into it,” Willow says softly. “What now? Does this mean that it’s over?”
“No, it means that four men are dead, but they were just foot soldiers.” I can’t stop pacing. “But now we know who, and I know who the fucking mole is.”
Bishop should be taking care of this as I speak, even from the air. They’ll have to land Air Force One in Missoula, and then they’ll come to Paradise Valley by helicopter.
As I stand at the foot of her bed, nurses bustle around, cleaning the wound on Lena’s head and bandaging it up. They change the fluid bag when it’s empty, and they take several vials of blood.
What for, I have no idea.
Finally, the doctor comes back, his face still in grim lines.
“The bad news is, there is definitely a small fracture in the skull, and a contusion on the brain. It’s caused some swelling. However, I don’t see a bleed anywhere, which is good news.”
“Is it normal for her to still be unconscious?” Willow asks, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Absolutely. Her body is protecting itself. Until that swelling goes down, it’s best if she’s asleep. In fact, if she were to naturally wake up now, I’d put her in a medically induced coma.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
I can’t stand any of the words coming out of his mouth.
My Rebel, my baby, is lying there, hurt and in a fucking coma because of my incompetence.
“Rest is the best thing for her,” he continues. “We’ll keep monitoring her closely. I’ll come talk to her parents when they arrive.”
“I’m shocked he told you so much,” Ryker says.
“I fucking threatened him,” I reply with a sneer.
“Gid, come hold your girl’s hand.”
I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t be allowed near her. I had one goddamn job, and I couldn’t do it. But even now, I can’t stay away from her.
I circle the bed, take her free hand in mine, and kiss her knuckles, and then, as if my body is moving on its own, I crawl onto the bed with her and hold her gently against me, wrapping my body around her as if to keep her safe from anyone who might come storming in here to try to hurt her.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper against her ear. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
I press my lips to her forehead and feel tears fill my eyes when I realize that I can’t smell her oranges. All I smell is the antiseptic of the hospital, and it makes me want to rage.
“You’re going to be okay, baby. I promise, it’s going to be okay.”
“We’re going to step out,” I hear Willow say as she pats my back, and then I’m left here, with my girl. Someone turns off the overhead light, covering us in darkness, and I let the tears come.
I never want to relive those moments behind the pub. It’s too fucking close to what happened five years ago.
Lena in danger, all because I didn’t listen to my gut and tell her no. Because I wanted to give her the world, and I caved when she batted those gorgeous lavender eyes and asked me so sweetly for just one night out.
I can’t trust my own judgment with her.
“I need you to be okay, baby. I need you to get better and open those pretty eyes for me. We have too much to do, Rebel. And you’re too hardheaded to let something like this keep you down for long.
Christ, you were amazing out there. When I came out the door and saw you shove your foot into that asshole’s knee, I was so proud of you. ”
I keep talking to her, holding her, kissing her. I need this amazing woman to be okay. Because she’s the best part of my life.
Finally, noticing the time, I ease out of the bed, careful not to jostle Lena, and sit in the chair next to her. The president and her husband should be here soon.
Not fifteen minutes later, the door opens, the light flips on, and Lena’s parents, along with Bishop, step inside.
I stand as Lena’s dad rushes to her side, not even sparing me a glance, and takes her hand.
“Report,” Madam President says as she stands at the end of the bed and stares at her daughter with fear in her eyes.
“Since arriving at the hospital,” I begin, and fill them in on all the tests and the diagnosis. “She needs rest but is expected to make a full recovery.”
“Give us a minute, please,” she says, and I nod, give Lena one final look, and then join Bishop in the hallway.
“Tell me you got this under control,” I say as soon as we’re alone.
“You were right,” he says, dragging his hand through his thinning hair. “Chelsea was the snitch. She’d been seeing Rogers for months, and she’s been questioned. It seems Rogers was feeding her addiction in exchange for information.”
“I’m glad I killed the fucker.”
Bishop exhales. “Yeah, well, he wasn’t the mastermind. He was just young and Chelsea’s type, and she fell for his shit.”
“Who the fuck—” I break off when he meets my gaze evenly, and cold settles into my bones again. “Richie.”
“He was working with a small faction of people who don’t like the president’s war policy, and they thought they could manipulate her if they had her daughter.”
“And they were able to infiltrate the motherfucking Secret Service?” I demand.
“They paid a lot of money.” He leans back against the wall. “Of course, this is treason. Everyone has been arrested, including Chelsea. We have proof. The idiot woman didn’t delete anything from her phone, and Richie’s singing like a fucking canary.”
“The night of the gallery—”
“Chelsea was in on it. All of it.” He shakes his head. “She thought Lena was dead, and we were covering it up. Until Lena called her the other day.”
He lifts an eyebrow at me, and I wince.
“It was a secure line, but that’s no excuse. I fucked up.”
“Yeah, well, if you hadn’t, we would still be chasing our goddamn tails.” He watches me as I look longingly at the door. “Did you fall in love with her?”
I don’t answer for a long minute, and then Bishop swears under his breath.
“Christ, James.”
“She’s staying with me.”
“No, she’s not.” I turn to see the president standing at the threshold, looking exhausted. “Leave us, Bishop.”
In interviews, this woman projects such a warm persona. Like she’s the best, most loving and devoted mother in the world.
Privately, she’s so cold.
“I’m taking my daughter home tonight.”
I frown, but it’s been ingrained in me not to argue with the commander in chief.
“You won’t follow her,” she continues. “You’ll let her get on with her life, and you’ll stay here, living your own.”
I narrow my eyes, still not speaking.
“You are not who I want for my daughter, Mr. James. You have no place in her life. I entrusted you with her safe keeping, and you couldn’t even provide that without failing. I need to know that my daughter is safe, no matter what.”
“Lena is a grown adult,” I reply, speaking for the first time. “She can choose what she wants.”
She lets out a small, shaky laugh.
“The life of a president’s child is not their own. She has responsibilities. And if you try to step in, if you so much as think about trying to be with her because you’re in love . . . I can make things very difficult for you, Gideon. For your family. It would be a shame if Aiden lost his new job.”
I blink at her, nausea filling me.
“I could ruin that entire ranch of yours. It would be a pity, since it’s so beautiful.”
I’m shaking my head, but she keeps talking.
“None of that fills me with joy. It’s disgusting. But I want what’s best for my daughter, and that’s just not you, Gideon. It’s nothing personal, it’s just the facts. Now, we’re leaving immediately.”
“Surely she shouldn’t be moved—”
“Goodbye, Mr. James.” Her eyebrow lifts. “You are dismissed.”
“Let me—”
“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” Bishop says as he joins us. “You have to go, Gid.”
“Can’t I just say goodbye?” My voice is so rough, so strained, and for the first time since I’ve known her, I see the president soften, just a little.
“You can have five minutes,” she says.
I swallow hard and step back into the room just as Lena’s dad approaches me to leave. His eyes are wet as he pats me on the shoulder, and then, without a word, he walks away, shutting the door behind him.
She looks so fucking small.
I approach the bed, take her hand in mine again, and lean down to kiss every knuckle before I push up and kiss her cheek, soaking in her softness. Her goodness.
“You’re the sweetest fucking thing,” I whisper shakily, and decide fuck it and climb onto the bed with her once again and pull her against me.
This is the last time I’ll hold her in my arms.
Because her mother’s right. I’m not good enough for her. I can’t keep her out of harm’s way. I’ve failed her twice.
“I love you, baby.” I pepper kisses on the top of her head, careful to avoid her injury. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m so sorry that I failed you tonight. Fuck, I’m sorry.”
I draw in a shaky breath. Christ, my heart feels like it’s been torn from my body and set on fire. How am I supposed to do this? How am I supposed to say goodbye to the person I love most in the world?
“If you ever need anything, you reach out to me. Fuck, I wish you could hear me.” My hand drags up and down her bare arm, and even though she’s unconscious, it makes goose bumps pebble on her skin.
“You’re everything good in this life, Lena.
You deserve nothing but the best, and I—” I swallow hard. “I hope you find it, baby.”
I lie with her for another minute, and then I kiss her lips softly before pulling away and standing from the bed.
Christ.
I have to go. If I don’t go now, I won’t ever do it, so I stride out of the room, ignoring Bishop and the others, and down the hallway, my chest aching more and more with every step that I take away from the love of my life.
Every cell in my body is screaming for me to go back in that room and hold her to me. To never let her go.
I promised that she could stay with me forever, if that’s what she wants.
She was supposed to be my wife.
But the president wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t do my job or keep her safe. I failed. How can I possibly think that I’m good enough for her to spend the rest of her life with?
I walk out to the waiting room, where Willow and Ryker both stand and rush over to me.
“What’s going on?” Ryker demands, his jaw firming when he sees my face.
“Where’s Lena?” Willow asks.
“She’s leaving.” My voice is hoarse. My world is falling the fuck apart. “It’s all over. She’s going home.”
“The ranch is her home,” Willow says, shaking her head.
“No.” I head for the doors, needing to get out of this hospital. Needing to get back to my house. “It’s not. Her parents are with her, and they’re taking her back to DC where she belongs.”
They’re flanking me, keeping up with me as I march to the SUV parked close by.
“But you’ll go with them, right?” Willow asks. “And then when she’s better, you’ll both be coming back?”
I shake my head and climb into the vehicle.
“No. It’s over. It’s all fucking over. Let’s go home.”