Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Six
Xavier
The scene inside hits me all at once…. Broken glass. Pills scattered across the floor.
Overturned chairs. A hole blasted through the ceiling, and another through a cabinet door.
Ruby sprawled on the floor. Hair yanked free from her ponytail. Red-faced. Rumpled clothes. And Lindsey halfway under the table, reaching for the gun.
For one split second, nobody moves. Then, Lindsey’s face crumples as tears spill down her cheeks. “She went crazy!” she sobs, pointing at Ruby. “She attacked me!”
My blood goes cold.
“She’s been obsessed with you,” Lindsey continues. “She did all of this to get your attention!”
Jake doesn’t even blink. “Move away from the weapon.”
Lindsey freezes. “I was trying to help–”
“NOW!” The command cracks through the room.
Lindsey jerks backward from the gun as if it might explode. She starts crying harder. Loud. Shaking. Hugging herself like she’s the victim. “I didn’t do anything.” Sobs rack her chest as her voice cracks. “She’s lying!”
Ruby hasn’t said a word so it’s hard for her to have lied. Not that it matters, I’m not listening to Lindsey anymore. My focus is on Ruby. She’s sitting on the floor in the middle of the wreckage and breathing hard. Pale. Shaking. Alive.
Relief slams into my chest so hard it almost drops me to my knees. I stomp across the kitchen. Glass and sheetrock crunching beneath my boots.
The gun lies in my path. I kick it hard across the floor toward Jake. He snatches it up without taking his eyes off Lindsey.
“Turn around,” he orders.
“I didn’t–”
“TURN AROUND!”
Lindsey’s crying turns into frantic babbling. “She attacked me first!”
I ignore every word. Every sound. Because Ruby is right there, I reach her in two steps and drop beside her.
My hands shake as I touch her face. Her shoulders. Her arms. Checking for blood.
Checking for injuries. Her entire body trembles beneath my hands.
“Hey,” I say roughly, “look at me.”
Her eyes lift to mine. And something inside my chest cracks wide open. I pull her into my arms. Hard. Like if I let go, she might disappear.
She grabs the front of my shirt instantly. Holding on as tightly.
I wrap both arms around her shoulders and pull her against my chest. Putting as much distance between her and Lindsey as possible. “You’re okay,” I murmur roughly against her hair. My heart pounds violently. “You’re okay.”
Behind us, metal clicks. Handcuffs. Jake’s voice turns calm and steady now. “You have the right to remain silent…”