Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
HENDRIX
The first gunshot steals the air from my lungs.
Then another. Another. And another. For a split second, I can’t move. Can’t think. Can’t breathe. No. No, no, no... Not her. Please... not my BB.
Ghost’s roar shakes the night. “STORM!”
Something inside me snaps. I don’t remember drawing my gun, and I don’t remember moving.
One second, I’m standing beside Ghost, the next I’m running.
Boots pound against the concrete as we charge towards the apartment block, but they’re too slow.
Everything is too fucking slow. I hit the stairwell at a sprint, taking three steps at a time.
My shoulder smashes into the wall as I throw myself around the first landing.
I don’t feel it. Another gunshot echoes above us.
My heart stops. God... please... Just let me get to her.
I’ve never prayed before because I never believed anyone was listening, but I’d bargain with the devil himself if it meant hearing her laugh one more time.
My lungs burn, and my legs scream as I push harder, because every second I’m down here, she’s up there.
Alone. With him. The thought tears something inside me.
I should’ve stayed. I should’ve ignored Ghost. I should’ve chained myself to her if that’s what it took.
She’d probably have called me an overprotective prick, then rolled those beautiful blue eyes at me.
A broken laugh escapes me. Fuck... I’d give anything to see her roll her eyes at me again.
Another flight. Another. Another. The stairwell blurs around me.
All I can see is Storm. Five years old, chasing after me in the clubhouse because she wanted to ride on my shoulders.
Twelve years old, stealing chips off my plate and swearing they tasted better because they were mine.
Sixteen, telling me I was an idiot because I wouldn’t let her help me fix my bike.
Twenty-three, walking away with another man.
That one nearly killed me. Not because she chose him, but because she looked so fucking happy.
I wanted that happiness for her. Even if it wasn’t with me.
Then he took it. He took her smile. He took her confidence. He nearly took her life.
No. Not again. Not while I’m still breathing.
My boots slam into concrete, and pain shoots through my knees.
I don’t stop. The brothers shout behind me, but I barely hear them.
Ghost is somewhere beside me. Or maybe behind me.
I don’t know. I don’t care. Because if I don’t get there...
if I’m too late... How the fuck do I keep breathing knowing I failed her?
She once asked me why I never gave up on her.
I never answered, because the truth was too fucking terrifying to say out loud.
I never gave up because I couldn’t imagine a life that didn’t have Storm in it.
She’d been woven into every memory I had.
Every dream. Every plan. She wasn’t just the woman I loved.
She was home, and I wasn’t ready to lose my home.
Not after I’d only just found it. Another gunshot.
Closer. The sound punches straight through my chest.
“BB!” I bellow. My voice echoes through the concrete stairwell.
No answer. Nothing. Please answer me. Please.
Please shout. Swear at me. Tell me I’m being dramatic.
Anything. Just, please be alive. The corridor comes into view, and the apartment door hangs open.
My blood turns to ice. I don’t think, I don’t clear the room, and I don’t wait for Ghost. I don’t wait for backup.
I throw myself through the doorway with my gun raised, my heart lodged somewhere in my throat.
Please... Please don’t let me be too late.
Because I’d rather die in this apartment than spend the rest of my life living without her.