Chapter Seven
Rosalie
I’m a mess, a broken faucet that can’t stop leaking as I take in my best friend’s condition. She doesn’t appear to be hurt, not on the outside at least, but there is something fractured in her eyes that makes my chest ache.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper as more tears spill down my cheeks. “I shouldn’t have let you meet that asshole on your own and—”
“Hey, none of this is your fault.”
“Some of it is,” I say fiercely, swiping the back of my hand over my wet cheeks. “If I’d left with you, then—”
“Then there would be two victims in this room instead of one,” she pushes, taking my hand and squeezing it tight.
“There were four men in that house when I arrived. The two of us would not have been able to fight them off. If it makes you feel any better, I bloodied one of their noses and kicked another in the balls. I doubt he’ll ever be the same again. ”
“Good,” I sniff. “They deserved it, and more!”
“I heard you pepper-sprayed Leopold when you came to look for me. I overheard them talking about it, and they mentioned you by name. Leopold bragged about how he killed you, but I guess it was his fragile ego talking,” she says, running her eyes over me like I’m the injured one.
“God, I could have died when I heard him say that. But you’re here. You’re alive.”
“And so are you.”
“They scared me,” she whispers, her voice trembling. “They threatened me. But they didn’t…touch me. Not like that. They said they had to…save me for a buyer.”
Relief and disgust hit me so hard, my eyes burn all over again.
We sit in silence for a moment, and for the first time in days, I feel that tight knot that’s been sitting in my chest loosen a bit. “They destroyed our place, Kristin. We’ll have to move somewhere new.”
“We?”
My brows furrow at her tone, and when I glance at her face, I catch the ghost of a smile. “What?”
“C’mon, Rosy. Are you sure there’s room for me where you’ll be going?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I saw you and...him.” Her eyes flick to the shut door for a moment before turning back to me. “The way he ran to you when you fell and how he held you. I don’t need to know who that man is to know there’s something between you two.”
I look away, picking at the sheets. “It’s nothing.”
“Try again.”
“Well, it was something, and now, it’s nothing. He made it clear that he doesn’t want anything lasting.”
“And you?”
“Well...you’re here now, and we have to figure out how to start over again, and...” I stop when I see the look in her eyes. “God, what do you want me to tell you, Kristin?”
“Everything.”
I bite hard on my lip, holding back feelings I haven’t dared speak out loud, but when I open my mouth, everything spills out. From the moment Beau and his dogs rescued me from that monster, to every moment since. She doesn’t interrupt as she lets me bare my heart, and when I’m done, I feel worn.
“So yeah, that’s everything,” I finish.
“You’re in love with him.”
It’s not a question but a statement of fact. One I don’t bother to deny. “I love him.”
“Then go and tell him!”
“What? Like, right now? I can’t leave you—”
“Rosy, I haven’t had decent sleep in three days.
Not since those assholes kidnapped me.” She squeezes my hand again.
“Go and let that man know you love him and kick him in the shin if he says something stupid.” The smile is back again, wider now, and it does my heart good to see it.
“Life is short and unpredictable, as I’ve come to learn. So go and make that man see it too.”
“Are you sure?”
“Do you want me to kick you in the shin?”
I chuckle, throwing my arms around her and hugging her tight, reminding myself that she’s alive. Shaken, but alive. Safe. “I’ll be back soon,” I say when we break apart.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she says, nodding to the hand hooked up to IV fluids. “Bring me some coffee when you come back though.”
“Will do,” I kiss her cheek, push back from the bed, and with a small wave, rush outside, nearly bumping into a cop.
He’s in plain clothes, but he has a badge on a chain around his neck.
I greet him with a smile before turning to seek out Beau.
He’s not in the hallway, and I figure he must have gone to the restroom or hospital cafeteria to grab something to eat.
“Are you looking for Donovan?”
I turn back to the cop, my brows furrowing even as I silently question if all cops know each other. “Uh, yeah. We came together, and I don’t have my phone, so I can’t call him. Do you know where he went?”
“Home.”
The word slams into me so hard that it takes a moment to catch my bearings, for my body to figure out how to react. “What?”
“He left about twenty minutes ago.”
I blink at the man, waiting for him to laugh and tell me he’s kidding, but he’s as serious as they come.
Christ, I almost wish it was a joke. I mean, of course I knew this thing with Beau would end.
Heck, the man all but spelled it out for me.
But I never imagined he would simply disappear from my life.
And without a proper goodbye at that.
A flood of emotions crashes through me. Hurt, anguish, sorrow, before finally settling on anger.
How dare he do this to me? Did our time together not even warrant a goodbye? Do my feelings not matter to him one bit?
I glance at the door to my best friend’s room and gnaw my lip. I didn’t think I’d leave the hospital, not to confront Beau about my feelings. But this needs to be done.
I turn to the cop stationed outside the door. “Take care of my friend,” I say, waiting for his nod before I turn to leave. If I miss the humor in his eyes, well, it’s because the red in my own is clogging my vision.
***
The taxi crunches to a halt, its brakes groaning in protest as we navigate the impossibly long, winding driveway. For the first time since meeting Beau, I let myself really take in his home. My heart isn’t in my throat anymore, and my thoughts aren’t clouded by panic.
His house is gorgeous. A sprawling structure that stands alone, a solitary sentinel in the desert.
“Your house?” the taxi driver asks with a low whistle when we stop, prompting me to shake my head.
For the first time, I hesitate and question my decision to come back here. Without all the looming fear for my best friend’s safety, I realize how different Beau and I are.
I was born and raised in near poverty. My parents worked hard to give me the best of the world we lived in, but they could only do so much. I worked for a year as a waitress and I could afford to keep the small house my parents left me, even sharing it with my best friend.
And now this...it’s so far outside of my world.
“Miss, is everything alright?”
I turn when the front door opens and Beau steps outside, his brows furrowing at the sight of the taxi.
Christ, he looks so handsome in a simple white tee and faded jeans.
I realize with sudden clarity that little else matters compared to the feelings that have developed between us since he found me.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say, stepping out, the gravel crunching softly under my shoes. “Just a moment, please. I’ll be back with the fare.”
I notice little things I didn’t before. The air here is different. Clean, carrying the faint scent of blooming jasmine and wildflowers.
Beau meets me as I walk up to the porch, his face carefully blank. “Rosalie—”
“I need to grab some money from the room to pay for my ride and then we need to talk.”
He watches me for a moment, and I can’t tell what he’s thinking. For one long second, I’m half convinced he’ll pile me back into the taxi and send me away, but he simply shakes his head.
“I’ll take care of it.”
He takes out his wallet as he walks to the taxi. He pays the man and stops to watch the car drive off before turning to me.
“You left,” I accuse, silently cursing myself for abandoning the speech I planned on the ride here.
“Rosalie—”
“Do you know how I felt when I walked out of that hospital room and the cop standing outside told me you’d left?” I walk down to him, stopping in front of him so I can get a clear read of those stunning eyes. “Doesn’t our time together warrant at least a goodbye?”
“Fuck, I’m sorry. I thought it would be easier to end things before...”
“Before I could fall in love with you?” I whisper, suddenly nervous. “Well, it’s too late for that.”
“Rosalie. Fuck!” He runs an impatient hand through his hair, gripping tight before releasing it with another curse. “I can’t give you anything more than what has already happened between us.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Fuck, no—”
“Then why—”
“Because I can’t!” Frustration rolls off him in waves. His jaw clenches tight and his eyes narrow to slits when they lock on mine. “I warned you, Rosalie. I told you I couldn’t give you more, and you told me you understood.”
“Because of your partner?” A muscle jumps in his jaw, but I don’t miss the brief flash of pain in his eyes. “Are you scared about losing me too?”
“Don’t,” he hisses when I step forward..
“Because I’m scared too,” I say, letting every feeling show. “You saw it, how it nearly broke me when I thought I would never see Kristin again. Do I stop being her friend now, so the next time something terrible happens, it hurts less?”
“Goddamnit, Rosalie!”
“I get that you’re afraid of going through that kind of pain again. Of feeling the devastation of losing someone you care about,” I say, stepping up to him before he can create any more distance between us. “Does that fear outweigh than the feelings you have for me?”
“I never said anything about feelings—”
“Then look me in the eye and tell me you don’t have any feelings for me, and I’ll leave.” I would be heartbroken, but Kristin is right, this is worth the risk. So I wait for the pain of his confession. When it doesn’t come, hope blooms in my chest.