“Please be OK, Jace, please!” I sobbed.
“Not out of the woods yet,” he said softly. “Help me… to the window.”
I pulled on his arm and he sat up, a warm gush of red flowing between his fingers when he did so. It was a thick enough flow to start a new wave of panic rising in me.
Jace staggered to his feet and I draped his arm over my shoulder. He was leaning on me so heavily that I could barely shuffle one foot in front of the other, and when I looked up at his face I could see a cold sweat on his brow.
He sank down next to the broken window and took a few deep breaths before turning his head and shouting out. Compared to how he looked, I couldn’t believe how strong he sounded.
“You fuckwits still out there? I’ve got Santino! Anybody approaches the cabin and I’ll shoot his balls off. Step inside and he’s dead! Fuck off and we’ll negotiate for his life some other time!”
“Fuck you, Barlow!” came the response. “Let him talk so we know he’s alive!”
“Hold the line!” shouted Jace.
Every word he spoke seemed to make more blood flow out of his belly and his skin took on a sick, clammy, appearance. He slumped lower against the wall.
“Fuckin’ hell,” he whispered. “So close.”
I knelt by him, cradling his head against my chest, dripping tears into his hair. My stomach was churning so much I thought I might throw up as I looked around the room in desperation. There was nothing to help us.
“What do we do, Jace?”
“You. Find another gun. Hide again. Don’t come out. Live.”
Jace seemed to be deflating a little more with every breath, every word he spoke was weaker than the last. My stomach went from a swirling turmoil to a painful cramp that made me wince.
“No! Please be OK! I love you, Jace, I love you! Please!”
“I guess… you know now… why you have… to fight. Love you. Go.”
“Shut up! Hide with me! Come on!”
I tried to stand and lift Jace but, if he was heavy before, he was the proverbial immovable object now. Even when I tried to drag him, I could barely get him away from the wall.
On the ground, I thought I heard Jace say something. It sounded like “What’s taking them so long?”
As soon as he said it, I heard something in the distance but getting closer. Motorbikes. So many that the deep rumble was soon loud enough to feel under my feet.
It sounded like an army was arriving.
Chapter 32
Kendall
Months Later
I turned side-on in the mirror and put my hand on my belly. Anybody else might not have known the difference but, in the last couple of days, I could see it.
Growing inside me was the son or daughter of Jace Barlow. I was going to be a mommy.
After all the death and destruction I’d witnessed, and even participated in, it was so incredibly uplifting to play a part in the creation of new life. A lump formed in my throat, and I blinked hard, wafting at my face with one hand. The last thing I wanted was to streak my make-up with tears. Not today.
Regaining some measure of control of myself, I pressed two fingers against my lips and transferred the kiss to my stomach. Instead of crying, I spoke to my unborn child for the first time.
“One time, in a cabin in the woods, I promised your daddy something. I’m going to promise you the same thing. I love you, baby. I’ll kill for you, and I’ll die for you. Nobody will ever hurt you while I breathe and have the courage to do anything about it. I love you so much.”
A knock on the door made me look up, and my dad poked his head in.
“It’s time, you’re fashionably late.”
“OK.”
I took a deep breath and pulled the veil down over my face, before picking up my bouquet and following my father out the door. My heart was fluttering and I had to fight back the tears of joy time and time again.
I couldn’t believe it was already my wedding day. Part of me was still that girl trapped in Woodville, surprised anybody wanted to marry me at all, but this wasn’t just anybody, this was the greatest man I’d ever known.
Jace had hired out The Plaza and spared no expense in preparing the venue for our special day. Waiting behind those giant wooden doors for the first notes of the song that had made billions of girls sigh dreamily was utterly surreal.
Now, it was my turn. On the other side of those doors was the aisle. At the end of the aisle was a tall, handsome, muscular billionaire who was going to promise to love me and forsake all others forever.
Afterwards, we’d celebrate with friends and family, then our limo would drive off into the sunset along streets lined with a biker gang revving their engines. Officially, they were there to peacefully protest big business. In reality, Jace had paid a hefty sum and a fulfilled promise for added security along our route.