“I’m sorry you lost your child, but don’t do this. I never would have been with Dyllan if I had known he was married.”
She scowls, seeming angrier now.
“You didn’t know because you didn’t care. You took everything from me. It’s only fair you pay me back. Every fucking time I try to kill you, it’s like someone steps in and saves your pointless life! It’s not fair! But not tonight. Tonight you’ll finally die, and no divine intervention will spare you from the cold place of death you deserve.”
“I would have died if you hadn’t called Tag. That was your fault the last time.”
She rolls her eyes and scratches her head with the gun that was pointed at me.
“That pissed me off. I wanted to mutilate your fucking face—show the world how ugly you truly are. Russell gave me the code, called me when you left, and I timed it perfectly for when you’d arrive. I wanted your boy-toy to reach the house before the cops. I didn’t want them to shield him from seeing the monster you really are. But, as I said, my plans have now changed. If your face is mutilated, it’ll haunt him. He’ll never forget you, and I need him to forget you in order to be with me.”
“This is never going to happen, you know. Tag loves me, and he won’t fall for your bullshit trap.”
Her eyes burn with a crazy glare as she stares at me with a smug smirk on her face.
“Oh, he’ll fall. You’re not as irreplaceable as you think you are. He’ll forget you and fall in love with me just like your dad forgot your mother and moved on. I’ll raise Trip who won’t even remember his dead mother, just as you don’t.”
My heart stings, burns, and falls to pieces. That stab hurt worse than the knife she literally twisted in my side.
“Now, I think that’s enough talk. I just wanted you to know so your last few moments of life would be spent knowing your son and fiancé would belong to me - the woman whose life you stole.”
She pulls the gun out, holding it directly at my head, and my breath leaves my chest. I close my eyes, awaiting my fate, and then I hear the blast ring out three times. I don’t feel anything, and I’m worried time has slowed in my adrenaline rush.
I open my tearstained eyes to see her body on the ground, blood seeping to the sand, as the bundle in her arms lays under her chest.
“No!” I scream, throwing myself at her, and then I hear more screams from the distance.
“Ash!”
Tag.
“Trip!” I squeal while struggling against her with my restrained hands, trying my best to pull my baby free.
“Please no!” I sob.
Arms wrap around me and jerk me up from the sand as Tag scoops me to his chest.
“Let me go! Tag, Trip’s under her! He’s dead!” I sob wildly.
“No, baby. Trip’s at home with Wren and the others. He’s safe, baby.”
I gasp, worried this is all a dream as the detective pulls free the lifeless baby doll that fooled me.
My sobs grow louder, deafening as I press my head into Tag’s chest, and he coos in my ear as he rocks me against him.
“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.”
“I should have noticed her in the pictures,” the detective says, shaking his head. “Dyllan Mathews had several pictures of Ash with a blond woman following close behind. I never even noticed it, and it’s my fucking job.”
“You were looking for Rene,” Tag sighs.
“How did you find me?” I croak.
“Russell caved. I knew he was part of it when he didn’t set the alarm. I called the detective right away after I found Troy and two others dead. He killed them, and he planned to dispose of the bodies before we found out you were missing. He confessed to everything. Apparently he killed his wife and her lover when he caught them cheating years ago, and this bitch helped him get away with it. She used it to get him to help her out. I think he was just ready for it to be over.”
My tears stream feverishly, thankful to be alive and in Tag’s arms.
“Let’s get out of here,” Tag murmurs against my forehead.
Chapter Eighteen
Butterflies and I Dos
Tag
“You nervous?” Wren asks.
“Not at all. Just eager,” I say with a smile that refuses wipe from my face.
Everyone gets quiet as the music begins to play, and I smile when I see Bity take his place as Ash’s best man.
He’s all smiles because he finally gets to be the best man at a wedding, just not the groom’s.
My heart stops as she starts down the aisle to the sweet music playing gently. She smiles, her eyes burning into mine, and then she reaches me. Her dad reluctantly releases her while giving her a kiss on the cheek, and she takes her place in front of me, stealing my breath.