“He’ll never stop trying to kill her,” Luca growls. “I can’t let him go.”
“Even when you held a gun to his head, he let Jill go, knowing what it would cost him,” I say through gritted teeth.
Luca and Jill are silent for a moment.
“Don’t fight over me,” Liam chimes in. “Just kill me if that makes it easier.”
“NO!” I bark, eyeing him over my shoulder. “I will not let you die.” When I return my attention to Luca, I say, “He won’t go after her anymore. I promise.”
“How do I fucking know if that’s true, huh?” Luca demands, the gun in his hand clearly not stable anymore.
“Because I don’t want to hurt Jill if it ends up hurting Jas,” Liam says, and when I glance at him over my shoulder, and he looks at me, I know for sure.
I know now what I choose.
Him.
“Why?” Luca growls at Liam.
But Liam’s eyes never waver from mine as he says, “Because if I die now, at least I made the right choice.” His eyes burn brighter than the sun. “Because I love her.”
His words shatter the frigid armor that protected my heart all these years.
But then his eyes blink faster and faster, and the last remaining bit of his energy wanes as he collapses onto the ground. Eyes closed. Lifeless.
“Liam!” I scream, and I turn around and immediately fall to my knees in front of him, not giving a shit that there’s still a gun pointed at both our heads.
I don’t care if I die. I don’t want him to die.
“Liam, wake up,” I say, tapping his face, opening his eyes which roll into the back.
“Luca, stop,” I hear Jill say behind me, but I’m too busy with Liam to even care.
“Liam!” I shake him and check his pulse. It’s still beating … but barely.
I turn my head toward my sister with tearstained eyes. “Please help him.”
She stares at me for a moment, completely flabbergasted at my response.
But I don’t care who knows anymore.
I bend over his face and whisper as the tears stream down my face. “Don’t die … I love you.”
My tears roll down his forehead as I press a kiss onto his skin, which feels cold to the touch.
Oh, God. If only I’d acted sooner.
Suddenly, Jill pushes past Luca’s arm and throws herself down in front of Liam’s body.
I’m in shock. Despite the fact he’s tried to kill her twice now, she grabs his wrist and checks his pulse.
“He’s still alive. But he’s bleeding too much. We need to get him to a doctor,” she says.
I stare at her for a moment, unable to believe any of this is really happening.
One moment, they’re trying to save me from Liam.
Then the next, they’re attempting to kill him.