Rex shrugs. “I’m not sure Dante knows what to feel or think. They have a lot of things to discuss, that’s for sure. But for now, he just wants to make sure you’re okay.”
“I owe him my life,” I breathe. I wish I could rewind time and tell Dante and Rex everything about their mother and my father before running off and making a mess of things.
Rex’s hand tightens around mine. “So do I, because if he hadn’t shoved you out of the way, I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened.” He leans forward to press a kiss to my knuckles.
Tears build in my eyes as I look at the man I love, the man I thought I’d lost for good. But I still can’t quite believe it. “You said you couldn’t forgive me. You said—”
“I said a lot of things I didn’t mean,” he says, cutting me off. “It wasn’t real. There’s no way I would let anyone harm a hair on your perfect little head.”
“I don’t understand. You were so mad. We both were.”
“Dante and I came after you when you left Vault. We knew my dad was going to be at the restaurant, and I have reason to believe he’d figured out who you are.”
“What? How?”
“Shae, he had eyes everywhere. He’s a powerful man with strong connections, and after the night we had dinner with my mom, he started asking questions. Anyway, Dante and I knew if he ran into you, he wasn’t going to let you go. There was no way I was going to let him hurt you.”
Rex scoots his chair as close the bed as he can get. “But I couldn’t just think about you. I had to think about Dante and myself and my mother. We had to make my father believe we were on his side. That was our plan, but when we walked in on you telling him about Dante, I knew the dynamics had shifted. I wasn’t sure where Dante was going to fall on the spectrum, so I continued the only way I knew how. I made my father believe I was on his side, and to do that, he needed to believe I would pick him over you. So yes, I said some awful things, but I swear to you, I didn’t mean them. You’re it for me, Shae.”
“You were protecting me.”
“Always. I’m always protecting you.”
Tears drip down my face, a soft cry falling from my lips, and Rex crawls onto my bed, pulling me into his arms, being careful not to disturb my IV.
“Don’t cry. Please don’t cry.”
“So much has happened between us, Rex. Can we overcome everything we’ve put each other through? All the secrets we’ve kept?”
“We can overcome anything. When you’re home and feeling up to it, we’re going to talk about everything that’s happened, and we’re going to keep talking until all the anger is gone.”
“I’m running out of anger.”
“That’s good,” he says, brushing my hair from my forehead. “Then that’s where we’ll start.”
We sit with his arms around me for several minutes, until we hear a scuffling outside the door.
Rex releases me, wiping the remaining wetness from my face. “There are two men and a woman out there fighting over who gets to come in here next.”
I smile. “Did they release Dante already?”
“They didn’t really have a choice. He gave the nurses and doctors hell until they agreed to let him go. He’s b
een camped outside your room with me all night.”
That makes me happy.
“And what about JJ?” I ask.
“What about him?”
“What do I tell him? What will I tell Erin?”
“They think you fell and hit your head.”
“JJ saw me with the gun, Rex.”
Rex’s eyes widen. “He didn’t mention that.”