The nurse had come in and helped Gabriella from the bed to the bathroom to help her wash and do whatever womanly things she needed to do in there. I’d sat in the chair, my head in my hands, practically pulling out my hair as her pain-filled cries stabbed into me. I’d been ready to rip someone apart just listening. After it was over, the same nurse helped her sit in the recliner that had been my bed the night before.
She sat there with her feet propped up, a light blanket over her legs and the remote in her hand.
“They have Dish, but none of the good channels,” she grumbled and tossed the remote toward me.
I caught it at the last second. “What do you want to watch?”
She rolled her eyes at me, letting me know that she was starting to feel a little better. “You think Rissa would be willing to loan me her copy of The Wizard of Oz?”
I grinned for what felt like the first time in years. “I can get you your own copy if you want to watch it so badly.”
“I don’t want you to leave,” she said in a rush. “Never mind.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ve told you that already.” I lifted the remote and flipped the channels, leaving it when it landed on the local news station. There wasn’t anything mentioned about Gabriella, the shooting, or the attempted kidnapping, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before the anchorman brought it up. “I can make a call, little Brie. I’ve got Natalie and Emmie on speed dial and Anna-Banana gave me her number, too.”
Dark, Italian eyes narrowed on me. “Anna-Banana?”
My lips twitched at the fire in her brown eyes. Jealous much, baby? I didn’t say anything, though. I wasn’t about to add fuel to that fire. My little goddess had always been a little firecracker and I wasn’t about to set her off. “I’ve always called her that. Did she tell you?”
Those eyes narrowed even more. “Tell me what?”
“That we grew up together. She used to live in the house between Zander and Devlin. Her brother, Noah?” She nodded and I went on. “He was our original lead singer and then one day he just up and said he was getting married and wanted to focus on a solo country career. A few weeks later, we signed with Rich Branson and were on a bus for California.”
“That’s crazy,” she exclaimed. “What the hell was Noah thinking? I mean, Annabelle said he did pretty well for himself in the country business, but it’s nothing compared to what OtherWorld has done. Why would he just leave you guys like that?”
I shrugged. “I’ve always wondered about that, too, but I have no idea. He just said it was something he had to do. Axton came on board a few days later, and I’m glad he did. I don’t think we would have made it to where we are now without that fucker.” I leaned forward in my chair and reached for her hands. “So, what do you feel like watching? I’ll call someone and they will bring you whatever you want.”
She linked her fingers with mine, a smile on her face that was almost shy. That both bothered me and squeezed at my heart. My girl had never been shy around me. Even before we’d gotten together she’d always been a ball-buster, not a shy little mouse. “Will you watch August Rush with me?”
I bit back my groan and grinned. Should have known it. Of course she would want to watch her favorite movie. How many times had we lain in bed watching that damn movie?
Something tightened in my chest. Not nearly enough times, that’s how many. Lifting her fingers, I kissed each tip. “You got it, baby. Anything else?”
Gabriella shook her head. “Not that I can think of. Surprise me.”
I pulled my phone from my front pocket and sent a quick text to Natalie, telling her everything I wanted. It went unanswered. Frowning, I pulled up Emmie’s name and sent her the same text, getting an instant message.
Be right there.
Pocketing the phone, I sat back in my chair and watched my girl. Her eyes were half closed, her face pale, and it was obvious to me that she was exhausted. I wanted to punch her doctor in the face for making her get out of bed. She needed her rest, not to sit up like this.
We sat there in silence for the next twenty minutes. A nurse brought in her lunch and I moved out of the way so she could sort Gabriella. The rolling table was pulled up and lowered to her lap. The food looked better today than it had the day before. There was some chicken soup with crackers, Jell-O, tea that looked weak and some apple juice.
After the nurse was gone, I retook my seat and watched as Gabriella grimaced every time she lifted her arm to feed herself. By the third time she was biting back more painful whimpers and started to push the tray away.
I scooted my chair closer to her and grabbed her spoon. “Let me.”
Her lashes lowered so I couldn’t see her eyes and I knew that she was trying to hide her emotions from me. It’s what she’d always done when she was feeling too much of something. Lifting her bowl of soup, I scooped up some of the broth and brought it to her lips.
A small smile teased at her lips before she opened her mouth and accepted the bite. “Good girl.” I smirked, making her glare at me. I gave her a wink and continued to feed her the soup.
The bowl was barely half-empty before she started protesting, saying she was full. I set it down and opened the packet of crackers. “Please?” I pouted at her when she started to protest again and she snatched two crackers from my fingers, munching on them.
Laughing, I moved the tray aside and offered her the apple juice. It was her turn to pout and I knew exactly why. “Sorry, little Brie. The doctor isn’t going to let me bring you in a bottle of wine. Just close your eyes and pretend it’s a good Italian blend.”
“When can I get out of here?” she mumbled.
“Don’t know, don’t really care. Your little ass is staying as long as the doctor wants you to.” She flipped me off and I couldn’t help but laugh again.
Fuck, this felt good. Not the part where she was hurt—I hated that. No, I loved that I was there with her. That I got to tease her and be with her. I’d missed this. How could I have forgotten how much I loved just sitting beside her?
“You’re a smartass, you know that?”
“Yeah,” I assured her, smirking once more. “You’ve told me that plenty of times.”
“And yet I still dated you for over two years... Hmm. Must have been something wrong with my head back then.” She had her lashes lowered again and a teasing smile on her beautiful face.
I knew she was only teasing, but her words cut me to the quick. I’d always wondered why she had put up with me for as long as she had. I’d put this girl—my girl—through so fucking much. Any other chick would have tossed my ass to the curb from the very beginning, but not her. Not my Gabriella. She’d overlooked my flaws, had loved me despite them.
And my dumb ass had let her go.
I clenched my jaw, thinking of all the time I’d wasted with her. Where would we have been right then if I hadn’t listened to her grandfather? Would we have been married by now? Have kids? Would she have been sitting on my bus with her belly softly rounded with my child growing inside of her instead of sitting in that hospital recliner, hurting?
Guilt and a sense of loss burned in my chest and I sucked in a deep breath, trying to ease some of the pain. Standing, I moved to the window and glared out at the sunny afternoon sky.
“Hey,” Gabriella said, sounding regretful, and I slowly turned to look at her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that how it sounded.”
My smile was forced this time as I tried to reassure her. “I know, baby. I was just thinking…” I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. Are you comfortable? Are you hurting?”
“I’m fine for now. Come sit with me again. Please?” She held out her hand and I took it without hesitation. “I really am sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about, little Brie.” I kissed the back of her hand and linked our fingers. “I don’t know how you put up with me, baby. I’m just thankful that I had as long as I did with you.”
Pain flashed across her face. “Liam??
?”
“Knock, knock.”
We both looked up as the door opened and the redhead stepped inside. Gabriella tensed beside me and I rubbed my thumb over her palm to soothe her as I frowned up at Emmie. I hadn’t really expected her to come herself. I figured she would have sent Natalie or any one of her other minions.
The look on her face was startling, however. Her eyes were full of something I couldn’t decipher, those big green eyes clouded with a multitude of emotions. The feelings that stuck out the most were regret… and gratefulness.
In her arms was a box that I assumed was the Blu-ray player and the movies I’d asked for. The smile on her face was something I’d never seen before, full of nervousness. I stood and took the box from Emmie’s arms and placed it on the bed.
She gave me a grim smile. “The last time I did you a favor, I ended up pretending to make out with you outside some nasty bathroom.”
“I figured you would have sent Nat,” I admitted, ignoring her comment about the bathroom incident. Now wasn’t the time to admit that I’d talked Emmie into pretending to make out with me so I could push Gabriella away.
“Yeah, well, that option wasn’t open for me. Natalie and Devlin ran off to Vegas to get married.” My eyes nearly popped out of my head at her announcement and she laughed. “Surprised the fuck out of me too, but they had their reasons. I’m happy for them.”
I nodded. “Yeah, me too.” Devlin and Natalie deserved to be happy. That was all that mattered.
“So…” Emmie was back to looking nervous again. “Do you need anyone to help you set that up? I was told that it’s pretty straight forward, but if you need help I can find someone?”
“No, Em. I think I can manage it.”
She nodded and clasped her hands together in front of her, glancing from me to Gabriella and then back to me. After a long pause, she blew out a long sigh and glared at me. “Can you give us a minute?”
I blinked, sure that I’d heard her wrong. “What?” There was no way she wanted to be alone with Gabriella… Right?
“I need to speak to Gabriella…Brie…Gabriella, alone. It won’t take long, and I promise not to upset her.” She clenched her jaw and lowered her eyes to her hands. “Please, Liam.”
I glanced down at Gabriella. She seemed just as shocked as I was, possibly more so. Her eyes were glued to Emmie’s down-bent head, as if she were trying to figure the other chick out. After a slight hesitation, she lifted those brown eyes to mine. With a small nod she told me that it was okay to leave her.
Reluctantly, I left the room, wondering how much damage I’d have to clean up when I got back.
Gabriella
Maybe I’d woken up in an alternate universe. It would explain this moment. Nothing else could.
Emmie Armstrong wanting to speak to me? Willingly?
From the way she was acting, I was pretty sure it wasn’t to bitch me out, which made this whole thing even more bizarre. I wouldn’t say it was a bad thing, because honestly I kind of liked seeing Emmie looking lost for words. Which was exactly how she appeared right then.
Those big, green eyes were clouded with a mixture of emotions I couldn’t easily name, and her fingers trembled even though she had her hands clasped together in front of her. But even as I got a small, cheap thrill out of seeing my sworn enemy squirm, a bigger part of me felt sorry for her. I could guess why she was there, and it was probably the only reason she would have ever been in the same room with me without us clawing each other’s eyes out.
That reason made my chest ache for a reason other than the fact that my chest had been cut open—twice, from what the doctor had told me—just a few days ago. The thought of something happening to Mia made me hurt. It didn’t matter that her mother and I hated each other. No child should have to go through what that beautiful little girl had.
“Look…” Emmie started, then broke off when her chin started to tremble.
Ugh. I couldn’t stand this. “Emmie, stop. You don’t have to do this.” I didn’t want this. No matter how much I’d always wanted to bring her to her knees, I didn’t want to do it this way. No parent should ever feel what she was feeling right then.
“No.” Emmie shook her head and clenched her jaw. “No, I have to do it.” She tossed her head back and sighed up at the ceiling for a long moment before turning that bold green gaze back on me. “I owe you everything I have, Gabriella. If it hadn’t been for you…”—her chin trembled again— “…I don’t know what would have happened to Mia. She and Jagger are my life. Without them…” Her voice broke and she muttered a curse. Clearing her throat, she continued. “You saved her. And for that I will be forever grateful. If you need anything from me, it’s yours. I would gladly give my life for yours because you nearly gave your own for my child. Thank you.”
I could have been petty and told her to go to hell, I didn’t need her gratitude. Any decent human being would have done the same thing I had. But we were so much alike that I knew how much this was costing her. For Emmie, this was akin to groveling and I couldn’t let this strong chick torture herself like that.
“You’re welcome,” I murmured. “But you owe me nothing. It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. Don’t you see that? All I care about is that Mia is okay. This thing between you and me… That never even entered into it. We both have things that we regret. At least I know I do.” I wasn’t going to apologize for letting her think I’d slept with Nik all those years ago. I was pretty sure that she didn’t want me to rehash that particular moment in our relationship just then. “I saw that she was in trouble and reacted. Even knowing that I would have ended up like this, I still would have done it again without hesitating.” I pulled my blanket around me a little tighter, chilled at all the thoughts of what could have been had I not been there to stop Mia’s kidnapping. “I’m glad she’s okay…” I whispered. “I was so scared that one of the bullets had gotten her too.”
A small cry left Emmie and she dropped down onto the chair that Liam had been sitting in for most of the day, as if her legs could no longer support her. “When I saw her, covered in blood, at first I thought it was hers. I’d been going out of my mind until we found her, but when I saw her like that… I nearly lost it all over again.” She scrubbed her hands over her face. “Then I realized it was yours, her savior’s, and all the awful things I’d ever said and done to you came flooding back to me. I’m not a nice person, Gabriella. Of course you already know that, but in that moment I would gladly have taken it all back. I would have changed places with you.”
“You’re a good mother, Emmie,” I told her. Only a good parent would feel something that strongly. There were some parents out there who wouldn’t have cared what had happened to their child and that thought made me incredibly sad. “Mia’s lucky to have you.”
She gave a small, humorless laugh. “It doesn’t feel like it sometimes, but I would do anything for my kids. That includes selling my soul to you if that’s what you want.”
“Oh, please. One bitchy soul is enough for me. I’ll pass, thanks,” I said and before I could stop myself I snorted and then moaned from the pain I’d just inflicted on myself. Sonofabitch that hurt!
Emmie gave me a concerned frown. “Do you need the nurse?”
I waved her away when she started to get up. “No, I’m fine. I just sometimes forget that my chest was cracked open and a doctor played Operation with my heart a few days ago.” Her face filled with horror and I actually grinned. Fuck, I’d never thought the day would come when I would actually smile at my worst enemy. Surprisingly, it kind of felt good.
Not that I was ever going to admit that out loud.
“Relax. The doctor said I’m going to be okay,” I assured her.
Her face cleared a little. “Good. I’m glad.” She rubbed her hands down the front of her jeans-covered legs and stood. “I should go. Mia is still a little freaked out and doesn’t want me too far for very long. I need to get back to her. She’s been asking if she can come see you.
To thank you herself.”
My heart melted a little at how sweet Mia was. “Yes, I’d like that. I’m glad she wasn’t hurt.”
“Me too. Thanks again, Gabriella.” She held out her hand and I stared at it for a moment before finally shaking it. Whoa, I wonder how much that cost her? It wasn’t like with that handshake we were going to suddenly be BFFs or even just friends, but I could see in her green eyes that our past was just that—in the past. Maybe we could start over. Maybe not.
It was kind of sad that it had taken something so tragic to get us to this point.
She turned to go and as I watched her leave my room, I realized that now I had to find a new worst enemy.
Damn it.
A grin spread across my face and I was still smiling when Liam returned.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
LIAM
By the end of the third day of Gabriella being in her private room, I was exhausted. More so than I’d been over the last week. I was drained to the point that I had no patience left and I sat in my chair glaring out the window as the Feds and local police took their time questioning my girl.
They had gone over her side of what had happened five times already, making her elaborate on every detail. From how pale Gabriella’s face was, I knew she was either hurting, or reliving what had happened and it was really getting to her. Probably both. I was ready to grab the skinny little local cop and the pot-bellied Fed and sling them out of the room, fuck the consequences.
Hearing in Gabriella’s own words what had happened, realizing exactly how close Mia had come to being shot as well, knowing that whoever had done this was a psychotic bitch, was making my hands clammy. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and I realized it was panic.