Until Alex - J. Nathan Page 0,115

escape? “If I find out—”

Click.

Oh fuck.

“He got your time. Your affection. Your love. It was all supposed to be mine!”

I shook off the echo of my father’s voice as I turned slowly, bracing myself for the barrel of a gun in my face. But it wasn’t aimed at me.

Remy stood with the gun aimed at Alex.

My heart leaped to my throat as I threw my body in front of her, shielding her from the gun. From Remy.

I glanced over my shoulder. He hadn’t lowered the gun. Darkness clouded his eyes as he stared across the room at me. God, I knew what he was capable of. I wrapped my arms tightly around Alex, like it could somehow protect us from his insanity.

Burying my nose in her hair, I closed my eyes and sent up a silent prayer to whoever might be listening. Please don’t let him do this.

“You were my family, Hayden.”

Oh, God. I squeezed my eyes tighter, braced for the bullet.

“You were the only person I ever trusted.”

Maybe if he saw my face, he’d be unable to do it. I lifted my head and looked up at him.

Something flashed in his heartless eyes. It wasn’t anger, more like understanding. Understanding that I’d do anything to protect the girl beneath me. This wasn’t about him anymore. He no longer had my unyielding loyalty. He’d lost that all on his own.

He lifted the gun to the side of his head and pressed it into his temple.

I sucked in a breath.

“Now I don’t even have you.”

Behind him, the living room door opened. Cops in swat gear with guns drawn inched their way in. But they were too late.

Remy’s finger squeezed the trigger.

The fatal shot echoed throughout the house stilling everyone. This time, I prepared myself. This time I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have the vision forever etched in my mind, replaying in my nightmares.

And there would be nightmares.

Because I knew the truth.

This happened to Alex because of me.

I didn’t even bother looking when the cops and medics surrounded Remy’s body. I untied Alex’s arms and lifted her lifeless body. EMTs rushed in and led me to the stretcher in the driveway. I placed her down and followed them into the back of the ambulance.

They hooked her up to IV’s, pumping her full of fluids while treating her external wounds. She looked so small. So swollen. So broken. I gripped her cold hand and didn’t let go.

I wouldn’t.

No one would take my beautiful girl away from me.

Never again.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

HAYDEN

Sitting beside Alex’s hospital bed, grasping her frail hand for dear life, was the worst type of déjà vu. I glanced around the room. The red and orange glow outside the window signified the end of another day. Another day of speaking to her and getting no response. Another day of hoping her dreams weren’t nightmares. Another day of longing to hear her laugh.

She’d been unconscious for three days, after being gone for four. It had been a full week since I’d seen her smile. Since I heard her voice. Since I breathed normally.

Katherine begged me to take a break. And I would. When Alex woke up.

Sometimes her eyelashes fluttered like a hummingbird—which the doctor assured us was a good sign. But she hadn’t opened her eyes.

I lifted her frail hand to my lips and pressed softly. “I love you so much. All the way down to my bones.”

Katherine and I had been taking shifts talking to her. Even when it wasn’t my turn, I slept in a chair in the corner of the room in case she woke up. I meant it. I’d never leave her side again.

Katherine had just run home to shower. So I had Alex all to myself.

“So, I’ve been thinking about something pretty important…how I’ll propose. Before you say it, I know what you’re thinking. We’re too young. But I didn’t mean next week. I meant I will propose someday and you will say yes.”

Steering clear of her face, I leaned in and kissed the top of her head gently, not wanting to disturb her breaks and bruises. “I swear to you, I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”

I thought I knew nightmares, but nothing compared to the uncertainty surrounding Alex’s disappearance. Four days of not knowing where she was, what she was enduring, or if she was even alive, proved to be my worst nightmare.

Now that I had her back, had her within reach, I knew what I wanted. And I’d be damned if