Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
There was too much fucking blood.
“Aaliyah,” I rasped, kneeling down beside her. I cupped her pale face in my hands, gently shaking her, but she wasn’t responding.
Fear gripped my chest.
I’d just gotten her. I couldn’t fucking lose her. Not like this. We couldn’t end like this.
Sirens reached my ears. Dom gripped my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Help is almost here, brother. She’s not dying—not today.”
I swallowed thickly, trying to find the silver lining. She was still breathing, but she was growing paler by the second.
He was right. She wouldn’t be dying today, but what would stop her from dying tomorrow?
My chest painfully squeezed at the thought.
Cops poured onto the lot, quickly followed by an ambulance. I jerked to my feet, pointing at Blayke. “Make sure she gets help, you hear me? Fuck everything else.”
He nodded once. “Understood, brother.”
I walked over to the sheriff. He frowned at me. “Not exactly flying under the fucking radar, Johnston.”
Sheriff Rhodes and I had a sort of agreement. I flew under the radar with my shit, and he turned a blind eye to what I was doing. But if he had to step in on anything, he would do his job. I couldn’t fault him on that.
I’d deal with the consequences of this shit. I’d made my bed—I’d fucking lay in it. But I would not protect this club and my brothers at the expense of Aaliyah’s life. And I knew the men of this club agreed with that because Lawson had been the one to call for help. I knew how to read between the lines.
“My wife shot Aaliyah,” I told him. “I’ve got cameras you can watch if you don’t believe me.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw paramedics swarming over Aaliyah, getting her stabilized so they could transport her to the emergency room. Sheriff Rhodes arched a brow at me. “Want to tell me what the conflict was about?”
I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans. “She caught me cheating.” I shrugged. I didn’t hide my shit. I owned it, and not a damn thing in this world would make me hide anything I did with Aaliyah. She meant too much to me to ever hide her.
She wasn’t some dirty little secret. Hell, she was probably the purest thing in my life.
Sheriff Rhodes sighed and shook his head. “Fucking hell, Johnston.” He rubbed his jaw. “I need to get a statement from you and the rest of your club members. Then, when Aaliyah is awake, I’ll need to get a statement from her, too.”
I nodded once. He pulled out his notebook. “Alright. Give it to me so we can get this shit over with.”
I looked over at Blayke, making sure he was still with Aaliyah before I began telling him what I knew of the situation. “Go with Aaliyah to the hospital,” I commanded. “She doesn’t leave your fucking sight, am I clear?”
He nodded once and followed the paramedics as they wheeled Aaliyah to the back of the ambulance. I watched until the doors were closed behind her and Blayke, blocking her from my view.
Please fucking survive this, Red. I can’t lose you.
I looked back at Rhodes and began telling him what I knew. Wendy was screeching and yelling, but it finally got muted when they shoved her into the backseat of one of the cars and closed the doors. Rhodes arched a brow when I paused, taking in the peacefulness of her being shut the fuck up.
“She’s a mouthy one, isn’t she?”
I nodded. “And it only gets worse the older she gets.”
He snorted. Once I was finished speaking with him, I pulled my keys from my pocket, striding to my bike so I could head to the hospital and relieve Blayke. He’d get the club back in order and act in my place.
Because I wasn’t leaving Aaliyah’s side until she was awake.
“I fucking hate you, Johnston Trim!” Wendy shouted when I walked past the car door.
I just ignored her, but a sick, twisted part of me was glad she was going to jail, and then more than likely headed to prison. It was a much worse punishment than death for her.
I made a mental note to thank Trigger later for stopping me from snapping her neck.
CHAPTER SIX
Johnston
Hell.
I felt like I was sitting in fucking Hell. Like my entire world was collapsing around me while I waited on some kind of news about Aaliyah.
All I knew was that she was in surgery. That was all they could tell me.
Well, that and the classic ‘we’re going to do everything we can save her, Mr. Trim.’
I hated that line with every fiber of my being. Because it made it sound like there was a chance she couldn’t make it, and I refused to consider her dying as a fucking option.