Page 34 of Stay Little Fighter

One of them is considering the trail of blood from the forest to the road back at the motel, but part of me hoped it was Damon.

Maybe that makes me a shitty person, but the guy kind of deserves it for all the shit he’s done, regardless of whether Chloe likes him.

As long as he doesn’t die, it’s fine.

Kingston’s phone vibrates in his hand, tearing his attention from me to the screen. He taps it a couple of times, putting it on speakerphone.

“Ronan?”

“It’s me.” Damon’s voice comes down the line, and my chest tightens, because hearing him speak just confirms my theory: Chloe’s hurt. “We’re five minutes out from the hospital. Chloe was shot in the forest, and while I’ve done my best to keep her from losing too much blood and stop the bullet from making its way to her heart, she’s fading.”

“You let her get shot?” I snarl, earning me a glare from my boss.

“I didn’t let her do anything,” he snaps. “She jumped in front of a fucking bullet meant for me. It happened so fast.”

Sucking in a breath, I try to shove the rage from my mind. Because right now, I want to fucking kill him for allowing it to happen. We trusted him to keep her safe, and he let her take a goddamn bullet for him?

Rationally, I realize it’s not his fault, but that doesn’t calm the monster in my chest. He wants to fucking kill Damon for not protecting her.

“Are you hurt?” Kingston asks.

He hesitates for a moment before replying, “No. Mikayla needed me to be able to sign a marriage certificate and be alive to reap the rewards of the Lombardi name.”

Dark brown eyes meet mine, silently telling me to keep my mouth shut. “Did she say why she wanted the tie to your family so desperately?”

“No. Only that she couldn’t get in touch with Dad to ensure he would accept the contract as it stood a decade ago when it was dissolved.”

“Salvatore has been suspiciously quiet the last week. I’ve had a team monitoring him and his men, and as far as I can tell, they’re locked down.”

“Probably waiting for Damon to come back with Ronan and Chloe.”

Kingston’s eyes widen, and I realize he wasn’t privy to that conversation, and I was meant to be asleep.

“If you were awake for that conversation, you already know I had no intention of following through with it.”

“You did when you first got on the jet,” I challenge.

“Maybe at the beginning. But by the time we got to the cabin, I knew I couldn’t do it. I just had to accept losing everything I’ve spent my life working toward, which took some time.”

Kingston sighs. “We’ll talk about this later. None of it matters until Chloe is under the care of medical professionals.”

“How is she?” I ask.

Damon hesitates and that all but answers the question. “Her heart is beating, but she’s been out since before we got her to the car. She’s lost a lot of blood, and the basement they kept us in wasn’t exactly sanitary.”

I press my eyes closed. “I need you to know I’ll kill you if she dies.”

“I’ll hand you the gun,” he responds without hesitation.

CHAPTER TWENTY

KINGSTON

THEN

TEN YEARS AGO

Ikeep her hand clutched in mine as I speed toward the hospital.