Page 156 of Devious Obsession
“I don’t want to see.”
“Okay, sweetheart,” I murmur. I stroke her hair. “It’s okay.”
I go into the front room. There’s just an armchair in here, nothing else. A wide row of windows, similar to Aspen’s living room, but without any curtains or blinds. The overhead light is harsh, illuminating my father on the floor.
He’s got his suit jacket off and balled up, holding it to his left leg. He used his tie as a makeshift tourniquet just above it. There’s a puddle of blood under his thigh, and his face is white with pain.
But the relief that comes across his expression—and then the fear when he latches on to Aspen.
“Is she—”
“She’s okay.” I drum my fingers against her arm. “And so is he. Look, sweetheart.”
She lifts her head and stares at my dad. Then the blood.
But maybe it’s too much for her. Or everything just catches up, because her eyes lose focus. They roll back, and she goes completely limp in my arms.
My phone buzzes. I set her down in the armchair and scan the text.
Miles
Police and EMT are pulling up now. They’ll be up in a minute.
I relay that message to my dad, then send one final text to Greyson.
He nods, then glances at Aspen. “Is her father…?”
“Dead,” I confirm. “I’d be fucking surprised if he wasn’t.”
“Listen to me, Steele. You’re not to say a word to the police. Go to the hospital with Aspen and get checked out, but if they try to question you, give them our lawyer’s number and donotspeak without him present. Same with Aspen. You’ve got to protect her.”
I grit my teeth. “Of course I’m going to protect her.”I love her.
He nods.
The apartment door opens, the police sweeping into the room. We go still and let them finish their check, and then the paramedics arrive. I spot one checking Aspen’s father’s pulse, and she glances up at one of the officers and shakes her head.
Two more come to us, checking first my dad, then Aspen.
Things seem to pass in a blur after that. They load up Aspen, still unconscious, onto a stretcher. And my dad on another. I follow them downstairs, ignoring the police. Knox, Miles, and Jacob are standing on the other side of police tape that’s stretched across the sidewalk and street.
I’m glad they didn’t come up with me. What if they had been hurt?
What if Aspen’s dad had heard us enter and just shot us on sight?
I climb into the ambulance with Aspen and hold her hand. It’s cool and limp in my grasp, but the monitor they hooked her up to shows her steady pulse. There’s a police officer sitting beside me, his expression carefully blank.
But all that matters is that she’s alive.
“Your sister?” the paramedic asks.
My lip curls before I can stop it. “Soon-to-be wife,” I reply.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Your father—”
“It’s complicated,” I mumble.
Aspen wakes up as we’re pulling into the hospital bay. She tries to jackknife upright, but the straps around her chest and legs hold her fast to the stretcher. It only serves to panic her, though, and she fights it blindly.
