Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Landry shook his head. “Nah. Way will understand. He loves you, remember?”
“Come on.” Zane pulled a key fob from his pocket. “I’ll go with you.”
Kenji met my eyes. “I’ll arrange the pilots. The plane’s still on the tarmac from our arrival. All it needs is to be refueled.”
Bash could tell I was unsure. “Go. We’ll stay and take care of Way and the exhibition. Whatever he needs.”
The others nodded and agreed, the brotherhood coming together for a common purpose, as we had so many times before.
“Okay.” I gave Bash one firm nod. “Okay, I’ll go. I should call Way—” I hesitated, glancing in the direction of town. I had no idea how many meetings he had this afternoon, how many last-minute things to arrange, but I knew it was a lot. As badly as I wanted to hear his voice, I didn’t want to distract him at this critical hour.
“We’ll let him know,” Bash promised. “As soon as he comes back from his event prep. And we’ll tell him we’re here for the duration. We’ll take care of it, Silas.”
I knew they would, but I still felt like my heart was being torn in two.
“Tell Way I’m sorry. Explain that if it wasn’t Camille—”
Zane grabbed my arm and yanked me toward his rental. “He’ll understand. Let’s go.”
I’d been in the air for an hour by the time Kenji managed to get an update to me. My sister had been shot and was currently in surgery to repair the damage. The gunman had been apprehended, one security guard had been fatally wounded, and three other hostages had been critically wounded like Camille.
By the time I got to the hospital hours later, I was weak and shaky from fear. Camille was out of surgery, but security was so tight it was nearly impossible to get to her room. Thankfully, Kenji had managed to get in touch with the head of the department, who met me at one of the security checkpoints and personally led me to her room.
“She’s still super sleepy from anesthesia and additional sedation. They’re keeping her a little sedated overnight to help her rest and stay still. It’s perfectly normal. She came through the surgery just fine. She’ll need physical therapy and obviously psychotherapy, but I promise the hospital will be on top of making sure everyone gets the best of care.”
I barely listened to him as he continued to try to reassure me. My sister looked so small and pale in the hospital bed. I knew she’d be a total pain in the ass to her medical staff as soon as she came out of the sedation, so it was probably a good thing they were keeping her asleep for now. The worst part of it was not being able to tell her I was there, that she wasn’t alone, that I loved her.
“Anyway,” her manager continued, “they’re not going to let you stay tonight. Security is super-tight as you can imagine. If you want to leave her a note, you can use this pad of paper here, and I’ll tell the nurse to make sure she gets it as soon as she wakes up. Then you can come back at eight tomorrow, and I’ll make sure they let you in for another visit.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but the nurse who’d come in to check Camille’s IV must have seen my expression because he gave me an understanding smile. “She’s going to sleep all night anyway, but I’ll be sure to tell her you were here the minute she wakes up, I promise.”
When I finally let them lead me out of the room and away from my sister, I pulled out my phone to text Way and check in with the brotherhood to see if everything was all set for the exhibition opening in the morning. Unfortunately, my phone battery was dead from all the frantic calling, texting, and headline-stalking I’d done on the trip east.
I managed to flag down a taxi to head home. When it dropped me off in front of my place, I ducked into a nearby bodega to grab some food before finally entering my building and greeting the doorman.
It was with a lonely, heavy heart that I made my way up to my apartment. I missed Way’s beautiful face, his reassuring smile, and his strong embrace.
As I entered my front door after two months of being gone, I wondered how it was possible to return to your own place while it felt like your true home was hundreds of miles away in a stand of aspen trees and nestled in a curve of the Majestic River.
TWENTY-SEVEN
WAYLON
After accidentally telling my husband I loved him in front of a pack of strangers, hot mortification flooded my entire body as I sped down the driveway toward the highway. Despite my racing thoughts, my pounding heart, and my churning gut, though, I couldn’t help but notice people carrying furniture out of the main ranch house as I passed by. I slammed on the brakes and reversed before pulling to a stop behind my brother-in-law’s pickup truck.