The room goes quiet, each of us looking between each other. It’s apparent—the fear that any of us could be targeted now. Any of our fans. Anyone around us. The people we love…
I grasp Gemma’s fingers and bring her palm to my lips. Her jaw tightens as our eyes meet, and I wonder if her heart is fluttering the way mine is.
I need a moment alone with her before this becomes too complicated, before she’s consumed with work and I don’t get to talk to her until night falls.
“You know what? I need you fuckers out,” I say to the room. “Come back with good news, will you? Let Gemma rest an hour before we throw her into danger again.”
Mads and Zeb begin quietly arguing back and forth the moment they stand. I try to shut them out as I climb into the bed with Gemma, careful not to touch anywhere that she’s injured. Kade catches up with Wren, and I can see the defensiveness in Reed’s eyes as he makes sure to stay close to her.
And once they’re all out and the door closes, Gemma’s shoulders droop.
The quiet is nice for once.
“Are you okay?” she asks softly.
I slowly toy with her hand. “Not really,” I admit. “That was fucking scary. And now, hearing it might not be the end of it…” I blow out an audible breath, billowing my bangs off my face. “I wish everything could be simple for once.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” she says, and I chuckle.
She watches me for another beat, thumb swiping over the back of my hand. “I should’ve told you that I was the one who caused him to overdose that night,” she says. “I’m sorry you had to find out the way you did. All of this was my fault. Everything.”
I squeeze her fingers. “I don’t think Rad needed your help destroying his own life… I think regardless of if it was the roofie that night or his own vices, that was still the night he was going to lose his place in the band. He didn’t deserve to be their drummer.”
“I can’t say that I regret what I did,” she says.
“I don’t think you should,” I reply. “He was a fucking asshole.”
She huffs. “A goddamn dickwad,” she mutters, and the smile she gazes at me with makes my heart swell.
“Do you still mean it?” she asks.
I don’t have to be a detective to know what she’s asking about.
The question makes me huff. I shift and scoot further up the bed. “Do I still love you after my rapist tried to murder us? I mean… I don’t know. I kind of feel like that ruined all the magic.”
Gemma snickers, hand going to her stomach like she’s trying to stop herself from laughing.
“All the blood. Weapons. It’s a lot,” I go on, grinning. “I don’t know how I feel about hooking-up with a bloodthirsty stalker anymore.”
“Oh no, don’t make me laugh,” she says, laughing and clutching her stomach.
I laugh with her, sighing as she eventually straightens back out.
“Hopefully that part is over,” she says. “Because all I want to do is love you.”
I lean over and press my lips to hers. “Me too.”
EPILOGUE
BONNIE
ZEB
Dude. Let’s go.
Are you two asleep or fucking?
Zeb’s messagesmake me chuckle. Still, I toss my phone onto the bed without replying.
