For a moment, she had no idea what he was talking about…then she felt the breeze. The cool air on her skin.
Was it coming from the kitchen?
When Kayden rose, he pulled the gun from his holster.
Her pulse pounded, little flickers of fear coming alive in her chest. Kayden reached the kitchen and turned, his gun aimed as he shouted, “What the hell are you doing here?”
Whoever he spoke to was hidden behind a wall.
“I need…help.”
Tilly gasped.
Ignoring the pain in her ankle, she shot to her feet and hobbled over to Kayden. That’s when she saw him.
“Dad?”
The glass on the back door was broken, and it stood wide open, with her father right beside it, gun in hand and pointed at Kayden. But he was holding his wound with his other hand, blood soaked into his clothes and running through his fingers. Even in the semi-darkness, she could see how pale he was. He looked a second away from collapsing.
She went to step forward, but Kayden shot an arm out, pushing her behind him. “Kayden—”
“Lower the gun, Martin, and we’ll help you.”
“After what I did to your father?” her dad growled. “I don’t trust you not to kill me.”
“Really? Then what are you doing here?”
“I had nowhere else to go.” Her father coughed, blood spluttering from between his lips.
She frowned. “Kayden isn’t a murderer, Dad. He won’t hurt you.”
“She’s right,” Kayden agreed. “I love your daughter too much to do that.”
Despite everything, her heart thumped.Love?He’d just said he loved her.
“Put the gun down,” Kayden pushed quietly. “And I’ll help you.”
“I can’t…I can’t go to the hospital. They’ll arrest me.”
“Dad,” Tilly tried again. “Put the gun away and let us get you some help. It’s either that…or die.” She was sure if he didn’t get immediate medical attention, he wouldn’t survive the night.
“I—” Her father stopped speaking, and his eyes shuttered. Then he dropped to the floor.
“Dad!”
Kayden raced across the kitchen, holstering his weapon before dropping to her father’s side and starting first aid. Tilly pulled out her phone, only able to hope the ambulance arrived in time.
CHAPTER 32
“I’m nervous.” The words fell from Tilly’s lips before she could stop them.
They’d just pulled up in front of the hospital, and for the life of her, she could not get out of the car.
Kayden slid his hand over hers. “Why are you nervous?”
She could have laughed. “I’m so angry at him for so many reasons. And he’s probably angry atmefor calling an ambulance and being the reason he’s cuffed to a hospital bed. Because I have questions for him that I don’t think I’ll like the answers to.” In fact, she was certain she wouldn’t like the answer, yet something inside her still needed to ask. When he’d just left town five years ago, she hadn’t gotten the closure she’d needed.
“I’ll be right there in the hall, waiting for you.”
