The worst of the pain suddenly stops, and now it’s just a constant sting. I turn around, and he shows me the small chip. “I wonder how long that’s been in me.”
“He’ll notice it’s gone, but at least it should give you some time before he tries to replace it.” He tosses the chip on the dead body before cutting off a piece of Carlos's shirt and using it to clean up my back.
The banging gets louder and more frequent, and I have a feeling we don’t have much time left. We both look at the door before looking at each other.
“I need to?—”
“I want to?—”
We both start talking at the same time, then smile as I tell him, “You go first.”
He grabs my hands and pulls them up to his chest as his expression softens. “Wren, I’m sorry all of this happened. It’s all my fault, I?—”
“Elias! None of this is your fault!” I say in alarm, cutting him off.
“Please, let me get this out? It’s hard enough as it is.” Inod, unsure what he wanted to say that was so difficult. We’d been best friends our whole lives; we could tell each other anything. “If I had just taken you away when we were eighteen, we could have avoided all of this. I know I could have supported you; it might just have been rough at the beginning. Instead, I left you in that place, with him, for years.”
He takes a deep breath before continuing. “And for that, I’m so sorry, Wren. It’s my biggest regret. And if I’m going to die here, I don’t want to live with another one.”
He licks his lips as his eyes bounce between mine, and I can’t help but whisper, “Another one?”
Despite the loud banging of them trying to break in, and the terror of what will happen when they do, Elias has all my attention at this moment. The tension is rolling off him in large waves as he contemplates his response.
Finally, he speaks. “I don’t want to regret not telling you how I feel.” I suck in a small breath of surprise. Did he care for me the same way I did for him? “You’re my best friend, Wren. I’ve loved you our entire lives. But I’m alsoin lovewith you.”
A tear rolls down my cheek as several emotions flood me at once. Happiness at knowing he feels that way. Sadness that we may never get the chance to explore it, and finally guilt, for wanting something with him when I already have four boyfriends. Four boyfriends who barely tolerate him as it is.
“Elias, I?—”
He shakes his head, cutting me off. “You don’t have to say anything. I know your heart lies with them, but I needed to tell you in case I never get the chance.”
I glance at the door as it starts to buckle from the pounding on the other side. He’s right, this may be our last chance to tell each other how we really feel. Looking back at him, I flip our hands so now I’m holding his between mine against his chest.
“I love you, too, Elias,” I finally admit. “I’ve had a crush on you since we were thirteen and I started seeing you as something…more.” His eyebrows raise in stunned surprise. “I always imagined you’d be the one I married. Well, before you disappeared. And now… Things are complicated. But I want you to know, I feel it too. I feel it every day. And since the moment you reappeared in my life, it’s been painful to stay away from you. I want you, Elias, but I can’t cheat on them.”
A few tears spring free, and he wipes my cheeks. “I know, sweetheart. It’s okay, I understand.”
He reaches into his pocket as he tells me, “I felt the same way. In fact, I had this crazy plan that as soon as I got you away from Robert, I’d whisk you away and marry you.”
“You did?” I ask in surprise. He chuckles in a self-deprecating way as he pulls something from his pocket and holds it between us.
“I even got you this.” He opens the box, and a stunning platinum ring with three beautiful diamonds glistens brightly. I gasp at the sight.
“Elias…”
“I know I’m too late,” he says as he grabs my left hand and slips it on my ring finger. “But I want you to have it anyway, to remember me.”
I open my mouth as I look up at him, trying to form words that won’t come. I hear the door splinter, and he quickly leans down and presses his lips to mine. Before I caneven decide to kiss him back or not, he pulls away and pushes me behind him. Then he turns to the entrance, holding the knife out, ready to face whatever comes through that door.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
WREN
The next hit has the frame splintering right before the door connects with the dresser pushed against it.
“There’s something blocking it!” someone yells from the hall. “Push on the count of three.”
Elias holds his free arm back toward me, as if he’s stopping me from running forward. I move closer to him and place my hands on his back, so he knows I’m there with him and can focus on the incoming threat.
