I shifted around, taking him in.
Alex Montgomery was handsome and wonderful in every way, as he always was every day. Every single minute since I woke up again in a hospital bed, he’d been at my side—loving and attentive as he got on the doctor’s case, and assured Rhodes and Micah that they didn’t need to come because he was taking care of me. Nothing about his actions after I woke up in the ambulance matched the dead-eyed apparition that stood there watching me die.
Did I imagine it?
“Alex...” My throttled throat still struggled to produce more than a whisper. “When Mrs. Finley— When she attacked me, I thought I saw... you.”
He frowned out the window. “What do you mean?”
“Have you truly forgiven me for everything?” I narrowed on the side of his face I could see. “Are we okay now? For real?”
“Sue, baby, of course we are.” Alex turned just to smile at me. “We are very much okay now. You know that.”
“You’re not still mad?” I pressed. “About the way I’ve treated you over the years? About the... suggestion that I was cheating?”
I got a flicker of bewilderment before he shifted back to the road. “Baby, I’m not mad anymore. I’ve put it all behind me so that we could start over.” He squeezed my arm. “Why are you bringing this up now?”
“Because I saw you.” I squinted at him. “In the window when Mrs. Finley was strangling me with a dish towel. You were just standing there watching like—like you wanted her to kill me.”
“What?” he cried, slamming hard on the brake. He pulled off and stopped the car in a café parking lot before I knew what was happening. “Sue, what the hell are you talking about? Of course I didn’t want her to kill you. Istoppedher from killing you. It was me who broke down the door, pulled Finley off, and called 911. Of course it was,” he beseeched me. “No one else was there.”
That was undoubtedly true. It seemed unlikely that Mrs. Finley suddenly had a change of heart and up and let me go, then called the police on herself. Alex had to be the one who saved me, but did that mean my oxygen-deprived brain imagined him kicking back shooting the breeze while a middle-aged woman tried to pop my head off, or was what I saw real, and Alex just changed his mind?
If he did change his mind and choose me, do I just let it go? Or is watching someone kill you the kind of red flag you just don’t ignore?
“I don’t know, Alex,” I rasped. “Maybe I imagined it, but I feel I need to say again that if being with me is too hard, it’s okay. We can part on your terms with no hard feelings. You don’t have to force yourself to stay with me—”
“Stop.” Alex reached for me, taking my face in his hands. “I don’t know what kind of horrible nightmare tortured you in those last moments, but say the word and I’ll go back and kick Nightmare Boy’s ass. No one fucks around in my woman’s imagination—not even me.”
The barest smile tugged at my lips. It tugged harder as he drew me in, kissing me soft and sweet.
“I told you,” he whispered. “I’m not going anywhere. Yes, I admit, loving you was hard for a long time, but now... now it’s the easiest thing in the world. I’m finally right where I’m supposed to be—next to you.” Another soft peck graced my lips. “Don’t ever doubt it.”
“Okay.” I pressed my forehead to him, my eyes drifting closed. “Thank you, baby. I really needed to hear that.”
“It’s been an awful fucking day. Let’s go home. I’ll bundle you up on the couch with the Lilybug and old comedy reruns while I’ll make you some too-sweet strawberry-ade and burnt japchae.”
A giggle escaped me—the very first one since Omma was killed. Of course it was Alex. It had to be Alex... who brought back my laugh.
“That sounds perfect.” I meant it. “But I have to see Courtney. She’s had the worst few days of her life. She needs her friend, and I’m not going to let her down again.”
“They might not have released her yet.” Alexander drew back and started the car. “Mrs. Finley was ranting her head off when they hauled her out of the car and stuck her in the back of the squad car, but she completely shut down when they got her to the station. Last I heard, she hasn’t said a word.”
“How did you hear that?”
He scoffed. “Balogun and her partner were trying to make up for being incompetent fools and save the LPD from a lawsuit by coming by the hospital personally to see how you were doing. You were still sleeping, but they told me that other than saying she killed Mrs. Prado and Omma, and then asking for a lawyer, she hasn’t said another word.
“They said Courtney will be released once they getthe full picture of how Mrs. Finley committed these crimes and why she chose to frame Ms. Thorne,” he repeated. “No idea if they’ve got that picture yet.”
“I need to call her,” I cried, scrambling for my phone. “Finley’s nephew let her into our house and helped her avoid the other guards. Not to mention she’s clearly filled with murderous rage.” I gestured to my bruised throat. “How much clearer does the picture get for these assholes?”
Another scoff. “It’s ridiculous. At this point, they need to just shut up and listen to you, because you’re the only one who had it right from the start.” He stroked my cheek as we pulled out of the parking lot. “Look, for now, let’s go home. Lily really needs a hug from her mom right now.”
That swayed me better than anything else could.
“While you’re relaxing, I’ll get on the cops and make sure that poor woman doesn’t spend another night in jail,” he said. “I’ll go down and break her out if I have to.”
HE DIDN’T HAVE TO BREAKher out, but he did drive down and pick her up the next morning—bringing her to stay with me for the day while Rhodes andMicah were at work, Lily was at school, and Alex was upstate visiting his parents in New York.
