The vet shook her head. “That should be fine,” she said. “He’s a strong dog, Seth. He’ll be back to his old self in no time.”
I swallowed hard. “Thank you, Dr. White.”
She nodded and gave me a pat on the arm. “You can come see him in a few minutes.”
As the vet turned to go, Ronan said, “Doctor, were you able to extract the bullet?”
Dr. White gave Ronan a strange look and then glanced at me but I had no idea why Ronan had asked the question.
“Um, no, the wound was a through and through,” the vet said.
“Can you tell what kind of weapon it might have been? The caliber?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t really know much about that kind of thing.”
Ronan nodded. “Thank you.”
The vet gave him another confused look and then disappeared through the door leading to the back of the building.
“Why did you ask that?” I asked.
“Just hoping to get a better idea of who hurt Bullet,” Ronan responded as he returned to his seat.
“It was probably a hunter,” I said. “They show up once in a while. My parents postedNo Trespassingsigns but they ignore them.”
Ronan only nodded and I was too exhausted to pursue the subject. Dr. White returned about a half an hour later and I got to spend several minutes with Bullet who was still heavily sedated.
Ronan drove home and I was too tired to argue with him whenhe followed me into the house. I assumed Hawke had been the one to pull Ronan’s car into the driveway, but he wasn’t around when we entered the house and I hadn’t seen his car at all.
I hadn’t made any effort to get to know Hawke the morning I found him sitting in my kitchen because I’d been too raw and hurt from discovering that Ronan had walked out on me yet again. I hadn’t cared why Hawke was there or what his relationship with Ronan was. I’d simply asked him to leave and had gone to hide out in my room for the rest of the weekend. It wasn’t until Sunday night as I’d forced myself out of bed so I could ready myself for work the next day that I’d finally conceded that my love for Ronan was slowly destroying me. I knew changing the codes on the door and the gate wouldn’t keep Ronan out but I’d hoped it would send a message.
Clearly, it hadn’t.
“I’m going to go get cleaned up,” I heard Ronan say behind me as he closed the front door and locked it. The sound of the lock engaging pissed me off and I turned to face him. I hesitated at the sight of Bullet’s dried blood on the front of Ronan’s shirt but I shoved my emotions back down where they belonged.
“Do it someplace else,” I said quietly. “You’re no longer welcome here.”
I turned and headed towards the kitchen and wasn’t surprised when I heard heavy footsteps directly behind me.
“Seth,” Ronan said gently as he followed me to the fridge. I was in the process of opening the refrigerator door when he grabbed me and I felt all my fear and anger come rushing over me. I spun around and slammed my hands against Ronan’s chest and was actually glad to see him stumble back.
“Get the fuck out!” I snapped. “I don’t want you here.”
Ronan’s gaze clouded over with a look of shame but then he stiffened. “Once I know you’re safe-”
“Safe?” I yelled. “From what? I was mugged, Ronan. It happens every day. Bullet got shot by a hunter! There’s no conspiracy here; no one’s out to get me!” I sucked in a couple of deep breaths as I tried to get control of myself.
“The only one I need protection from is you,” I finally saidtiredly. “I would take this,” – I pointed to the bruises on my face – “every day for the rest of my life over what you did to me three days ago.”
Ronan paled but I was beyond caring. “Just go, Ronan. If there’s any part of you that cares about me even a little bit, please go…and don’t come back this time.”
I turned back to the refrigerator and opened it. My hand was shaking badly but I covered it up by gripping the edge of the door as tightly as I could.
“So that’s it?” Ronan said from behind me. I didn’t dare turn around to check if he was as close to me as it felt like he was. I was terrified that if I took even the slightest step back, I’d feel his big, warm body pressed against mine and I’d beg him to forget everything I’d just said.
“That’s it,” I whispered. “I’m done…we’re done.”
I was right about Ronan being right behind me because he grabbed me a split second later and dragged me back a step before slamming the refrigerator door shut and shoving me up against it so I was facing him.
