I look away, unable to stomach the sounds or cries.I don’t know how much time passes when I hear, “He took a daughter from me.It’s only fair I do the same.An eye for an eye, right?Tit for tat.”
Wyatt groans deep in his throat when he hears Black repeat the very same line he gave him on his front doorstep after releasing the videos.The pain shines in his eyes before he gazes down at the ground.
Myles moves away, dropping to the ground when Black warns Lily, saying, “I won’t stop coming for you.Not until I have you and that brat upstairs.Or maybe I will drown it and just keep you.”
“Please turn it off,” I plead, unable to bear anymore.She fucking fought like I’ve never witnessed anyone fight before.It wasn’t with precision or strength.She fought with every fibre of her being.She is a warrior and so fucking remarkable.
I startle when I hear an earth-shattering scream so raw, it cuts into my soul, tattooing itself there.The bloodcurdling scream is so ferocious and intense, it has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.My eyes meet Wyatt’s in horror before moving to the phone Jaxon clutches tightly in his grasp.Tears run down his cheeks as he watches, torturing himself.If I couldn’t see the screen, see Lily fighting for her life on the stairs, I would have thought he had...Fuck, the words can’t even form.
It takes me a minute to realise Lily is no longer screaming, but talking, sounding nothing like her normal self.No longer is she the soft-spoken woman.Her voice is scratchy, deep and pained.“And my husband will find you.We will never stop fighting until you’re gone.”
The phone slips from his fingers, falling to the ground at his feet.Maverick staggers, before dropping to sit on the flowerbed wall.
“Fucking hell,” Maverick chokes out, still staring at the phone.
“Charlotte was right,” Maddox rasps as he lowers himself to the ground.
“I need to go back in,” Jaxon whispers, picking up the phone.“I...We cannot go back there until this is over.She also cannot go back to the house with it in that state.”
“I will sort it,” Maddox promises quietly, his gaze still locked on the phone.“Concentrate on Lily and Rose.”
Jaxon passes Lake as he heads back inside the hospital.Lake bites her lip, glancing at us.“I’m really sorry to bother you guys.It’s, um, it’s just Max said he was going to get everyone a drink and he hasn’t returned.It’s been nearly an hour.I’ve checked the cafeteria on both floors and the coffee shop.He isn’t there.Have you seen him?”
Maverick groans, slipping his phone out of his pocket.A few seconds later, his expression tightens.“He’s turned off his location.I’m sorry, Lake, but I need to be in there.”
She nods as he passes her to go back inside.Myles takes pity on her.“He will show up.”
“I’m not worried he won’t.He will need feeding soon.I’m worried about what he is doing.He doesn’t react well to our children being hurt,” she whispers, tears pooling in her eyes.“Remember when Hayden got hurt?He burnt that corrupt policeman’s house down.The warehouse Landon was attacked in?He demolished it and I still don’t know how.”She steps closer, lowering her voice.“And he keeps setting fire to where they buried Scott.They stopped putting a new stone up when he smashed the third one.”
“Shit,” Myles spits before taking a few calming breaths.“Why don’t I get Liam to trace his phone?”
She nods, biting her lower lip, and I feel for the woman.“Hey, he will be okay, Mrs Carter,” I assure her.“It’s Max.It’s not like he will hurt anyone who doesn’t deserve it.And he never gets caught.”
“That is true,” she whispers.
I place my hand on her lower back.“Let’s go back inside.Hayden isn’t worried, so you shouldn’t be either.”We reach the waiting room, and my eyes go to where I last saw Hayden sitting, finding her seat empty.I turn to Myles, who is a step behind us.“Get him to trace Hayden’s phone too.”
Myles pales as he steps back outside.“On it.”
When questions begin to get asked about what happened outside, no one answers.I, for one, don’t want to bring up the baby.I don’t want to see the painful reminder in my sister’s eyes as she relives her own miscarriage.It also feels wrong to talk about it.
Instead, I reach for Summer, wrapping my arms around her.She’s the only thing happening in my life right now that makes sense, which is weird because it wasn’t that long ago that any mention of me and a girlfriend would have been fictional.
Now she feels like the only real thing in my life.
