I nod, tears spilling down my cheeks. Shadow reaches out and wipes them away.
“I didn’t want them to hurt Dylan. He’s just a kid. I knew you’d find out I was taken and find me.”
“I was nearly too late,” Shadow grumbles, eyes flashing with anger. He was pissed.
“But I’m here,” I whisper, reaching for his hand.
“Yeah, you’re here, but you nearly weren’t. We didn’t have time to call for an ambulance. Nightmare had to work on you until we got you here. Twenty fuckin’ minutes it took, and he worked his ass off. Still, it wasn’t enough. You coded in surgery, Della. Fuckin’ died on the table. If they hadn’t been able to bring you back, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Tyler.”
“I nearly lost you, Della. I can’t fuckin’ lose you. You have no clue how much I fuckin’ love you.”
I think I might have a clue, but seeing him like this, so upset, it hurts my heart. I don’t want to see him in pain at the thought of losing me.
Lifting his hand, I place it over my heart. “You feel that?” I ask.
“Della,” he starts.
“Do you feel it?” I ask again.
“Yeah,” he answers, his tone grated, filled with so much emotion.
“Then you know I’m here. I didn’t leave you. You didn’t lose me. I’m here, Tyler. Right here. Right where you can feel me. See me. Talk to me. Listen to me. Know that I’m right here.”
“Fuck,” Shadow growls, leans in, and kisses me deeply. It hurts, but I’ll take the pain of it, so long as Shadow is right here where I can feel him touching me. He needs to be able to have this. I don’t know what all happened. I know what happened to me while I was in the hands of the men . . .
Those men. They’d been with Landry Oil. I’d heard them talking.
Shadow pulls away as I stiffen.
“Fuck, baby, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kissed you like that,” he grumbles and starts to pull away.
“You didn’t do anything,” I tell him, stopping him from moving too far. “I just remembered what I’d heard the men who took me were talking about when they had me.”
“Talking about?”
I hold his gaze and bite my bottom lip, only to wince in pain. Ouch. That hurt.
“I need to talk to Maddox. Tell him what I heard. He needs to know,” I tell him and explain how I heard the men talking to another man who was well dressed about why he wanted the land so badly. How years ago, they tried to get the land when my dad was still around. How they were responsible for the death of my mother. The car accident was meant to be for my dad. With my granddad out of the way, they could get the land needed. Only we’d been stupid enough to go to the club, thinking they could protect the ranch.
I give Shadow all the details that I remember, including how they’d taken their time to inflict as much pain as they could. How they’d intend to show Maddox what happens to those who refuse to listen to them. They wanted to hurt him as much as possible. The plan at first was to grab Dylan and use him as bait, but when I screwed up that plan, they took me instead. One was as good as the other. They didn’t care as long as the point was driven home.
“I wish I’d taken my time to gut them all.” Shadow snarls when I finish.
“What?” I blink at him, not sure I heard him right.
“I should’ve taken my time in killing them. Should’ve made them suffer more than I did. Would’ve, but you’re more important. You were my focus.”
“You were my focus.”
Butterflies swarm my stomach at those four words. I didn’t care about the rest of what he said when it came to those men. I didn’t care if their blood was on his hands. He did it for me. He did it to save me.
“I love you,” I whisper, squeezing his hand, needing him to know how much I love him, that I need him. He’s the most important person in my life. He was the one who made me feel safe over all others.
I love my brother. I would do anything for him. But this kind of love, how he makes me feel alive, it’s different, and I would stand beside him always.
I didn’t care how that may come. I’d do it because he was meant to be mine, as I know deep in my soul he’s the other half of it.
