I thought about Duke.
About Jessa and Aubree and Miss Lottie. About Sugar Kissed and the smell of my own kitchen at five in the morning. About what it felt like to belong somewhere for the first time in my entire life.
And I was done running.
I reached out and slammed the door as hard as I could.
The sound cracked through the apartment like a gunshot. Henderson flinched, then his face twisted.
“Why the hell would you—” He stopped himself and pointed the gun at me. “Bring yourself here. Now.”
“This is my house,” I said. “And I am done letting people like you take things from me. You don’t have a right to me. You neverdid. I belong to myself. So if you want me, you’re going to have to come get me.”
Something broke loose behind his eyes.
He took a step forward. His finger found the trigger.
I held his gaze and didn’t move.
And then the door exploded off its hinges.
Juelz came through like he had been launched, gun already drawn and level. Henderson spun and fired in the same motion, and the two shots cracked through the apartment simultaneously, so close together they sounded like one.
I hit the floor with my hands over my ears, the sound ringing through my skull.
On the way down I saw Henderson’s head snap back. The force of it sent him backward and the side of his head connected with the edge of the counter with a sound I would not forget for the rest of my life.
He dropped.
The room went still.
Then a groan pulled my attention to the right.
Juelz was on his side, one hand clamped over his shoulder, his gun still in the other.
I didn’t think. I grabbed the scarf I had left on the chair and scrambled over to him, pressing it against the wound and wrapping it as tightly as I could manage.
“Damn!” he hissed through his teeth.
“I know, I know. Keep pressure on it.” My hands were shaking but I didn’t stop. “I need my phone. I have to call?—”
“Already done,” he said, jaw tight.
I glanced toward Henderson. He hadn’t moved. The angle of him told me everything I needed to know, but something kept me from looking too long.
“Is there anything else I can do?” I asked.
Juelz gritted his teeth and helped me press the scarf tighter.
“Nah. That man couldn’t shoot for anything. I’m not dying from this, so relax.” He paused, then looked up at me. “I’m glad I heard that door. Glad your girl hung up on me when she did, too.”
I let out a breath that felt like it had been trapped in my chest for years.
Aubree had called him. Her frustration, her refusal to stay on the line, had made him look up at exactly the right moment. I would never let her live that down for as long as I lived.
“Thank you,” I said. “I didn’t know if it would work. I prayed it would.”
Juelz looked up at me with heavy eyes. “Wasn’t even a question. You’re family now.”
