“I’ve got you… I’ve got you…” he murmured, unshaken in a way that didn’t match the absolute horror of what was happening.
My brain lagged, like it couldn’t quite process what I was looking at. What was happening? I just knew it was bad, and I couldn’t make my body move fast enough.
Harley pulled something from his pocket—something small and compact—and stabbed her in the thigh with it.
She let out a strangled cry.
The other kids’ screams doubled, high and terrified. They fed off each other until the noise felt like it was clawing its way inside my skull.
“Out of the room!” I barked, the words ripping out of me before I thought about them. I moved on instinct, guiding the kids out of the room. They stumbled out in a rush with Millie and Roxy stepping in to help, but I barely saw them.
My attention snapped right back to Harley.
“I’ve got you,” he kept saying, over and over, like a lifeline. He rubbed a hand methodically over her thigh, massaging the spot where he’d injected her, like he’d done this before.Oh, God, he’d done this before.That thought twisted violently through my stomach.
And then… relief hit.
Her breath hitched hard, and suddenly, she pulled in a deep, ragged breath. Then another. The swelling in her throat eased just enough for her to drag in air. Each breath came with a sob, loud and broken and desperate.
My knees gave out before I could stop them. Someone was talking, but it all sounded distant and muffled. I just kept staring at them as he did his best to direct her breathing—to calm her.
“Maverick!” Harley shouted loud enough to pull me out of my trance. My gaze snapped to meet his. “Call 9-1-1.Now.”
“We already did, hon,” Millie interrupted quickly from behind me before I could say anything. “They’re on their way.”
“She’s allergic to peanuts,” Harley said over his shoulder, his voice controlled and painfully even. “What the hell did she eat?”
Fuck.
Peanuts.
That single word was a punch to the gut, knocking the air right out of my lungs. I’d forgotten.
I’d forgotten to tell Millie.
I had promised I would.
Fuck, this was on me.
“We fry the turkey in peanut oil every year,” Millie explained.
Harley glanced at me once—just once—before he gave Aria his full attention. It wasn’t quite anger, but his expression said everything. It was a dismissal, one that made the world tilt.
“Daddy,” Aria choked out between sobs. Somewhere in the distance, sirens wailed as the ambulance neared.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “I’ve got you. You’re okay.”
CHAPTER 113
maverick
The automatic doors slid open with a quiet whoosh, and the sterile smell of the hospital hit me immediately. My pulse thrummed unsteadily in my neck, refusing to settle, even after the adrenaline of the afternoon wore off.
I was late. I should’ve been here sooner. That was the only thought stuck in my head as my legs moved forward on instinct, carrying me to the front desk. After the ambulance left with Ariaand Harley, I couldn’t move. I replayed the entire moment in my head.Every torturous moment.
Because it was my fault. The whole thing could’ve been avoided if I’d just remembered to tell Millie about her allergy to peanuts. If I’d done that, she wouldn’t have used peanut oil. And if she didn’t use peanut oil, the afternoon would’ve turned out differently.
I couldn’t stop the growing guilt inside me.I’d done this to her and to Harley.I couldn’t forgive myself for that. And honestly, I had no idea how Harley could forgive me either. The only thing I could think of was the fact that she’d left Sir Bites-a-lot at Millie’s and that she needed it.
