“I don’t know,” Rowan replies honestly.
Part of me wishes he would lie to me, that he would offer some false hope for the situation we’ve found ourselves in.
The same man speaks into the megaphone again, delivering the same message again and sending my anxiety spiraling.
Asher turns in his seat, his brows dipping with concern when he notices the tears falling against my cheeks. “I want you to get out of the car, but stay behind me, okay?”
“What…why?”
He hesitates for a beat before replying. “Just in case.”
Words fail me as I process what he’s just said. Does he think they’re going to shoot at us? Is he seriously asking me to use him as a human shield?
I press my eyes closed, another ragged sob dragging up my throat. “I love you guys,” I choke. “I love you so much. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for showing me what it feels like to be loved.” The words tumble out as I try to say everything I feel in the few seconds we have left together.
Because the reality is, I have no idea when, or if, I’m ever going to see them again, and all I can think about is how much time I wasted.
We had such a short amount of time together, and I spent half of it questioning them. I spent our final night together crying myself to sleep instead of falling asleep in their arms.
Time is so finite. It’s not guaranteed. It’s borrowed. And our time is up.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
ROWAN
Every choked word is like a bullet to the chest.
The guns pointed at me outside the car are nothing compared to the agony in Hannah’s words.
I want to reassure her. I want to tell her everything will be okay, but I can’t lie to her.
I won’t.
Glancing over at Asher, I see he’s typing out a series of texts, but it’s too late.
It’s too late for plans.
It’s too late for anyone to help us.
It’s just too fucking late.
“Hannah,” I force her name to my lips like a prayer as I turn to face her. I take in every inch of her face. The freckles across her nose, the dimple on her left cheek. The way her eyes shine when she cries. She’s so fucking pretty. And for a short time, she was mine. She was ours. “I need you to be strong for us, okay? Don’t let them see you stumble.”
“I can’t,” she chokes.
“Yes, you can. You’re the strongest woman I know. You’ve survived so much, and you can survive whatever comes next.”
Asher cuts me with a glare. His first instinct is to comfort her, to placate her with soft promises, but I can’t do it.
“We’re not going to let you go, Little Doe,” he says, his words steady and calm. “This isn’t over.”
I glance at him before dropping my gaze to my phone. Does he have a plan I don’t know about?
“We love you so much, Hannah. You’re our entire world,” I tell her honestly. I wish I’d said the words more, that I’d told her at every opportunity, just in case.
“You’re everything that’s good inside us,” Asher agrees, reaching a hand through the seats and squeezing her knee gently. His voice drops before he continues, “There’s pepper spray and a taser in your purse. Use them if you need to. If you feel threatened or scared, don’t hesitate.”
She opens her mouth to respond, but that asshole with the megaphone starts up again.
