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Chapter Thirty-Seven

Rowan

“Hey, Princess,” a voice whispers, a voice that reaches into my very soul and pulls me from the darkness and I can’t help but smile. I don’t know how heaven has the man I love but my heart squeezes at the fact that he’s here with me. Someone grabs my hand and my eyes fly open, blinking up at the white ceiling tiles and bright florescent lights above me. My brow furrows and my mind spins.

Where am I?

Pressure on my hand pulls my attention to my left and I suck in a breath, unable to stop my smile as I meet Travis’s green eyes. I pull my hand from his and reach up, trailing my fingers over his cheek as he flashes me a relieved smile.

“There you are.”

“You’re here,” I whisper and he nods, grabbing my hand again before bringing it to his lips.

“Of course I’m here, baby. Where else would I be?”

I glance at my hand and notice the tube snaking up my arm. I follow it up to an IV stand behind me and a monitor that shows the steady rhythm of my heartbeat. Turning back to him, I scowl. “Where am I?”

“In the hospital,” he answers with a grimace, kissing my hand again. “You lost a lot of blood and you needed surgery to fix your arm.”

“My arm?” I whisper, my scowl deepening before I glance down at the bed with a gasp. My eyes widen at the large cast wrapped around my entire arm, all the way to my shoulder and the memories come rushing back – the fire, the gunshots, running through the forest, Evan catching me, and Evan stabbing me. I gently touch my belly as I turn to Travis.

“Evan…”

He nods, running a hand through his hair as he presses his lips together into a thin line and reaches up to rub the back of his neck. I watch him, the hair on my arms standing on end as a wave of unease washes over me.

“What is going on?”

Sucking in a breath, he meets my gaze again. “Evan is dead.”

“How?” I whisper as a chill seeps into my bones and Travis sucks in a breath again, his knee bouncing like crazy.

“I killed him…”

I gasp.

“Rodriguez caught him after he left you in the forest and we took him to Kodiak’s property in the country. We were deciding on what to do with him when he got free and went after Storm. I didn’t have a choice…”

My mind drifts back to my time in the woods with Evan and I nod as I turn back to him. “Okay.”

“Are you upset?”

“Travis,” I scoff. “The man literally tortured me in the woods so no, I’m not upset… but are you okay?”

He sighs, telling me all I need to know and I pull on his hand, urging him to climb into the bed with me. Glancing up, he shakes his head.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re hurting me by being all the way over there,” I tell him and he studies me for a second before sighing and climbing into bed with me. He gently maneuvers around all of the wires and tubes all around me as he pulls me into his arms and buries his nose in my hair.

“What else is going on, Travis? I can tell that something is bothering you.”

“We, uh…” he whispers, laying his head back against the bed. “We have a lot to talk about, baby.”

I remember telling him I love him before I passed out and my stomach drops as I nod. “Right.”

This is it.

This is the moment that he ends things and I’m trapped in a hospital bed.