Page 10

“Almost there, Iz. You still with me?” Ali asks, snapping me out of my thoughts and I nod, tucking the photo back into my sweater and closing my eyes as I wipe the stray tear from my face.

“Yeah.”

“You ready to tell me what happened yet?”

“Just leave her be, Kitten,” her husband growls in the background. “We’ll be there in two fucking minutes.”

Blowing out a breath, I shake my head and wipe another tear from my cheek as I look out at the street, searching for their truck and trying to get a grip.

“You’d better watch your damn tone with me, Logan. I swear to God, I will kick your ass,” she fires back and I laugh through the tears that are getting harder and harder to stop.

Jesus.

Snap out of it, Izzy.

“We just pulled onto the street, babe, and I can see the hospital up ahead. Where are you at?”

I look up and spot headlights at the end of the street, racing toward me and I clear my throat and ball up my shaking fist like maybe that will help me control my emotions. “Sitting on a bench out front, just past the doors.”

Logan’s truck whips into the circular drop-off area and he drives right past the doors, his brakes squealing a little as he stops at the curb in front of me. I hang up the phone but before I can even stand, the passenger door opens and Ali jumps out, charging toward me with a look on her face I know all too well.

“Gently,” I warn her, holding my hand up to stop her before she tackles me into a hug that might just kill me if how sore I am now is any indication. She stops in front of me and stares at my face with wide, horrified eyes and her mouth hanging open. Not that I can blame her. After the doctor was done checking me over and gave me the hoodie to change into, I stared at my face in the bathroom mirror for a long time, the physical evidence of what I have been through tonight punching me in the gut. It’s nothing that will kill me or scar me for life but I do have a nasty bruise on the side of my face where it hit the pavement when Luca tackled me and my body is riddled with tiny little scrapes and cuts from the struggle in addition to the large cut across my chest.

“Izzy,” she whispers, her voice void of any of the bravado she had on the phone and my eyes water again. “What happened?”

I shake my head. “Not here, Ali.”

“Fine,” she sighs, scanning my face. “Is this the worst of it?”

I shake my head and pull the neck of the sweater back enough that she can see the large white bandage covering the cut on my chest and her eyes widen even further.

“Jesus Christ.”

“Who did this to you, Izzy?” Logan asks, leaning back against his truck with his arms crossed over his chest. His brows are furrowed and his nostrils flare as he clenches his jaw, fury lighting up his eyes. I never would have guessed when Ali first met Logan six years ago, that he would become like a brother to me but looking at him now, I know if he finds Luca, he might just put him in the ground.

“Logan, let’s get her home and then we can talk,” Ali cuts in before I can respond to his question and Luca’s face flashes through my mind as I shake my head.

“I… I don’t think I can go home.”

Ali whips around to face me again, her brow arched in question but one look at me and her face crumples. She closes the distance between us, pulling me into her arms as gently as she can but my whole body still jerks with the pain that radiates through me at the contact.

“Shit, babe,” she hisses. “Sorry.”

She tries to pull away, to give me some relief, but the events of the evening slam into me, hitting me with the force of an explosion and I grip the back of her shirt in my fist, unable to let her go. The comfort I’ve been desperate for all night surrounds me and every single defense I’ve been clinging to in order to hold myself together begins to crumble at my feet. A sob rips through me as I remember watching Luca’s friend, Gio, as he sank the knife into the other man’s chest and I bury my face in her shoulder as the tears begin to fall.

There is a moment of shock but it evaporates quickly and Ali wraps her arms around me again, holding me as the tears fall unchecked and the events of the evening race through my mind. The image of Luca slamming into my back and knocking me to the ground play out in my memory like a video reel and my body aches as I remember the impact of falling to the ground. The physical pain was one thing but I knew as soon as I hit the concrete that I had landed right on my belly and my thoughts warred between worrying over my little peanut and fighting for my life. For so long, I wasn’t sure if I wanted this baby and tonight, when I thought I lost the precious little life inside me, nothing else mattered. The seventy-six minutes between when I fell to the ground and the doctor assured me everything was okay will haunt me forever and I wasn’t truly okay until I heard the galloping hooves of its little heartbeat on the ultrasound machine.

Even then, I didn’t let myself feel that relief because I refused to break down there, in the hospital but it all rushes in now, dragging another sob from my body as I cling to my best friend. I can’t help thinking about all the things I would have missed if tonight had cost my baby its life. Squeezing my eyes shut, I promise my child that I will never take anything for granted again because I know now how quickly it can all go away. Ali continues holding me as I cry and her own tears drip onto my shoulder, slower than mine, but still just as strong. She may be one of my best friends but she’s never seen me quite like this and I can’t imagine what she’s thinking.

“Ali, let’s get her in the truck,” Logan suggests and I pull back just enough to look up at him as he scans the parking lot across the street. The hair on my arm stands on end. God, he’s right - Luca could be out there right now and I’m just standing out in the open, crying my fucking eyes out. Ali nods and releases me, cupping my cheek and pulling my gaze back to her.

“You’re staying with us tonight and we’ll get all this figured out, okay?”

I nod. There is no way in hell I am going to argue with her, especially when it might be the one place I’ll be the safest. Logan opens the back passenger side door as Ali throws her arm around my shoulders and guides me over to the truck. I wipe the tears from my cheeks. After climbing in the back seat, I peek down at her and my chest aches at the heartbreak in her eyes but she flashes me a watery smile.

“It’s going to be okay, Iz. Whatever happened, we’ll figure it out, okay?”

I nod, wrapping my arms around myself as I settle back into my seat and turn toward the windshield as she shuts the door. Logan calls her name and she joins him on the sidewalk. As soon as she’s away from the vehicle, her head drops and her shoulders shake, revealing the state I’ve left her in. The ache in my chest intensifies. Logan pulls her into his arms, one hand delving into her hair and supporting the back of her head as he presses his lips to her forehead and whispers something to her. She nods and says something in response. I can’t hear what they’re talking about but it’s not hard to guess that I’ve scared the shit out of both of them tonight.