"Don't fucking move!" His voice rings through the trees.
I instantly freeze.
A sick, evil grin crosses his face. "I made bail, of course."
I shake my head. The pulse in my neck feels like the heavy beat of a battle drum. The trembling of my body causes my knees to quake, and nearly collapse. No, no, no, this can’t be happening.
"What? Didn't think anyone would loan me the money? You always did underestimate my worth. I have very influential friends, Kylie—the kind who can loan me a million dollars, the kind who would like nothing more than to see you removed from the firm and not just from the penthouse."
I blanch at the implication. One of the attorneys I work with has provided the funds to get John out of jail so he can finish what he started.
"Why are you doing this, John? You can't possibly think you'll get away with it?" I try to buy some time while my mind gets past the extreme fear it's under. I need for it to kick back into gear and offer a plan to get out of this situation. "Even if you kill me, you'll be arrested, unless Alex finds you first. Then, he'll kill you himself, and I'm guessing he'll do it very slowly, torturing you until you beg him to end it quickly."
"Where is good ol' Alex and his lapdog henchman?" John asks, looking past me.
I remain quiet. I don't need John getting any ideas about taking this fight to the house, especially since I have no way to contact them and give any advanced warning. I will not be the cause of anyone getting hurt because of the madman I brought into their lives.
But there's a saying about the best-laid plans—and no sooner is my plan hatched and set when I hear my name being called in the distance. My body stiffens, and a string of expletives screams inside my head.
"Oh, good," John says. "Here he comes." He looks over at me, waiting.
I remain quiet and still.
"Not going to call for your boyfriend?" John asks, his eyes narrowing.
I have to keep Alex away from here, away from me and from John and the gun he seems to be itching to use.
" I see. You don't want your boyfriend to join our fun. Why is that? Do you love him, Kylie? Are you scared I might kill him instead of you?"
I glare at John, inadvertently confirming his assertion.
"Well, I want Alex to come to our little soiree." He fires the gun into the air.
As soon as the reverberations subside, Alex's panicked voice hollers my name. He's moving closer to John and me on the dirt path—in almost the same spot where I found Alex's dismembered body in my nightmares. Fear grips me, and I realize it was not a nightmare but a prophecy. No matter what happens, no matter what I have to do, the prophecy will not be realized. Alex will live even if that means I have to die.
I brought this on all of us. I was weak and allowed John to abuse me. I let him get away with it, knowing he would never stop. I kept it all in instead of putting a stop to it before other people's lives were in the balance. And I will be the one to correct the mistake.
Crashing through the trees behind me, Alex stops as I turn to look at him, attempting to assure him that I am unharmed...for the moment. Jake stands behind Alex, his gun drawn.
" Alex, so good of you to accept my invitation. Although, I must tell you, your girlfriend was none too pleased about me asking you to our party. I guess she wanted me all to herself." John's voice drips with false sweetness. "Have your little sidekick drop his gun and kick it to me, or I'll shoot Kylie in the head."
"Let Kylie go, Sysco. It's me you want anyway."
"No!" I yell.
Both men look at me. Alex is pissed, and John is intrigued.
"Well, Alex, I have to admit. That was my plan. I wanted Kylie to see what a horrible mistake she had made, choosing you over me. And I wanted her to wake up every morning, knowing that she was responsible for your death."
My knees begin to buckle, my legs nearly giving out. I can't bear the thought of Alex being killed. There would be absolutely no way for me to survive without him—especially if he were murdered in front of me, because of me.
John leers at me, running his eyes up and down my body. He licks his lips. I shift uncomfortably, feeling dirty and assaulted.
"You always did look hot in your running gear, Kylie."
Alex bristles behind me, which catches John's attention, and he beams in delight of Alex's complete disgust and discomfort.
"She is a most excellent fuck, is she not, Alex? The way she screams. Does she scream for you? I loved getting her to scream, to beg me to stop—"
"Stop it, John." I pull his attention back on me.
But John only smiles at me before refocusing on Alex. "I was all set to kill you, Stone. Then, I thought about how much I hate you. I mean, I really hate you. You come strutting into our office, arrogant prick that you are, swoop in on Kylie, and then she just fucking melts like all the other whores. You could've had anyone. Why did you have to go after Kylie? She's mine. She will always be mine. I knew I had to get rid of you. I mean, it's almost a service to all the other men out there who have had to deal with you flaunting your millions and stealing women at will. If I kill you, Kylie will be free of your grasp.
"I've seen you two together, and I know what you're feeling, Stone. That all-consuming sensation that comes over you whenever she's near? I know it well. She demands it of you, captures your mind and body and nearly suffocates you. All you can think about is having her in any way, in every way."
John's eyes are focused on Alex, and both exude the intensity of men engaged in a battle, a fight to the death. "So, it came to me in a flash of brilliance. If I kill you, she'll just move on to someone new. But I will never let her be with anyone but me—ever. We were together once, and we can be together again—for eternity. The only way to make sure you hurt as much as I did and to ensure she is with me forever is to kill her."
A loud blast fills the air. Things move in slow motion around me. Smoke wafts from the muzzle of the gun in John's hand. A second shot rings out through the trees, and for some strange reason, I note with interest that the birds have scattered.
Fire burns through my shoulder, pain radiating down my arm and across my chest. Alex is next to me, pushing me down. I look into his eyes as I'm falling. I hit the ground hard, the impact recoiling through my body.
My head whips back, and I take in the blue sky. It reminds me of Alex's eyes, the first thing I fell in love with. My head strikes against something hard, and a sharp edge slices through my skin. Something warm and wet flows over the back of my head and down my neck. I try to lift my hand to touch it.
The noise in my head is interrupted by Alex's voice finally reaching my ears. I hear my name with so much fear and panic surrounding it.
I want to tell him not to worry, that I love him. Always. Forever.
Then, the world goes black.
Epilogue
Alex
* * *
"Kylie!"
She falls to the ground, her head falling back and striking the rock. I sprint toward her, sliding beside her, reaching for her.
Her arms spread out, but her legs awkwardly cross over each other. The bullet from John's gun hit her shoulder. Blood is soaking the area, running down her arm. I rip open my shirt, sending the buttons flying in all directions, before placing it over the small hole. I hold it there, applying pressure, knowing I can't stop the bleeding but maybe I can slow it some.
"Jake," I call out, glancing over my shoulder to find him.
He's kneeling over John's still body, and I can only hope the man is dead.
"Get over here. Kylie's been shot."
I place my hand under her head. Stickiness coats my fingers. I look at the ground, and for the first time, I notice the blood pooling. My stomach twists into knots, dread shrouding my body.
Jake kneels next to Kylie on the opposite side from me. "I called nine-one-one, and they have Life Flight coming in for Kylie. Thomas is waiting for them and will escort them here as soon as they land."
He lifts
my hand from Kylie's shoulder and surveys the damage. The advantage of hiring a former Navy Seal corpsman and local cop as head of security is that he has a cool head, a medical background in triage, and can pull strings with the police department.
"Jesus," Jake murmurs when he sees the hand I've just withdrawn from behind Kylie's head.
"She's unconscious," I say, my chest constricting. "Has been since I got to her."
Jake leans over, and I move back, so he can get a better look.
"Pretty nasty gash." He leans into her face, turning his head so that his cheek is close to her mouth. "Breathing sounds decent. Slow, not too labored." He presses his fingers into the side of her neck, and stills for a moment. "Pulse is good."
He pulls the polo shirt over his head and hands it to me. I put it under Kylie's head. Blood quickly saturates it. We sit there, both in what were once clean white undershirts that are now smeared with Kylie's blood. Jake repositions himself and checks her shoulder again. I place my free hand on Kylie's cheek and slightly turn her face toward me.
"Don't move her, Alex," Jake commands, sounding more like a drill sergeant than my head of security. "We can't risk it in case there's an injury to her neck. Any movement before they get a collar on her could result in some serious damage to her."
If it were any other man, I would have told him to fuck off and probably fired him. But this is Jake—the man I trust with my life, the man I trust with Kylie's life.
I look at her face. She looks at peace, like she's sleeping. Leaning over, I close my eyes and kiss her cheek. It's warm, soft, and a lump forms in my throat.
Damn this woman. I don't do this. I don't get emotionally involved. And I don't cry.
Except that I am one hundred percent emotionally invested in her.
That asshole, Sysco, was right about one thing. Kylie is a force of nature. She has demanded my attention, invaded my thoughts and my dreams, made me want to plan my future with her. She has from the moment I met her. And I will be damned if I let her go now.
I know what life is without her. It isn't a life. It is a series of meetings and dinners and women who I fuck and forget. It's nothing. Life with her has meaning and purpose. I look forward to the days and the nights, from waking up with her by my side to falling asleep with her in my arms. Her beautiful smile takes my breath away. Her smart mouth makes me laugh like I haven't in years. Her stubbornness frustrates the hell out of me.
I want it all—the good, the bad, the pain in the ass, and even the loss of control over my life. The very thing that defined me is now replaced by the woman who forced me to deal with my demons and accept that I am in love. And I'm in deep, too. She has me. And I don't fear the unknown or the vulnerability because I trust her with my life, my heart, my sanity.
My lips are close to her ear, and I whisper, "Baby, please don't go. Please don't leave me. You promised me, Kylie. You promised you would never leave me." I lightly brush my lips against hers.
Fear washes over me. Pain that I haven't felt since I was a child ravages my body. Not since that night, so many years ago, have I been this afraid of what will come. I watched as my mother slipped away from me, and I fear history might repeat itself.
I barely survived my mother's death. There's no way that Kylie will pass away without me following her. I will not live without her.
The whir of a helicopter in the distance breaks the silence. I glance up and then over at Jake.
He has a scowl on his face, and deep lines crease his forehead. He swivels his head toward where John Sysco's body lies, and I turn to look at the man.
"He dead?" I ask, knowing it's the only answer that will give me any peace right now.
"No," Jake mutters, "at least not when I left him. He's in bad shape, but I think he'll hang in there until the paramedics come for him."
I look over at Jake. "If Kylie doesn't make it, neither does he."
The helicopter circles over our heads before disappearing behind the trees. Within minutes, Thomas appears with three men carrying a basket stretcher and other medical supplies. Two of the men rush toward us while the third stops to check on the asshole I hope has taken his last breath while we have been waiting for help.
The paramedics move next to Kylie. One rapidly fires questions. The other kneels, bumping into me and effectively pushing me away. Jake is answering their questions, speaking to them in their own lingo. I turn to push the paramedic away, needing to be close to Kylie, to protect her.
Jake's hand is on my shoulder. "Alex, let them take over. They can help her."
I rise. He’s right but I hate not being with her. We move out of their way, but I keep my eyes locked on her.
Thomas is standing on the other side of Jake, speaking into a walkie-talkie. "The ambulance is here as well as the police," he informs us.
It doesn't take long for them to swoop in, demanding answers, suspiciously looking at us.
"Mr. Stone." Sergeant Reyes steps into my line of vision.
I nearly knock him on his ass. I sidestep him, returning my sight to Kylie and the medics who continue to work on her. They've placed a thick white collar around her neck, but it's now streaked with her blood from the cut on the back of her head. Her legs are straight, and they are placing an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth.
"Mr. Stone." Reyes's voice is sterner this time.
The hairs on my neck stand on end, and I move my eyes over to him for a moment, hoping they convey to the fucker that I'm not in the mood for him or his bullshit right now.
"I need you to tell me what happened."
"Tell you what happened? You fuckers let that prick go!" I point over at Sysco. "And he shot Kylie. That's what fucking happened."
I turn my attention back to Kylie. One of the paramedics is on his cell phone while the other is inserting an IV into her arm. Her eyes are still closed, but she no longer looks at peace. Her face is white, and her lips, normally full and pink, are now thin and turning blue. My heart races, and a cold wind rushes through me.
"I'm going to need more specifics than that, Mr. Stone," Reyes says.
I hate this guy. I want to punch him so hard that blood spurts out of his broken nose. I want him unconscious on the ground, so I can focus on Kylie and not his need for fucking specifics.
"Start from the beginning."
I glare at him, but he stands still. I talk fast, knowing they'll be moving Kylie to the helicopter soon, and this asshole of a cop is not going to detain me. I'm going with Kylie, period.
"I went into town this morning to get Kylie her favorite muffins from a bakery downtown. She was asleep when I left. By the time I returned home, she had woken up and gone for a run."
"Was this her normal routine?" Reyes asked. "And how did you discover she had gone for a run?"
"She usually runs in the morning, but she hasn't done it for some time since that asshole, who should be in jail right now, started stalking her. This was the first morning she felt safe enough to go for a run—even on my property since the last time she went for a run along this path, she was sent a dead cat in the mail. When I got back home, I found out about her run from Jake. They had a discussion before she left the house."
"Okay, go ahead." Reyes crosses his arms over his chest.
That overwhelming need to knock the crap out of him makes my hands curl into fists at my sides. "I hadn't been in the house long when I got a call from the DA, stating that Sysco had made bail. I hung up with him, and Jake and I immediately started searching for Kylie.
"We made it halfway across the backyard when we heard a gunshot and took a shortcut through the woods to where we thought we'd heard it come from. We came out of the trees and saw Sysco with a gun pointed at Kylie. I told Sysco to let Kylie go. He went into some fucking tirade about how he was going to kill me, but then he changed his mind. Said he wanted Kylie with him forever, and then he shot her. Jake shot Sysco when he tried to turn the gun on me."
Reyes stares at me.
The little pri
ck.
He twists at his waist, looking over at Kylie now. I want to yell at him to get his fucking eyes off of her. He has no right to look at her after the shit he has put her through. She's in this situation because Reyes and the rest of them didn't do their jobs. They let Sysco out, and he came after her.
"Shit!" one of the paramedics yells.
Kylie is on the ground, her body convulsing.
"She's going into shock."
I push past Reyes. His eyes are wide as he watches the activity around Kylie. I fall to the ground at her feet, needing to touch her but keeping out of the fray. Jake comes up behind me with Carter, the cop who was interviewing him, just over his shoulder.
The other medic is back on the phone, talking quickly, "Patient has gone into hypovolemic shock. Blood pressure is ninety over sixty. Heart rate is weakening. Pulse is fifty."
Jake lets out an exhale and groans slightly. I don't need to look at him to know this is bad. The seizure that racked her body has stopped, and she is lying still again. Too still.
The paramedics are suddenly gathering up equipment and lining the basket up next to Kylie's body. One points at me and tells me to hold her legs together and try not to jostle her around. Carter and Jake have her midsection while the paramedics stabilize her shoulders and head.
"Let's lift her. Don't rush it. Go slow and steady. We don't want to cause any further damage, if we can avoid it. Three, two, one, lift."
We settle her into the basket, and they strap her in. I climb into the helicopter, not giving a damn whether or not I'm actually allowed to or not. Fuck them. I'm not leaving her. I sit on the small seat next to the paramedic, staring at her. There's no change to her expressionless face. Her eyes are still closed. She looks so pale and weak, and I feel like she is slipping away from me.
And just like with my mother, there is not a damn thing I can do about it.
* * *
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Of Demons & Stones: A Tri-Stone Trilogy Page 35
