Minute by Minute (Games & Diversions #3)

by Natalie E. Wrye

  An awakening Ana grunts from the corner, and Linda turns towards her.

  To my surprise and utter shock, Kat darts, without regard, towards the barely-conscious Ana.

  “Unh unh unh,” Linda warns, directing the gun at Ana. “Don’t try it, Queenie. You do that, and I’ll shoot both of you in the head.”

  Kat freezes.

  And Linda smirks.

  She trains the firearm right back at Kat.

  “No!” we all cry at once.

  “Please…” Kat starts to cry quietly. “Just please… don’t hurt my baby…”

  “Baby?”

  The question comes from Greg.

  He moves towards Kat, and I see a softness in his face that was never there before.

  For the first time since he’s walked in, he looks calm—almost sorrowful.

  Linda, on the other hand, looks like she just hit the lottery.

  Her eyes grow wide with excitement.

  “This game just got so much better,” she sneers at Kat. “Two for the price of one.”

  I balk, feeling eerily calm. While Linda’s eyes are stuck on Kat, I edge my way to Linda’s side, inching my way over behind her back.

  Ana starts to stand, and Linda backs away from her.

  “I’ve had enough now,” she states, her tiny hands shaking around the handle of the weapon.

  She squints at Kat.

  “Time to start dying… starting with you, Queenie.”

  I’m close enough.

  “No!” I shriek, rushing in front of Kat. I place my back to Kat’s front as she protectively clutches her small stomach.

  “Elena, get the hell out of my way…” Linda shouts.

  “No…” I grit through clenched teeth. “You’ll have to shoot me first…”

  “That’s not a problem.”

  Out of nowhere, Griff is at my side, his body a blur as he jumps right in front of my line of vision.

  He stands firm. His solid body blocks the path of Linda’s aim, and he clutches me with one large hand, wrapping his fingers behind his back to grab mine.

  “But not before you shoot me…” he rumbles.

  Linda growls in frustration, her ruddy face turning redder under a small curtain of coffee-colored hair.

  “Fine!” she shouts at the three of us. “I’ll shoot you all! I’ll put you all out of your misery and then end my own.”

  “What?” Greg questions without hesitation. “Linda, don’t…”

  But Linda drowns him out.

  “Any last words?”

  “Yeah,” Foxx adds, walking towards Kat. “You’re not going to touch my family without going through me.”

  Chris joins his side.

  The four of us stand proudly in front of Linda’s handgun, protecting a pregnant and pint-sized, trembling Kat and Ana.

  Linda is unraveling at this point, quivering with palpable wrath.

  Her rosy-colored shirt is the same hue as her enraged face, and she raises the handgun higher, keeping it directed at chest-level.

  “Lin, please…”

  Greg pleas with his sister, reaching towards her... but she ignores him outright.

  “Say ‘Good Night’,” she growls.

  “Linda… Linda, don’t!”

  I sense the movement before I actually see it.

  It rocks my body, surging like the building of a tidal wave.

  The air thickens, the silence grows and in that split of a second before the trigger is pulled, the deadly wave hits, hurtling towards its target, shocking us all with its raw power.

  It’s Griff—in the form of a human lightning bolt, boldly striking towards an unprepared Linda.

  He lunges for her tiny, lithe body, and at the moment he does, her finger pulls the trigger, filling the air with a hot, blinding white flash.

  They fall towards the ground as a shot rings out, shocking us all—resonating in our ears as every one of us dives for the ground—me landing on top of Kat, Foxx planting atop of me.

  Simultaneously, a lunging Chris hits the ground with Ana, and they skid, sliding headfirst across the hardwood floor as a huddled mass.

  Griff is the only one of us set apart.

  He lies on top of Linda, covering her.

  But he is motionless…

  His body twitches before rolling over, and when it does, the stain of red color sitting inches above his heart steals my breath, snatching the air from my lungs—knocking me shamelessly to my trembling knees.

  Oh my God.

  I crawl clumsily to his side… but he is barely moving.

  The metallic smell of blood stings inside my nostrils, and I cradle Lukas’s head in my hands, unsure of what to do or where to touch.

  There is blood every-fucking-where.

  And I feel like I am swimming in it.

  I touch my hand to the red spot on his chest, but I can’t tell where the blood is coming from.

  It’s as if the wound is all over his body—and I can’t stop the steady flow of life that pours out of him.

  I forget Linda. I forget Greg.

  I forget my surroundings.

  I forget myself.

  The only thing that registers in that moment is the sound of the blood-curdling cries echoing across the studio’s solid walls.

  It takes me several seconds to realize that the screams are coming from me.

  Break or Bust

  Love is a game that two can play and both win.

  –Eva Gabor

  DAY 9—4:22PM

  Tampa General Hospital

  LUKAS

  I can’t feel anything.

  Not pain.

  Not pleasure.

  Not sorrow… or anger.

  I waft through a dimensionless space that knows no time, and as I drift away, a barrage of images haunts me—a montage of visions that swirls and settles only to be swept away again before my very eyes.

  Do I even have eyes?

  I see things, unable to tell if there are actual eyes with which to look at them; I hear things without knowing if I have ears.

  I seem to have no form—no sense of being.

  I am everything… and I am nothing.

  My body is nothing but a memory, and the Lukas Griffin that I was has no shape—only a collection of observations without sensation.

  Observations that may not even be real.

  Am I dead…?

  The presence of white light says that I am.

  Should I go to it?

  It has a voice…

  It’s Elena’s.

  I close what I think are my eyes, and I listen.

  I let her soft, husky voice pull me from the depths.

  “Griff.”

  A pause.

  “Griff.”

  A soft brush against my cheek.

  I can see her. I can smell her.

  Elena.

  The beauty and pain in her voice pulls me from the depths like a drowning man out of water.

  I take a deep breath.

  “Oh my God, Griff… It’s ok…. Listen to me.”

  The touch at my cheek feels stronger.

  “Breathe, Griff. Breathe…That’s good.”

  Suddenly, I can feel the air enter my lungs… It hurts.

  But I can breathe again. I can feel again.

  I must have a body—eyes.

  Open them, I tell myself.

  The sudden flash of light burns like hell. I flinch… and the slight twist of my body causes a sharp pain to careen through my right shoulder.

  Fuck… what is that?

  I steady my body (Holy hell, I have one again), and I shut my eyes, choosing to focus on my breathing, inhaling and exhaling slowly because it feels like I’ve been deprived of oxygen for so long.

  What happened?

  “You’re in a hospital,” I hear suddenly. “You’ve been shot… but you’re gonna be ok.”

  I inhale. I exhale. I listen.

  I try again to open my eyes.

  I wrench them o
pen, and this time, they stay that way.

  Elena is staring down at me… and Kat… and Ana… and Chris… and Foxx.

  They’re all here.

  Here is a hospital.

  I’m in a hospital bed. And the burning between my back and right shoulder lets me know that the part about me being “shot”… really is true.

  I try to sit up.

  Elena grabs onto my arm to help, and she smiles.

  I smile back… and in that instance, I almost forget about everyone else.

  “Ahem,” Ana barks, clearing her throat. “Do we need to get the two of you a room?”

  My voice is gruff.

  “Not right now,” I respond. “But it wouldn’t hurt to put one on stand-by.”

  Ana grins.

  Finally, I look at everyone in the room—my family—and ask the questions about what put me here.

  Foxx speaks first.

  “You don’t remember?”

  I shake my head.

  “Not really.”

  “You dove for Linda just as she was going to start shooting us all. You knocked her out cold when she hit the floor. But as you both flew in the air, she shot you… and her brother in the process.”

  I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

  “How long have I been here?”

  I glance at Elena.

  “Two days.”

  “Two days?” I respond.

  “Wha…? How…? Jesus.”

  “It’s true,” she comments softly. “The bullet went straight through your right shoulder and hit Greg in the chest. There was blood everywhere, but most of it was his.”

  She sighs quietly, touching my arm.

  “He’s dead…” she concludes. “And thanks to you, Linda’s in jail.

  “She lied, Griff,” Elena concedes. “She lied about everything.

  “It’s over… It’s finally over.

  “The house, the studio, everything.”

  “Linda sabotaged me right from the start.

  “With the exception of my dog, Hercules, who’s now with my parents, everything Linda has touched has gone to shit.”

  “The due diligence period to buy the studio is up, but I still won’t be able to close on the property without selling my house.

  “I’m flying back to Memphis in the morning. But I’m just happy that we’re all alive.”

  The watery smile on Elena’s face is full of gratitude, but I can see the sorrow in her eyes, and I’ll be damned if the woman in my life—the first woman who’s ever made me give a fuck—is going to just up and leave… or be run out of town right when I have her to myself again.

  “You wait for me to take a bullet and then try to tell me you’re leaving?”

  Elena grins at my quip, tears shining over her blue irises.

  “You’re not going anywhere, Miss Lexington. And the only person it’s over for is Linda.

  “Your studio is not over. Your business is not over.”

  I grab underneath her delicate jaw.

  “We’re not over.”

  I draw her face into mine, inclining my head so that I can bring her lips down onto my own. We kiss… and it is the best kiss of my fucking life.

  It’s full of gratitude and appreciation and everything I could have ever wanted and more.

  A slow clapping begins behind us, and when I peer over at the rest of the room, our quiet audience is now applauding, their faces happy and glowing with pride and, in Ana and Kat’s case, wet with tears.

  They hug and laugh together in turns.

  “Well, this is a surprise,” Chris announces.

  “Who knew that the two of you would actually end up together?” Foxx asks.

  Ana raises her hand.

  “I knew,” she sings, smiling.

  “Guys,” Kat warns, rounding up the crowd. “Let’s all give them a little space, huh?”

  Grudgingly, everyone obeys. They shuffle out awkwardly, all staring at us as they reluctantly make their way out of my hospital room.

  Our friends. Our family.

  I’d die for them. I almost did.

  “This really is a surprise, Griff,” Elena turns on me, assessing my face.

  “Are we prepared for this?” she asks. “I’m not Sabrina Wellington. I’m not wealthy and fabulous. If I’m really being honest with you here… I just don’t know if I can ever fit into your world.”

  I meet her gaze.

  “You know… this is not something you need to be worried about…”

  “Griff, listen…”

  “No, you listen to me,” I say, cutting her off before she can backtrack.

  “I know that this hasn’t exactly been a fairytale. I’m the egotistical piece-of-shit, and you’re the inflexible hardhead.

  “We argue more than we agree… We can’t compromise on shit, and, to our detriment, we’ve collectively kept more secrets than the CIA.”

  I laugh incredulously, barely believing what’s coming out of my mouth.

  “I don’t even know your goddamned middle name…”

  I lean forward, gazing into Elena’s ice-blue eyes as she fiddles with the buttons at her blousy shirtfront.

  “But I know your walk… and the way you talk... and the scent of your skin.

  “I’ve committed the texture of your hair and skin to memory, and I could pick your silhouette out of a lineup.

  “I know what you look like when you’re sad, when you’re mad, when you’re happy, when you come…”

  “Elena, I may not know the small things, but I know the important ones.

  “You want to know if you can fit into my world?”

  I chuckle softly, running a finger across her softened lips.

  “Silly, beautiful blonde. The only world that I belong in is yours.

  “You have become my world. There’s no fucking place I’d rather be.”

  “And I know it doesn’t make any sense, and I know that you didn’t get a chance to know me before—and that’s my fault. I never gave you the chance to.”

  Elena raises a hand, effectively stopping me. I wait, curious as to what she has to say.

  She sighs, lowering her head.

  “You are right, Lukas,” she says softly.

  “You’re absolutely right… I don’t know you—not all of you.”

  “And this… we… have been a disaster. You’re bossy. I’m controlling. We come from the weirdest parents on the planet, and we have…” she scoffs, “too many issues to count.

  “Where could we possibly go from here?”

  I exhale loudly, feeling resigned.

  I study Elena’s face, registering every detail of her eyes, her cheeks, her hair to my weary brain—devouring every bit so that I can play with it in my head later on.

  “Nowhere,” I tell her. “We can’t go anywhere from here…

  “So, that’s exactly why I’m starting over—from the very beginning…”

  I stick my hand out, grabbing hers to shake it.

  “My name is Lukas Rafaelo Griffin.

  “I am a recovering alcoholic.

  “I don’t have a father… anymore… and, for all intents and purposes, my mother has basically been dead for the past fifteen years, but I do have, uh… two loyal, dedicated, irreplaceable brothers.”

  I grin.

  “I like expensive suits and trips out of the country.

  “I enjoy living here in Tampa—for the time being.

  “I’m half-Italian, and if you’ll let me, I’d like to take you out to dinner… and I don’t know… maybe impregnate you after dessert. You know… get some of the basics out of the way…”

  She laughs, and I keep going.

  “And last but not least… in the words of the illustrious Anastasia Lexington… I am completely, undeniably, butt-fucking-crazy in love with you, and if you think you might be into that, then you could, uh…”

  I search around, finding Elena’s phone in her back pocket. I type my number in her Contacts list.


  “… give me a call sometime.”

  Elena laughs, and I lean forward, kissing her smile.

  The illustrious Ana peeks her head in the door, her eyes half-shut.

  “Can we come in now? Visiting hours are almost over, and I don’t want to walk in on any more surprises.”

  I wave her in.

  “Yeah, sure. You’re welcomed—for now,” I grin.

  Smiling from ear-to-ear, Chris, Foxx and Kat follow Ana back inside the room. They start to form a circle around my hospital bed when Foxx makes an open announcement.

  “While we’re all here together and not ripping each other’s throats out, are there any other surprises that this little unit would like to share?”

  Foxx gazes around at all of us.

  Chris begins first, pointing a finger skyward.

  “I just wanted to say… that I was never dating Trina. It was all part of my plan to figure out what she knew—about Griff’s busted car, about Ana’s crash. She’s trusted me for a long time—always thought I was ‘safe’.”

  He scoffs.

  “I figured I would use it to my advantage… but I guess it backfired.”

  Chris drops his raised finger.

  “And that’s all I have to say about that,” he concludes.

  But that’s not all…

  Chris’s confession triggers something in me—something I hadn’t really thought about until now. I’d had the clues right in front of my face, but with so much going on, I couldn’t put the pieces of the puzzle together.

  Finally, I remember the detail I thought I’d overlooked.

  “That’s right,” I follow up.

  I grab Elena’s arm.

  “Elle… Trina? Katrina Stark? She’s the Kat that sabotaged your deal with Mrs. Kittredge—not your sister, Katarina. After talking to Henry in the car, what you said at Armani’s finally made sense. I’d been racking my brain for the answer, and now finally I can put two and two together.”

  Elena nods, placing a hand on mine.

  “I know,” she says.

  She looks back at Kat.

  “A part of me always knew that Katarina couldn’t do that.”

  Kat beams, and silently, she and Elena share a moment.

  “Anyone else?” Foxx calls out.

  Nobody says anything.

  “Good,” I reply to the room. “Now everybody can get out so I can spend some time alone with my…”