***
Tag
“The baby is doing great, in case you were wondering,” Bity says as he props up against my desk.
“Why would I be wondering?” I mumble while feigning disinterest.
The truth is, I’ve been scraping together every bit of information I can about Ash and baby Trip. He might not be mine, but I’m seriously considering going to her. The jerk who knocked her up and left her alone needs his ass kicked.
I’m still just as obsessed, and she’s going to need someone to be there for her. She shouldn’t have to raise him on her own the way Melanie had to raise Bity and Wren - and me, for that matter.
“I think Ash is getting too skinny. She hardly eats, and I think it’s because she misses you.”
“Me?” I scoff in disbelief.
I wish that was true, but if she wanted me, she knows she can have me. That’s the only reason I haven’t gone to her. I know she’ll push me away.
I finally fucking fall for someone, and she doesn’t want me. If she cared about me the way I do her, she wouldn’t have ended up in another’s arms the night after she left Wren’s wedding.
“Yeah, you. Tag, you should know something. As much as I used to hate you, I’ve gotten over it. You’re different.”
“As are you,” I murmur, still trying not to let him see the pain I’m suffering through without her.
“Look. The thing is, Trip-”
His phone rings, and he glances down to pull it up curiously.
“Am I running late?” he asks to whoever is on the other line.
He grows deathly silent, no breaths even falling out. I look up to see all the color has been drained from his face, and his jaw has fallen unhinged.
“What?” I prompt as he drops the phone from his hand.
“It’s Ash. That son of a bitch shot her.”
I don’t know what hurts worse - my heart or my hand after my fist breaks through the wall of my office.
“Where is she?”
“Mom’s.”
Melanie's? After being shot? Why the hell isn't she in a hospital?
***
Ashiara
“Shannon, it’s just a graze. He missed all the good stuff and just barely got my side. I bleed easily, so that’s why there’s so much blood at the scene. I swear I’m okay. Stop worrying," I say over the phone.
I'm so exhausted right now. Between the police reports, the quick move to Melanie's, and the hospital visit, this night has sucked ass.
“Stop worrying?” she shrieks in disbelief. “That son of a bitch just tried to kill you. If he wasn’t a sucky shot, you’d be dead!”
I sigh as I step out of the Princess room where Trip’s crib safely tucks him away.
“Look, I’m fine. I’m at Melanie's, and I’m perfectly safe. She has a lot of security on staff because of her own safety reasons. That’s why I came here. I’m going to stay here until they catch him. The cops are taking it a little more seriously now.”
“It’s about damn time. Where’s Melanie?”