62
CLAIRE
If Rosie dies, I’m going to lose my mind. If it’s Johnny instead, I’ll still lose my mind. I should have known that I’d be putting her in danger by running back to my old life. I was foolish to think we’d actually get away with it. I underestimated just how far Franklin would take things to get his way.
Now, it feels like all hope is lost, and that there’s no chance at saving any of us.
If we can get Rosie to safety, I’ll stay by Johnny’s side and go headfirst into whatever fate has in store for us. I refuse to walk away from him, no matter how difficult things become.
He is my person, the only reason I’m still here today.
It was never about owing him anything; it was that we solidified ourselves as one. We share our challenges, our successes, any hurdle or obstacle, and we rise to the top together.
Keeping secrets was stupid. We thought we were doing the right thing for each other, when in reality, the best thing we could have done was to be honest. We’re a team, and we’ve already overcome mountains. What’s another impossible feat?
Johnny grips my hand firmly as we march down the dark street. He glances over at me, his eyes silently pleading with me to turn around, to go back. But he knows better. He wouldn’t walk away, and neither will I.
The cold metal of the guns presses up against my bare skin under my shirt. Each step we take, we get closer to the possibility of death.
“This isn’t right,” Johnny says under his breath.
“I know.”
He pauses under a dim section of the sidewalk. “What if it doesn’t work?” His green gaze traces over me, sending those all too familiar butterflies dancing around my belly.
Even in the darkest of times, my love for him flourishes.
I graze his cheek with my hand and savor every detail of him that I can make out in the darkness of night. I run my thumb along his bottom lip, every single kiss replaying in my memory. “At least we’ll have tried.” And it might be an influx of desperation, but I tell him, “We’re going to make it through this.”
Because I can’t accept the alternative. I refuse to think Johnny sacrificed everything for nothing. That we were placed in each other’s lives only temporarily. There’s more to our story than what we’ve already been through. There has to be a light at the end of this darkness.
If not for me, for him.
“I want to believe that.” Johnny carefully raises his hand to my cheek, hesitating along the skin. “I’m sorry, Claire, for everything. For this…” He hovers over the wounds on my face, still aching from the beating from Franklin’s goons. “For not being able to stay away from you when I knew I should have.”
“Hey, you don’t get to carry that burden. I regret nothing. Okay?” I stare into those beautiful emerald eyes. “I’d do it all over again if it meant being with you.”
Maybe I’m foolish, but the time I’ve shared with Johnny has been the best moments of my life. And I truly think that in order to appreciate the good, you have to endure the bad. Our highs were higher because our lows were so damn low.
I stand on my tiptoes, sliding my arms around Johnny’s neck and pulling him down into me. I don’t care that he's afraid to kiss me with my injuries, I press my lips to his anyway.
I can be beaten, but I will not be broken. If I’m going to die tonight, I’m going to cherish these final moments with my man. Almost dying after fighting with him was awful. I’m going to make sure he knows how much I love him.
Johnny is gentle, extra careful not to apply too much pressure. His touch is soft and delicate, just like he has been our entire relationship. Never once did he show an ounce of aggression or control over me. It’s not that he isn’t capable of it; he just reserves it for anyone who threatens someone he cares about. He is fierce, and strong, but he is kind and thoughtful.
Johnny is a man that I am grateful for having known. To have shared my life with, even if for such a short period.
He gave me the strength to step into the woman I am today.
“I love you, Claire Cooper,” he whispers against my mouth.
“I love you, Johnny Jones.”
Johnny rests his forehead against mine. “Together?”
It’s as though he finally realizes the magnitude of my love for him—the lengths I would go to have him with me.
I smile through the pain, both physical and internal. “You’re stuck with me, remember?”