“Johnston!” Aaliyah screeched. Blayke shouted her name. The scuffle reached my ears, and I glanced their way, finally turning my entire body when I saw what was happening.
She had gotten past them.
I moved to block her, to catch her, to stop her, but I was too fucking late.
Too.
Fucking.
Late.
Wendy screamed and pulled the trigger. The bullet whizzed right past my side—fuckingheardit as it passed me by. Aaliyah’s body jerked from the impact, and she fell to the ground, her hands going to her abdomen. A blood-curdling scream ripped from her lungs, chilling my bones, echoing and bouncing off the inside of my skull.
Rage pulsed through my veins. Blayke and Geek quickly worked on stabilizing Aaliyah, and I saw Lawson pull his phone to his ear, more than likely calling 9-1-1. I turned and punched Wendy in the face, sending her crashing to the ground. Blood spilled from her lips. I stepped on her hand that was holding the gun, crushing her fingers as I kneeled over her, getting ready to snap her fucking neck, too.
She deserved to pay for this in the deepest pits of Hell.
“Prez!” Trigger roared, gripping the back of my cut and pulling me back. I sneered, swinging on him, but he didn’t back down. He met me with a steely look of his own. “Cops are on the way. You hear me, Prez?” He jabbed a finger against my chest. “You kill her, and you fucking go inside.”
I curled my hands into fists, my chest heaving. Trigger shook me, forcing my eyes on his when I looked back at Wendy’s pathetic, sobbing form. “Prez, Aaliyah needs you. She’s out. There’s too much fucking blood.”
I spun around to face the fucking woman of my dreams, my face paling. She was covered in red—and not the kind of red I liked to see on her. Blayke and Geek were doing everything they could, but Trigger was right.
There was too much fucking blood.
“Aaliyah,” I rasped, kneeling down beside her. I cupped her pale face in my hands, gently shaking her, but she wasn’t responding.
Fear gripped my chest.
I’d just gotten her. I couldn’t fucking lose her. Not like this. We couldn’t end like this.
Sirens reached my ears. Dom gripped my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Help is almost here, brother. She’s not dying—not today.”
I swallowed thickly, trying to find the silver lining. She was still breathing, but she was growing paler by the second.
He was right. She wouldn’t be dying today, but what would stop her from dying tomorrow?
My chest painfully squeezed at the thought.
Cops poured onto the lot, quickly followed by an ambulance. I jerked to my feet, pointing at Blayke. “Make sure she gets help, you hear me? Fuck everything else.”
He nodded once. “Understood, brother.”
I walked over to the sheriff. He frowned at me. “Not exactly flying under the fucking radar, Johnston.”
Sheriff Rhodes and I had a sort of agreement. I flew under the radar with my shit, and he turned a blind eye to what I was doing. But if he had to step in on anything, he would do his job. I couldn’t fault him on that.
I’d deal with the consequences of this shit. I’d made my bed—I’d fucking lay in it. But I wouldnotprotect this club and my brothers at the expense of Aaliyah’s life. And I knew the men of this club agreed with that because Lawson had been the one to call for help. I knew how to read between the lines.
“My wife shot Aaliyah,” I told him. “I’ve got cameras you can watch if you don’t believe me.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw paramedics swarming over Aaliyah, getting her stabilized so they could transport her to the emergency room. Sheriff Rhodes arched a brow at me. “Want to tell me what the conflict was about?”
I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans. “She caught me cheating.” I shrugged. I didn’t hide my shit. I owned it, and not a damn thing in this world would make me hide anything I did with Aaliyah. She meant too much to me to ever hide her.
She wasn’t some dirty little secret. Hell, she was probably the purest thing in my life.
Sheriff Rhodes sighed and shook his head. “Fucking hell, Johnston.” He rubbed his jaw. “I need to get a statement from you and the rest of your club members. Then, when Aaliyah is awake, I’ll need to get a statement from her, too.”