“Let me walk him to the door.”
“Don’t pull any funny shit, Julian.” She flung her wrist, pointing her gun at the floor.
Ben grabbed my hand as we walked to the door. “I love you, Daddy.”
“You, too, buddy.”
The door opened, and, there, Annagayle stood in the distance.
As soon as she saw Ben, she crumpled to the ground in relief. An officer collected him from the front porch and walked him back up to Anna.
“Shut the door now, Julian.” She yelled at me and demanded I hang up the phone. I did as I was told; knowing that she was starting to unravel. I was very thankful Ben was gone.
I slinked back into the living room. “Now that my kid is gone, tell me what you want. You want me to kiss you? Fuck you? Tell you I love you. I can see now how hot you are, and I gotta say I’m really disappointed that I hadn’t seen you sooner. You’re smokin’. Come on over here, baby… but you gotta put the gun down.”
She smiled, those big blue eyes completely locked on me, eating every word that I said to her up like prime rib. “You mean that? You’re going to give her up for me, walk away from your family to be with me so we can make our own?”
I opened my arms like I wanted to give her a hug and winked. “Absolutely. Baby, I just need you to come here so I can unwrap you like the perfect present.”
She slowly put the gun down and started to swagger toward me. A choking noise slipped from my throat, and I prayed to God she didn’t hear it. All I knew was that I needed to get her closer to me.
She kept walking. “Don’t keep me waiting, baby.”
As she rubbed her hands over me, I almost lost it. Clearly, she hadn’t showered lately. I swallowed down vomit, something I’d been doing a lot in the last however long we’d been here. I was repulsed by her. I just keep thinking about Ben and Anna. I needed them to be safe, and I promised Anna I wouldn’t leave him, and I plan to keep that promise.
So, I played the act. I lifted my hand and raised it to her cheek. “You’re so beautiful.” I turned her so her back was to the kitchen and to the side, leaving the police a good shot. There was no coming back from this now. Casi wasn’t backing down by any means. I knew what it meant.
Her hands slid up and down my chest. “You like that, Julian? You have no clue how long I’ve waited to be this close to you. To get more than just the slightest hint of your cologne as you passed by, so unaware that I was there, only trying to get you to notice me. But then you didn’t, did you? Still, then you thought you were above me. Well, if I’m going out, then you’re coming with me.” A bitter taste formed in my mouth.
Casi hit the ground at the same time I realized I was bleeding. Pain sliced through my side, and I bent over trying to bring the pain to heel while also trying to breathe. Each breath was labored and difficult. I didn’t know what would become of me as I sat there bleeding out on the floor; blood pooling around my midsection.
The adrenaline finally started to leave my body, and I crumpled to the floor, skin and brain covering the side of my cheek from the splatter of the bullet.
I did vomit then. I purged my stomach until there was nothing left.
When I looked over at Casi, I saw the bullet hole in her head and half of her missing face. She was dead. Guilt crept in around the edges, but I couldn’t care. She’d tried to take every good and beautiful thing in my life away from me.
It was never going to end well for Casi, and I had to wonder how long she’d been in Silverbell Shore. Maybe I wasn’t crazy after all, thinking someone was watching me.
As soon as they saw her body fall, the police barreled through the kitchen door. I put my hands up over my head in surrender and winced at the sharp pain.
Deputy Peter's gaze scanned over her body before landing on me. “Are you hurt?”
I nodded because, fuck, yes, it hurt. I pulled my hand away and watched my life blood gushing from my side. I hadn’t been shot because there was no bullet wound, so she must have stabbed me.
My eyes covered the floor, looking for the weapon she’d used, and, sure enough, just inches from her hand lay the knife, blood coloring the tip.
Deputy Peters kneeled down next to me. “Don’t move, son. We’re going to get the paramedics in here. You’ve lost a lot of blood already.” I knew I had because my vision quickly grew foggy before completely losing the war to the darkness trying to take over.
My family was safe. It was all that mattered.
ChapterNineteen
Julian had protected our son. He had gone up against a stalker, and who knew if he was even still alive at this point. I grabbed Ben and held on tight, even when the paramedics had him in the ambulance checking him over.
I was never letting him out of my sight again. Ever. I ran my hands through his dark hair, trying to soothe myself, knowing if I could touch him that he was actually here in front of me.
The police squad had barged in after they had a confirmed visual of the woman holding him hostage. They’d taken the shot without a second thought.