Page 105 of Beneath Your Beautiful

Two kids and a woman stood in front of the vending machines, studying their options. Ramsey jerked his chin, gesturing me to follow him for some privacy.

“Any idea what Connor was involved in?” he asked when we got outside, standing a good distance away from the parked ambulances.

“No.”

“Where’s he been for the past few months?”

“You’ve been keeping tabs on Connor?”

“Just looking out for him.”

Before tonight, the last time I’d seen Deacon Ramsey, he’d been first on the scene of Connor’s motorcycle accident. It had been a hit and run and it hadn’t been Connor’s fault. Thankfully, he hadn’t been driving under the influence, but he’d been in possession. Ramsey had called me, instead of busting Connor. I’d hauled Connor’s ass to rehab. Three days after he got out of rehab, Connor disappeared. And now here we were, six months later, outside a hospital because of whatever the fuck Connor did in Miami.

“He was in Miami,” I said.

“You think he was working as an informant?”

“I don’t know.” It was what I suspected. Which meant he’d gotten busted for drugs and cut a deal with the cops. Which also meant he’d lied to me.

“Tell me what happened tonight.”

I told him everything, including the details I’d left out when I’d given Jack Madley a summary.

“He had his hands wrapped around her throat,” Ramsey said, trying to get his facts straight. “And when you ripped him off her, he drew a gun.”

“Right,” I said, looking him in the eye. “He shot me twice. I shot back.”

He nodded. “It was self-defense. But it might come back to haunt you.”

I killed a man, but this time I didn’t feel any guilt. I’d do it again if I had to just to save Eden. “Thanks,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “For what you did.”

“Just doing my job.”

By doing his job, he’d saved my life. And Seamus had saved Connor’s. It had been his final act and I wondered now, if he’d had a premonition he would die tonight. Why else would he have asked for my forgiveness when he’d never shown any signs of remorse before? Did I forgive him? I wasn’t ready to think about Seamus or our complicated history yet. I wasn’t ready to unravel all my tangled-up emotions either.

Right now, all I needed was to know Eden and Connor would be okay. All the rest of it…I’d deal with later.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Eden

Ifelt like I was underwater trying to swim to the surface. I opened my eyes and blinked. The fluorescent lights hurt my head. I looked down at the IV attached to my arm and at the hand holding mine.

I turned my head to look at him. His eyes were red-rimmed like he’d been crying, and his face was ravaged. But it was him. His beautiful face, his beautiful everything. My gaze drifted down to his chest. The faded blue T-shirt said Martha’s Vineyard.

“Why are you wearing Zeke’s T-shirt?” I asked, my voice sounding hoarse like I hadn’t used it in a long time.

“Because…” His eyes searched my face.

I closed my eyes, remembering. My ears were still ringing from the shots fired. My stomach hurt. My head hurt. Everything hurt. “They shot you. I thought…you were dead.”

“I was wearing a bullet-proof vest.”

Thank God. “Why am I in the hospital?”

His fingers brushed over my cheekbone and he swept my hair off my forehead. His touch was gentle, but I winced. “You have a concussion.”

I started laughing, but it bordered on hysterical. My laughter turned into sobbing that wracked my body and made everything hurt even more. Killian climbed onto the bed and held me the way he did before we went to sleep. He kept holding me until, eventually, I calmed down and my breathing regulated.