Page 50

EDU

Terror leached into my veins the moment Brock announced my old man was here. How the fuck could I have been so stupid not to tell anyone about what he’d done? I hadn’t even had the balls to tell Harper yet, and now she was in there with my kid and my sister.

“Put the knife down!” I snapped, holding my gun steady.

The knife pressed into my sister’s neck. A small trickle of blood slid down her skin, but it was the fear shining in her eyes that nearly had me buckling. After all the years she’d suffered with this asshole, I was supposed to keep her safe, and look at where she was now.

My finger itched to pull the trigger and take him out with a headshot, but I didn’t dare risk it with Eden in his grasp. I couldn’t risk that he would jerk and slice her open.

Sweat trickled down my brow with every second that passed. My heartbeat hammered in my head, making it impossible to hear anything other than my own thoughts.

You should have taken him out years ago.

Eden is suffering because of you.

You were a coward then, and you’re a coward now.

Every horrible thing I could possibly think of ran through my head on a reel.

Memories of my mother’s blood spilling on the floor clouded my vision.

Blinking away the images, I focused on the here and now.

That’s all I could deal with. I took a deep breath and willed away the negative thoughts that would do nothing but get us all killed.

“Put the knife down,” I repeated.

“Why? So you can put a bullet in my head? Or so that you can turn me in?” He barked out a laugh, the knife digging into Eden’s skin again.

I heard Lock on the steps, commanding everyone as they gathered around my house.

I was covered, but that didn’t mean we were all getting out of here alive.

My mind spun as I tried to come up with the best solution to get Eden out of his grasp, but I knew my old man well enough to know there was no talking him out of something once he made up his mind.

“Take me.”

Those two words cut through me like a knife, piercing my heart. Time slowed as my gaze drifted to Harper. She lowered our daughter to the ground, pushing her behind her legs as she stepped forward.

“Harper,” I croaked out, desperation leaking out with every syllable. “Don’t.”

But Harper never did listen to a damn thing I said.

“Take me,” she repeated, coming face to face with my old man. “You’ll never get out of here alive if you hold Eden hostage.”

“Yeah? And you’d let me go?” He dug the knife in deeper and Eden whimpered as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“If you take me instead of Eden, I’ll walk out to my car with you and drive you anywhere you want to go. You can still get away?—”

“Harper, step the fuck back,” I snapped, my voice coming out strong and clear.

My gaze flicked to the corner where Scottie was down on his knees, motioning for Grace to toddle over to him.

I held my breath as she grinned at Scottie and ran over on shaky legs, right into his arms. That was one down, but I still had the problem that Harper was trying to sacrifice herself for my sister.

“If you want to get out of here, I’m your only option. If you try to leave with Eden, you will be shot dead.” Her voice came out strong and true, leaving no doubt that she was serious. “But I will get you out of here.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Not for you,” she snorted. “For Edu, because he doesn’t need to be responsible for killing his own father. And for Eden, because she’s already suffered enough at your hands. So, which is it? Do you want to be shot here or escape and take your chances out there?”

I opened my mouth to yell at her to get back, but the words wouldn’t come out because deep down, I knew she stood a better chance at getting out of this alive than Eden did. And that fucking gutted me that I was even allowing her to take this risk.

The old man gave a curt nod as she turned and faced me, whispering, “I’m sorry.”

We all looked for the shot, but he stood directly behind her as he made the swap, shoving Eden away from him before quickly replacing the knife at Harper’s throat.

I wasn’t even sure if I would have pulled the trigger if there had been a shot.

With both Harper and Eden standing there, if one of them shifted the wrong way, it could all have ended badly.

Eden scrambled to the side, curling up in the corner in a ball. I motioned for her to stay put, thankful when she nodded.

Harper’s lips twitched ever so slightly as she took the first step toward the door.

“Tell your dear husband to put his fucking weapon on the ground unless you want a permanent ring around your neck,” he snarled.

Swallowing hard, she locked eyes with me. “Edu…”

I shook my head, but she smiled at me, just like it was one of her fucking daydreams.

“You’ll always be my Prince Charming,” she murmured.

At first, I thought she was saying goodbye, but then I realized she was telling me she trusted me to come to the rescue and save her. So, I did as she asked and tossed my weapon to the ground, motioning for the others to do the same. I had to let this play out, and then I’d make my move.

“Tell everyone to get the fuck away from me!” he shouted. “If I see even one of you outside, I’ll slit her throat!”

Gritting my teeth, I turned to Lock. “Tell everyone to back down.”

Someone would be out there ready for the kill shot. I wasn’t stupid enough to think any of them would leave her unprotected. But my old man didn’t know that, which gave us an advantage.

The first step onto the porch made my heart stutter. The second felt like a lifetime of torture. My whole body twitched with the need to attack, but he would kill her. I was absolutely certain of that.

“Nice and easy,” he grunted as they took the first step.

It was just a small twitch, the way her fingers flicked out, but I knew she was signaling me, telling me to get ready.

I braced for it, waited for the second she made her move.

She took the next step and stumbled just a little, throwing them both off balance, and that’s when I attacked.

Her elbow flew back into his gut, putting him off-center just enough for me to tackle him from behind, wrenching the knife from his hand.

We flew down the steps and hit the pavement hard.

I could have ended it there, but rage hit me hard and I slammed my fist into his face over and over.

Blood coated my fist as I broke his nose and busted his lip.

But I couldn’t stop, couldn’t pull back as hatred washed over me so thick, I couldn’t see through the fog.

“Edu!” Harper called to me, screaming my name until she finally pierced the anger and pulled me away from the old man who now lay crumpled in a heap.

I spun, my eyes immediately landing on the blood sliding down her neck. I rushed to her, pressing my hand to her neck as I lowered her to the ground. “Baby, stay with me,” I pleaded.

Her eyelids fluttered as she stared up at me with all the love in the world. “We’re fine,” she whispered. “We’ll be fine.”

And then her eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out.

“Just kiss me!” Harper snapped at me, laying back in the bed and refusing to move.

“Harper—”

“Edu, I am literally laying in bed with my Prince Charming at my bedside. Is it really too much to ask that you indulge in this one fantasy?”

Sighing, I knelt down on the edge of the bed as she closed her eyes. I fucking hated seeing her like this, with a bandage around her throat and her skin so fucking pale. And yet, all she could think about was her fucking fantasies.

I pressed a kiss to her lips before quickly pulling away. She cracked an eye and glared at me.

“That’s the best you can do?”

“Harper—”

“Edu, this is the one time in my life where I can actually play this out. Are you really telling me you aren’t going to give me what I need?”

I bit my lip, trying not to laugh at the indignation in her voice. I couldn’t deny her anything, not ever again. And after what she did for me today, how willingly she sacrificed her life for someone more innocent than her…fuck, it gutted me.

“Close your eyes, princess,” I whispered.

She did as I asked, and I leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

Her brows furrowed as I moved to the right side of her face, pressing open-mouthed kisses over every inch of her skin, over her eyelids, and down her nose.

A soft sigh left her lips as I sealed my lips over hers, kissing her so earnestly that I started to actually melt into the fantasy with her.

“I love you, Harper. You are the most precious thing to me in this whole world. Never forget that.”

Smiling, she opened her eyes and pressed her hand to my face. “Aside from our daughter.”

“What?”

“You said I’m the most precious thing to you, but honestly, I think our daughter is a little more precious than?—”

My lips sealed over hers again, effectively shutting her up. When I finally pulled my lips from hers, she was breathing hard, staring at me like she did that first time in the grocery store.

“You’re not dreaming about James Earl Jones, are you?”

She smacked me hard, pushing up into a sitting position. I immediately lunged forward, terrified she was going to rip her stitches.

“Stop fucking moving!”

“I would stop moving if you stopped teasing me.”

“Well, I wouldn’t tease you if you didn’t have daydreams about old men.”

“He’s not old. He’s dead. There’s a difference.”

I rolled my eyes just as the door opened and Eden came running in, right into Harper’s open arms. Eva followed soon after with Grace on her hip, bouncing her lightly.

“There’s Daddy’s girl,” I smiled, taking her from Eva. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Grace smiled and pressed a slobbery kiss to my lips. When I turned to Harper, Eden was staring at me with wide eyes.

“Are you okay, Eden?”

She nodded, tucking herself into Harper’s side. I had failed her in so many ways, but I tried to hide that from her and focus on the positive. All my girls were here and safe, and the old man was behind bars.

“You know, they took him to jail, sweetie,” I said, trying to put her at ease. “He’ll never hurt you again.”

“Promise?” she whispered.

“I swear. No one will ever let you get hurt. You’re safe.”

The smallest smile touched her lips, and I prayed that everything would be smooth sailing from here on out. It had to be because I couldn’t handle another heart attack like I nearly had today.

“So,” Harper sighed. “Does my chariot await?”

I smirked at her. She should know me better than to let her ride in anything so flimsy after the day we’d had. “How about a minivan with armored doors and reinforced glass?”