Page 15 of Reckless Dynasty (Knight's Ridge Empire 9)

He wraps Jodie in a bear hug and tucks his face into the crook of her neck as his entire body shakes with his sobs. My heart breaks for the poor guy.

Walking over, I lower my arse to the chair beside him and place my hand on his shoulder, letting him know that he’s got our support.

They stay in their embrace for the longest time while they hold each other together. As much as it pains me that I can’t be the one to do that for Jodie right now, I understand, and Jesse needs this just as much as she does. I have no idea if Sara has any other friends or family aside from her shitty parents, so this might be it for her close support network. It makes me appreciate the family I have around me that little bit more again.

We might be all kinds of fucked up, but I know for a fact that when shit hits the fan, in whatever form, they’ll be there for me.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and it’s just proof of how true my previous thoughts were. Seb and Stella turned up sometime after midnight last night with a brand-new phone for me. Not only that, but Theo had installed a backup of my broken one, so it was like I never lost it.

Stella: How’s Jodie?

A smile twitches at my lips. It’s the third time she’s asked since we had little choice but to give up on the idea of sleeping this morning.

Toby: We’re with Jesse.

Stella: Any news?

Toby: Nope. They’re still saying it’s just a time thing.

Stella: Jesus. I can’t even imagine. I wish we could have done more.

Guilt tugs at my inside. If I went for Sara first, maybe I could have got them both out. If I was two minutes earlier. If I could have run a little faster…

All the what-ifs tumble around my head on repeat, but none of them help. It’s too late to think about all the things that could have been different from the night before.

This is what happened, and this is now our reality. Waiting to find out if Jodie is going to have to say goodbye to someone else she loves.

When they finally part, Jesse lifts his arm and wipes his face with his sleeve to clear the tears.

“Has there been any change?” Jodie asks hopefully.

He shakes his head. “Nothing.”

Jodie grips his bloody, busted-up hand and holds it tight.

“She’s stronger than this, Jesse. She’s going to come back to us.”

He sniffles, pushing his other equally dirty hand into his hair and dragging it back from his head.

“You should go and get yourself checked out,” she urges him, just like I know the others have since they first found him up here.

He’s got a bit of someone’s old shirt tied around his arm to try to stem the blood flow from what I hope is just a graze and not a bullet wound. I mean, it seems to have worked because there’s no fresh blood, but still. His face is black and blue, and his clothes are a mess.

The guys brought him a bag of everything he might need when they arrived with our things earlier today which is sitting at his feet.

“I’m fine,” he says hollowly.

“Jesse,” Jodie sighs. “Sara needs you more than ever right now. She isn’t going to want to wake up to you looking like this.“

“I’m not leaving her,” he states, fear darkening his eyes.

“Jesse, please,” Jodie begs.

“Go up to the room we just left. It has a private bathroom. You can have a shower, wash all that shit off you,” I add.

“But—”

“We won’t leave. And the second we’re allowed inside, we’ll be right by her side,” Jodie assures him.