“No! It’s not fucking over! I’m going to be this country’s next president!”
“No, you’re not.” Ghost appeared beside Garrett.
With the other men surrounding him, supporting him, Garrett tried reasoning with Garcia one last time.
“Look around you, Emilio. There’s only one way this ends, and that’s with you dropping your weapon and letting Avery go.”
“No.” Garcia held onto his fucked-up reality. “She’s going to get me my money! Sheowesme that money!”
Garcia filled a fist with Avery’s hair, causing her to cry out. Barely resisting the urge to kill, Garrett allowed himself to really look at her for the first time since finding her again.
She was scared to death, and her left eye was nearly swollen shut. But she was staring back at him with more faith and love than he ever deserved.
Garcia shifted his feet, the move giving Garrett a different angle than before. Abetterangle.
His heart gave a hard thump inside his chest.
“I’ve got a clear shot,” he spoke low enough Garcia couldn’t possibly hear him. With those five words, he let the others know of his plan.
To Avery, he asked, “Do you trust me, baby?”
Without a second’s hesitation, she answered with a shaky, “Y-yes.”
It was all he needed to know.
Clearing his mind and calming his breaths, Garrett aimed his weapon, slid his finger to the trigger, and said another prayer as he emptied his lungs and took the shot.
The bullet hit Garcia between the eyes. He started to fall backward, and for a split second, Garrett thought his moment of terror was over.
Then he heard Avery scream and realized the dead man’s fingers were still tangled in her hair.
As Garcia fell over the edge of the boat, he took Avery with him.
“Avery!”Garrett sprinted down the dock and dove into the water after her.
He was ready to drown if it meant saving her. But it turned out that wasn’t necessary.
She’d already saved herself.
“Garrett!” Avery coughed as she swam toward him. “Oh, my…God!”
“Avery!” He grabbed hold of her and squeezed her so hard he was surprised she didn’t break.
“Is it over?”
“Yeah, baby.” He closed his eyes and held on tight. “It’s over.”
Remembering his earlier vow, he pulled away just enough to tell her, “I love you.”
Water dripped from her long, wet eyelashes as she stared back at him in shock. “What?”
“This isn’t even close to how I imagined saying that to you for the first time, but I don’t want another second to go by without you knowing. I’m in love with you, Avery Webb. And I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.”
“I love you, too.” She started to cry but then stopped herself. Brushing several wet strands from her face, she said, “Wait. Did you just ask me to marry you?”
Garrett smiled. “Yeah. I guess I did.”
“Just making sure.” She pressed her wet lips to his. “And the answer is yes. A million times, yes!”