Not long, that’s for damn sure.
Still, when I see him turn fully away, so all his attention is focused on the cowering blonde before him, I know it’s now or never.
Pressing one last kiss to the top of Winnie’s head, I push off from the wall like a shot and race for the car as fast as my legs will carry us.
***
We’re halfway there when I hear Vanessa cry out.
“Ralph! Stop her!”
Shit!
I hear a muttered curse, the sound of pounding footsteps, and the unmistakable rapport of a gun firing in my direction.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Searing pain grazes my shoulder, causing me to stumble. I’m nearly blind with agony, but I force my feet to keep moving, one after another. The welcome clicking sound of the gun running out of rounds reaches my ears.
Thank god.
We’re almost there.
A final burst of hope shoots into my bloodstream, like a needle of adrenaline straight to the heart, as I fly across the pavement faster than I’ve ever run in my life.
“Gemma, you fucking bitch!” Ralph screams. “Stop!”
I don’t.
We’re nearly at the car when the front door flies open. I see Chrissy, legs still in the backseat, half-lying on the center console, and I practically toss Winnie into her waiting arms. My ass isn’t even settled on the front cushion when my hand hits the shifter and my foot slams down on the gas pedal.
“Gemma, you bitch!”
Ralph sprints for the car, head on, and I swerve around him at the last second.
“Hold on!” I yell, just before my hands tighten on the wheel and whip it all the way left. The U-turn is so sharp I think we might flip — but eventually the car rights with a squeal of tires and the smell of burning rubber. I press the pedal flat to the floor and blast past my rat bastard ex, who’s still screaming like a crazy person.
Probably because heisa crazy person.
“You okay?” I yell to Chrissy, as we race up the ramp toward daylight.
“Just peachy!” she yells back, doing the final buckle on Winston’s car seat.
“Winnie okay?”
“He’ll be fine.”
“Fetus okay?”
“Let’s just say, it’ll have a great story to tell about its day of birth.”
“Damn straight.”