I saw it, but that didn’t do me much good. I wasn’t the one holding the wheel. My feet weren’t the ones on the pedals.
The box truck turned into traffic, and we struck it directly in the side. Adrian managed to whip the wheel to the right as we collided, which prevented us from being fully crushed under about a dozen wheels, but wasn’t enough to save us. We scraped along the flank of the truck with a metallic groan and a shower of sparks, then hurtled toward the side of the road. The Ferrari nearly flipped as we hit the curb and flew up onto the sidewalk.
By the grace of god alone, we came back down on all four wheels before we slammed into a telephone pole. The front of the sports car folded in on itself like an accordion. I felt the seatbelt knife across my chest as the airbag exploded into my face. My head snapped forward on impact, leaving me dazed. When I looked over to see how Adrian was doing…
My stomach dropped straight to the pavement.
His body was crunched up against the steering wheel. His face was battered, blood dripping from his nose. His airbag had deployed, but it was already mostly deflated. I couldn’t tell if he was breathing. He was either out cold or…
I didn’t want to think about the other possibility.
Before I’d even had a chance to fully recover, the passenger door was being ripped open. Cade was there. He used a pocket knife to deflate my airbag with one smooth jab, then he was crouched beside me, running his hands up and down my extremities to ensure I wasn’t seriously injured.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his gorgeous eyes brimming over with worry.
“I think so,” I managed to rasp.
“Are you bleeding anywhere? Does anything hurt?”
“No. I’m fine, Cade.” I sucked in a breath. “Is Adrian?—”
His jaw went tight as his eyes moved behind me. He shook his head. “Not looking great. I called the ambulance on the way, they were trailing me. They’re pulling up now. They’ll do what they can for him.”
My eyes pressed closed.
Damn it to hell.
I hated Adrian.
He was a total asshole.
But that didn’t mean I wanted things to end this way.
Cade pulled back to allow the paramedics to examine me. After feeling my neck to make sure I didn’t have a spinal injury, they guided me gently out of the car and toward a waiting stretcher. Behind me, two of their colleagues worked to free Adrian. I was relieved when I heard him gasping for air and responding to verbal cues as they loaded him onto a stretcher of his own, his neck stabilized in a stiff brace.
He was alive.
Lucky bastard.
Cade held my hand as they loaded me onto the stretcher. He squeezed tight. I’d never seen him look so serious.
“Cade, honey. Think of it this way. Now you don’t have to kill him. You can arrest him for attempted kidnapping instead. Win win.”
His lips didn’t even twitch.
He was not in a joking mood.
“Honey, I’mfine,” I assured him. “Really. I’m okay.”
He didn’t say anything. Just continued to grip my hand like, if he let go, I’d disappear.
I looked at one of the paramedics. “Um. Hi. Do you think this is going to take very long? Because, at home, my puppy is covered in mud and he really needs a bath if he’s going to sleep on my feet tonight.”
“Oh.” The paramedic shook her head, looking confused. “I’m… not exactly sure.” She glanced at her colleague and lowered her voice a few decibels. “Let’s do a neuro exam. Just to be safe.”
Thatmade Cade chuckle.
Rude.