Sloan sat up, about to speak, but I threw my hand over her mouth and shook my head. Her eyes were wide, but she nodded, letting me know she understood that she needed to stayquiet.
I mouthed, “Stay here,” before walking out of the room. I started to inspect the garage, trying to find the source of thenoise.
“Fuck,” I exclaimed as I stepped on broken glass and my heart started racing. Someone had brokenin.
Panic set in when I heard a bloodcurdling scream come from the bedroom. I bolted back to Sloan as quickly as I could. To my horror, a man was standing in the middle of the room with a knife to Sloan’sthroat.
“If I can’t have her, no one can!” hescreamed.
“Ray, please…please don’t.” Terror lined her face as she gripped hisforearms.
I had my gun trained on his head, but he was using Sloan as a shield like a damncoward.
“Put the gun down!” heyelled.
Red came barging in, wearing just boxers and cowboy boots and holding anax.
As I turned to tell Red to back up, I saw my worst nightmare out of the corner of my eye. Ray slit Sloan’s throat, threw her to the ground, and leapt out the window. It all happened sofast.
I scooped her up, holding her throat closed as she gasped forair.
“Red! Call 911! Fucking hurry!” I was screaming. My chest was heaving. My mind was blank. I didn’t know what to do, how to help her. I rocked Sloan in my arms. Blood seeped everywhere as her eyes pleaded withme.
“You’re going to be fine, baby. I promise everything is going to be fine.” I kissed her forehead. “Red!”
Holyfuck!
What do Ido?
I can’t loseher!
He rushed back into the room with two paramedics right behind him. They pulled her out of my grasp as I wailed and shook on the floor. Her blood covered mybody.
“Get fucking dressed.” Red’s hands gripped my shoulders as he shook me out of my shock. “Get a grip, brother. We need to follow them to thehospital.”
I’d never ridden so fast in my life. I threw my bike down in the middle of the ambulance bay and ran next to the gurney as the doctors and nurses started to work theirmagic.
“Sir, you’re going to have to give us some space here.” One of the nurses had her hand on my arm, trying to pull meback.
I couldn’t bring myself to let go of Sloan’s hand. “Please, don’t let her die. He can’twin.”
“The doctors are going to do everything that they can. You’re going to have to wait and let us do ourjob.”
They rushed her into surgery and I was forced to wait. The entire group flooded into the waiting room. No one spoke. We all just sat there insilence.
Raine waddled in with a blanket in her hand. She draped it over my shoulders giving me a kind smile before she went to sit with Ryder on the other side of theroom.
After what felt like a lifetime, Sloan was out of surgery and had been moved to recovery. The doctors were able to patch her up, but she was still barely clinging to life. I sat in the uncomfortable chair in her room with my brothers, Raine, and Crickett sitting and lying on thefloor.
Raine was curled up in Ryder’s side. He and I were the only two peopleawake.
“How you holding up?” Ryder asked in a lowvoice.
He knew, of all people, how much it hurt to worry if the woman you love was going to live through thenight.
“She can’t die, man.” I let my head fall into myhands.
“She’s afighter.”