“No. Come with me. I’ll need you to hold me back in case I get the urge to strangle her.”
He squeezed my hand, and the steadiness of his grip was the only thing keeping me from unraveling.
I glanced back at Dylan. “What about him?”
“He’s staying right here,” Dylan said flatly, his eyes still closed. “But he’d like to remind you that as an officer of the law, he’s obligated to detain and report anyone breaking it. Attempted murder’s a big one. I’d avoid it.”
“Yes, sir.”
His eyes flew open and his gaze locked onto mine with a glare that constricted my lungs. “Caleb. You’re a lucky little bastard. Don’t forget it.”
Was that a smile? Hard to tell when no other part of his face moved. One corner of his mouth tilted upward, though. And he winked at me before closing his eyes again.
Cocky ass.
“Don’t worry,” Caleb murmured in my ear as we walked toward Sean’s room. “I already know how lucky I am, and it’s not contingent on you calling me sir.”
We stopped outside the door. I reached deep for courage and came up empty.
Caleb stepped in front of me and took both my hands. His eyes were steady, his voice low. “I’m right here. Whatever happens in there, I’m right here.”
When he looked at me—the way he looked at me—it felt like love. And I thought maybe I was starting to believe it.
Maybe hope wasn’t the enemy I’d thought. Maybe hope was all I’d ever needed.
“I know how lucky I am, too,” I whispered, rising on my toes to press a kiss to his jaw.
He let me lead the way, but we went in together. Because I could do this on my own. I just didn’t have to.
Nothing was what I expected.
Sean’s broad body lay battered and still. Cuts and bruises covered his face and neck. They’d shaved a section of his copper hair away and taped a wide white bandage over it. He looked nothing like the man I’d lived with.
But maybe I’d never really known Sean Brennan at all. Only a shell of the man he could have been.
Beside him, with tears tracking down her face, sat Chantel. She looked like one harsh word could shatter her completely.
“Zadie,” she cried.
I moved past her to Sean’s bedside, not sparing her a glance.
Despite the damage, he looked healthy. His copper beard was neatly trimmed. The muscles he’d previously let go to fat had returned with a vengeance. This might have been the best I’d ever seen him. Unconscious and battered, and still in better shape than when we’d lived together.
Chantel’s quiet sobs finally broke through my assessment. I looked up to find Caleb sitting beside her on the far side of the bed.
When had he left my side? And why?
He murmured something to her I couldn’t make out. Her shoulders dropped and she nodded, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.
When he looked up and caught my gaze, all I could see was an apology.
“What happened?” I asked, meaning the accident.
“Which part?” Chantel’s voice was raw. “The part that brought you here now, or the part that led up to this?”
“Start from the beginning.”
She looked to Caleb for reassurance, but his eyes were fixed on me.