Page 40 of No Broken Promises

“Call me Dom,” he says with a concerned smile. “We’re going to find out who did this. But I think in the meantime, you need to arrange somewhere else to sleep for the night.” Another officer calls his name from the other side of the yard, and he apologizes. “I’m sorry. I’ll be right back.”

I’m not an idiot, but the past hour has left me in a haze of pseudo-denial about our situation. One minute, Remy is giving me the truth I’ve pushed so hard for. The next, the stench of my life burning down around me fills my lungs and obstructs everything else. As those moments replay themselves over and over in my mind, breathing grows extremely difficult. My vision narrows and my senses all prick to attention. The soot on my skin makes me gag, and I start rubbing my arms, trying to get it off.

“No,” I sob and sink to my knees there on the lawn.

Rocking back and forth in the freezing cold air only makes things worse, but there isn’t much I can do about it. My fingers dig at my neck, clutching my throat in an attempt to breathe easier.

“Remy, man, you need to get over here,” Ortiz calls out over my head, while he does his best to remain professional and offer me comfort at the same time. While I sit on the grass having a panic attack about my situation and what could have happened, the absurdly large man stands there and awkwardly watches it happen.

Strong arms wrap around me, pulling my body against an impossibly hard chest, and I fall into his embrace like he’s always been there. Like we haven’t both fucked up our lives by hurting each other and never handling the fallout.

“Come on, Park. Don’t do this to yourself,” Remy’s voice beckons, pulling me through the fog of my panic and back to reality. “Let’s get you to bed. It’s been a long night, and you must be exhausted. Look at me.”

The soft order commands attention, and I raise my eyes to his reluctantly. Compassion and worry lace his face, and there are furrows in his brow.

“Good girl,” he whispers quietly, a small chuckle following his words.

An intrusive cough fills the air, but I don’t bother looking up. I can’t. I’m not a weak woman, not in the slightest. But there is only so much I can take before I shut down, and I’ve just hit my limit.

“Whatever it is can wait.” Remy stands up, bringing me with him, dismissing everyone else. He cradles me against his chest, with one arm under my legs and the other wrapped around my back. For once in my life, I don’t even have the strength to argue and demand to be put down.

“Nox?” My voice breaks on my son’s name, and concern for him overtakes everything else that weighs on me. All the panic and hysteria I feel pales in comparison to his needs.

“Already buckled in my truck safely,” Remy confirms immediately. “With Daisy guarding him better than anyone else could.”

Remy kisses my forehead softly, and I smile slightly, still keeping my eyes closed. My pulse throbs on the right side of my head, and I can taste iron in the back of my throat. Bile sits there, and as soon as I shift in Remy’s arms, it threatens to come out. When I flail around, Remy carefully lowers me to the ground. I open my eyes to see the bushes on the edge of my lawn, and thankfully they are big enough to hide the mess I make as I retch into them.

“Gross,” Linc calls out. “Pull it together, girl. Wash your face.” He is only teasing, but I still flip him off all the same, even as I start to see stars flash in front of my vision.

“We got some clothes for you, and tomorrow I’ll have one of the deputies bring your car to Remy’s.”

Blood pounding in my ears makes it hard to concentrate on anything being said. Even though I can see Remy’s lips moving, there aren’t any words. Over and over again, I feel the rising crescendo of my heart beating, and then everything stops.

Standing up proves impossible as the sky around me shifts and the world moves under my feet. Desperate, I try to ask for help. The words don’t come out right, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth almost like Velcro. “I ken some’s wron’…”

“She’s goin’ down!” Remy calls out, the noise breaking through the pounding in my ears. “Someone get a paramedic over here!”

That’s a great idea.

Before anyone can get to me, the world goes black, and then I hit the ground.

17

REMY

Nox holds my hand tightly when they wheel Parker away on a stretcher, squeezing my fingers with all of his strength, his fingernails cutting into the skin on my hand.

“She’s going to be alright,” I tell him numbly as we stand under the bright fluorescent lights of the hospital’s emergency room waiting area. “She’s going to be just fine.”

Repeating those words over and over in my head is the only reason I make it through the next hour while we sit and wait for any word on Parker’s condition. Nox doesn’t say a word. Even when his grandparents, aunt, and uncles arrive shortly after we did, he never leaves my side nor lets go of my hand.

The one time I tried to let go of his hand, he turned his head with exorcist-level precision and glared at me until I picked his hand back up. Then he gave his attention back to the door they’d taken Parker through.

Rose and Robert Hayes sit with Linc and Emma, all four of them watching Nox like he is about to shatter into a thousand pieces. Nox, however, doesn’t look away from the door.

“She’s not going to die,” he whispers suddenly. “She can’t.”

I cough, trying to clear my throat, but the emotion clogging it makes it ridiculously hard to concentrate on the task at hand.

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