Page 74 of No Sweet Goodbyes

I can’t spend the rest of my life making love to Emma if I get shot in the dick.

Which really just unlocks a brand-new fear that I never knew I had.

“I’m her boyfriend.” I try to buy some time as I slide them on, thankful that he hasn’t shot me while I’m moving. “That’s what I’m doing here.”

“What?” He looks between the two of us, and the gun moves with his head.“You aren’t her boyfriend. You don’t belong with her.” The gun isn’t pointed at me, and I didn’t realize how terror worked until I see it pointed at her.

“Hey,” I order. “Point the gun at me. Not Emma.”

His eyes widen and he moves the gun to follow my order.Clearly, he doesn’t have a plan, and I was right when I made the assumption that he’s in the middle of some sort of mental breakdown.

There’s no other reason for what’s happening. No other explanation.

“Jesse, what are you doing?” Emma gets his attention again, but she steps back to the side table that hugs her wall. “Where’s Bee at? Is she okay?” There is genuine fear in her voice.

I take a chance and glance at her to see that she’s put her hands on the handle of the drawer behind her back.

“Jesse.” I say his name loudly, getting his attention away from Emma again. “Do you want to tell me what happened to Bee? Is she at your house, safe and asleep in bed?” I glance at the red stain on his shirt. “Emma needs to know that Bee is safe, Jesse. Can you tell me that?”

But Jesse isn’t looking at me anymore. He’s staring at Emma again.

Emma, who’s on the other side of the bed, too far for me to protect from the gun if he fires. I’m fast, but there’s no way in hell that I can get in front of her before a bullet leaves the chamber of that gun.

“You look just like her, you know that?” The tremble of his lips and head and matching tremor in his hand send a wave of nausea through me.

Fuck it. I’m not going to let him do this without going through me. Slowly, so slowly that I can see him watching my every step, I move so that I’m on the same side of the room as Emma. It’s both a blessing and a curse. I can get in front of her, yes. But it also means there’s more of a chance that she’ll get hit by a stray bullet if he fires.

“Look like who?” I step in his line of sight again, trying to force him to look away from Emma.“Who does she look like?” If I get him to focus on me, Emma can potentially get away.

“Stop fucking blocking my view of Dani!” He points the gun at my chest. “Move. Now.”

“No.”

He isn’t expecting me to say that, and it shows in the way he freezes. The gun trembles, and he lowers it slightly before raising it up again and putting his finger on the trigger. All of a sudden I’m staring down the barrel, and I’m pretty sure I’m about to die. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to give him a clear shot of her.

My life for Emma’s? That’s not even a real question.

The things that I would do to ensure her safety would make even the most hardened criminals take a step back.

“What?” he stammers. “W-why? I have the gun. Move.”

“No.” I shrug. “I don’t care if you shoot me. You were pointing a gun at the woman I love. Now you’re not.”

Jesse moves, trying to get around me without actually shooting me. “You don’t love Dani. You don’t even know her. Neither did James.”

“Who the fuck is Dani? Or James for that matter.”But I already know the answer to that question. I investigated their murders.

Keeping him talking, keeping him confused and unable to work out a plan. That’s the key to getting the upper hand.

Emma puts her hand on my shoulder, and I make the smart choice by letting her step around me. Why? Because I can see the gun that she’s holding behind her back.

“Dani and James were Bianca’s parents, weren’t they, Jesse?” She doesn’t make eye contact with me, and I’m glad. If she does, she’ll see the utter panic I’m feeling reflected back at her. “Jesse loved Dani. Didn’t you, Jesse?”I can hear Emma swallow, and the tension in her body fills the space between us.

He nods, tears starting to fall down his face as he turns his attention to me. “That bastard of a brother hurt her. Over and over again, he hurt her. I had to kill him. He hurt the only woman I loved. You understand. Protecting Dani means that I had to kill him.”

“I know you did.” Emma’s soothing voice fills the space between all of us. She’s clearly playing his game so that she can get the upper hand. “But I need you to tell me where Bianca is, Jesse. She didn’t do anything. And I just need to make sure that she’s safe. You know that’s what I want more than anything.”

“She wouldn’t stop crying, Dani. She cried all night after we got home, wanting to visit her friend Emma, and I couldn’t take it anymore.” He sobs louder, rubbing the hand not holding the gun over his shirt, where the red stains are. “Please, I just wanted to make her stop crying.”

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