Page 85 of Broken Halo

I yank my hand through my hair. She’s somewhere in this fucking building and I can’t get to her.

“Go to Maternity and ask. Lie and tell them you’re her husband. The police wouldn’t let me go in the ambulance. Easton, find her. I’m worried. There was so much blood…”

“Fuck.”

With my heart beating out of my chest I do exactly what my mom told me to do—I lie.

It works. It’s a fucking maze but I finally find her. Not able to wait another second, I push through the door and there she is. She’s facing away from me, her blond hair a mess under a bandage wrapped around the top of her head. A nurse is fussing over her and messing with an IV.

“I’m sorry. Can I help you?” the nurse asks.

I don’t answer. I go straight to the woman I love, to the woman who’s gone through hell with her parents because of us—because of me.

Kipp fired me. I knew it would happen and I already had a couple jobs lined up. Once she found out she was pregnant, we held off telling anyone for as long as possible so we could plan. But she was set to leave for Juilliard next week and we were out of time.

Jen did what she could to soften that blow for Ellie but Hattie thought the world was ending and Kipp was just fucking pissed. It didn’t matter what we said, how we felt, or how much we loved each other.

Kipp Montgomery didn’t give a shit.

Ellie called me three hours ago while I was signing the papers for my new job so she and the baby would have insurance. She said she’d had it out with her dad again and was leaving. I told her to wait and I’d come get her.

She wouldn’t listen and said she’d go to my house and wait on me there. I spent as little time on that property as I could the last couple years and have been living in the bunk house on the Montgomery ranch. We argued and I finally gave in because, when it comes to her, I always do.

And no one was there but my fucking father. I haven’t figured out what went down yet, but when I do, I’ll kill the son of a bitch myself. That motherfucker was cooking meth. Fucking meth. He was too busy doing what he liked to do the most, acting like a fool, and started harassing Ellie. His shop exploded and Ellie was hit with debris. My mom got home right after it happened.

That’s all I know.

“Baby.” I barely recognize my own voice and Ellie whimpers. I make my way around her bed and the nurse doesn’t question me again but when she looks at me, she silently shakes her head with the saddest, most depressing look on her face possible.

No.

When I finally get to her, my angel, fuck … she’s broken. And that’s when I know without a doubt.

When she sees me, her beautiful face that’s scraped and already bruising, breaks. I kick off my shoes and climb into bed with her.

“Is she going to be okay?” I ask the nurse.

“In time. Watch her head,” the nurse whispers. “She’s got a concussion and we’ve given her meds for the pain.”

I nod and pull her into my arms. She’s trembling and her sobs wrack my body. I’d do anything to take it all from her.

“Shh,” I whisper into her matted hair and rub her back. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there. That you were there alone.”

“It’s gone,” her voice trembles and her tears leak down my neck. “Our baby … it’s gone.”

My throat thickens and I squeeze my eyes.

Her voice breaks as she clings to me. “No March ninth.”

“Angel.” I swallow over the softball-sized lump in my throat. “Fuck. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t leave me, Trig. Please. Promise you won’t leave me.”

I put my lips to her bandaged forehead as moisture leaks down my face for us and for the baby we’ll never know. “I promise, I’ll never leave you…”

The door to the conference room clicks and the man I’m forced to call my father because of DNA turns to face me. It makes me sick his blood runs through my veins. His hair, that used to be the color of mine, is now more salt than pepper. Besides the extra lines set deep into his face, he doesn’t look that different. I surpassed him in height when I was nineteen and stand three inches taller, I’m broader but he’s still no slouch and must’ve used his time wisely in the Huntsville prison yard.

Clicking his tongue at me like a rooster in heat, he shakes his head. “Trigger. Look at you. All grown up and educated and,” he lifts both shoulders and tips his head, “fancy? Yep, you’re fancy as fuck.”

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