Page 77 of Ruthless Vow

The nurse rises and walks over. She checks Nicole’s vitals, checks the IV bags, then goes back to her seat.

I study Sabina’s face. “You’re concerned about her.”

“Of course I’m concerned. She was shot.”

I nod. “Does this mean you’ve forgiven her?”

Sabina pinches the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed. When she opens them again, there are tears on her lashes.

“She was shot to protect you. She put herself in front of you to keep you safe. If that’s not love I don’t know what is.” She shakes her head. “Of course I forgive her.”

Love.

How long have I loved her? All along, I think.

I reach over and adjust the cannula under her nostrils.

I stroke my fingers along her cheek.

“Wake up, my love, my wolf,” I whisper.

27

Nicole

For what feelslike a long time, there’s nothing. No sound, no sight, no sensations. And then, like I’m rising in an elevator slowly to the top floor, I start to become aware again. Not conscious, not yet. Just aware.

I can hear muted voices, but can’t make out the words. My eyelids flutter and through my eyelashes, I can see shadows. The outline of forms, moving around. Coming and going.

It takes time, but the voices start to become clearer, although I still can’t make out any meaning. I hear a steady beeping sound close to me.

The shadows become more defined, and I find that I’m able to open my eyes a little and begin to register where I am.

I’m on a bed. I smell antiseptic and alcohol. There’s an IV pump next to me, a line going into the back of my left hand. The beeping is coming from a heart monitor.

There’s a white blanket covering me. Light streams in from a window, but from my position I can’t see the view. All I know for sure is this isn’t a hospital.

My eyes slide closed. I think I sleep.

When I open them again, I realize that I’m in Leo’s bedroom. The blackout curtains are pulled halfway open, a massive arrangement of bright daisies and orchids on the low dresser.

It’s a weird dream. Why am I in Leo’s bedroom with hospital equipment all around me?

Again, I drift off.

This time when I wake, I feel a warm weight pressed to my side. It takes a minute for me to be able to move my head enough to look down to see that a familiar cat is curled up at my side, sleeping. He’s woken by my movement, and he looks up at me groggily and greets me with a soft “mew.”

“Charlie,” I murmur. “My sweet baby.”

“Nicole.” A shadow looms over me and I turn my head to meet Leo’s gaze. He looks exhausted, dark shadows under his eyes, a few days’ worth of stubble on his jaw. Stubble? Have I ever seen Leo when he hasn’t been clean-shaven?

“Fucking hell, you worried me. Never do that again,” he says.

“I…I worried you?” My tongue feels too big for my mouth and it tastes like an old shoe.

I stare at Leo, confused.

And then everything comes back to me. The engagement party. The note. The cemetery. Seeing Bianca again.

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