Page 90 of Lie to Me

He lunges towards me, knife tightly in his grip and I use the last of what energy I had to shove Sloane sideways to make sure she’s completely out the way. Sloane screams as she sees what’s about to happen, but the cabin door is busted open at the same time, my brothers both barging their way in to the space.

But it’s too late, because Nolan is already plunging the knife into my gut and twisting. A commotion ensues, but I honestly have no idea what the fuck is happening. I’m too busy looking towards Sloane to make sure she’s okay.

The horror written all over her face worries me until I realize that she’s just scared for me.

“Marco,” she chokes out as tears stream down her face. I beckon her closer to me, needing her close one last time.

She sniffles and scoots closer to me, the fighting and raised voices of my family in the background drowned out by the sound of her cries.

“I love you,” I say, my voice weak as my pulse thuds in my ears.

“Don’t you fucking dare leave me,” she growls as she starts putting pressure on the hole in my stomach, though I know there’s no point. My body’s been through too much.

“I love you, Sloane,” I say again, needing her to know how much I mean it.

Because I do. She was my sole reason for living. I can rest easy now that my brothers are here with the knowledge that they’ll take care of her.

I know she’ll hurt, and I wish I didn’t have to leave her, but she’ll get through it.

She’s the strongest person I’ve ever met, my little warrior, and I’m convinced that this woman can get through anything.

“You can’t fucking die on me,” she sobs, and it breaks my heart to see her in so much pain.

“Who’s dying?” I hear Luca’s voice say, and I turn to find him crouched next to me. “Because I’m sure as fuck not letting you die on us, little brother.”

I give him a weak smile before turning my attention back to my girl.

“You’re going to be okay,” she mutters and repeats the phrase over and over, though it gets more distorted and muffled each time. I stare at her, unable to do anything else but look at how fucking beautiful she is. Even covered in cuts, bruises, dirt, and tears, she’s still the most goddamn beautiful woman to ever exist.

“I love you, Marco,” she whispers, and I finally fade away, a smile on my face from hearing Sloane say those three words I’ve waited over a decade to hear.

Chapter Forty-Six

Sloane

Present

Considering I work in this hospital, you’d have thought they would fucking tell me something.

The ride in the ambulance seemed to last forever, and I honest to God thought we’d lost him before we would even get here.

He didn’t have a pulse.

Not one fucking beat.

I’d love to say I kept my composure and acted rationally like I would while I’m at work, but that’s the opposite of what I did.

The panic I felt in that moment as I watched the paramedics perform CPR and as I sobbed in Luca’s arms was unmatched.

That moment will haunt me for the rest of my life. I’m just glad Luca forced his way into the ambulance with us so that I wasn’t alone, because God only knows what I would have done.

“You need to get checked over yourself, sweetheart,” Marco’s father says softly to me as we sit in the waiting room to hear from the surgeon. Marco was rushed straight into surgery when we got here, but we haven’t heard anything since.

I don’t even know if he’s still alive.

And I can’t bring myself to go and get checked over when the love of my damn life is currently on the operating table.

“Not yet,” I murmur.

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