Page 139 of Lush

I hurried back into the car, looking inside for my phone, and relief flooded me when I found it in the back seat and saw it had connected with the operator. I picked it up, hearing a voice on the other end.

“We’ve been in a car accident,” I yelled, not knowing if someone was there. “My friend is pregnant, and she’s bleeding. Please, we need help!”

“Stay calm, ma’am. Where are you?”

Relief flooded through me. I looked around, telling the dispatcher everything. I dropped the phone beside me, keeping the line open as I returned to Jennie’s side. Her breathing wasshallow, and I laid my hand against her belly, hoping to feel some sort of life there.

“Hang on, Jennie,” I whispered, even as my own vision danced. “You’re going to be okay.”

Reese…

I heard sirens far off, then felt relief as the flashing lights appeared. I tried standing as paramedics rushed over; then, darkness.

CHAPTER 28

Reese

“Where the hellare my wife and my sister?”

I barely registered the heads snapping in my direction as I charged toward the reception desk, my heart pounding so hard it drowned out everything else.

Laurene. Jennie. The baby. My head was full of terrible what-ifs, each one worse than the last.

“Sir, you need to calm down,” a nurse started, but my glare stopped her in her tracks.

“Laurene and Jennie Ashbourne,” I demanded. “Where the fuck are they?”

“Your wife is stable, but please calm?—”

I didn’t let her finish. I couldn’t lose them. I wouldn’t allow it. I washappy.And life was fucking robbing me of that again.You should have told her.

“Take me to them!” I slammed my fist on the desk. “I need to see them.”

“Relax, man.” Erik’s voice hit me, and I turned as he stepped out of the hall. He looked wrecked—his clothes rumpled, his face pale. “Don’t call security, I got him.”

I turned back, noticing the nurse’s finger on the panic button. The thought hit me like a gut punch.This is my fault. If I’d toldher they wanted me to give up ten percent of the distillery, and Laurene? They wanted her out of the gallery.No fucking way. I wasn’t about to let them. I just wanted Laurene to not have to worry.

I had a plan.

“What the hell happened?”

I shouldn’t have left. I should have stayed with her.

“You need to take a breath. Panicking isn’t going to help them.” Erik motioned for me to follow.

The sterile glow of the fluorescent lights flickered overhead. The walls were too white, too clean. My skin felt clammy. Conrad. The crash.Crunch.

I couldn’t stop the flashes—the sharp sound of shattering glass, the metallic tang of blood in the air, his body crumpled, floating. It all came rushing back, punching the breath from my lungs.

Erik’s hand clamped on to my shoulder and the acrid sting of antiseptic filled my nostrils, dragging me back to the present.

I set up a meeting with one of my old contacts—a private investigator who owed me a favor. I know we didn’t want people to know. But this was bigger than us now, and I wanted a future with mywife.We couldn’t have this following us.

We were going to set up a trap. A bait and switch. I’d pretend to give in to the demands—get the blackmailer to come us, I would insist that’s the only way I’ll give up control.

All we needed was proof. A face. A name. Something to expose them for good.

Then it would be over. But we didn’t even get to that point.

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