Page 168 of Lush

Not while the shallow, rasping sound of Reese’s breath filled the air.

His eyes were hazy, unfocused, but they found mine.

“Reese, please,” I begged. “Please, don’t—don’t leave me. I love you, stay awake. Stay with me, baby.”

His trembling hand weakly reached for mine, his skin cold and clammy.

“I love you too,” he breathed, the words barely audible. A sudden darkness clouded his eyes; his hand, growing cold and still, slipped from my grasp.

A cacophony of sirens filled the air, growing louder and closer, a desperate, hopeless sound, but it was agonizingly too late.

CHAPTER 33

Reese

“Why won’t he wake up?”

I fought to focus, but my brain was all fuzzy. I was so tired, and the darkness was so comforting. But I didn’t need to open my eyes to know who it was. Laurene. She sounded fragile, barely holding it together.

Papers shuffled quietly; someone was looking through a document. “Your husband lost a lot of blood.”

“Oh lord, he gonna die!” Gigi screamed, and immediately I heard the room calming her down.

“Please, Gigi, we don’t need that right now,” Serena snapped.

“I can’t lose him,” Laurene murmured. I felt the pressure of her hand wrapping around mine, the warmth of her touch grounding me. “I can’t, please.”

“Lu. You need to get some sleep. You’ve been here for three days,” Erik said.

“He gonna die!” Gigi wailed again, and this time Walter started to howl.

“Georgiana,” Vincent snapped.

Three days? My mind was all over the place, like a broken puzzle.

Nina.

I rushed to our Vegas office after leaving Harold, and Nathan showed me my mother’s transactions. A quick call to my mom confirmed it all. She had trusted Nina, let her have access to her accounts for years, never realizing Nina had been siphoning cash from us, hiding it right under our noses.

“Can’t you wake him up, Doctor?” Gigi said.

“You’ve been asking that question for the past hour, Gigi. The answer’s still the same,” Serena snapped. “He’ll wake up when he’s ready.”

“I’m just saying! Shine a flashlight in his eyes? Give him those poppers? Stick a thermometer up his butt?” Gigi said. “I can get him awake.”

“No!”the room shouted and suddenly the bed rocked dangerously and commotion happened before everyone quieted down.

“The bullet came close to his heart. It was an intense surgery.” The doctor’s voice was steady, but I could hear the weight of it. “He just needs to rest.”

“But he’s not gonna die?” Noelle’s voice was soft as she asked, and Gigi made a sound of agreement.

“No. For the tenth time, no.” The doctor’s voice was firm.

“This is embarrassing,” Serena muttered.

I wanted to say something—anything—to assure them all. But the words wouldn’t come. My mind was trapped and my eyes were closed.

Nina had been too close, too involved for years.

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