Page 158 of Pretty Poisoned

I didn't mean to.

"I'm not a bad person," I say aloud. "I'm not a bad person. I'm not a bad person. I'm not bad."

"Of course you're not, sweetheart," Declan says. He kneels beside me and takes the knife from my hand. "You're perfect, Teagan. You're an angel—you saved him. You did so good."

"Really?"

"Yes." He kisses me on my forehead. "I'm so proud of you. You look so pretty like this."

I breathe a sigh of relief and finally let out a sob. "You're not going to hurt me?"

"No, kitten. Why would I hurt you?"

"I caused a problem. I…made a mess."

Someone bangs on the bathroom door with their fist, and I jump, panicking.

"It's just River," he says. "I called her; it's okay. Riv?"

"Yeah, it's me," she says through the door.

He turns the bolt and opens the door just enough for her to step inside.

"Oh, fuck," she says. "Teagan…"

I see fear in her blue eyes. She's fucking terrified; it hurts.

"I didn't mean to," I tell her through tears. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about her," Declan says. "He's been shot—look at him."

She turns her attention away from me and to Luca instead. Declan holds out a hand to me and pulls me to my feet as River kneels on the ground beside Luca.

He holds his shirt against the wound, blood pours down his now-bare chest. River moves the shirt to the side to get a look at the bullet hole.

"I mean…it went straight through," she says. "It doesn't look like it hit a major artery or anything, or we'd know. But…Declan, I'm not a doctor. I can't treat gunshot wounds like this. He needs a real doctor."

"I'll take care of it," Declan says. "I'm going to make a few calls and get rid of all these fucking assholes. Lock the door behind me, Teagan, and stay put."

"Am I going to go to jail?" I ask him.

"Of course not," he says. "Do you really think I would let anything like that happen to you? I'm going to take care of it, Teagan—everything will be okay. Trust me."

He leaves, and I bolt the door behind him as promised. I sit on the other side of Luca, and he takes my hand in his.

"Luca, you really need to lie down," River tells him.

"Fuck that," he says. "This is a fucking dirty ass men's restroom."

"It doesn't matter. You're going to faint if you don't. I'm surprised you haven't already."

"I did a lot of cocaine."

"Yeah, that's not helping you. Lie down."

"Fuuuuuck," he groans as he slides down onto the floor. "This is the worst part of the whole night."

I can't help but laugh. I try not to—I know River doesn't think any of this is funny.Iknow none of this is funny, but I'm in shock, I'm high, and I'm shaking everywhere.

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