Page 96 of Wild Side
“I’m so glad you came home,” she whispers.
I could tell her that I didn’t actually come home, but since everything I own is in my car, that would be a lie. She takes a step backward, her fingers gripping my shoulders as her gaze searches mine. I watch as her lips curve up into a smile.
“Let’s go get something to eat, you look exhausted and hungry,” she says.
Turning my head, I look over to the bed where Lightning is resting. Bullet clears his throat, and I shift my gaze from the bed to meet his.
“You doin’ okay?” he asks. I can hear the concern in his voice.
Blinking, I clear my throat. “I’m okay. I’m not worried about me, though,” I whisper.
Bullet’s lips twitch into a smirk. “I got him. Go get something to eat.”
His words bring me not only comfort but also a sense of safety that I didn’t realize I was looking for. Dakota takes my hand as he guides me out of the hospital room. With every step that I take farther from Lightning, I wonder how I left in the first place all those months ago.
It feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest. I don’t understand the extreme sensation, but I think that it’s becauseof what happened to him. He could have died. I don’t know what I would have done or how I would have felt if that happened.
I might have become even more lost than I already am. The fact that I have been through as much as I have in my life, and continue to overcome, I’m not sure that type of grief is something I could have crawled out from beneath.
Lightning is special.
I fell in love with him a long time ago. This world would be a darker place without him, and I would be in the depths of that darkness.
CHAPTER FOUR
LIGHTNING
Sucking in a deep breath,I open my eyes and let out a groan at the absolute fucking pain that slices through my stomach. Fuck. I forgot about this stupid fucking incision. When my gaze meets Bullet’s, I can’t hide my surprise. Looking around the room, I try to find Briana, but Bullet is the only other person here.
“She and Dakota went to get something to eat. I don’t think she’s slept or eaten since she left Cleveland two days ago,” Bullet murmurs, answering my unasked question.
Before I can respond, he clears his throat and then sinks down in Briana’s abandoned chair. His eyes find mine, searching my own, and for a moment, I think he’s going to kick me out of the Reapers or something, because he looks goddamn distraught.
“We haven’t caught the guy yet,” he states.
I almost laugh, the tension leaving my body in a single whoosh. “Does Cid know who it was?” I ask.
Bullet doesn’t answer me immediately. Instead, he clears his throat again and shifts in his seat. Which means she does know who it is, and he doesn’t want to admit that they know who did it and can’t find him.
“She started dating some guy in Raleigh. Businessman, or so she thought. Turns out he was involved in some shady shit and was using her to get to us. Well, using her to get involved with us and get a foot in the door.”
“And when she figured it out and dumped him, that’s when he decided to shoot her?” I ask.
“Essentially, unfortunately for Cidney, he had let her inside his operation as a way to entice her to get him a meeting with the Reapers.”
“So he was trying to kill her because he told her too much. What a whole fucking piece of shit.”
“Essentially,” Bullet states.
“What do we do now?” I ask. “She know his name?”
“She does. She’s given it to us, but I’m pretty sure he’s underground or it’s a fake name, because we can’t find him anywhere.”
Fucking wonderful.
“One thing we have that he likely wasn’t banking on, though,” Bullet continues. “Piggy outfitted Lainey’s bakery with a whole fucking security system just in case anyone tried any fly shit in an effort to get to him.”
My lips slowly curve up into a grin at that announcement. “I get released today,” I say.
