Page 87 of Glitter Rose
“Yes.” He floors the gas.
My hand is sticky with drying blood. I wipe it on my pants, leaving rust-colored smears on the fabric.
He would have killed Knox.
The SUV bounces over the uneven terrain, each jolt sending fresh pain through my ribs. But as we reach the main road, the ride smoothens out.
I reach into my pocket, fingers closing around the diamond ring and sliding it onto my finger, where it belongs.
Knox reaches across the console, taking my hand in his, his thumb’s gentle caress numbing the spreading pain.
“Knox?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
He glances at me. “I love you, princess.”
“I—” Dizziness takes over. “Knox?”
I’m falling, drifting, tumbling through space.
“Paris! Stay with me!”
His hand squeezes mine, but I can’t squeeze back. My fingers are numb, disconnected from my brain’s commands.
“Fuck—Paris, open your eyes!”
I try. God, I try. But my eyelids might as well be welded shut, heavy as iron doors.
The taste of copper fills my mouth. Blood. My blood?
That can’t be good.
“Goddammit, don’t you dare.” His voice breaks, sharpened by fear. “Princess. Please.”
Something about the raw desperation in his voice touches a part of me that’s fading. I claw toward consciousness, battling the undertow, trying to…
Survive.
EPILOGUE
KNOX
My boots pound against the metal stairs, each step a heartbeat closer to her.
Medical room.
My lungs burn, but I don’t slow down.
Paris is awake.
Three days of her lying there, pale as death, while Vivian pumped her full of antibiotics and painkillers and whatever the fuck else to keep her breathing.
Three days of me sitting beside her bed, watching her fight nightmares I couldn’t chase away.
And now she’s awake the second I step away to get coffee, asking for me. That’s what Dante said, bursting into the kitchen.
