Page 95 of A Little Bit Reckless
Eventually, Bow stopped crying. Eventually, she closed her eyes, and even after she grew quiet, Bru and I didn’t say anything. We just held her. We were doing what she needed in the moment. We stayed presentfor her.
We’d do anything for her.
The three of us remained like that for a long time, in Bow’s hospital bed. We only let go when her parents came into the room. Mrs. Reed immediately went to Bow, and Bru and I gave them both that space. Mr. Reed was right behind her, as well as the rest of the Legacy families. That tiny-ass room didn’t stay tiny for long after our parents made some calls. They got Bow the space she both needed and deserved, and the parents only added to the comfort.
Before they arrived, Bow had asked us to stay silent about the pregnancy to our folks. She wasn’t ready to tell them, and we understood. Bru and I let her be surrounded by love that night, and eventually, all our friends came in to visit her too. Bow had a lot of love. She had a lot of family.
“I lost the baby. I lost her, him.”
Those were the last words Bow said to Bru and me before the parents arrived as she clutched her stomach. She’d been pregnant, but she wasn’t now.
She wasn’t now.
Bru and I looked at each other, a silent exchange shared between us. We had so many silent exchanges, but we kept that shit on lock.
We had to.
Bru and I texted Bow in our group chat before we left the hospital that night. She was physically safe with her family, our families. She was alive, but she wasn’t okay. She might not ever be. She might not be for a long time.
“I lost the baby.”
Bru and I kept our texts with Bow simple. We told her we were going out for a little bit, but we’d come running if she needed us. She was good with our families, safe, but, before we actually left the hospital, we asked if it was okay to tell the Legacies about the pregnancy. We’d only tell our friends.
Bow:Yeah, it’s okay.
It’s okay.
Bow:I love you both.
She was our everythingwhich was why we were going to bat for her when she physically couldn’t at the moment. Bru and I were going to take care of the girl we loved.
Weallwere going to take care of her.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE
Wells
Honestly, it didn’t take long to find Bow’s professor. Again, he had dinner with our parents, so I knew about him. He was a man of influence and only taught because he was a scholar. He was a man dedicated to a life of research, and because of that, he had a lot of clout. He also had a lot of money and came from a long line of scholars which was why he knew our parents. They all often attended benefits together, and my parents even donated to some of the grants that funded this fucker’s research.
All our parents had.
Which meant that I knew how to find him.
This guy had access to Bow. He did in so many fucking ways, and Bow hadn’t been the fool. She’d been her trusting and kind self.
He let us right in.
Well, his maid had, and my friends and I found this fucker in front of his fireplace. He was a brunette with perfectly coiffed hair. He had a bottle of vodka beside him, no glass. Like he’d been drinking something away, his fears maybe. Maybe he knew my friends and I would ultimately come for him.
He didn’t even fight.
We stood in front of him now, all my buddies and I. We dragged this guy in his velvet robe and matching slippers into the woods behind his house. He lived on the outskirts of Pembroke’s campus. The woods known as Grimwood Hollow were known for being a labyrinthine. In fact, hikers got lost out there all the time, and even attacked by coyotes and mountain lions.
There were five animals here now, but only one monster.
Bow told us she recognized him from the parking lot when no one else had. Shit, no one had even caught a plate on the person who almost ran her and Sloane over. My friends and I had asked around. We were also well connected to the university, so we knew the school was conducting an investigation. Our intel let us know even the authorities had no leads on the person yet though. The driver had gotten away, went ghost.
