Page 87 of Slaughtered Firefly
“You would have what? Hidden her from Midas? From Dad? Wake up Summer, you don’t even want to save yourself.”
It felt like a slap. I stumbled backwards. I couldn’t breathe.Save myself.I couldn’t kill him, could I? Daddy — No he was no dad. I straightened myself. The trigger clicked, and another bullet whizzed towards him.
“Jesus fucking christ!” The bullet slammed into his shoulder.
“You do NOT get to lecture me about Midas, and you mention his name one more time and I swear I will kill you where you stand.” I couldn’t deal with assaults on two fronts. Even now my legs shook from the pain, my body ached from the torment, I hadn’t given myself the chance to process. It wasn’t the priority, so as I stood there wiping away tears under my swollen eyes, I buried the truth. “You let them. Floorboard creaks don’t lie. You stood by and watched. You fucking coward. You were never better for Gabriella than me. You did this! She’s just a child. I was just a girl.” I was beating on his chest now. Guilt flashed in his eyes when I looked at him. Flood gates had opened inside of me, and it was all washing over me without ceasing. All the years of emotional trauma, of fighting and never once winning unless someone else let me. The heartbreak shattered the pieces of my mind. “I lost her. I didn’t even get to hold her…” I broke down, and he caught me in my fall as I sobbed.
“It’s all my fault.”
“Make it go away. Make it stop hurting every time I breathe in. Make my heart stop slamming against my chest like it’s trying to escape.” I didn’t know if I was making sense anymore.
My heart was in shambles. I thought I had it all figured out, that Dustin would help me kill Midas, but when I saw that paper, I knew I couldn’t trust him. The kids we found had faces like hers — innocent. So pure, untouched by trauma and pain. Dustin called it in; he had too, there was no avoiding it. His duty was to the badge, not me. He could play his little game of pretend; I was done waiting for others to catch up. I won’t be a prisoner to anyone…again. My mind raced as I considered who would take Gabby. There were too many threads pulled taunt. A tangled web of lies that would one day kill me–it didn’t matter anymore; the only thing that mattered was Gabriella.
“Who else knew?” I sobbed, pushing Cole away. I wanted nothing more than to be in his arms, but I couldn’t bring myself to give in to him. Cole was the reason I was missing my child. He grabbed me again, ignoring the question. Blood coated his torso. I had smeared it in my broken state. forgetting the bullet was still in his shoulder, but he didn’t care about that. I shoved my thumb into the wound, and his eyes flashed with anger as he shouted.
I took a step back, needing the space to think. “Who else fucking knew?”
“Isabella, I needed someone who could act as a mother. She wouldn’t do that though, I’ve paid her well,” he gritted out.
“Well she’s dead,” I sniffled. He looked at me with a look of pride and love, but I couldn’t be sucked into that. I just stared.
“ Reyna knew who she was, I don’t know who else would have put the dots together…” he trailed off before muttering, “oh no.”
“What?”
“He wouldn’t do that to you — ”
“Who?”
“Scott, I had to pick him up. I was visiting Reyna, giving her money and checking in. You called me from the hospital, and I raced to pick him up. We were only there for a few hours — ”
“What happened?”
“He stabbed me after learning the truth about your past and said he’d go kill Midas. He didn’t know who Gabriella belonged to, I swear. She only calls me uncle. If he did do it, I’ll kill him myself.” Cole paced back and forth, muttering curses under his breath.
“Where the fuck is he?” I beat the pistol against my temple trying to think of who Scott would seek, and I cried.Stupid girl.
“We have to set up a meeting with the blacks, it’s the only way to know for sure.” My gut twisted. I didn’t have a good feeling about this, but I would do everything to get her back.
“I’ll do it.”
“No, go get stitched up, I will do it. I don’t want your weak stomach to be the reason I lose my child and my — ” I shook my head, too rattled by everything.Fuck.
“So you do love him?” Cole’s question sounded more like a statement, and I didn’t know how to respond. My mouth felt dry, and I swallowed hard.
“I don’t know, I just don’t want him dead, if that means I love him then shoot me in the head if you can’t get on board.” What did I want?Family, I wanted my family.
“And the cop?” His mouth was set in a grim line, as if there were too many negative thoughts running through his head. That same look he got before a switch flipped, before he became that savage killer.
“I — ” I paused. There was no sense in trying to deny the feelings I felt towards the men in my life. If he couldn’t accept it, then he wasn’t worth being in my life. I stood there watching the emotions play out on his face before he gave a short laugh.
“Jesus woman, you’ll be the death of us all.” Cole shook his head in acceptance.
57
DIVORCE
Present day
