Page 91 of Relentless (The Titans of Founder's Ridge 2)

“Probably not.” I don’t really want to think about the situation for the time being. “Denial sounds like a nice place to exist for a while.”

“As long as you don’t stay too long.” The elevator doors open, and he pushes me on. “I know I’m not okay. Hearing that you had been taken was hands down the scariest moment of my life. Finding you and Claire on the side of the road was the best, by the way.”

We exit the elevator, and he turns left down a long hall. We stop outside the room, and he leans to whisper in my ear. “I know you don’t want to deal with all your feelings right now, but I want you to know I’m here for you. I’ll support you in any way.”

I grab him behind the neck and pull him down for a kiss. “I love you. Now let me in. I need to see her with my own two eyes.”

“Yes ma’am.” He does a cheeky salute.

He sweeps the door open and pushes me inside. Lilith is laying in the ugly green hospital gown, her skin a couple shades paler than it usually is. She’s got some faint bruising on her face and arms.

As soon as she sees me, she tries to sit up but winces and leans back.

“I’ll come to you bitch, calm down.” I stand up slowly from the wheelchair with Levi walking beside me, ready to catch me if I lose my balance. I smack his hand away and tell him, “I’m fine. Everyone leave. I need a few minutes with my bestie.”

Con and Levi stare each other down, and I don’t miss the anger simmering between them. I’ll have to figure out what that’s all about. Griff walks between them, breaking the stare down. They all walk out into the hall.

“What’s up with the tension between Levi and Con?” I ask.

“Levi blames Connor for everything. Yesterday he even tried to tell Connor I was forbidden from marrying him until he takes care of his family business.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“Obviously I gave him shit for acting like I’m property and not a human being with free will. If I’m being totally honest though, I get it. I don’t want to marry into a family that’s fighting a war on multiple fronts. I just don’t know anymore. I keep thinking about my dad and how he died protecting them. I don’t want the same fate, you know.” She sighs heavily and looks at her engagement ring. “How are you?”

“I’m okay, just a concussion and hypothermia.”

“You say that like it’s a typical Tuesday,” she chuckles. “I heard what you did for Claire, pulling her to shore in choppy, open water. I wish none of this ever happened, but I’m so glad she was with you. I couldn’t have done what you did.”

“You wouldn’t have needed to. Your self-defense skills are amazing. They definitely weren’t expecting you to be able to take on two at a time.”

“Still didn’t help in that situation,” she looks out the window. “Sometimes I forget that I’m not invincible. That I won’t always have the upper hand. When I saw that guy hit you with the rock, I wanted to die.” She turns back to me with tears in her eyes. “I was so scared.”

“Same. I saw the knife right before he stabbed you and I was knocked out. It was all I could think about when I came to in the van.” I crawl beside her when she pats her bed. “I haven’t even let myself think too hard about it. I just told Levi on the way down here I wanted to live in denial for a few days.” We hold hands and lean back on her pillow. “You’re still planning on getting married, right?”

“I don’t know, Ives. I love Connor so much, but I feel like I’ve been left in the dark about important things. I don’t want to be coddled and put in a bubble. I need complete honesty and disclosure if things are going to move forward.”

The thought of Con and Lilith not being together shakes me to my core. A reckoning is on the horizon.

Epilogue

LEVI

SIX WEEKS LATER

“Isit really necessary for me to be blindfolded?” Ives asks while griping my hands. “Especially the entire two-hour trip to wherever this is?”

“Yes, it is,” I answer.

Griff, Dad, and Lilith did an amazing job setting everything up. We each spent several weekends fixing up the trail to lake and the dock at the camp. Lilith lined it with lanterns lit with tiny candles. There’s a bowl of gummy bears and a bottle of champagne ready for us on the blanket at the end of the dock.

Mother nature is cooperating with us tonight, with a full moon overhead and stars lighting up the night sky. There are even some fireflies buzzing around the shore. My mom’s ring sits in my pocket, ready to slide on Ivy’s finger.

“You know, wherever this place is smells like Foster’s. That’s funny.” She smiles softly.

“It’s not Foster’s,” I say. That’s not a lie, I’m changing the name to Lockwood Lake Athletic Camp. It’s no longer going to be for elite athletes, I’ve brought Zion on to help with low-income outreach, and eventually I want to add camp sessions for disabled athletes.

As soon as we pass the pool and get down to the trail, I pull off her blindfold. It only takes her a second to realize where we are. She looks around with a huge smile lighting up her beautiful face.

---