Page 134 of Twisted Redemption

“Remember when I said I’d fight for you?”

She nods. Her breaths are coming out in an uneven pattern, and the look she’s giving me—I’d recognize it anywhere. She’s terrified I’m about to break her heart again.

“I meant it.” My hand slides over my body until it finds hers. “I will never, ever stop fighting for you. Not when you need space. Not when you doubt me. The pattern is broken, Brooke, because I’m going to be your peace, not your chaos. I’ll fight to be that every day.”

“But I didn’t fight for you,” she whispers.

“Didn’t you, though?” My thumb runs across the back of her hand. “You weren’t giving up on me. You weren’t giving up on us. You were taking time to sort through your emotions. To make sure we could make this work. Right?”

She nods silently.

I smile. “Thinking things through is its own kind of fighting. And based on the fact that you’re here, I’d say you won against your fears.”

She stares at me like what I just said was complete gibberish.

“You in there?”

“How can you be okay with this? You almost died because of me.”

“Because I can never be okay with not having you, Brooke. Two weeks wasn’t enough. Hell, a lifetime won’t be enough. And I refuse to waste another moment of our time together.”

“But—”

“We both have things that happened to us in the past that fucked us up, Daisy. Healing from those things will probably take a long time. And there isn’t another person who I’d love to heal with more than you.”

“Blaze,” she whispers. Her eyes are locked on mine, even as they fill with tears.

“I love you,” I tell her gently. “And nothing will ever change that.”

“You’re my everything,” she whispers.

“I know. Now get up here and kiss me.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

BROOKE

ONE WEEK LATER

THE HOSPITAL KEPT Blaze for another day, and if Dominic wasn’t with us, he made sure to have two guys from Grayson Security stationed outside the room.

Apparently, the night Blaze got shot, just about everyone showed up at the hospital—Ryan and Liling followed us, and then Dominic, Felix, and Alex were there with Sophia and some woman named Willow. Hell, even Imani and DeAndre came once they found out what happened.

I really don’t remember any of it.

Charlie showed up the next day. I thought things would be awkward between us, but they weren’t. And she made sure to let me know that she’s settling everything with her will as quickly as she can, and then her and Blaze will be getting divorced.

Once Blaze was discharged from the hospital, Alex was herding us home to pack, and then practically shoving us onto a private plane.

“You’re not safe here,” he said, “and until we find David, we need you two out of here.”

“Out of here” was code for some luxurious, oceanside resort. Only Dominic and Alex know where we are. Well, and a doctor that comes to check on Blaze daily, because apparently both our older brothers are paranoid when it comes to our wellbeing.

We’re not sure how long we’ll be here. However long it takes them to take care of David, I guess.

After he shot Blaze, Ryan scared him off, and no one’s seen him since. He hasn’t even gone back to the cabin.

I’m just glad he ran away so Ryan could find us. I wasn’t able to push Blaze off of me, and he would’ve bled out if Ryan hadn’t come and helped me.

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