Page 191 of The Billion Heirs Boxed Set
I jerk when a gunshot rings out. Holy fuck.
My heart plummets to my stomach. God, no. Not my Sadie.
I grab Rainey by her shoulders. “It sounds like it came from a basement or something. Underneath here. Where the fuck are they?”
Rainey chokes out a sob in her gravelly voice and points to a door right off the kitchen. “Basement.”
I don’t think. I only react. I race down the creaking wooden stairs to the basement, nearly losing my footing several times, but nothing will keep me from Sadie.
“Sadie? Baby! I’m coming!”
I reach the concrete floor of the basement, let my eyes adjust to the darkness.
Oh, God…
Blood seeps toward me on the ground.
No. God, please, no! Not Sadie, not my Sadie. I take a step, and—
In a flash, Sadie’s in my arms, her small body hitting mine.
In my arms—warm, safe, sobbing.
My Sadie.
I kiss her wet cheeks. Her lips. The top of her head. I hold her so tight that she pulls away from me finally, gasping.
“My God, baby.” I kiss her tear-stained cheeks. “What happened here?”
Then in the corner, I see. Curt Hopkins lies unconscious on the gray concrete floor.
“Is he—”
She shakes her head. “No. No. He’s just unconscious. But he does need an ambulance. I shot him in the leg, and when he fell he hit his head on the floor.”
“Fuck, baby. I thought—” I gulp in a breath. Then another. “I thought I had lost you. I thought I had lost the woman I love.”
Her eyes widen, and she sniffs back another sob. “What?”
“I love you, Sadie Hopkins. I never thought love was possible for me, but I fucking love you.” I pull her hard against my body. “Don’t you ever scare me like this again.”
She melts into me, her body sinking into mine, and murmurs something into my shoulder.
I hope she’s telling me she loves me too, but in this moment? It doesn’t even matter. All that matters is that she’s safe. Safe in my arms.
The uniformed police officers stomp down the steps, their guns drawn.
“What’s going on down here?” one of them asks. “Is everything okay?”
“I’d say everything’s not okay.” The other blue points to Curt bleeding and unconscious in the corner.
Sadie pulls away from me then, her face swollen and tear stained. “He’s my father. He was holding a gun on me. I shot him in self-defense.”
An officer raises his weapon and points it at Sadie. “Put down the gun!” he shouts.
“For fuck’s sake!” I shield Sadie with my body, snag it from her hand, and five it to the officer. “Here.”
“I told you what was going on, that I couldn’t find her. Obviously the woman upstairs is a big fucking liar.” I point at Sadie. “She’s a cop, for God’s sake.”
