“Hadley, I need you to calm the fuck down. It could be nothing.”
“Nothing? Nothing?” I shriek as smoke begins to fill the trailer.
“I need to get out of these fucking cable ties.” Ace begins to shuffle on his knees. “Can you see anything that might help?”
“I can hardly see you.” I cough and splutter as the smoke thickens, invading my senses. My eyes water, overpowered by the smell, and my lungs burn.
“Try not to breathe it in,” he orders, still rooting around the trailer.
But the more I panic, the more I suck in greedy breaths.
We’re going to die here.
The thought slams into me like a bolt of lightning. I’m never going to get to tell Cole how I feel about him. I’m never going to find out whether I’m pregnant or not. I’m never going to get to live.
Tears stream down my face as I start to drown in a trailer full of smoke.
“Hadley, I can’t see you. Just stay calm, okay? Cole will—“
“HADLEY?” a voice roars.
“Cole, thank fuck.” The words catch in Ace’s throat, and he starts choking.
The door is wrenched off its hinges and Cole’s silhouette fills the space. He looks like a dark angel against hell’s inferno.
“Get Hadley,” Ace yells. “I can make it out.”
I can see the inky night beyond Cole’s shoulders, but exhaustion weighs heavily in my body.
“Cole,” I croak, as the world starts to fade. My body slumps forward as I desperately try to stay lucid, but strong arms catch me.
“I’ve got you, Dove.”
But I lose the fight, and darkness engulfs me.
“She needs a hospital.”
“No, no fucking way. We need to end this, and now.”
Cole and Ace’s voices flit through my groggy mind. I try to open my eyes, but it’s safer here. Fingers gently brush my face and I turn into their warmth, wanting more.
“She’s coming to.”
Cole.
It’s Cole.
But just as I reach for him, my body begins to crash again.
“She needs a doctor.”
“So we get her a doctor. But not a hospital. She wouldn’t want that.”
“Fine, we take her to James’ house. Ellen might be able to help us.”
My body sinks further and further into the abyss, and the last thing I hear is Cole.
“Don’t leave me, Dove. I need you.”
My eyes flutter open and relief slams into me.
I’m okay.
Everything aches and my throat is dry and sore, but I’m okay.
I’m alive.
“C-Cole?” I rasp, but it’s Remi who rushes over to my side.
“Hadley, thank God. I was so scared...” She stops herself. “You’re okay, Hads. You’re going to be okay.”
I go to lift a hand to my head but feel the sharp pinch of an IV running into my skin.
“The doctor said fluids would help.”
“D-Doctor?” I try to sit up, but the room spins.
“You need to relax.” Remi gives me a reassuring smile. “You’ve been through some major trauma.”
“Cole, where’s Cole?”
“He’s... he’s not in a good place.” Her expression darkens. “Ace is trying to talk him out of doing anything stupid.”
“I need to see him.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good—“
“Remi, please.” Tears prick my eyes as I clutch her hand. I can’t explain it, but I need to see Cole myself.
“Okay.” She lets out a resigned sigh. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Remi hesitates, and I ask, “What is it?”
“I told him. I’m sorry, but when we realized you were gone, I panicked.”
My eyes shutter as I inhale a sharp breath.
Cole knows.
He knows I might be pregnant.
“Maybe seeing him isn’t—“
The door opens, and Ace peeks inside. “It’s good to see you awake.”
I nod, because it’s all too much.
The kidnapping. The trailer. The fire.
We could have died.
But as Ace stares back at me, I feel a strange sense of comfort. He gets it. He was there.
He almost died too.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I say, my voice cracked with pain.
“Cole wants to know if he can see you?”
“Okay.” The word falls from my lips.
“You sure?” Remi asks, and I nod. “We’ll be right outside.” She squeezes my hand before walking over to Ace. The two of them leave me alone, and, seconds later, Cole appears.
The sight of him has fresh tears burning the backs of my eyes.
“You’re okay,” I say.
He steps into the room, closing the door behind him. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” There’s no hint of softness in his face, no relief in his eyes. Instead, anger bleeds from him.
“Cole, I—“
“Shh.” He reaches me and brushes a finger down my cheek. I watch with awe as he studies my face, imprinting it to memory as if it might be the last time he ever sees me.
Panic begins to churn inside me.
He doesn’t ask about the pregnancy, and I don’t have the courage to bring it up. But it hangs in the space between us.
“I’ll never let another person hurt you, Dove,” he says quietly, his eyes burning with contempt. “He’ll pay for this. They all will.” Cole’s dark gaze lingers on me for a second longer and then, before I can formulate a reply, he turns away from me and stalks out of the room.
I want to go after him, to beg him not to do anything reckless, but fear paralyzes me.
Remi rushes into the room, her eyes wide with fear. “What happened? What did he say?”
“He’s going after them,” I say, a shiver racing down my spine.
“Ace won’t let him do anything stupid.”
But as she reaches my side, taking my hand in hers, I see the truth glitter in her eyes.
Remi knows as well as I do that Ace won’t be able to stop Cole. Someone hurt the people he cares about. Someone hurt me.
Cole won’t stop until Donny Lopez is no longer a threat.
He won’t stop until he’s dead.
Chapter Four
Cole
“Let’s go,” I bark at Ace as I slam the door, cutting me off from where I really want to be.
“W-what?” he stutters, his eyes going so wide I fear they’re about to pop out.
“Let’s fucking go.”
“Cole, I really don’t think—”
“Come with me, or I go alone. The choice is yours.” I stand toe-to-toe with him, waiting for him to make a decision. I could really use his backup with this, but I won’t bat an eyelid about doing what needs to be done alone.
“Fucking hell, Cole.”
“What? If we don’t do something, this is going to get worse. That motherfucker isn’t going to stop until he’s dead and buried, and you know it.”
“No, no, no,” Conner starts, but I tune him out. He doesn't get this, but I know Ace does. I can see his hunger, his thirst for Donny’s blood. It runs almost as deeply as it does for me.