“Grace,” I whispered, my voice gruff as I wiped away a tear that spilled down her cheek. “I’m sorry.”
Grace slapped at my hand. “You want a word?” she growled.
Grabbing my shoulders with both hands, Grace yanked me towards her and crushed her mouth on mine in the most wild and aggressive kiss of my life. I felt it all—anger, betrayal, and underlying arousal. I gave it back just as hard, bruising her lips, my cock filling rapidly in my pants. She made me forget there was anyone else in the room. I was ready to find the nearest wall to shove her against when she pulled away. Then without warning, she slammed her knee in my groin.
“Arrghh fuck!” I bit out, stars exploding behind my eyes. I sucked in a breath, trying to fight past the pain and not puke.
“There’s your word, asshole!” Grace shouted.
I staggered when she dug her hand inside the pocket of my pants. She yanked it back out, bringing with it the sound of jangling keys.
“Whatever we had is done,” she bit out, brushing swiftly past me as I hunched over against the wall.
“You’re dead,” was Henry’s ominous warning before he cocked back a fist. I waited for the hit, prepared to take it, when Jared stepped in front of me. Henry’s eyes widened for a split second, but it was too late to stop the momentum.
There was a grunt of pain and a muttered curse when Jared took the fist meant for me. It wasn’t that hard. Henry had managed to slow it down, but Jared still swayed a little. “Don’t just stand there like a stunned twat,” he barked with a hand held to his jaw. “Go after her.”
“Shit.” I threw an apologetic look his way and ran for the door.
“Don’t think I won’t be digging your grave while your gone, Casey!” Henry shouted after me.
I rounded the car park out the back in time to see Grace sitting in the driver’s seat of my car. She was frantically thumbing through the keys to find the right one.
“Grace!” I yelled, running towards her.
She glanced my way quickly before her eyes returned to the task. Holding up the right key in her hand, she slotted it in the ignition and turned it, chanting, “Come on, come on,” as the engine kicked over effortlessly.
The loud, throaty purr echoed through the dark night like hot sex. Taking no time to admire the erotic sound, I ran for the passenger door just as she thrust my baby into gear.
“Back off, Casey!” she shouted when I opened it. “I’m taking your Marjorie for a wild ride and you’re not invited!”
“Get out of the car, Grace!”
“Fuck. You.” Her jaw locked and her foot hovered over the accelerator ominously.
My eyes narrowed. “Don’t you dare!”
She planted her foot down. Hard. I had just enough time to slide inside the car before she careened Marjorie out of the car park like she was unleashing a wild animal. I slammed the door shut before it was ripped off.
“Grace,” I panted, still catching my breath. “Pull over.”
“Were you sleeping with that woman with the horrible shoes at the same time as me?”
“Horrible shoes?” I echoed.
“They don’t match her outfit,” Grace muttered. After a beat of silence, she slammed a fist against the steering wheel. “Answer me!”
“No, Grace. I wasn’t sleeping with her at the same time I was with you. Or anyone else,” I added before she could ask that too. “Now pull over,” I ordered as she fishtailed my baby around a left turn.
She glanced sideways as we dashed through an orange light, her expression both pissed and sceptical and I knew she didn’t believe me. “I saw her in the bar, Casey. She was attached to you like a barnacle.”
“Believe me, I know,” I muttered under my breath.
“You had your hand all fisted in her horrible hair!”
“Her horrible hair?”
“Yes, horrible. It needs a protein treatment. It’s all dried out from God knows how many bad dye jobs she’s killed it with.”
“I don’t give a shit about Morgan’s hair, Slim.”
“Well it’s obvious she doesn’t give a proper shit about it either, isn’t it?”
“Jesus fucking …” I trailed off, shaking my head. Grace careened through another orange light. “At least slow down if you’re not going to pull over.”
“Is she an ex-girlfriend, Casey? God. You know what? Why do I even care? You and I are only temporary so it’s not supposed to hurt like this.”
“No. She’s not. I slept with her once before I met you. And it hurts because this is more than temporary.”
“What?” Grace took her eyes off the road to scowl at me. “No it’s not.”
“Grace,” I growled warningly, jerking my chin at the road. The car lurched when she gave her attention back to the road. “Just pull over. I’ll drive us back to the loft and we can talk about this properly.”
“No. Let’s just clear the air now.”
Fine. If hearing the shitty details was what it took to make her pull over then I’d give them to her. “I slept with Morgan. I thought she might be able to help me with information on a case. Turns out she can, but she won’t give it to me.”
“What, unless you sleep with her again?” Grace took her eyes off the road again to shoot me a look of disbelief. “Is that how you operate over there? You fuck people for information?”
“Grace!” I barked. “Watch the road.” Her focus returned to the random street we were driving down. “And no, that’s not how we operate. This case … it’s important.”
“I see,” she muttered, her tone telling me didn’t see at all. But why would she? It wasn’t like I’d been an open book. “What case?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t want to open that book. At least not right now. It was hardly the time or the place.
“Casey?” She frowned across at me as we flew through the green light at an intersection. “What case?”
My eyes widened, horror punching through me when I saw the headlights bearing down on us. The car was heading right for Grace and it wasn’t deviating. “Grace! Look out!”
She screamed and I grabbed for the wheel. But the warning came too late, and the car wasn’t just coming at us too damn fast, it wasn’t slowing down. At all.
The sound of impact was no less than what I imagined it would sound like for a plane to hit the ground after hurtling from the sky. It was a roar of grinding, crunching metal and smashing glass, followed by eerie silence. Then everything went black.
I woke fuzzy and lightheaded to Grace sobbing my name over and over. The sound of sirens screamed in my ears and my eyes blinked open, my vision distorted.
“Grace,” I rasped, my head falling back against the seat when I tried to lift it.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” she chanted.
I don’t know how long I was out for because a fire crew already surrounded the car. My door was ripped open quickly. “You okay in there?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“What’s your name?”
“Casey,” I panted, sweat breaking over my brow when bolts of pain shot through me. Gritting my teeth, I tried turning my head to see Grace and cried out.
“Don’t try moving,” I was told.
“Grace,” I mumbled, my vision fuzzy and grey around the edges.
“Grace. That your girl’s name?”
I blinked, trying to focus on the guy talking to me. “Yeah.”
“Hold tight, Casey, we’re gonna get you and Grace out in a minute. Just waiting on the paramedics. In the meantime, I don’t want you moving. We need to get a neck brace on you as a precautionary measure, okay?”
“Okay.”
The fireman stood up and spoke to someone standing behind him. “What’s the ETA on the ambulance?”
The answer came quick. “Two minutes.”
“We’re gonna need two,” I heard him say. “We’ll get him out first. They’ll need to get a line in on the girl. She’s trapped in there. Gonna need the jaws to get her ou
t. Get someone on it now.”
“No!” I cried out, my voice cracking at hearing she was trapped. “Grace?”
Nothing.
Panic clawed at me. Bracing against the pain, I turned my head. Grace slumped against the headrest. Blood spattered her face and neck and all down her right side. Shards of jagged glass littered her clothes and hair. Her side of the car was crumpled inwards, showing just how much of the impact she’d sustained. She looked so broken.
“Grace!” I cried hoarsely, fighting back tears. “Answer me!”
The fireman spun back around, crouching low at the open door. He fixed his eyes on mine. Finally able to focus, I could see they were dark brown and firm. Straightforward eyes you could trust. “What’s your name?” I asked him.
“Lieutenant Saunders, but you can call me Liam.”
“I’m not leaving her here, Liam,” I rasped. “You get her out first.”
“We’re working on getting her out right now, but I can’t let you stay with her.”
“I’m not leaving her here.”
Liam shook his head. “I’m sorry. Is there anyone I can get in touch with for you?”
“Travis.” He was my next of kin, had been for almost as long as I’d known him. “My phone is in my back pocket.”
“I don’t want to move you. How about you just give me his number?”
He tapped it in his phone as I recited the number. “Be right back,” he told me and stood, taking a few steps away from the car. While he murmured in quiet conversation on the phone, I felt movement on my right.
“Casey?” Grace moaned.
“Grace, baby, you’re gonna be okay.”
The screaming of sirens getting closer filled the cool, dark night air. At the same time, four firemen surrounded Grace’s car door. The sound of the hydraulic pump thumped and whirred, competing with the sirens as two of them began cutting the metal of my car. Two more stood behind, ready to provide assistance.
God.
They were cutting Grace from my car.
My stomach rolled.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and I almost didn’t hear her over the grinding crunch of metal. She moved her arm, inching her hand across the seat.
“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault.” I took it in mine. The fit felt perfect but her hand was so cold. I gave it a light squeeze, letting her know I was there and wasn’t leaving. “That car came out of nowhere.”
Then I realised something that made me frown. Liam had only mentioned two ambulances—one for me and one for Grace. What about whoever was in the other car? “Liam.”
The man crouched again, meeting my eyes. “Travis is already on his way to the hospital. He’s going to meet you there.”
“Thanks.” Sharp bolts of pain stabbed from somewhere inside me. It was a pain unlike anything I’d felt before. I gasped, shifting.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine,” I told him, shaking off the dizzy sensation. “The other car?”
He shook his head, his eyes grim. “Fled the scene.”
I cursed. It could’ve been an accidental hit and run, but I remember the car not slowing down. That didn’t spell accident to me. Someone hit us deliberately.
“Casey,” Grace whispered. “Your car.”
“I don’t care about the car, baby. I don’t. I care about you. Just you.”
“I’m sorry. I had no right to get so angry. I just saw her touching you and—” Grace shifted and cried out.
“Grace—”
“—and I saw red.”
“Don’t.” I shouldn’t have strung Morgan along. That was on me. I just couldn’t give up on my family and finding answers. Letting go was hard. Just the thought made my eyes sting. I wasn’t ready. “That case was important to me because it was my family,” I said, blackness closing in again. I fought to stay awake. To explain. “My brother, Kelly. My mum. Dad … They’re all gone.”
“Gone?” she whispered.
“Dead, Grace.” I closed my eyes and swallowed, my head tipping back against the seat. “They’re all dead.”
“Casey.” I felt her trying to squeeze my hand, the sound of a sob breaking from her chest. “How?”
“Shot.” One single word to explain the loss of my entire world. “My father was a violent man. I promised my little brother and my mum a new life away from him. I promised and I failed. They needed me,” I whispered, bile rising in my throat, “and I was too late.”
“Failed? Casey, no,” she replied, “I don’t believe it.”
Her faith was misplaced, but now wasn’t the time to set her straight. “Let’s just focus on getting you out of the car,” I said when her head lolled forward.
Then she coughed, and I didn’t like how it sounded. “Hurts so much.”
I ground my teeth, frustrated at being unable to move. “They’re getting you out right now, baby, okay? Just focus on my voice. I’m right here with you okay. I won’t leave you.”
“I’m scared,” she whispered. “I don’t want to die. I don’t. I’ve only just starting living, Casey.”
My eyes burned, but my voice was fierce. “You’re not gonna die, Grace. I won’t let you,” I told her, because that was what happened when you found the woman perfect for you. You refused to let them go. “I promise.”
A male paramedic filled the doorway of my car and crouched, running an assessing gaze over my body.
“Casey?” she called out, her voice thready and weak.
“Yeah?”
It sounded like she was trying to laugh. It came out more like a strangled cough instead, but the sound was sweet, because she might’ve been scared, but she was strong, she was dealing, and I was fucking proud of her. “I believe you.”
“Good,” I replied and blinked, seeing two of the medics when he reached in and unclipped my seat belt. “I’m not leaving,” I told him. My voice came out slurred and suddenly keeping my eyes open became too damn hard.
Grace’s hand slipped from mine.
“Grace?”
I fought to remain conscious, my heart pounding so hard in my chest it hurt.
“Don’t leave me, Slim, please,” I begged hoarsely.
The paramedic reached across in front of me and grabbed her wrist, feeling for a pulse. “Fuck,” he muttered. He pulled back out of the car and spun around. “You need to hurry up with that door and get her out!” he yelled at Liam. “You.” He pointed to another fireman. “With me. I want you to …”
I tried hard to hold on, so damn hard, but the blackness won and my eyes closed.
I came to inside the ambulance. The rocking motion told me we were already en route to the hospital. My eyes opened. A male paramedic who looked a lot like Travis hovered above me—same build and blond hair, except tattooed sleeves covered both arms. My shirt had been cut down the middle and his dark brown eyes were focused on my chest where he was checking my vitals. The guy was well-trained, performing the task efficiently, his hands and body remaining steady as the vehicle swayed through night time traffic.
I closed my eyes, my breathing erratic when I remembered the grinding, screaming crunch of impact. It was no less horrific than the feel of Grace’s hand slipping from mine.
“Grace,” was all I could choke out. The raspy sound was barely audible. I yanked the oxygen mask down, letting it rest around my neck. The paramedic met my eyes with drawn brows. “Grace,” I whispered again, willing him to understand.
“Grace?”
“My wife,” I lied, knowing it would get me answers otherwise reserved for family members. “In … the car.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. They were cutting her out when we left.”
I turned my head and breathed, fighting the urge to puke.
“You gonna be sick?”
A loud groan echoed through the ambulance and I realised it was me. I drew another deep, rasping breath.
Pull it together, Casey.
“No.” I swallowed and turned my
head back. “I’m fine.”
“Good.” He reached over and lifted the oxygen mask back over my face. My breathing eased instantly. “Keep this on.”
I yanked it back down with a glare. “I said I wasn’t … leaving her,” I gasped out. “Take me back.”
“No can do.”
“Take. Me. Back.” Grabbing hold of either side of the stretcher, I struggled to sit up, hissing when my vision greyed, sharp pain stabbing at me from every direction.
The paramedic put a gloved hand on my chest to stop me from moving. “No.” My eyes cut to his, blinking to gain focus. His expression was that of a man quickly losing patience. “I can do one of two things. I can find out your wife’s status when we arrive, or I can strap you to this stretcher and sedate you. I’m really hoping you’ll pick option two because it’s been a long damn day and they don’t pay me anywhere near enough to deal with people like you.” He fixed me with a firm glare. “What’s it gonna be?”
Knowing he had the upper hand, I exhaled through the pain and lay back down.
“Not quite the answer I was hoping for,” the paramedic muttered wryly, indicating he was all for sedation, “but you can’t win everything, right?”
I glanced at the guy’s nametag. Luke Fox. “What do you know about winning?”
“Everything,” Luke answered while he worked. “I don’t like to lose. That means I’m damn good at my job.”
If Luke was so damn good, he should’ve been the one attending to Grace rather than to me, and I told him so. He shook his head and assured me the paramedic with Grace was the best there was. “Better than me,” he added, then muttered under his breath, “not that I’d ever tell him that.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the guy’s my brother and he’s even more of a stubborn asshole than I am.” Luke placed both hands on me and began palpating my abdomen. “Let me know if anywhere hurts,” I was instructed.