But before I get the chance to decimate the fucker, another shot rings out. My opponent stumbles back with wide eyes, his body flopping lifelessly to the floor. I look in the direction of the shot to see Cris lowering his gun as blood drips from a wound on his upper arm.
“Kade!”
I spin around at Sam’s scream just as a blood-drenched Esposito charges her, a big silver knife glinting in his hand.
I dive for them.
But I’m too late.
As blood pours from the bullet wound in his shoulder, Esposito swipes at Sam’s torso and slices through clothing and flesh, opening the skin across her stomach.
The sound of her pained scream and the sight of her blood snaps something inside me. Maybe my sanity.
“No! You motherfucker!”
I launch myself at Esposito and send us both flying to the cold hard floor. Then I un-fucking-leash every ounce of seething, blood-boiling rage on his body. I see nothing but his devilish face as I mercilessly pound my fists into it. Unintelligible words spill from my lips in a mindless tirade of curses.
I don’t know how much damage I’m doing, don’t even know if he’s still breathing or not, and I don’t care. I told Sam I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I gave her my word that no one would hurt her, and I didn’t keep that word. This disgusting animal whose face is yielding to the force of my blows made me a liar. I didn’t protect my woman from a monstrous predator, and I’m fucking sick over it. I need to end his life, feel his last breath escape my hold, so that I know she’ll be safe again.
I failed her once. Twice, actually.
And as God as my witness, it will never fucking happen again.
A hard hand suddenly comes down on my shoulder. “He’s done, man,” Cris says. “You need to stop before you kill him. Trust me, you don’t want that kind of blood on your hands.”
The punches stop, but I don’t get off of him. Esposito is unconscious, eyes closed, his face a bloody, pulpy mess. But his chest still moves with his short, shallow breaths. He’s still alive.
“He can’t come after her again.”
Cris squeezes my shoulder. “He won’t. I’ll personally make sure of it. But you need to get your girl to the hospital.”
A fresh wave of panic sets in as my eyes dart over to Sam lying still on the floor. Too fucking still. With the amount of blood coating her stomach, her torn blouse looks completely red instead of cream. I rush over on shaky legs to inspect the wound she’s pressing some kind of handkerchief against that I assume is from Cris.
“Sam?”
Her eyes are closed, her complexion taking on a chalky pallor. I almost can’t breathe at the sight. The blood on her stomach has been smeared by her own hands, so it’s difficult to determine how deep the cut is. It’s thin but long. More than several inches across.
I swallow hard.
“Sam,” I repeat. “Come on, baby, wake up for me.”
Her eyes slowly open, the green more dull than usual, although they still stand stark against the paleness of her cheeks.
I check her pulse and thankfully find it slow but steady. My hands go to her face, cradling it. “You’re going to be fine. I’ve got you.”
“The recording,” she whispers, her dazed eyes widening.
“What?” Is she hallucinating?
She licks her lips, which have also drained of color. “In the audio and visual room.” Her voice is scratchy, her breathing labored. “They…chased me. I was able to…hit ‘record’ before…they caught me. The sound equipment…recorded everything.”
Holy shit.
The sets we use for taping our segments are wired with speakers, so we don’t have to wear microphones while on the air. They can be turned on from the soundboard and pick up audio even without the cameras rolling.
“You got Esposito’s confession on record?” I ask in astonishment.
She smiles weakly and nods. “Evidence. He’s definitely going down now.”
My eyes fall shut in both relief and thanksgiving. It’s over.
But when I open them again, hers are closed.
“Sam?”
She doesn’t answer, doesn’t stir.
“Sam!”
No! Fucking no!
“Hang on, baby. I’m getting you out of here.”
I scoop her up in my arms and run.
“Just hold on for me, okay? You can’t leave me, Sam! You hear me? Open your eyes. Stay with me. Please.”
There is no goddamn way I’m losing her now.
Fate, you bitch. Don’t you dare take her from me.
Chapter Fifty-Four
“Love of a Lifetime”
by Firehouse
Sam
“Is this really necessary?” I ask in frustration, looking down at the IV drip in my hand and blood pressure cuff on my arm. “I mean, I only have a few stitches. Can’t I just get some painkillers and go home?”
“Let her do her job, Sam.”
Kade’s command comes from the corner of the hospital room where he’s brooding, arms crossed over his chest, a scowl on his face. “You were unconscious the whole way here.”
That was hours ago, and it mostly because of the shock my system took, not from massive blood loss. But I clamp my lips shut when I look closely at his ragged appearance and bandaged up knuckles. He hadn’t let anyone touch him to tend to his own injuries until I’d been checked over thoroughly and stitched up. Then he’d reluctantly allowed a nurse to clean some of his wounds, and had thrown on the scrub top she’d given him, since his shirt had been splattered with blood.
I cringe.
If he hates seeing me hurting as much as I do him, then the least I can do is appease him by shutting up.
The nurse gently places her hand over my arm, looking at me sympathetically. “The doctor will be by to clear you for discharge in a little bit. After that, you’re good to go. Push the call button if you need any assistance before then.” With one last wary glance at Kade, she leaves the room.
“You scared her off,” I murmur, trying to inject some humor into the situation.
It’s probably true, though. The nurses have given him a pretty wide berth since he barged through the hospital’s front doors, carrying an unconscious woman while covered in another person’s blood. Not to mention his overprotective behavior has been nothing less than gruff and short-tempered.
He doesn’t say anything. Just stands there staring at me, like he’s done for the last two hours, speaking only few words in clipped tones. I’m already cranky from the burning pain that has now dulled to a constant throb where Esposito cut me, I want to take a shower, I’m a little hungry, and this bed is lumpy as hell. Kade’s sullen attitude and muteness doesn’t help. He’s obviously bothered by something, and it would help to know what that is.
“Look,” I say, exhaling heavily. My body is beyond exhausted. “Maybe we should cool things off for a while.”
His eyes burn through me, his nostrils flaring.
But still, he says nothing.
I throw my hands up and let them fall in a defeated gesture. “I mean, this is ridiculous, isn’t it? Doesn’t this feel like that higher force trying to rip us apart again? Maybe we should really listen this time. Maybe you had it right eight years ago by walking away.”
Silence, maddening silence.
Then, “What the hell are you saying?”
I keep my expression stoic, my voice somber. “This just feels like the final straw. I think we got it wrong. We aren’t meant for each other after all, Kade. I think that’s our fate.”
The room is still for all of two seconds before he explodes. “Are you fucking serious?” His eyes are alight with disbelief. “You’re wrong, Sam. You are so damn wrong.”
My tone is placating when I say, “How many signs do we need, Kade? It’s not supposed to happen.”
“That’s bullshit!” he roars. He starts pacing in front of me, his movements jerky. “If this entire experience has taught me anything it�
��s that I can’t survive without you. I was miserable for the entire eight years we were apart after I left. I was alive, but I wasn’t really living because you weren’t in my life. And when I think about my life now without you in it, it’s even worse. I need you, Sam.”
“Kade—”
“These are just tests!” he cuts back in. “Every couple has them, right? Trials and tribulations they have to work through together? We can’t let this break us. This is supposed to make us stronger, not tear us down. And I’m not giving up. I refuse to give up. I’ve let you go once before. I’m not doing it again.”
I try again. “Kade—”
He stops at the end of the hospital bed and places his palms on the mattress, pinning me with his intense gaze. “We can’t keep letting the circumstances around us dictate our lives. We’re the only ones who determine our fate. You and me. And you are mine, Sam. You have been since I was seventeen years old, and you will be until the day I die. Which I don’t plan on being anytime soon, so you might as well get used to expecting forever with me. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Okay, but Kade—”
“Do you know that I’m in love with you?”
I nearly suck all the air out of the room at finally hearing those precious words.
“I only ask because I’ve never said that to you. And I should have, a million times I should have. Every day since the day I met you. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long, but no more. I won’t stop telling you that until you believe it, and until you feel the same way. Because you obviously don’t, if you’re willing to let what we have go.”
“Kade—”
“I love you so fucking much. When I thought I might lose you…” He shakes his head, his face twisting in pain. “I couldn’t take it. I can’t lose you. I can’t.”
I feel my mouth spread into a huge smile. “Kade. I was kidding.”
His body stiffens, his gaze locked on mine. “What?”
It probably makes me a jerk, but I laugh. After everything that’s happened, the action is refreshing.
“I was joking. I never meant that we should break up. I don’t want to be apart anymore, either. I just wanted to snap you out of the stupor you were in. I wanted you to talk to me. I thought making you mad was a sure-fire way to do it.”
He narrows his eyes. “That was a dirty trick, Samantha.”
“But it worked, didn’t it? And if you want your best friend back, you’ll never call me that again.”
He smiles warmly at my altered take on some of the first words I ever spoke to him. “You’re more than just my best friend.”
“Girlfriend?”
“For now.” He slowly shakes his head. “But you won’t be for much longer.”
My breath stutters. “Is that a marriage proposal?”
“Not yet. Not here. And not until I have a ring.” Determination burns in his mesmerizing hazel eyes. “But you’re going to be my wife soon, Sam.”
Hearing that makes all the pain from my cut fade away.
“So…” He almost looks nervous, shifting on his feet. “You were really just kidding? You still want me?”
My heart melts. Now I feel bad. He should never have to ask that. Of all things, he should never wonder about that.
“Of course, I want you.”
He swallows. “Even though I didn’t protect you? I let him get to you.”
I roll my eyes. “Shut up, Kade. None of this has been your fault. I was the one who went to the studio alone. Let’s just forget about everything that happened tonight, before tonight, and just move on. Start fresh.”
He purses his lips. “You were kidding?”
He sounds like he still doesn’t believe me. Worry is still etched in his brow.
I laugh again. “Yes! I just wanted a reaction out of you. I never planned on giving you up. If you ever try to walk away from me again, I’ll just follow you. You can’t get rid of me now.”
He slowly walks around the bed toward me. “And why is that?”
I hold his eye contact. “Because I can’t lose you, either. Whenever Esposito had his gun pointed at my head,” Kade flinches, “all I could think about was how much time I didn’t get to have with you. I want forever with you. I think after all this time we deserve forever.”
He moves closer and closer, but still doesn’t come within touching distance. “And…?”
I leave him hanging for a minute, just to torture him a little. But I don’t hold out long. “Because I’m in love with you. I’ve never stopped loving you. And I think we’re both idiots for not having come to this conclusion years ago.”
He laughs now and drops down to sit beside me on the bed, taking my hand in his. His body has finally relaxed, his features finally softened.
“Yeah, we’re idiots.” He brushes his finger down my cheek, the side Esposito slapped. “It’s you and me for good, Sam. I can’t imagine the rest of my life any other way. You’ve always been the best thing in it, even when you weren’t actually in it. I promise I’ll make you happy.”
I pull him to me, my hand on the back of his neck. “You already have, Kade. You came back to me. You gave me my happiness back. All you have to do now is marry me, give me a few kids, and we’ll call it even.”
He flashes his white teeth at me. “Is that a proposal?”
I scoff. “Please. I’m not making it that easy on you. You’re going to have to work a little harder for that one.”
“I’m okay with that.”
His mouth closes over mine as we seal the beginning of our forever with a kiss.
The old Sam and Kade are back.
And this time, they’re here to stay.
Forever.
Epilogue
“Can’t Stop Loving You”
by Van Halen
Kade
“What would your strategy be here, Sam?”
As lame as it might sound, my heart fucking soars at the question. Sitting in one of the VIP boxes in the football stadium, I watch Sam on the television in front of me as she commentates the Super Bowl.
“I’d go for the two-point conversion to take the lead,” she answers her fellow commentator.
She debates with her colleagues, and I can’t help but grin so damn wide, my pride in her bursting at the seams.
She found out she got the commentating gig the day after she left the hospital, with Esposito’s cut still healing on her skin. She’s the first woman to ever commentate the biggest game in American football. And with that, she snagged the opportunity to start going professionally by Sam, the name she’s always been more comfortable with. The one that best suits her.
I’ve never seen her so happy.
Hell, I’ve never seen myself so happy, either.
We’ve ensconced ourselves in our own giddy, love-struck bubble for the past three weeks. We sort of had to, what with the media frenzy surrounding the referee-mafia scandal once the story broke. We didn’t want to be shoved in the middle of the circus any more than we already were.
And Jesus.
When something happens in the NFL, everyone in the entire country dissolves into nervous breakdowns. People thought the whole Colin Kaepernick fiasco was controversial? That had nothing on league referees taking bribes from the damn mafia. That first headline in the New York Times broke the fucking internet.
After Esposito was arrested for assault and attempted murder charges, we passed along the audio tape of his confession from the studio—all thanks to Sam—to the police and they took it from there. The FBI was immediately called in to take over the investigation, considering this delved into inter-state wire fraud, illegal gambling, and a whole mess of other shit that’s going to cut out a considerable chunk of the Esposito family’s income streams. Not to mention take down Raphael Esposito himself. His ass is going to prison, no question. Not even his high-priced attorneys can fix that one. The investigation into who else in his organization was involved in the bribery scandal is still ongoing.
Aa
ron Simmons and his NFL commissioner father were also arrested. It’s unknown how much time they’ll both serve, and if the senior Simmons will even be indicted or not, as there’s much less evidence for his involvement than his son’s.
Aaron’s future is looking pretty bleak, indeed. Especially since he’s turned into a snitch, giving the FBI literally everything he has on Esposito and everyone else that was taking bribes and bets. He’s named so many names it’s unbelievable. Some on Wall Street, some in the White House, and some even, as Esposito eluded to, on the NFL field. He’s doing whatever he can to get a better deal from the DA and a shorter sentence. Still, these people will have connections in prison, too, and they don’t take mercy on traitors. He won’t last long on the inside without protection.
And the man is damn lucky that the cops got to him before I did. Crawling back to Sam, sniffing around and begging her to take him back in order to shut her up? Knowingly endangering her life?
That bastard deserves whatever he gets.
The biggest problem is going to be convincing the paid referees to testify, regardless of Raphael’s incarceration. Turning state’s witness against the mafia isn’t the most pleasant of experiences and hasn’t worked out for a lot of the mafia’s enemies in the past. From the rumors I’m hearing, though, Fernadino and his buddies are cooperating, despite the fact that they should all be serving time, too. But the DA is more interested in ensuring Esposito goes down, so they’re making deals left and right. Most likely, the refs will go into Witness Protection after this and spend the rest of their lives living much comfier than they probably should.
As if all that isn’t enough, it’s been revealed that at least one FNN board member was taking bets from Esposito, which explains why they threatened Mike with his job if he didn’t put a lid on the story. Naturally, the entire board is now under investigation.
The Unforgettable Kind Page 33