“She went with Natalie. Anna’s watching Alessa and Brody,” he informed me as we headed to the hospital. I stared down at Carly, watching her drift in and out of consciousness. I slid her hand away from her shoulder. Her hand was barely pressing down on the fabric. She winced when I pressed down on the wound, but didn’t make a sound.
“Hang on, Carly. We’ll be at the hospital soon. Don’t fucking die on me.”
A faint smile tugged at her lips. “Funny,” she murmured. “I remember saying the same thing to you…not too long ago.”
“And I didn’t leave you, so remember that when you start drifting toward the light.”
“How’s she doing?” Eric asked from the front seat.
I swallowed hard, watching Carly’s eyes flutter shut again. This time she didn’t open them. I pressed my fingers to her throat, feeling for a pulse. It was there, a little weak, but it was there. “Still alive,” I answered.
Leaning down, I pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered in her ear, “You stay with me, okay? Your daughter needs you.” My voice caught and I pressed another kiss to her cheek. “I need you,” I whispered. A tear slipped free and slid down my cheek. It splashed down on her pale skin, leaving a trail as it slid down her face.
“She’ll be fine,” Eric said. “We’re almost there.”
I nodded, praying that he was right. I couldn’t think the worst right now. She was meant to be mine. After everything we’d been through, there was no way I could lose her now.
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✯✯✯✯✯
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By the time we got to the hospital, Carly’s blood stained my hand and my clothes. They rushed her back, but I was forced to sit in the waiting room. Jack was already there, sitting in one of the chairs rubbing his hands together as he leaned heavily on his knees. Christ, I had been so worried about Carly that I had completely forgotten about Natalie.
I took a seat beside him, sighing as I leaned back in the seat. “How was she when you brought her in?”
He didn’t say anything at first, but then I heard a slight sniffle and saw him swipe at his face. “Not good,” he said, his voice coming out gruff. “She…was choking on her own blood.” He shook his head, his hand rubbing across his jaw. “I should have known.”
“What do you mean?”
He looked over at me, hatred burning bright in his eyes. “I should have fucking known that this mess wasn’t over. She’s back there right now because of you and Carly.”
“That’s not fair,” Robert said, stepping in front of us. “We all thought this was over.”
“Easy for you to say,” Jack shot back. “I don’t see Anna in the hospital.”
I shook my head at Robert. There was no point arguing with Jack right now. His wife was in surgery and he was in pain, lashing out at anyone he could.
“Jack, if Carly and I thought there was any chance that there was still danger, we wouldn’t have stayed.”
“Really? Because you stuck around after you went after the mob. You had all that protection wrapped around you. You didn’t stop to think about the danger you were bringing to this town or who could get wrapped up in your shit. You should have fucking stayed away.”
That hurt a lot more than I thought. Deep down, I knew he was right. Carly and I never should have come back, not at the expense of someone else’s life. We should have dropped off Alessa and run. Anything that happened from here on out was tainted by our actions. Everyone in town would blame us for what happened to Natalie. And if she didn’t make it…
I hung my head, scrubbing my hand over my face. Jack had been a good friend and now he hated me. I knew I deserved it, and that’s what killed me the most. I stood and walked away, knowing Jack didn’t want me anywhere near him right now. Robert followed me over to the window and stood beside me.
“You know he’s just angry right now. He’ll come around.”
“And if she doesn’t make it?” I asked. “How the hell will he ever forgive me?”
“She’ll make it. They got here fast and there are good doctors here. You have to believe that everything will be fine.”
I stared down at the blood on my hands, shaking my head slightly. “I never meant for any of this to happen. We should have left that night.”
“You don’t mean that. Look at all you’ve gotten back. You couldn’t have known that Levi would come after Carly.”
“But I did know,” I said sharply. “I knew something was off with him. I felt it all along, but Carly believed in him, and I couldn’t keep pushing, so I gave in.”
“Do you know why he did it?”
I shook my head. “Carly was out of it on the way over. If he wasn’t already dead, I would kill him.”
“Yeah, I saw…” He cleared his throat, “her handiwork. She’s very…talented.”
I snorted, shaking my head slightly. “You could say that.”
“I thought this guy was in love with her or something,” Robert said. “I don’t get why he would go after her like that.”
“Jealousy? I don’t know,” I sighed. “She said she broke things off completely with him earlier today. Maybe that sent him over the edge.”
“Still, after all these years, you would think he would have gotten over her by now.”
“I don’t know, she’s not someone I could easily walk away from.”
I heard a doctor call out for Carly’s family and I turned and ran over to him. I barely heard a word he said after he told me she was fine. I was so eager to get to her that I practically ran past him, except I didn’t know which way to go.
When I got to her room, I sighed in relief when I saw that not only was she okay, but she was awake. I rushed over to her, kissing her hard before she had a chance to say anything.
“Josh, I’m fine,” she chuckled, her throat raspy from that fucker trying to choke her. “I told you that before.”
“Don’t give me that crap. You passed out.”
A throat cleared behind me and I turned to see the doctor standing there, grinning at us. “I followed you in here. I could tell that you hadn’t heard anything I said after she’s fine.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
He smiled at us and stepped forward. “The bullet didn’t do any damage, but she lost a lot of blood. We stitched her up and she should be good as new in no time. And she’s got a lot of bruising, and I’m sure you can hear the rawness in her voice. As long as she takes it easy for a few days and doesn’t talk too much, she should heal pretty quickly.”
“Can I take her home?”
“Normally, I would suggest she stay for a few days…” At Carly’s withering glare, he amended that statement. “But as long as she’s doing okay in the morning, I’ll sign her discharge papers.”
I shook his hand, grateful that Carly was going to be okay. When he left, I turned back to her, blowing out a harsh breath. “You have no idea what that did to me. I swear, you took ten years off my life.”
“Really?” she croaked. “I spent a week watching you passed out beside me. And I had to help the nurse dig the bullet out of you.”
“Shh,” I said, pressing my fingers to her lips. “The doctor said you’re not supposed to talk.”
“You just don’t like me pointing out the obvious,” she grumbled.
“Well, that too,” I laughed.
Her face fell and her eyes grew intense. “How’s Natalie?”
“I don’t know. She’s still in surgery.”
I could see the guilt all over her face. I felt the same way, but I wasn’t about to tell her what Jack had said to me. She didn’t need that shit in her head right now. I would find a way to make things right with him, but for now, I needed Carly to just get better.
“I shouldn’t have tied her to that beam,” she said, wincing as she spoke.
“You can tell me about it later. Don’t talk.”
“But she’s in the hospital because of me. I should have found another way.”
I debated tellin
g her to keep her damn mouth shut. I wanted her to heal, but I also needed to know why Levi went after her again. Robert was right, none of this made sense.
“Why did he take her? What was he after?”
She sighed and shifted upright. I got up and helped her shift into a more comfortable position. When she was settled, I grabbed some water for her, kicking myself that I hadn’t thought of it when I walked in the damn room and heard her speak. She swallowed down the water slowly, and when she was done, she finally spoke.
“He was after my money. He thought I still had access to my father’s money, and he needed it. He wanted me to marry him, and Natalie was his leverage.”
“All for money?”
“His father took everything from him.” She sighed and laid back again in bed. “It’s a long story.”
I brushed my hand against her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. “Get some sleep. I’m going to check on Jack while we wait for the discharge paperwork. I’m sure it’ll take a while. You can tell me the rest tomorrow.”
She nodded, but as I stood to leave, she grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. “I love you, and I’m really sorry that I dragged you into my crazy mess.”
I smiled down at her. “There’s no one I would have rather gone through all this with. Don’t you know that you’re my life? I can’t survive without you.”
She grinned up at me. “That’s just because you’re a terrible shot.”
“That too,” I said, leaning down to kiss her. Her eyes drifted shut and I left the room, walking down the hall to the waiting area. My brothers were all there, hanging around Jack, though he looked like he didn’t want to see anyone. I walked up to Will and nodded over to Jack.
“How’s he doing?”
“How do you think?” he asked, a slight bite in his voice. When he saw the look of shock on my face, he sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just…this is crazy. I know this isn’t your fault, and so does he, but I have this feeling that everything’s about to change.”
I ran my hand over the scruff on my face and huffed out a laugh. “That morning that I disappeared, it was just like every other day. I got up, flirted with the neighbor, and went to the bakery for some breakfast. I met Natalie that morning. It just seemed like any other day.” I sighed, shaking my head slightly. “If only I had known how much my life was going to change that day…”
“Would you change it?” he asked, watching me closely. “If you knew what would happen, that you would have to leave everything behind, would you have not stopped to help her?”
I shook my head slowly. “Not a chance in the world. I can’t imagine my life without Carly, and we never would have had Alessa.” I started thinking about when she was born, how I changed at the cabin, and it made me angry that I could have ever tried to pretend she wasn’t in my life. “After she was born, I knew I was going to have to give her up, and there was this time that it was just the three of us, and everything was perfect. But then I started to realize that our time was coming to an end, and I’d have to give her up. So, I stopped paying attention to her. I left everything up to Carly, thinking that I could somehow distance myself from Alessa, and then it wouldn’t hurt so bad when I had to give her up. But, then Carly basically put me in my place on our last night. It killed me, knowing that I had to leave her with you guys. And when I got that back, when I knew that we were finally going to have a life together, everything we went through getting to that point made it all worth it. So, no, I wouldn’t have driven past her. I would have done it all the same way.”
He nodded and looked over at Jack. “Well, it’s nice to know where we stand.”
I huffed out a laugh. At least I could always count on my brothers to lift my spirits when I was feeling down.
“Natalie Harding?”
I walked over as Jack stood and headed for the doctor. My heart pounded in my chest and I felt Will place his hand on my shoulder. I wasn’t the one that needed support right now. I glanced at Jack, saw the tension in his shoulders and the slight sheen of tears in his eyes. I wanted to tell him everything would be alright. I wanted to support my friend, but as I watched the doctor step up to us, I knew I was the last man on earth that he wanted anywhere near him. One way or another, our lives were about to change, and I just knew that my relationship with Jack was shattered. I had ruined everything by coming home.
Also by Giulia Lagomarsino
I hope you enjoyed catching up with the Cortell Brothers, and loved Josh and Carly/Carlotta/Hannah’s story! But it’s not over! Look forward to more in the next book, Textbook Approach!
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Are you a new reader? See where it all began with the For The Love Of A Good Woman series. And continue with some of your favorite characters in the Reed Security series! Or follow the individual links down below!
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Did you start in the middle? We’ve all done it! Find your place in the series and start from there! There’s no need to question which book to start with. These books are best read in order. All books are available in Kindle Unlimited! For The Love Of A Good Woman:
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Jack , Cole, Logan, Drew, Sebastian, Sean, Ryan
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Not ready for those characters you love to disappear? You can catch them again throughout the Reed Security Series! These men and women are strong, sexy, and willing to fight for those they love. Sometimes, they fall right into love, while others need a little more convincing. Don’t miss out on this exciting series!
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Sinner, Cap, Cazzo, Knight, Irish, Hunter, Whiskey, Lola, Ice, Burg, Gabe, Jules, Sniper, Jackson, Chance, Phoenix Rising, Alec, Storm, Wolf, A Mad Reed Security Christmas, Rocco, Coop, TNT, Nightingale, Parker, GoodKnight
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The Cortell Brothers
Maintenance Required, Collateral Damage, Wanted Dead Or In Love
Wanted Dead or In Love: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 3) Page 30