Page 112 of If You Love Me

“He was mine, and you took him from me. You ruined everything. Why couldn’t you stay gone!”

The front door of the cabin flew open, and there stood Tyrion with his gun raised. He didn’t hesitate to shoot, hitting Iona inher side. Her eyes widened as she rolled off me and hit the floor with a thud. I scrambled off the bed and ran to my husband’s side.

“Shit, are you okay?” he asked, checking me over.

I nodded. “Where is Summer?”

“In the car.”

“T-Tyrion…” Iona groaned as she got up from the floor with the gun in her hand.

Tyrion pulled me behind him and aimed his gun at her.

“You… you shot me…” she croaked out. “You shot me.”

“You’re lucky that wasn’t a headshot,” he spat. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put a fucking bullet between your eyes right now, Iona. You shot my mother! She’s in surgery, fighting for her life. You kidnapped my wife and my daughter. For what!”

“I love you,” she declared. “I’ve loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you, Tyrion. We had a good life together, and it was all over the moment she came back into the picture. Everything became about her! You forgot all about me!”

“I didn’t forget you at all. You just couldn’t let us settle into Evenie being home—”

“Let you settle? It was fuck me the moment you got that phone call.”

“If it was fuck you, you wouldn’t have still been around anywhere near as long as you were. I loved you, Iona. I tried my best to make things work with you, but I couldn’t. I’ve apologized for you getting hurt, but you have taken this shit way too far.”

“No, I haven’t taken it far enough. You don’t get to just leave me. Either you’re gonna be with me, or you don’t get to be with anybody. I will kill you both, and me and Summer will disappear forever.”

I shot out from behind my husband. “You aren’t taking my fucking child!”

“She was my child! Mine. I took care of her while you were stupid enough to get yourself kidnapped the first time. If you hadn’t come back, she would have been calling me mommy right now.”

I grabbed the gun from Tyrion and pointed it at her.

“Bitch, I’m so sick and tired of you and your whole woe is me act. I was taken against my will by a man that just so happens to be your fucking uncle.”

She looked confused.

“Yeah. Leon Kane was your uncle, your father’s brother. Same dad, different mothers.”

Iona laughed. “Then I guess you already know how crazy we can be.”

It was my turn to laugh. “Your crazy has nothing on the lengths a mother will go to, to protect her child. You aren’t getting my baby. You aren’t getting my husband. You aren’t getting anything except exactly what you deserve.”

With no remorse, I pulled the trigger, hitting her right in the neck. She stumbled backward, eyes wide. The gun fell from her hand, and she gripped her neck as blood seeped between her fingers. She looked at me like she couldn’t believe I’d actually shot her as she dropped to the floor with a thud. We watched as her breathing became labored and her body twitched slightly on the floor before going limp.

Tyrion slowly took the gun from my hands. I couldn’t help but cry. I wasn’t sorry that I had to pull that trigger, but I’d never wanted it to come to this. All I wanted was my family back. It didn’t have to end this way.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Tyrion said, turning me to face him. His eyes widened as he looked me over. “Ev… Ev, you’ve been shot!”

I looked down at the blood-stained shirt I wore. I hadn’t even realized I’d been hit. Iona’s gun must have gone off the sametime as mine. Everything happened so fast that I didn’t even feel it. My eyes widened at the sight of the blood. Suddenly, I could feel everything.

“T-Tyrion!” I gasped as I clung to him. “Don’t let me die! Don’t let me die!”

My body sank to the floor, and his followed me. All I could hear was ringing in my ears as I looked up at my husband. He was on the phone, and his lips were moving, but I couldn’t make out a thing he said.

“Don’t let me die… don’t let me die…”

That was my final plea before everything went black.

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