Page 96 of The Edge Of Us

"If I can't have you," he rasped, "no one can."

"Allen, please. Put that down. Think about the kids. Please, they need their father."

"They had a father! Until you destroyed everything!"

He pointed it at me. My instincts kicked in. I lunged forward, trying to wrestle it from his hand. "Don't do this!"

The door burst open.

My security detail-the two men Jasper had hired just last month after Allen started acting weird in England-charged in.

"Gun! Drop it!"

Allen panicked. The trigger pulled.

Bang.

Pain ripped through my hand, hot and burning.

Bang.

Allen dropped to the floor, a scream tearing from his throat as he clutched his stomach.

Everything moved in slow motion. Blood. Screams. The smell of gunpowder and metal. My security dragging me back. Someone yelling for an ambulance. The weight of it all crashing down on me like a tidal wave.

I collapsed to the floor, cradling my bleeding hand, sobbing. Not just from the pain. But from the heartbreak. The betrayal. The fear.

He would've killed me.

He nearly did.

And through the haze, I thought of Jasper. His laugh. His promise to protect me. His warmth.

He wasn't here.

And I needed him now more than ever.

I buried my face into the couch cushion, feeling the weight of my trauma sink deeper than it ever had before.

The only thing I could whisper through my sobs was one thing:

"Please, let the kids stay asleep. Please, God, don't let them see this."

Chapter 53

Corine

The sharp scent of antiseptic lingered in the air, mingling with the sterile cold of the hospital room. I lay there, my hand wrapped in fresh white gauze, my body aching in ways I hadn't even realized were possible. The IV beeped rhythmically beside me, grounding me in this strange, painful reality.

The kids had woken up the moment the gun went off. Their cries echoed in my mind like a haunting lullaby, full of fear and confusion. Kyle had screamed my name until he went hoarse, and Astrid's sobs hadn't ceased until the security guard gently carried her away in my car, tucked in her car seat, unable to grasp what had happened.

They hadn't seen me covered in blood. Thank God for that.

Brittany rushed into my hospital room not long after. Her eyes were puffy, filled with fear, her voice trembling as she asked, "What happened? Oh my God, Corinne..."

I had to relive it-again. I recounted Allen's breakdown, his drunken rage, the moment the gun was in my face, how I tried to soothe him with soft words while shaking in fear, and how it all ended in chaos and screams.

She covered her mouth. "I called Jasper," she whispered.

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