Page 88 of The Gilded Cuff
“Damn it, I think I broke a few ribs. Don’t tell me it knocked me out?” His face turned a ruddy shade as he looked around and saw Emery next to Antonio’s body. “What happened?”
“He’s dead.”
“I can see that,” Hans said, but then froze as he seemed to suffer a wave of pain. “This is going to be fun to recover from,” he muttered.
Emery was so relieved he couldn’t think past seeing Hans alive and breathing. He hadn’t realized until now just how much the man had come to matter to him. In the frenzy of the fight, he’d been battling his own fears and worries for Sophie and Hans.
“Sophie, what happened to you?” Hans’s question jerked Emery’s focus back. Sophie blinked, her eyes glassy.
“She was stabbed. We’ve got to get her to the hospital,” Emery’s words escaped his mouth in a breathless rush as he ran in her direction. She was losing blood…and she didn’t look good. He knew how serious knife wounds were. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.
She tried to stand, but her knees trembled and knocked together like a shaky newborn foal. “I got shot too…when you were fighting…” Her hand dropped to her lower abdomen and she winced.
“Shot?” Both Emery and Hans were running to her as they repeated the word.
“Yeah…it doesn’t hurt, though…” She collapsed right into Emery’s arms.
Chapter 21
POLICE INVESTIGATED THE DEATH OFANTONIOD’ANGELO,WHO WAS FOUND DEAD IN AN ABANDONED MANSION ONLONGISLAND.A 911CALL WAS PLACED BYEMERYLOCKWOOD, PRESIDENT OFLOCKWOODINDUSTRIES.D’ANGELOALLEGEDLY KIDNAPPED JOURNALISTSOPHIERYDER FROM A PARTY ANDLOCKWOOD PURSUED, HOPING TO RESCUE HER.DURING THE STRUGGLE,LOCKWOOD ALLEGEDLY SHOTD’ANGELO IN A CLEAR CASE OF SELF-DEFENSE.POLICE ARE NOT PURSUING CHARGES AGAINSTLOCKWOOD.
—New York Times, November 11, 2014
Funny, she thought being shot would have been more of an event. But she’d not really felt it after the bullet had entered her and exploded out the back. The snap and burn as it impacted and exited her had left her panting for breath, but now a heavy ache filled her abdomen. Part of her knew it was bad…really bad, but she was so tired and couldn’t’ seem to think clearly.
“Sophie! Hey! Don’t you dare shut your eyes!” Emery was shouting at her, but he sounded so far away, as though across a large field. His voice was drifting in and out as though a breeze teased it and she could only hear every other word. Her eyes swung up to his and she managed a weak smile. He was so beautiful, her sad, tragic love. A fierce wave of longing swept through her with the power of a vast wave crashing on a rocky shore. She wanted to stay awake, to gaze at him forever. She couldn’t look away, but her eyelids were so heavy…
“Can’t I just sleep a little? I’m so tired,” she murmured dreamily.
Warmth was flowing into her from wherever his body touched hers. She liked it when he held her in his arms; she felt safe, protected, loved. She didn’t have to be brave or strong, she could just be Sophie Ryder, a woman in love with a man. She didn’t have to be anything else. Her head was too heavy now and she let it fall back. The world spun around her, moonlight in her vision like creamy streaks across the darkness. Heavy blackness descended, blurring the corners of her vision.
Pain spread through her with the force of a wildfire, so unexpected that she gasped a violent breath. Everything within her, around her, seemed to be slipping away. She clung to the world, the place she was, wherever it was, fighting to stay.
Suddenly above her the sky exploded with light. Sparkling fireworks burst in dazzling patterns, lighting up the dark blue expanse above. The shimmering sparks trickled down through the air, fading away into smoky outlines. A tiny hand slipped into hers, warm and familiar.
“My dad bought us sparklers, Sophie.” The little girl’s voice broke Sophie’s heart. The world around her rumbled and shook as emotions within her echoed the earth’s pain.
Rachel.
Another firework lit the sky and Sophie turned to stare down at the bright-eyed child, the best friend she’d lost all those years ago. Her cheeks were glowing a healthy pink, and when she smiled, she revealed one little dimple. They were both seated on top of a small hill overlooking a field full of other people stretched out on picnic blankets, watching the fireworks.
“Rachel,” she whispered, the name as soft as a prayer spoken at midnight.
The little girl beamed up at her. “We’ve got sparklers, bottle rockets and a fountain!” The joy on her face made Sophie’s heart clench. It was like finding an old photograph of someone you’d loved and lost, and seeing them smile, frozen in that one moment when their smile was genuine and their happiness was true. Sophie had left every photo of Rachel behind at her parents’ home. She’d never been able to look at one without it killing her inside.
“Where are we, Rachel?” she asked as Rachel pointed a delicate finger up at the sky just as another explosion and an answering pop and crackle signaled more fireworks.
“We’re home.” Rachel gave a little unconcerned shrug.
“Home?”
The girl smiled at her. “You know that place, when you’re just about to fall asleep and you feel yourself slipping away…that’s where we are.”
The tip of a sparkler burst into fiery bloom and a wash of silver sparks filled the air. Rachel’s brown eyes were dark but they reflected the sparkler, making her eyes look like a pair of topaz gemstones.
It was all so familiar.
“Fourth of July,” Sophie murmured. It had to be. Rachel held out a sparkler to her and she took it.
