Page 68 of Rescued Hearts
I jumped, wrapping my arm around his neck and squeezing as hard as I could. Tess slipped from his grasp in his attempt to get me off. His blunt nails left searing trails along my arms. I hissed at the pain, but only doubled down on my efforts. My muscles cramped under the strain, my grip slipping.
Metal snapped against my spine when he threw us back against my car, making the alarm go off. I grunted at the impact and forced my arms to squeeze harder. My heart pounded so violently I was certain he could feel it against his back, terror and determination in each beat.
Jeremy staggered. “I’m gonna kill you,” he panted.
“Good luck…doing that from prison…you piece of shit,” I growled in his ear between heavy breaths. “You’llneversee them again.”
He fell to his knees, swaying with the final threads of consciousness. I let him go when he went limp against me, his body hitting the ground with a smack.
I collapsed, panting. Sweat trickled down my temples. My arms wouldn’t stop trembling, like my muscles hadn’t gotten the memo that the fight was over. Someone touched me and I flinched, only to find Tess staring at me wide-eyed.
“You okay, sweetheart?” I said between heavy breaths.
She threw her arms around me, wailing. The comfort of her, her presence, her scent, had me sagging against her, the last shreds of strength I had evaporating like dust in the wind. “I’m so sorry,” I choked out, my throat tight.
“Mommy?” Luke sniffled, crawling out from under the car. He stopped short at the sight of Jeremy unconscious before he ran past him to us. His body collided with mine with a small smack that nearly sent me to the ground.
It felt like I could breathe again, having them both in my arms. But God, did it hurt to do so.
“It’s okay,” Tess said. Her hands trembled while she checked Luke over and said those two words over and over again. The sirens were right around the corner, almost deafening.
I had promised her he’d never find them, that I wouldn’t let anything happen to them, that they were safe with me. But here we were in this mess; I’d failed them, and that thought shattered me. I broke completely and pulled them into me tighter, burying my face in the crook of Tess’s neck, ignoring the pain. I didn’t care who saw, who heard. I just needed them. I need to know they were okay and safe in my arms.
“It’s okay, Wevi, you saved us,” Luke whispered, and I cried harder. I cradled the back of his head, kissing his curls.
I straightened, looking at Tess. Her eyes were bloodshot and drained, her skin pale, but she was here and whole, and that’s what mattered. We could get through anything else as long as we had each other.
Cars peeled into the parking lot. Boots hitting the flashing red and blue pavement.
“Holy shit.” Colt stopped short at the sight of us behind my car. “Is he dead?”
I wish. I peered up at him. “Get him cuffed and in the back of your squad car before he wakes up,” I ground out, my face aching as I spoke. “Have him booked for violating a restraining order, domestic battery, child endangerment, assault against me, and disturbing the peace.”
Colt just nodded and spoke into his radio. A medic approached slowly, reaching for me. Shaking my head, I gestured to Tess and Luke. “Check them first,” I demanded, and started to get up.
“Don’t weave,” Luke sobbed, clutching at my arm. “Don’t go, Wevi, please, don’t go.”
The desperation in his voice brought me to the ground. So I leaned back against my car with him in my lap, Luke only moving enough for them to check my side.
Broken nose and fractured ribs, they confirmed at the hospital, but it could’ve been worse. A lot worse. Tess and Luke were physically fine, but it was the mental fractures I worried about as we all lay in bed together hours later, one of them on either side of me.
They’d been glued to me since I fell into their arms back at the dojo. So much so, we all huddled in the bathroom together, the two of them waiting outside the shower while I cleaned myself up with shaking hands.
Tess’s slow, even breathing told me she was asleep, but Luke was rigid, a little tremor racing through him every so often.I ran my aching hand along his back. “You’re safe, buddy,” I whispered. “Your dad isn’t coming back. I made sure of it.”
He sniffled quietly. “I don’t want him to be my daddy.”
“He doesn’t have to be,” I said. “I don’t have one anymore either.” The words came out before I could stop them. But I realized then it was true. My father might not’ve been involved with Sterling and Preston’s schemes against Golden Circle, but he was just as bad as them. And I didn’t want him in this new life I was making with Tess and Luke. It was pure, golden, and wonderful, and over my dead body would I let another thing taint it.
Luke sat up then, eyes tired. “Did he die?”
“No. He’s just a bad man. And bad men don’t deserve to be dads.”
“Will you be my daddy, Wevi?”
The words snapped at my heart like a snare. My throat grew tight, my chest aching. “Yeah,” I rasped. “Yeah, buddy, I’ll be your daddy.”
“Okay,” he whispered with the faintest hint of a smile. But it faded, and a fat tear rolled down his cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t keep Mommy safe.”
