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"I do, yes. I just have a huge respect for you...James."
"Right back at you. I do need something else, though. Can you please go and find someone for me?"
"Your mysterious new wife? She's already outside, and I can't keep here there any longer. Can I send her in?"
"Please do."
They gave me a small dose of Vicodin to ease the pain, and yes, if I didn’t make any sudden moves the bullet wound was not pulsing anymore, but I found myself craving a different type of medicine. Luckily for me, she bursts through the door like a beautiful storm and froze in the door frame.
"James." She covered her mouth with her hands but not in time to catch a sad moan. No, no, I couldn’t see this woman sad ever again. I couldn’t take it.
"Hey, love, I'm fine. I promise you, everything passed, and I only got superficially hurt."
"Superficially? You got shot."
"Slightly."
Rita cried out and sprinted to my bed. In seconds, she was pushing the cover aside and jumped into my arms. I accepted her with a deep urgency to have her body close. My mind and my soul wanted her, but I couldn’t help the shaky growl of pain that escaped my lips.
"Oh, sorry, I'm hurting you." She tried to retreat her body away, but I stopped her, turning my arms into a cage of steal. I needed the contact.
"Let me hold you."
"You're not uncomfortable?"
"It doesn't matter." I felt like a knife was twisting in my hip, but it was not going to stop me. I held her tight and sniffed her hair, telling myself over and over that it was real, Rita was back with me.
"Please, can you ever forgive me?" Forgive her? Me? What did I have to forgive? "This is all my fault. You got shot because of me. Ugh, I should have seen this coming."
"No one would have seen it coming. We have very expensive security here. That psycho wasn't supposed to make it into a restricted area."
"You could have died because of me! I could have been the reason Chelsea was an orphan. Who would have taken care of her then? Who would have loved her? The mom who didn't want a fucking C-section to save her child?"
Oh, wow, ok. The mention of Avery takes me by surprise. With everything that happened in Rita's life, I forgot I had my own share of ugly and dirty.
"So we both learned a lot about each other's past today."
"Mhm. I know Trujillo just pulled a gun on you, but I don't know if he's worse than your ex-wife." I could tell, he was. I flashed back to the smile he had on his face when he was talking about me scrubbing London's blood from the floor. Avery was an type-A bitch, but that man was deeply disturbed. "I don't want to think about Chelsea living with her."
"Actually, since yesterday, Zach and London are Chelsea's guardians. It was part of my wedding present for them."
"Oh, what else did we get them?"
"Cartier matching bracelets and edible lingerie, custom made."
"Uh, diamonds and sex. Nailed. It," she said, raising her eyebrows playfully. I was so grateful for this easy-going moment and joking around.
"They loved it. Love, we need to talk."
"Yeah, I think we do. This is why I left, James, to protect you from something like this. I knew that if Trujillo found me, he'd kill me; he is a very jealous man, so my only choice was to get the hell away from you."
"It's not your fault, so stop holding it against yourself. Apparently, he was watching us for a while. The man is mentally disturbed, and none of us can do anything about it."
"I should have been his target."
"You were his target, but it's over now. He is not coming back, not ever."
"I've heard." There was release in her voice but shame in her eyes. She looked away, but I took her chin and brought her face back to mine.
