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“Mom, I think you need to leave, and the police will come to visit you tomorrow to get your statement,” Harrison warns in a controlled voice, even though I see his jaw clench.
It has happened again. Mother has stuck her nose in our relationships and caused a whole lot of pain and anger, when it just wasn’t needed. She needs to pay this time. I can’t protect her from this. I can’t and I won’t.
“Sasha, they will visit you as well, and I will submit that application for a protection order tonight. I don’t want you near me, my fiancée, or my daughter ever again,” I say, and I hear both her and my mother gasp quietly. It felt good to say the words. Em and Rosie are my forever, the women staring back at me in shock well pushed back into my past.
“Come along, Sasha,” my mother says as she turns on her heel, her shoes clipping on the tiles out the door as Sasha follows suit.
“We have to do something about her,” Harrison says, heaving out a sigh.
“If she is somehow involved, then the police will have my full support to charge her.” I am done. It was horrible what Beth had to endure when she met Harrison, but now Mom lied to my face and put Em and her daughter in danger. I will not stand for it.
“She needs to learn a lesson, I agree, but a formal charge?” Eddie asks, none of us believing that it has come to this. Our younger brother is still giving her the benefit of the doubt.
“Well, we have to do something. Her insane meddling has to stop before something else happens. Something worse,” Harrison says as his hand lands on my shoulder, giving me a supportive squeeze.
“I got a call earlier. My team found a property a few blocks away from the school in William Heights,” Harrison says, and my eyebrows rise in question.
“I knew Beasley would get what he wanted, as he always does. So I had some interns on my team investigate any properties of a similar size that may be coming onto the market. As governor, we can’t just let private businesses overtake community needs,” he says with a smile, and I almost falter. My older brother continues to look out for me, and whatever that property costs, I already know I will be buying it. For Em. For Rosie, and for George.
Rosie feels heavier in my arms, and I look down to see her eyes closed. Her head rests on my shoulder, her mouth slightly open, and tuffs of air sneak out in almost a snore. Warmth runs through my body. Not only do I have her safe in my arms, but she feels safe enough with me to fall asleep, snuggling in tight. I hold her firm in the belief that nothing bad will happen to her or her mother ever again.
CHAPTER FORTY FOUR - EMILY
I wake to the sounds of machines beeping, and I cringe as pain shoots through my head. I try to lift my hand to touch my head, but there are tubes and cables, and it is heavy. The bed is hard underneath me, and the sheets scratch my body from the starch. It is familiar yet not comfortable.
“Don’t move too much,” I hear a deep voice say next to me, and I slowly try to open my eyes, letting them adjust. The room is quiet, and the curtains are drawn, and as I take in the surroundings, I realize I am in the hospital. A flood of memories come back to me, making me groan.
“Rosie?” I mumble. My throat is dry, my tongue feels stuck to the roof of my mouth, and when I try to swallow, I feel nothing but sandpaper. My head throbs, and my lips seem a little swollen. I wonder how bad I look today.
“She is right here,” Ben says, and I turn my head to his voice, looking at him for the first time.
Sitting in a chair pulled up right next to me at the side of my bed, he sits. His hair is everywhere, like he has been pulling at it, and his suit jacket gone, his shirt rolled up to the elbows and crumpled. Curled up in his lap is my daughter. Sleeping peacefully, her little arms stay wrapped tight around his neck. My heart melts, and my eyes water.
“Is she alright?” My voice breaks as tears flow over my cheeks.
“She is. Tired, a little shaken, but she called me from her room. I heard the gunshot through the phone, and I got to her only a few minutes after the paramedics brought you and George here,” he says, rubbing a hand down her back.
“And George?” I ask, now panicked, remembering George slumped on the floor at my feet, his blood coating my toes.
“He was in surgery for most of the afternoon. Bullet was lodged in his torso between his liver and his spleen, but it missed all main organs, and they removed it. He is stable and currently sleeping a few rooms down. They think he will wake up sore and tired tomorrow, but otherwise, he should heal well.” The air leaves my lungs in one big breath. Tears fall freely now, the relief that we are all okay. The relief that Ben is here by my side, holding my baby. Looking after everything.
“Jeremy?” I mumble, closing my eyes again, wanting to know what happened. But also not.
“I am going to end him. I am going to absolutely annihilate him, Em,” he grits out quietly, anger very evident in his tone. “The police took him in for questioning, but released him this evening. I gave a full statement, and it will go to court, and that is where I will bury him. I will make sure he is locked up for everything he has ever done to you. He will pay, Em, I will make sure of it.” Ben says the words with such confidence; I know he will do it and stop at nothing to ensure it happens.
I open my eyes slowly then and fully take him in. He is not the polished man whom I first met. His disheveled appearance is all due to me. Embarrassment and guilt flood me for Ben having gotten caught up in my mess. The feeling is nearly unbearable as a sob crawls up my throat.
“I’m so sorry, Ben,” I whisper, and I can’t help the tears that fall steadily now.
“Don’t you dare apologize. None of this is your fault. None of this is on you. You have nothing to apologize for. I just wish I could have stopped it all before it happened.” Sitting forward, he grabs my hand, giving me a squeeze.
“But look at what has happened. Look at how I have brought you down. You are a successful lawyer, and now you are mixed up in my mess of a life,” I say, trying to give him an out. An opening to leave should he want to. Because he should be running far, far away from me.
“My life was empty before I met you, Em, and now it is so full and colorful. I meant what I said. You are beautiful, amazing, smart, funny, and most of all, you are mine.” I feel the ring as he slips it back onto my finger, not knowing what happened for him to get it back, but so grateful he was able to. He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses the inside of my wrist and then every finger, just like he did on our date.
“I want to marry you for real. I want you and Rosie to move in with me. I want to give you both the world and never have another day apart.” His voice doesn’t waver, his eyes watching me closely. I bring my hands to my face and cover it, unable to control how hard I’m crying, and I hear him move and the bed dips next to me.
“It’s okay, baby, I got you,” he whispers, pulling my hands away from my face and kissing away my tears. “I got you both. Breathe with me, baby. Everything is going to be okay.” He pulls me to his side and cuddles both me and my daughter.
