Hope
Something was wrong.
They should have been back by now.
He told me he would be back by now!
"Hope, you need to calm down," Teagan coaxed as she watched me pace around her living room like a deranged lunatic.
I couldn’t calm down.
I couldn’t.
Every instinct inside of me was screaming danger.
My stomach was laced with dread.
I could hardly breathe.
With my hand pressed to the small swell of my stomach, I continued to pace, unable to stop.
"I'm sure everything's fine," Teagan added, her eyes following my every move.
"Then why do I have the most horrendous pain in my heart?" Stopping dead in my tracks, I turned to face her, pressed my hand to my chest, and whispered, "I can feel it, Teegs. Something terrible has happened."
"It's the pregnancy hormones," she assured me. "They make a woman go crazy."
The words were no sooner out of her mouth when the headlights of a car shone through the bay window.
Relief washed over me like a tidal wave.
"See," Teagan said with a smile as she slowly pulled herself up from the couch. "I told you they'd come back."
With relief flooding my heart, I rushed into the hallway with a huge smile on my face.
The smile faltered the moment my eyes landed on Noah standing in the doorway, covered in blood, and holding a screaming Ryder in his arms.
"Noah?" Teagan ran over to where her husband was shaking violently. "Noah, what's going on?" Taking the baby out his arms, she asked, "What are you doing with Ryder?"
"His mother's…fuck," he strangled out. "They killed her, Thorn…Right in front of him. I…I had uh…" He shook his head and exhaled a ragged breath. "She told me…bring him home…Jordan."
"Where is he?" I demanded. "Where is Hunter?"
"Hope," he began to say, but his voice broke off when a huge sob tore out of his chest.
No.
No.
No.
"Don’t say it," I choked out, backing away from him with my hands held up. "Don’t you dare fucking say it, Noah!"
"I'm so fucking sorry, Hope, I couldn’t stop it," he cried as tears poured down his face. "I tried…I fucking tried to stop them–"
"Stop it!" I screamed, feeling like the ground was crumbling beneath my feet. "Don’t say it."
"He's dead, Hope," Noah strangled out, chest heaving. "I'm so fucking sorry…there was nothing I could do."
I couldn’t breathe.
He was gone.
No.
No.
Fucking no!
"You're lying to me," I snarled, trembling violently. "You're a fucking liar!"
"He's dead, Hope! Lucky is dead!" Noah roared hoarsely. "I was held down and forced to watch those bastards riddle his body with bullets! David…Gonzalez betrayed him… I watched him bleed out on the fucking ground–" His voice broke off as a huge gut-wrenching growl ripped through him. "I watched him die!"
Pain like nothing I had ever experienced ripped through my heart, slicing it open.
Clutching my chest, I tried to draw in a breath, but I couldn’t.
I couldn’t breathe.
"I need you to come over," I could hear Teagan telling someone. "It's Lucky. He's…oh god, he's gone."
Gasping for air, I stumbled backwards, landing on the stairs.
How was this happening?
Was this really happening?
Hunter wasn’t dead.
He couldn’t be.
I felt like I was floating out of my body.
Watching this from somewhere above.
"Where is he?" I demanded, shaking so violently I couldn’t control my body. "Where is he, Noah?"
"Hope…" Noah whispered. He moved towards me but I batted him away.
I didn’t want his touch.
I didn’t want anything from him.
I wanted Hunter.
"Where did you leave him?" I screamed, delirious with grief. "Where did you leave his body?"
"Hope, please…don’t do this."
That was Teagan.
She was talking to me.
Trying to reason with me.
I didn’t want any of it.
"Stay away from me," I snarled, warning her off. "Don’t fucking come near me."
"There was nothing I could do," Noah continued to say over and over. "He was dead, and I had a fucking baby dropped in my arms. I couldn’t…There was nothing I could do for him. I’m sorry…I’m so fucking sorry–"
"You left him there," I accused. Staggering to my feet, I ran at him. "You left him there alone?" Slapping at his chest as hard as I could, I screamed, "How could you leave him there? How could you do that to him?"
"I'm sorry," Noah whispered, over and over. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart."
My head snapped up at his words. "Don’t," I warned shakily, "ever call me sweetheart." Tears streamed down my face as I cried, "He calls me sweetheart."
He tried to wrap his arms around me, but I shoved him away.
I didn’t want his touch.
I didn’t want any of them.
Frantic, I looked to the door and lunged for it.
"Hope!" Noah roared after me, but I didn’t stop.
Scrambling down the steps of his house, I ran to his car and threw open the door.
Diving into the driver's seat, I slammed the locks down and turned the key that Noah had left in the ignition.
The car roared to life.
"Get out of the car, Hope," Noah demanded, banging on the driver's side window. "Just come inside…please!"
Ignoring him, I threw the car into gear and tore off recklessly, my only coherent thought was to find him.
Bring him home.