CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Sophie
Two days later, I sit on the edge of my hospital bed with my feet dangling while I wait for Kolan to come back and take me home. Other than the small knot on my head and my face looking a little worse for wear, I’m feeling better.
I’ve lived to see another day, and I will continue to because Daniel is finally gone for good.
He’s dead.
Cooper came by yesterday afternoon to tell us Daniel’s body was recovered. I knew he was dead, but I wouldn’t feel safe until his body was discovered. He also filled us in on the evidence that was found in the house Daniel and his grandmother were renting. It seems Daniel found me by a photo that was floating around on the Internet of Kolan and me the night we were walking Charleston. A picture I had no idea was taken. The article had read, Kolan Slade’s Next Victim.
Some stupid gossip magazine ran it, which made me furious on Kolan’s behalf. Daniel had it pinned to a board with all the other pictures he had of me, ones he’d taken himself.
In the end it all turned out to be a blessing in disguise. How Daniel found me doesn’t matter. What matters is he did and he’s been stopped—for good.
There was also proof that Daniel was the one who vandalized the gym and Kolan’s truck, which didn’t come as a surprise. As disturbing as some of the news was from Cooper yesterday, there was also good, too. Evidence was found that they believe could lead them to the whereabouts of Lana Caldwell. They found a map in the grandmother’s chest to a forest located only a few miles from where she had lived in San Francisco. With it was a necklace that was identified as Lana’s. As horrible as it is to say, I hope they do find her body so the family can finally have peace. I can’t imagine how hard it’s been for them not knowing what’s happened to her…
The thought makes me think about my own family and the hell they’ve been through not knowing where I am, but I try not to dwell on it.
I’ll make it right.
What matters now is I don’t have to live in fear and look over my shoulder any longer. Daniel can’t hurt me or anyone else ever again, and it’s all thanks to Kolan.
My warrior.
Kolan chooses that moment to walk into the room, the quick whoosh of the door opening is equivalent to what my heart feels every time I lay eyes on him. It doesn’t matter that I just saw him only minutes ago. The man always manages to take my breath away just by being in the same room as me.
“Hey, baby,” he greets me, closing the door behind him.
“Hi.” I smile, ignoring the ache in my cheek.
Dropping down in front of me, he takes my hand between his warm ones and presses a kiss to my palm. “You feeling okay?” he asks.
“Mmm. Yes. Even better now that you’re here.”
He flashes me that lopsided grin of his but it doesn’t reach his eyes. He’s been like this ever since Cooper left yesterday. I know he feels responsible for the picture, but he shouldn’t. He shouldn’t feel any guilt when it comes to me. He saved my life…in more ways than one.
“Are we ready to go?” I ask with a smile. “I want to go home and feel your arms around me for the rest of the day.”
We haven’t spoken about me going back to my own house. I know I will eventually, but I’m hoping to spend a few more days with him before I do.
His head lowers, gaze dropping to my lap as he gives me a solemn nod. “Yeah, Soph. Everything is in place. I just…I want another minute with you.”
I frown at the sound of his gruff voice. “Hey, look at me.” The moment his tormented eyes meet mine, devastation grips my chest. My hand moves to his jaw. “Kolan, what’s wrong?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing.” Leaning in, he buries his face in my neck, his lips soothing over my puckered skin. “You know you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, right?”
My worry eases and heart warms, his words like a balm to my frazzled nerves. “Well, I don’t like to assume but…” I trail off with a giggle.
He doesn’t smile like I hoped he would. Instead, he seals his mouth over mine, silently conveying what he’s trying to say. My arms encircle his neck as I drown myself in this feeling—in him.
With a groan he lifts me from the bed, my feet dangling inches above the ground. Our lips don’t sever until we’re both in need of air. My eyes remain closed, wanting to bask in this moment forever. When I open them, I find him watching me, his expression soft.
“You have the whole world in the palm of your hand now, Soph, and you deserve every piece of it.”
Another frown pulls at my face as I try to gauge his mood. “Are you sure everything is okay?”
“I have a surprise for you.”
That brings a smile to my face. “What have you done now, Kolan Slade?”
He leans in, pressing his lips to my forehead one last time before placing me back on my feet. “Come on. I’ll show you.”
Intrigued, I take his warm hand and follow him out of the hospital room, my eyes never leaving him as I attempt to figure out what’s going on.
“Sophie?”
I tense, the familiar tear-filled voice infiltrating my heart. Turning, all the air freezes in my lungs. I blink several times, terrified each time that what I’m seeing will disappear.
“Mom? Dad? Tess?” The names fall on a choked whisper, their images blurring before my eyes. My feet move on their own, a sob exploding past my lips as I run down the hall and straight into my mother’s waiting arms.
“Oh, baby, I’ve missed you so much,” she cries, her tears falling into my hair.
“I’ve missed you, too.” I move an arm around Tess as she huddles in, her tear-stained cheek sticking to mine. My dad wraps his arms around us all, pressing a kiss to the side of my head.
My heart expands as minutes pass, peace settling over me to be reunited with the people I love most in the world. It’s as if the final cracks in my fractured soul are finally being mended together. I feel completely whole for the first time in so long.
I’m no longer healing.
I’m finally healed.
My mother eventually steps back to cradle my face between her hands; the sadness in her eyes has guilt striking my heart.
“I’m so sorry,” I manage hoarsely, my eyes moving to my dad and Tess too, hating to see the same pain in their expressions as my mom’s. “So sorry I stayed away. I thought—”
My mom presses a finger to my lips. “We can talk about that later. All that matters right now is that you’re okay.” She drops a hand to my neck, her fingers gently brushing my scars. “Are you…okay?”
“I am now,” I assure her, feeling a small smile stretch across my cracked lips. “And it’s all thanks to one person. Let me introduce you guys. You’re going to love him. He…” My words fade when I turn around to find Kolan gone.
I start toward the nurses’s station, wondering if there’s some leftover paperwork, but my mother snags my wrist. “Kolan?”
“Yeah. You met him?”
“Of course. How do you think we knew you were here?”
It’s then I remember his surprise. Of course this was all him, I think with a smile.
“He called yesterday and arranged for us to fly down here late this morning.” Warmth invades me as I’m once again blown away by his kindness and generosity. “He seems wonderful, honey.”
“He really is, Mom.”
“We can tell,” my father cuts in. “He even said he’d take care of getting your things packed up and sent home for you so you won’t have to worry about it.”
Every muscle in my body strains, panic striking me hard and fast. “Wh—what?” I ask, thinking I misunderstood.
“I know, I know,” my mother says. “Your father offered to pay for it but he insisted he would take care of it.”
“But…” I trail off, not knowing what to say, my heart shattering into a million pieces.
He doesn’t want me?
That doesn’t make sense. He just said I’m the best thing that ever happened to him.
It suddenly all becomes clear. How upset he was. Why he wanted to spend more time with me. Did he think I was just going to go back home? Is that what he wants?
Tears burn the back of my throat as utter devastation consumes me.
“Come on, sweetheart.” My dad wraps an arm around my shoulder and begins leading me down the hall. “You look exhausted. Let’s go back to the hotel so you can rest. Our flight leaves tomorrow afternoon.”
Tess links her arm with mine as we make our way toward the exit, her head resting on my shoulder. My body is moving, breathing on its own, but I feel completely dead inside. I’m lost to a man who owns my heart, the one crumbling inside of my aching chest the farther away we walk.
One he doesn’t want.