“Nothing’s going to happen. You’re safe now,” he muttered, with a bit too much force. He’d no sooner made the claim than he realized it wasn’t true. The Krupins were still at large. Anything could happen. Another threat. A kidnapping. Perhaps they would lash out in revenge.
“Logan.” Ellery tried to lift her head, resulting in more coughs. “I’m sorry… for everything…”
“Shhhh… You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But I did.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, leaving tracks in the smeared soot. “I should never have made you date Allegra.”
“It doesn’t matter.” He ignored the paramedic’s raised eyebrows. Would their conversation be in the tabloids tomorrow?
“It does matter,” Ellery croaked. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just too insecure to believe you really cared.”
“Do you believe me now?”
She nodded, her gaze solemn. “And I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. I shouldn’t have done the fundraiser.”
“No, that wasn’t your fault. Dan manipulated you. He fooled all of us.”
Her lids drifted closed, and her body relaxed. But her eyes snapped open with another round of coughing.
“Logan…” Her free hand reached for him, and he leaned closer. “No matter what happens, I want you to know… I love you.”
She loves me! For so long he’d prayed to hear those words from her lips. Now joy battled in his mind with dread. Had he won her love, only for death to steal her away?
A sniff on his left caught his attention, and he turned to see the paramedic swiping her sleeve across her eyes. She flashed a sheepish smile and shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for romance.”
He grinned. “Okay if I kiss her, then? Just a quick one?”
“Really quick. And don’t tell anyone!” She pointed to a strap on the side of the mask. “Just loosen it right here.”
Logan lowered his face, pushing the mask aside at the last second. “I love you,” he whispered against her skin, delighting in the way she trembled in response. Then he moved his lips tenderly across hers. As he caressed her mouth, he willed her to live, wishing he could somehow transfer his lifeforce to hers.
The ambulance lurched around a corner, throwing him off balance, and he fell across her chest. He grappled for the side of the stretcher and pushed himself up, laughing as he secured the oxygen mask back in place.
“If there’s one thing I’m good at,” Logan murmured, “it’s an awkward kiss.”
Ellery’s chuckle turned into yet another cough.
“But there’s a bright side to all this,” she croaked, her eyes crinkled with a grin.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“I’m in a car and I’m smiling,” she said. “My amaxophobia’s gone.”
Once they reached the emergency room, the orderlies wheeled her away. Logan could still see the haunted expression she wore as the doors closed between them. He sank to the nearest chair in the waiting room and buried his face in his hands, heavy with guilt. If not for him, she would be happily oblivious to everything that had occurred tonight. She would simply be a first-year law student, intent on her studies. Thanks to him, she had bruises, cuts, lung damage, and who knew what other injuries from the accident. And if she survived those injuries, she was still a kidnapping target for a couple of homicidal brothers.
A shadow passed over him and the chair beside him scraped the floor.
“Don’t do it,” said Cole.
“What?” Logan asked, not bothering to lift his face.
“Don’t blame yourself and use it as an excuse to pull out of Ellery’s life. I’ve been there… right there in your shoes. Brooke almost got killed for no other reason than her association with me.”
Logan turned to look at Cole. His grave expression left no doubt he was being honest.
“Even if Ellery survives this,” Logan said, “the Krupins could still come after her. It’s not fair to make her live like that.”
“That’s not your call.” Cole speared him with a sharp gaze. “She gets to decide if it’s worth the risk or not.”
“She’s too unselfish.” Logan gestured angrily toward the double doors she’d disappeared through, as if they could see her on the other side. “Did you hear what she did? She crawled up in the front of the wreckage, trying to put out the fire. Just to save the same woman who was planning to kill her. And now, Ellery could die because of it!”
Cole grimaced.
“You see what I mean?” Logan flailed his arms. “She’ll never do what’s best for herself.”
Cole’s shoulders scrunched upward. “You can’t fault her for being altruistic.”
“I can if she gets herself killed doing it.”
“Are you telling me you’re going to break up with her? After all she’s been through?”
Logan swallowed hard. “No. But I should.”
“Don’t give up just because of the Krupins. We’ll find a way to stop them.” Cole put his hands on his knees and pushed to his feet. “Permanently.”
Logan nodded, as if he believed Cole’s promise. But inside, he began to prepare himself for the inevitable.
