Oh yeah, I liked the sound he made when that connected.

The bathroom door collapsed and Elizabeth’s body lay on top of it, her eyes frantic as she took me in. I laughed rather oddly. I guess she’d beat it down to get to me.

Her, her. That was all that mattered. Shit, I didn’t want her to be scared.

Nothing would ever happen to her. I loved her. I wanted to be with her forever. I wanted to make babies with her. I wanted to wrap her up in a cocoon of love…

And just then, things got hazy. I felt weak. My blood was everywhere, pooling on her tile.

Shit. Wait. Got to save her.

Fading.

Everything went black.

I TOUCHED HIS face. Cool. He was pale, too.

I worried my bottom lip with my teeth and pulled up the hospital sheet to tuck it around him more securely.

He’d almost died in front of me. Tears pricked at my eyelids, but I beat them back when I saw his hand twitch. Time to be strong.

His eyes fluttered.

Long black lashes—God, how had I never noticed how beautiful every single hair on him was?—lifted and he gazed up at me, at first disoriented, but then a slow dawning in his eyes.

“I’m alive?” His voice sounded like it had been dragged over gravel.

“Halleluiah! He speaks,” Dax shouted out with whoop from a green recliner where he’d been sleeping for the past few hours.

A pretty nurse popped her head in and looked at Declan. Smiled. “You’re awake. Great. I’ll let the doctor know.”

“She can check out the Sex Lord anytime,” Dax snarked.

He then leaned over and inspected Declan. “You’ll live, I guess. Just my luck.”

“Arsehole,” Declan muttered at him. “Always thinking about yourself.”

I smiled. If he had died—God, I would have wanted to go with him.

He focused back on me. “What happened? I blacked out …” I watched his face as he pieced it all together.

I nodded gently. “You’ve been here for about twelve hours. The police arrived just after you went down. They arrested Colby and called an ambulance for you.” I licked dry lips. “He—he nicked your femoral artery. If it hadn’t been for the quick-thinking policeman who tied off your thigh, you would have bled to death.” I took a deep breath. “You spent four hours in emergency surgery to repair the vessel—a kind of graft. You probably won’t be able to walk without crutches for a few weeks.”

“I’ll live then.” His eyes devoured me, raking over my face, my lips. “How are you? Did he hurt you?”

I shook my head. “Just what you saw. I told the police what happened.”

“Everything?”

I took his hand and squeezed. “Yes. They’ve arrested him, but his dad has already made a statement on television. He said he knows Colby’s innocent, so we may have a bumpy road ahead of us.”

“Like hell we will.” Winston Blay walked in the room, his suit wrinkled from being up all night with Dax and me. We’d spent the last few hours talking a lot, and I’d filled him in on everything about Colby and what had happened to me. He’d been surprisingly understanding, and we’d formed a bond while waiting for Declan to pull through surgery. He’d told me how he was glad Declan had come to him for money instead of continuing the illegal fights. In the end, I think all he wanted was for Declan to find some happiness. “He may be a Senator, but I’m an ambassador, and no jerk-off southern good ole boy is going to try to kill my son and think he’s going to get away with it.”

Dax did a fist pump. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

I leaned down to Declan. “Your dad has been on the phone all morning, lining up lawyers and talking to bigwigs. He’s been good to me, too. He found my mom and Karl in Petal and they’re at their local police station now, giving a statement about how they tried to blackmail the Scotts’.”

That seemed to satisfy Declan. He gazed at me. “God, I was so afraid I was going to lose you forever. I—I don’t think I would have survived that.”

I kissed him, not caring that people were watching, but Mr. Blay and Dax discreetly left the room. I pulled back and rested my face against his shoulder. “No, I was afraid you were dead. I—I can’t even think about it.”

Declan patted the covers. “Get in the bed with me.”

I eyed him warily. “You’ve got too many wires hooked up to you to get freaky.”

“I don’t want to shag you. I want to love you.” He sat up in bed and scooted over. There was barely room for me, he was so big, but he tugged me down until I was lying across him, his hard body warm against mine. He pushed a hand through my hair to cup my head. “When I get out of this hospital bed, I am taking you away from this town and we are going to be alone, without the gym or uni or family or anything. I have some things to show you.”

“Good things?” I teased.

“I want to take you to London and show you where I grew up. I want to visit my mum’s grave with you and tell her how I found the perfectly broken girl to fall in love with. I want to watch you eat a proper shepherd’s pie—maybe show you how to make it.”

“I don’t cook. All I can make is ramen noodles.”

He smiled. “Then I’ll eat ramen.”

Poor guy.

I laughed. Giddy. “You really do love me,” I teased. “I’m yours, Declan, and I will do my best to make you happy and never live with any stupid regrets. I promise you I will always focus on the future.” I pressed my lips to his lightly. “I’m not going to judge myself on the past. I don’t live there anymore.”