Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 63608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
“You’re scaring me less than you should,” I admit. “Because somehow I feel like this should be terrifying to me and it’s not. Your words give me an odd comfort, Ledger.”
One corner of his mouth twitches not a smile, but the ghost of one. “Good. Means your instincts still work.”
He stands and steps closer again, hands at his sides like he’s forcing himself not to reach for me.
“They may have taken your memories,” he says in a low voice that sends shivers down my spine, “but they didn’t touch your instincts. Or mine.”
My pulse skitters.
“Ledger…”
“You’re safe,” he reminds again, firmer this time. “I’m not goin’ anywhere.”
A knock interrupts us, and Ally bursts into the room, eyes wild, hair a mess, still wearing her bakery apron. “Oh my God, Kelly!” She lunges forward and hugs me so hard I see stars.
Ledger stiffens, stepping aside but not far hovering like a silent guard.
Ally pulls back, wiping tears. “I was terrified. You didn’t come home, and then the hospital called.”
“I’m okay,” I whisper, though I’m not sure it’s true.
Ally’s gaze flicks to Ledger, narrowing. “You. Sit. And don’t make her panic more than she already is.”
Ledger raises his brows. “I’m not—”
“You exist,” Ally snaps. “That’s panicky enough.”
Despite everything, a small laugh escapes me. Ledger mutters something under his breath that sounds like sweet baby Jesus, she’s so bossy, and sits.
Ally talks fast rambling about the bakery, about calling my family, about someone covering my shift and Ledger quietly watches every person who enters the hallway like he’s memorizing faces.
After several minutes, Ally leans close to me. “Good news. The doctor said you can go home tomorrow morning.”
Before I can respond, Ledger cuts in. “She’s not going home alone.”
Ally straightens. “Obviously not. She’s staying with me.”
Ledger’s expression is unreadable. “No.”
“No?” Ally echoes, eyebrows shooting up.
“She’s stayin’ under King protection,” Ledger states calmly. “Closer to the clubhouse. Where we can keep eyes on her until we sort out who did this.”
Ally sputters. “She’s not a prisoner, and Chux will keep her safe if she’s with me. That’s King protection.”
“She might be a target,” Ledger snaps.
Silence freezes the room.
Ally’s face drains of color. Ledger’s jaw hardens. I grip the blanket, breath quickening. “A target?” I whisper.
Riot meets my gaze. “Yeah, sunshine. Someone hit your car on purpose.”
A tremor races through me.
Ally gasps. “Who would do that?”
“I’m gonna find out,” Ledger says, voice low and lethal. “But until then? She doesn’t leave my sight.”
My heart flutters painfully.
“Your sight?” Ally demands. “She barely remembers you!”
Ledger doesn’t flinch. “Doesn’t matter. I remember her.”
The words hit me with a strange, warm force.
I swallow shakily. “Ally, it’s okay.”
“It is not okay!” She challenges.
“It is,” I repeat quietly. “He makes me feel safe. The doctor said the memories will come back.”
Ledger goes completely still. Ally looks between us, her expression shifting from outrage to confusion to something softer. Finally, she sighs. “Fine. But if she gets more confused because of you, I’m smacking you with a rolling pin.”
Ledger almost smirks. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
Ally groans and leaves to talk to the doctor. When the door closes, Ledger turns to me. “You good?”
“No,” I say honestly. “But I think I trust you.”
His chest rises and falls in one deep breath like I just handed him something fragile and dangerous. “Then we’ll start there,” he murmurs.
Not with memories. Not with a past I can’t reach. But with trust. Something small and warm unfurls inside me.
“I’m scared.”
His eyes soften. “Me too.”
The honesty in his voice steals my breath.
He steps closer slow, careful and rests his hand on the metal rail beside my head, not touching me but close enough that heat radiates between us.
“We’ll get through this,” he states like it’s a fact. “Together.”
My pulse stutters.
I don’t know why his presence calms me.
I don’t know why his voice grounds me.
I don’t know why he feels like gravity.
All I know is this, I don’t want him to leave.
And the scariest part?
Somewhere deep inside the fog of my mind, past the amnesia, past the fear, something in me whispers that he never would.
Seven
Ledger
She may not remember me. But I remember everything.
* * *
I’ve stood in some bad rooms in my life. Crime scenes. Interrogation basements of cartels. Hospital corridors with brothers bleeding out. Courtrooms where the verdict could’ve ended everything. Desert boxes of combat.
None of them compare to standing beside Kelly’s hospital bed while she looks at me like I’m some stranger who stepped into her life by accident. And yet, she says she trusts me. The confusion in her eyes, the fear behind it, the way she said I think I trust you…
It’s a knife. A clean, quiet one. Slides in without resistance, then twists. I force myself to breathe evenly, to not let it show. She’s rattled enough. She doesn’t need my shit stacked on top.