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Had they wanted to kill her? But no, that couldn’t be the case They’d given her a iven it to hiain She had to tell hiive herself if they were hurt because she hadn’t warned Gabe and Jace

"Ash," she called out as loudly as she could

"Right here, baby What’s wrong? You need to slon your breathing You’re going too fast Can you do that for me?"

She sucked in a deep breath and tried to steady herself The pressure building in her chest was intense She dragged in another breath, blew it out and then tried again

"What is it, Josie? What are you afraid of?"

"Mia Bethany," she croaked out "He’ll hurt them like he hurt me Have to tell Gabe and Jace"

"Already done," he soothed "You told us Gabe and Jace aresure that Mia and Bethany are safe You don’t have to worry about them I’ve taken care of Britt too You’ll be happy to know that Kai has her under lock and key"

She tried to s by Ash’s look of delight

Then she sobered because the big question reier It was getting harder to stay awake She wanted nothing more than to drift off into oblivion where there was no pain, no worries Nothing but a black void of nothing

"Why?"

Ash sighed Didn’t even try to misunderstand her

"They hurt you because of me," he said, pain thick in his voice "Because of the business Me, Gabe and Jace He’s an asshole who hurt Mia before I didn’t know it, but he and Gabe have history He was retaliating because we shut hi to happen again, Josie I swear to you it won’t"

The resoluteness of his words worried Josie It was the same matter of fact way he’d spoken of Michael and the fact that Michael would no longer be an issue

"What did you do?" she whispered

"Nothing you need to worry about," he said as he brushed another kiss across her forehead

She frowned, her eyes half-closed already She struggled to remain awake and focused

"That’s not an answer," she slurred out

"It is," he insisted "I don’t want you to worry about anything but getting better This doesn’t touch you, Josie It never will"

"Don’t want to lose you," she whispered

He stroked her hair, his eyes soft with love "You won’t loseto be here"

"’Kay"

"Rest now, baby You’re about to go under Go to sleep I’ll be here when you wake up"

She fought only as long as it took to whisper the words Words she’d never given him before

"Love you"

This tireen to aqua pools His breath caught and stuttered over his lips as he stared down at her

"I love you too, darling Now get so over you while you sleep"

She gave in, closing her eyes, surrendering to the pull of the medication But she was still aware of the warainst her temple

Chapter thirty-four

"How is she?" Mia asked anxiously when Ash walked into the ICU waiting rooathered Mia in a hug and then put an arrim expression He hated that this touched them That they’d been threatened and now had to live with that knowledge

More than that he hated that Mia’s past had been dragged into the present Shauilt she had no business carrying It wasn’t her godda coho preyed on woet his point across He was pissed beyond belief that Charles had put that fear in Mia and Bethany’s eyes More than that, he was enraged that Josie bore the bruises and broken bones from Charles’s attack

The man would pay It was only a matter of time

Gabe and Jace also looked expectantly at Ash as they waited for an update on Josie’s condition None of the an They were too worried that Mia or Bethany could be next and so they’d taken steps to ensure neither woman would ever be at risk

Mia and Bethany weren’t thrilled, but neither did they object

"She woke up for a few minutes," Ash said

"Oh, that’s wonderful," Bethany breathed "Hoas she doing?"

"She’s in a lot of pain They gave her pain ed to say a few things She’s confused She was very worried about Mia and Bethany She didn’t remember that she’d already warned us so she was frantic to tell Gabe and Jace that he’d threatened Mia and Bethany"

"Son of a bitch," Jace muttered "What has the doctor said?"

"When e be able to see her?" Mia asked anxiously

"Maybe the next ti reress They were able to take the chest tube out and she’s breathing on her oith the aid of oxygen They’ll likely move her to a step-down unit ton of infection"

"That’s wonderful," Bethany said

"I’m so pissed this happened to her," Mia said tearfully

Gabe i his ar her into his side

"It’sdown her cheeks "It should have been me not her"