I’m not sure I could stop them. It’s getting harder to stand up with every second. But I’ll be damned if they take her away. I’ll be damned if they pull her out of my arms.

“No.” I’m not letting go of her. Not now, not ever. “She’s staying with me.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Emily Rochester

“What was he thinking?” Mateo asks as he drives, pushing the speed limit on the way to the hospital. He drives fast but with impressive handling. “What the actual fuck was he thinking?”

“Probably that Jane was in danger. Beau doesn’t think that much in those situations. He just acts. It’s probably a good thing that he did. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he wasn’t there.” The thought of it makes me want to throw up.

“Admirable,” Mateo says. “Yes. Maybe. But now he’s in the hospital, so he could have made better choices. One that didn’t involve him getting mortally wounded.”

“Is Uncle Beau going to be okay?” Paige asks from the back seat.

“Yes,” Mateo and I say at the same time.

I turn around to look at her, forcing a small smile. “He’s going to be just fine, sweetie. He might need some time to recover, but he’ll be okay. We’re all going to be okay.”

“I feel okay right now,” Paige says, very seriously.

My heart clenches. “I’m glad to hear it.”

The Causey trial was already national news. I’m sure the results of his arrest, which is happening in the same hospital on a different floor, will also be in the news. But the reporters haven’t had a chance to swarm the hospital yet. When we pull into the parking lot we just see some women in scrubs talking and an ambulance with the doors open.

“I think we can beat them,” says Mateo. As long as a freak thunderstorm doesn’t stop us, I think he’ll be right. I’ve never seen him this focused. The news about Beau came in, and he sprang into action. It’s like when he wanted to go to Paris.

Mateo Garza won’t stand for a problem left unfixed.

It’s like he’s reading my mind. “The paparazzi?”

“Yeah.” He’s steering us toward the hospital from the main road. He barely pauses at a stop sign and cruises through to the parking area. Mateo throws the car into park, like he’s bringing one of us to the hospital, like we’re the ones who are hurt. “Don’t see any. Are we ready?”

Paige is already unbuckled and about to climb out of the car. She’s faster than both of us. It gives me hope. If she can be this brave, so can I. “Ready!”

“Let’s go.”