The Exception (45 page)

Regardless of what happens to me, please let her be okay.

“Someone ordered pizza.” A man’s voice said right outside the door. “I would like to get it. You and I could have a bite to eat before we end our little time together. Aye, if your boyfriend had been fucking home when he was supposed to have been, maybe we could have had dinner before I fuck you and kill you. Too bad.”

I clenched my jaw, gripping the sword with all of my strength, willing myself to shut the fuck up.

His black boots crossed the doorway before his body, head to toe in black. A glimmer from the street light hitting the metal of the gun at his side caught my attention.

At least I knew where it was.

“This is taking longer than expected. I am going to have to ask Mr. Powers for a bonus for my time.”

Holding the sword tightly, I took a step forward before twisting and slicing across the man’s abdomen with every bit of fury, rage, and strength I could possibly find.

The blade ripped through his shirt and into his skin, bright red blood oozing out, dripping off the ridge of the blade as it cut across him.

The gun dropped hard against the floor as his hands flew to his stomach. A whooshing sound escaped his throat as all air left his body and he stumbled into the light, eyes wide.

I took a step forward and his eyes widened further as they found me. He looked down and saw his internal organs beginning to spill outside his body.

He frantically began patting his stomach, his chest heaving, hands sticky with his own blood. He stumbled another step farther before falling onto the floor face first in a heap of his own blood and organs.

I breathed heavily and looked around the room, ensuring there were no accomplices, before landing on Jada. She was struggling against her restraints, her sounds weak and muffled.

I walked across the room, my body shaking with the effects of the adrenaline. Sirens began to come into earshot.

You are a little too fucking late.

I knelt down in front of my girl and set the sword next to me. Her eyes were frantic and swollen so much that I knew she couldn’t see me.

“It’s me, baby. He’s gone,” I said softly.

I pulled the gag out of her mouth and up over her head. She began working her mouth up and down, trying to swallow.

“Cane,” was all she could make out. I kissed her forehead before moving behind her. I worked at the ties around her bleeding wrists.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to talk. I’m going to get you out of here.”

My front door burst open and I continued to fumble with the ties.

A swarm of officers descended upon the room, guns drawn, in police formation.

“The light switch is by the door.” I said, still fumbling with the ties. “And there’s a guy bleeding to death under the window if you give a fuck.”

The lights came on and the noise level in the room went up immediately as the scene in the room became apparent. Police began to bark orders to each other, ordering ambulances, drug teams, and K9 units.

Everything but Jada fell to the wayside as I freed her hands. She began to fall forward immediately, the pain and exhaustion too much for her to hold herself up. I caught her against my chest, pulling her hair back away from her face. I could see the pain in her eyes, the green laced with so much agony that it fucking hurt me. It killed me.

Tears began to build in my eyes as I was finally able to wrap my mind around everything that had just happened.

“Sir, I’m going to need you to step back,” an officer said behind me.

“I’m going to need you to shut the fuck up,” I growled, not bothering to turn around.

I looked at my beautiful girl and wrapped her in my arms, holding her close. “Are you okay, baby?”

I smoothed her hair back as an officer unfastened her feet.

“No,” she groaned. “I hurt so much.”

I kissed the top of her head before picking her up and cradling her like a baby.

“Sir, you can’t take her anywhere. An ambulance is coming.”

My eyes flashed to his, causing him to blanch. “I’ll put her in the ambulance myself. But there’s not a chance I’ll be putting her down before then.”

He nodded uncertainly before grabbing the little radio on his collar and turning away from us.

“Cane?” Jada muttered against my chest.

“Yeah, baby?”

“Please don’t leave me.”

I squeezed her tighter. “There’s not a chance that will ever happen again.”

JADA

I looked at Cane in the driver’s seat of his Denali. We were pulling out of the hospital and he looked in total control—sunglasses over his eyes, one arm resting on top of the steering wheel. It was the most relaxed I had seen him in the last three days. He had never left my hospital bed. Kari had brought him clothes and he had showered in my room. He slept in a chair next to my bed every night.

The hospital kept me for tests and observation, but luckily no permanent damage was done. It was going to take some time for me to heal completely, but at least it would happen. My eyes were still black and my face was still swollen, but the ringing in my ears started to wane.

A counselor had come to see me in the hospital and explained that I may feel some sort of post-traumatic stress. He encouraged me to make an appointment with someone to discuss my feelings if I became overly anxious or scared.

The thought of going back into Cane’s house terrified me and I didn’t think I would ever be able to go there again. But otherwise, I wanted to try to live my life without looking over my shoulder. If at all possible, I didn’t want to become a victim. I made a couple of appointments with a therapist at Cane’s urging, just in case … and because he wasn’t to be argued with.

Cane grabbed my hand and sat it on his thigh, covering my hand with his. He chewed on his bottom lip as we made our way across the Valley towards Kari’s.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

I shrugged, wincing a little. “Okay. My head hurts, but I think it may hurt for a while.”

“Yeah.” He furrowed his brow. “Can I show you one thing before we go to your sister’s? If you don’t feel like it, baby, just say so.”

“I’d like to see whatever you have to show me.” I smiled widely as I tried to readjust my sunglasses on my swollen face.

Cane turned on the radio and John Legend came on. “Hear this?” he asked, turning it up. “This is me to you.” He grinned shyly, making my heart burst. “I love you.”

“I loved you first,” I whispered.

His eyes found mine and I could see the wheels turning.

“What’s the matter?” I swung my ring around my finger.

He shook his head. “Nothing,” he said as we passed the exit to Kari’s.

“Where are we going?”

“Patience is a virtue.”

“Funny, I’ve heard that before,” I laughed. I relaxed back into the soft leather and felt some of the tension float away. Maybe things were getting back to some sort of normal.

He took his sunglasses off and chewed on the end. “I think I’ve said that to you before,” he said, thoughtfully. “And I think it was the last time we came out here.”

“Are we going to your mountain?” I asked him, wondering what the city looked like from there with the sun still up.

He grinned.

“So that is where we are going!” I exclaimed and he shook his head at me. “I really love it out there, you know. I’m excited to see it in the daytime.”

“I hope you are.”

I watched the scenery float by, everything so colorful. After everything that had happened, every color, every flower, every single thing looked more beautiful, tasted better, smelled better.

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

His eyes flashed to me in a panic.

“Not like that, Cane. We can’t live at Kari’s forever. Where do we go? I just can’t go back to your house.” I looked to the floorboard, a little disappointed in myself that I couldn’t get over that. “I just feel so … homeless. And you won’t go home without me and I can’t go there and it’s just—”

“Home is wherever you are, baby. That place my shit was at was just a structure. That wasn’t a home.”

I tried to suppress the ridiculous grin on my face to no avail. “So what do we do?”

“That depends,” he said softly, sticking his sunglasses in the top of his shirt.

“On what?”

He nodded ahead.

I looked up through the windshield and realized we were making our way to the base of his mountain. Sitting at the top was a building. I couldn’t make out much as we pulled to the back and made our way up the hill.

“When did you sell this?” I asked in disbelief. “That’s great and not-so-great at the same time!”

The tires crunched on the hard ground as we inched our way to the top. The building began to come into sight again. It appeared to be a house. It sat low to the ground, a ranch style, of sorts. I could see a lot of glass and a tile roof.

We pulled to the top, Cane saying nothing as he put the car in park. He turned to look at me but my eyes were fixed on the white picket fence lining the back of the house.

“Cane?” I asked nervously, anxiety building. My eyes scanned the rest of the scene in front of me. The house wasn’t complete. I could tell from the materials lying around, but it was coming along.

I opened my car door—not even looking at Cane although I felt his eyes on me—and got out, taking everything in.

It was absolutely perfect.

I walked up the small sidewalk and towards the door. The view was incredible.

I hope whoever bought this place appreciates it.

I got a few feet from the door and stopped dead in my tracks, my hand flying to my mouth.

The plaque by the back door read
Alexander House, built in 2014.

“Cane?” I said, whipping around, looking at him for an explanation.

He smiled sheepishly, his hands stuck in the front pockets of his jeans. “Yeah?” he asked, bowing his head a little like he was afraid of my reaction.

“What is this?” I whispered, looking around again, afraid to believe what I thought I was seeing.

“This is Project AH, otherwise known as your happily-ever-after. I hope.” He chewed on his bottom lip, watching me intently.

“My happily-ever-after? What do you mean?”

I sat on one of the lounge chairs on the concrete slab, not trusting my legs. My heart pounded as I looked out across the city, the most amazing view I had ever seen, until I pulled my eyes back to the man standing in front of me.

That
was the best view in the world.

“I built this for you.”

“Cane…” Words seemed so inadequate. “When did you do this?”

He smirked. “This has been in the works for a while now. I wanted to show you before, but everything was just a fucking wreck.” His face smoothed, his smirk turning into a small smile. “For the first time in my life, I know what it means to be happy. I know what it means to look forward to the future. I know what it feels like to love someone … to love them so much you’d literally die for them. You’d let them go across the country so they wouldn’t get hurt, even though it tore your heart apart to watch them leave.”

He sat on a chair next to me, fidgeting in a very un-Cane-like way.

“I just need to know one thing now,” he said, smiling nervously. “Will you move here with me?”

I couldn’t say anything. I was just in total shock.

“Jada, you’re killing me here,” he laughed nervously.

“Of course I will,” I breathed out, my chest heaving with excitement, the smile on my face touching my eyes. It was the happiest I had ever been.

“I have a confession.” He winced as he tilted his head.

My heart dropped to my knees and my smile slipped.

Please, God, please don’t let us go backwards again.

“What’s that?” I asked hesitantly.

“I lied to you.” He looked to the house so I couldn’t see his face.

My shoulders began to sag, my words coming out harsher than I expected. “About what?”

“I have another thing I need to know. I want you to change your address—move here with me. But I also want to know if you will change one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

Cane reached into his pocket and got down on the ground on one knee in front of me.

My heart jumped to my throat. Tears came to my swollen eyes and my hands flew to my mouth.

“I want you to change your last name. Will you marry me?” He opened a black velvet box and the most beautiful ring I had ever seen sparkled inside. Not too big and not too small—it was perfect.

“Cane!” I squealed. I felt lightheaded as my blood pressure soared, excitement taking over me. He removed the ring from the box and slipped it gently on my finger. He held my hand in his hands, as mesmerized by the sight as I was. He lifted it to his lips and kissed it before pulling me into him.

He kissed me long and hard, his hand wrapping in my hair and holding me still as he took his time telling me everything he wanted without words.

He broke the kiss and held my head with both hands.

“You were right,” I smiled.

“About what?”

“Words are overrated.” I grinned as he laughed.

“So, this means you’ll marry me?”