CHAPTER 24
SHAW
Leaving Kate in Lev’s capable hands was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I thought I’d be relieved to go back to my normal weekend routine. Instead, I feel lost and unsettled, like I’m missing something. Buzzing on my phone brings me out of my introspection. It’s the city letting me know we can have Kate’s vehicle towed from the impound.
Texting Lev, I let him know I’m going out for a while. Listing out Kate’s painkiller schedule, I tell him she’s due for her next round in about a half-hour. He replies that he’s good to take over her care. Lev was frantic while he waited for a flight. calling and texting every hour. Seeing his face when he arrived, I know he’s in deep with her. If I know him well, he’s already in love with her. I’d never seen him with anyone else like he is with Kate. Not even Nessa.
Not that Lowell has been much better, but he keeps his emotions hidden. The fact that he got angry with me showed me more of his feelings than any words could have said. Lowell only feels deeply for those closest to him. Those who are a part of his family. He, too, had been blowing up my phone while he waited for his flight. The only reason it was quiet now was that he was in the air.
I decide to go to the impound and look at Kate’s SUV to determine where we should have it towed. It’s the least I can do. The things Kate went through and all she lost from that one incident is heartbreaking. She is a remarkable woman with a steel spine under that beautiful exterior, to be standing after the hurricane that hit her life.
Turning into the pound, I ask the officer on duty to point out Kate’s vehicle. He gives me the keys and points me toward the black Range Rover in the back corner. As I walk up to the vehicle, my knees tremble and almost give out as I look at the wreckage. There’s not a place on the vehicle that didn’t receive damage. The front of the vehicle is crumpled, the ceiling and sides are caved inward, and the glass is shattered.
Moving closer, I look into the driver’s seat and notice the blood and twisted seat. Thankfully, the vehicle has front and side airbags. If they hadn’t, I don’t think she would have survived. Tears come to my eyes as I think about what could have been. My hand reaches up to rub the ache in my chest, and I have this urge to get back home and pull her into my arms. Before I leave, I take a few pictures of the vehicle so I can show them it is totaled. Cleaning out the vehicle, I take her few belongings to the truck.
As I pull up to the drive, I see Lowell getting out of his vehicle. He waits while I get out and grab Kate’s stuff.
“What are you doing? Where’s Kate?” he demands.
“Lev came home a little while ago. I left to check on her vehicle.” My voice is tight as I relay the state of her vehicle to him. “She’s so lucky to be alive.” Pulling out my phone, I show him the pictures.
His body sways as he reviews the damage. “I need to see her.” Turning around, he rushes off towards the house. “Hurry!”
Walking in, Lowell walks right over and plucks Kate out of Lev’s arms. Holding her tight, he carries her over to a chair and sits down with her in his arms. His hands go over every inch of her, as if to reassure himself she is alive, with only mild injuries. The look on his face is intense as he checks her out. Kate reaches up, clasps his head in her hands, and gives him a deep kiss. Stopping, he pulls back and looks at her. Blinking rapidly, he wraps his hand gently in her hair and kisses her like the oxygen she is to him. There is nothing controlled in his response only pure emotion.
Both my heart and cock ache as I watch them. Looking over, I see Lev watching me with his eyebrows raised before he turns back to the other two. Sending him the pictures of her smashed SUV via text, I wait for him to look at them.
As his phone buzzes, he pulls up the text with the pictures, and his face loses all color. Hunching over, his fists clench as he stares down at the wrecked vehicle. Looking up at me, I see tears in his eyes before he looks over to Kate in Lowell’s arms. He moves over to the chair next to them so he can reach out and touch her.
The moment feels too intimate, and feeling left out, I go to bed. Calling out goodnight to them all, I move towards the hall. I hear Kate call out to me.
“Thank you, Shaw, for everything. Goodnight.”
Slipping into bed, my thoughts go back to the wrecked vehicle and last twenty-four hours. In the Army, I’d known how brief life can be, but I’d forgotten that fact in safe Montana. My inability to make a decision stemmed from fear of getting hurt, and I could have lost her without ever even knowing or loving her. Not anymore. My decision is clear now. Sniffing, I smell Kate on the pillow next to me, which only serves to remind me how empty my arms are tonight without her here. I pull the pillow into my arms and drift off to sleep.
CHAPTER 25
