“I need to see him,” she whispered. “Please.”
Lana met her gaze, something soft and sorrowful flickering in her blue eyes. Then she walked back to the duffle bag, handed it to and turned away to give her privacy.
“Those are his,” Lana said. “That was his onerequest…that I bring you his clothes. He said you’d get comfort from them.”
Shannon’s throat tightened as she unzipped the bag, inhaling the clean, woodsy scent, a faint trace of him woven into the cotton.
Flutters burst inside her chest, then died.
She pulled off the thin hospital gown and slipped Jamie’s t-shirt over her head. The fabric swallowed her, soft and warm. Taking a moment, she fisted the hem, holding it to her chest like it could anchor her.
Then she stuffed her legs in oversized sweatpants and sank onto the edge of the bed, clothed in him. Wrapped in the only comfort she had left.
It didn’t make the knots in her chest loosen any. But for the first time in hours, she could breathe again.
“C’mon, Shannon. We’ve got a lot to talk about. Just not here.”
Lana gave a subtle nod to the suited woman tailing behind them as they moved through the hospital corridor and took the elevator to the roof.
Lana’s grip tightened, like she understood the effort it took for Shannon to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Nobody did, though.
“Marcus will bring him home, Shannon,” she said when they burst out into the rainy afternoon. “I promise you.”
“I need to see him,” Shannon whispered, her voice splintering. “Before…”
Her throat tightened, and she stared at the waiting helicopter. “I have to tell him something.”
The thought of Jamie locked away and punished for what Niall had done, for whatshe’dbrought into his life, clawed at her insides.
He destroyed a monster to protect her. And now he’d lose it all…
Her stomach churned already queasy from the news the doctor had given her earlier. She hadn’t even had time to process it yet.
Her body had been trying to tell her for weeks.
Now she understood why.
She barely registered the walk to the rooftop helipad. Clambering into helicopters had somehow become a routine since living with Jamie.
Her fingers slid the lightweight headset over her ears and clipped the belt across her lap herself, pained by how Jamie had always taken that role.
“Lana…” she rasped, her voice dry as dust. “Are they really…billionaires?”
The rotors whirred louder. The helicopter lifted from the roof and tilted into the sky. Lana adjusted her headset, nudging the microphone closer to her lips, painted in a perfect shade of blood red.
“The fact you’re asking tells me you didn’t know,” she said. “Yeah. They’ve worked hard. Made sacrifices and now they’re very wealthy.”
“He left that part out.” Shannon stared out at the shrinking skyline. “I mean… I knew he was rich, but he should’ve told me how rich.”
“Is it a problem?” Lana asked.
Shannon didn’t answer right away. She swallowed hard, trying to push down the knot in her throat. “I told him I needed us to be equals in everything and he made me believe that would be possible. He lied…which makes me wonder what else he’s lied about.”
“Or maybe he didn’t want money to ruin things. Maybe he wanted you to seehim, not the empire. They don’t trust people, but he trusts you, Shannon.”
Lana paused, then looked straight ahead as the city unfurled beneath them.
