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21-19
8 Mar
Chapter S
Chapter 8
Ned dropped to the floor unconscious. My hands flew over my mouth. I stared down at him, laying in the pool of blood. Í was about to go on my knees to check for his pulse when another arm grabbed mine from behind.
Startled, let out a scream, still terrified by the shock of the gunshot. It was Max and he was tugging my arm, attempting to pull me away. His face was pale and the worry lines creased deep in his forehead.
“What are you doing? My voice trembled, 1 pointed down at Neil’s unconscious body without peeling my off Max. “we need to take him to the hospital”
I attempted to reach into my purse, my hands were trembling with each new motion and I could barely get it open, as I tried. to get my phone to call for help
“Leah, we have to go now? Max raised his voice at me but I ignored him, pulling my phone out.
I’m not going to leave him here!” I maintained the same intensity in my tone. My legs stumbled a little, like they were going to give in any minute.
“Leah!” He tried to get me to leave a second time but I didn’t budge.
“What are you doing?” His voice cracked, “that’s the man you’ve spent years avoiding!”
I looked away from my phone, taking a step back, “what?! Even if he was just a nobody, he just got shot, how can I leave him to bleed and-”
Max clutched my shoulders tight, forcing me to face him, his eyes were red in horror when he looked down at me, “you don’t understand, the shooter meant to take you down, he happened to be in the way! For God’s sake, they could still be anywhere, we have to leave now!”
“I’m not-“I was going to argue when a loud scream caused me to flinch. Ella shoved me out of the way, almost knocking me off my feet until Max steadied me with a tight grip of my waist.
“Oh my God!” She let out a scream, immediately falling to her knees next to Neil’s unconscious body. Her eyes were wide, her trembling hands were stamped over her mouth, “Neil!” She screeched his name.
I watched as she pulled her phone out of her purse, “911? Is this 911! Som- someone has been shot! I don’t know if he’s still breathing, he’s losing a lot of blood, send help now, we are at- she yelled every word, tears streaming down her cheeks rapidly.
I nodded to myself, I almost forgot my place for a second. Max was right, he would be fine, he was Neil Devon after all, and he had multiple people looking out for him. Max must have noticed my realization and took advantage of my vulnerability.
“Come on,” he pulled me away from the duo. He took his suit off and wrapped it around me, pressing me against his body as we took our leave from the venue, in the midst of people scampering around and screaming.
Once I was safe in the passenger seat of his car, Max hit the road, glancing at me every second.
“Are you okay?”
“What the hell was that?” I asked as I took rapid breaths in and out
“I’m not sure.”
I tilted my head to look at him, “you said that was meant for me, why would anyone want to kill me?!”
“The shooter’s only target was you, he fled the scene as soon as he thought he hit you,” he said through gritted teeth, hitting the accelerator, “we need to get back to LA, now.”
1/3
21:19 Sat, 8 Mar A
Chapter 8
“Helen my eyes widened. I almost unstrapped myself from the seat, “my.my daughter, is she okay?”
Max’s brows pulled together in a frown, his grip on the steering wheel tightening as his knuckles went pale and his veins threatened to poke out of his skin, “she’s safe with my mother, I’m sure, they could never bypass the security at home, that’s why they targeted you the moment you stepped away from the house, but I’ll call to make sure.”
I pounded a fist against my chest, digging my teeth into my lower lip, “why? We’ve never dealt with something like this.”
“Leah I told you we shouldn’t come here.” Max sighed, his eyes barely fixed on the road
I closed my eyes tight, nodding fast, “you were right and now-” my voice trailed into a whimper and that was when I realized I was crying, “and now Neil has been shot because of me.”
It was getting hard to regulate my breathing, my chest was rising at a speed I couldn’t process and it felt like the air wasn’t getting into my lungs.
“He will be fine,” Max scoffed, barely caring.
“You don’t know that!” I projected my voice, “for all we know he could be dead! You saw how he was bleeding.”
ap
Max turned to look at me but didn’t say a word, instead he reached into his cup holder and pulled out a paper bag. “here, you seem to be having a panic attack.”
I took it and tried to regain myself.
Max pulled up in front of the hotel and hit the brakes. He leaned over to undo my seatbelt without meeting my gaze, “1 haven’t seen you this shaken up since the last time we were here, you haven’t shed a single tear in five years,” he snickered a little, “I guess this place really is cursed.”
He leaned away from me, “go pack up, I’ll rearrange our flights, we leave immediately.”
I held his arm, “will you look into it? Check if he survived?”
“Leah, think about everything you’ve built, don’t throw it all away by getting involved with those people again, please. You said you no longer care about Neil, let’s head back home, where the security is tight and we can pretend like today never happened,” Max sighed, getting down to help me out of the car.
I walked into the hotel room without uttering a word, the only thing in my head being Neil. I hated the fact that Ella was by his side, because it meant that he didn’t care about my absence in those years but worst of all, I hated that I was worried about him.
“I would be worried about anyone else if they took a bullet for me.” I nodded to myself, pacing back and forth the hospital
room
I turned my head in the direction of the door as Max walked in.
He scoffed, “we can’t fly tonight, there’s an impending storm on the
“Wh-” I started to say, getting cut off by loud thunder rumbling.
way
Without wasting time, it was followed by loud showers that rapidly escalated.
“Let’s go to bed, first thing tomorrow morning, we will head home, I called my mom, Helen is safe, I told them you were sleeping because you’re too shaken up to have a conversation with her, I don’t want them to get worried.”
I nodded
“Go on, clean up.” he raked his fingers through his hair, his voice so low and soft like I were an egg-
2/3
21:10 Sat, 8 Mar
Chapter S
DA
“You go ahead first,” I said with a blank stare. “I still need time to process it all
He nodded and disappeared into the bathroom.
I wanted until I could hear the water dripping before reaching for the car keys he’d placed on the desk.
I headed out of the hotel room. I knew I was going to regret this but the only thing in my head right now was finding Neil.
