Page 71 of Texting the Possessive CEO
We pull out at an intersection. When I first hear the cars honking their horns all around us, I assume I’ve accidentally run a red light. Then time slows as I spot motion on my right, a car speeding toward us.
I yell as I see a bald head and a bushy beard, a scowl, fire in his eyes?—
Then Aaron’s car slams into us.
The force jolts through me, seatbelt snapping tightly. My head begins to rush like I’ve fallen into a waterfall. I can taste metal. Blood?
Izzy?I say, or try to. No words will come out.
A black-red film is falling over reality.
Izzy? I try to yell.
But still, nothing.
Izzy!
And then it all goes dark.
CHAPTER 27
IZZY
One Month Later
There are tears in my eyes as Grandma and I dance around the dining room together. Her movements are still sluggish, but just the fact that she’s dancing is a miracle. I never would’ve dreamed it just one month ago.
I also never would’ve dreamed that Aaron, my uncle, would follow us from Dom’s offices, drunk on whiskey, and try to run us off the road. As the music rises around us, and Grandma and I sway together, I relive that awful moment.
Wheezing as my seatbelt cut into my chest, looking over at Dom as his mouth filled with blood and his eyes stared, directly into my soul. He clawed for me, moaning my name weakly, before unconsciousness took him.
I remember after rushing to the hospital, thinking I was going to lose the man I love right after I rejected his proposal. Sure, he didn’t get down on one knee, but it would’ve eaten me up inside, nonetheless.
I remember the coma they induced him into, with me wondering if he was ever going to wake up.
Twenty-four hours later, he peeled his eyes open. His internal swelling had subsided. He’d broken more ribs than me—four for him, one for me—and his arm was banged up, plus the concussion, but he was alive. He was going to recover. Fate, it turns out, isn’tthatcruel.
Grandma sighs and moves to the chair, sitting carefully and kneading her thighs. “Sorry, sweetheart,” she says.
I get her a glass of water, then sit beside her. “How amazing is this? Dancing together? Look at you, Grandma! You’re like a new woman.”
She smiles, looking radiant, looking remade. “I feel brand new,” she says proudly.
When the front door goes, I jump to my feet, excited as usual when Dom returns from working late. I’m… between jobs at the moment. I don’t want to be a liability, but when Dom woke from the short coma, he took my hand and asked me bluntly,“Do you want to work in construction, or did you just fall into it?”
I told him the truth. It was just a job. So, he insisted I take some time to figure out whatIwant. I’ve been practicing with my new violin for four, sometimes five hours a day, and next week is my first official day as a private tutor. Dom has given me my passion back, taking care of me like he takes care of everyone, and I’ve made a promise to myself to always give him that same affection in return.
He smiles when I greet him, taking off his jacket. I kiss him on the cheek, laughing as he sweeps his arms around me and pulls me in for a real kiss. I remember how fragile he looked in thehospital bed… but then how fierce he became when I gave him the news.
“Aaron died in the car crash. He ended himself trying to end us.”
“Good,”Dom growled.“One down, one to go.”
Sebastian, however, is still in the wind, despite the police searching for him in relation to the drug charges.
Grandma is in the living room. She laughs when Dom playfully skips over to her, leaning down and giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He looks at me, winking, handsome and playful. But still with that dark intensity in his eyes. “Who’s this young lady?”
Grandma giggles. “The same joke, every day,” she says, clearly loving it. “Does anybody mind if I turn on the TV? It’s almost time for the news.”
