“Hey,” I say when he grunts his answer.

“Benton. Fuck, man… you’ve put me through a shit storm today, you know that?” He sounds drained, and I suddenly feel bad for not finding help this week while I’ve been slacking at work.

“Sorry, man. I’ll bring someone up from downstairs to fill in for me until this stuff gets sorted out.”

“No man... not work. Work is going perfect. Take another week off,” he says chuckling. “You haven’t heard, obviously, have you?”

“Heard what?” I growl. What other bad news is going to smack me across the face?

“Gabby’s mom died from her injuries yesterday in the same hospital you two are at.”

Oh, fuck.

“Shit,” I say, sitting on a bench because I suddenly feel like I could pass out.

Shit, I killed someone.

“Oh my god, Adam,” I groan. “This isn’t happening. I didn’t… she wasn’t… she fucking shot Gabby!”

I can’t go to jail. I can’t leave my baby. I can’t… oh fuck fuck fuck.

“Relax, man. I’m having it taken care of. She has no next of kin, and no one really cares she’s dead. Plus, it was all in defense of Gabby who couldn’t defend herself.”

“Hell,” I sigh.

“B, dude, don’t worry about it. I’ve got this, but I just thought you should know in case Gabby finds out before you.”

Shit.

“Listen, I need to get moving. I have a meeting with the state department in a half hour. You’re going to be fine, Benton. I promise you. Now, go take care of your girl.”

Hanging up without words, I don’t move.

I can’t.

She’s going to hate me. I’m a killer. If she didn’t want to stay with me before, now she’s going to be terrified of me.

Fuck.

Gabby

Crazy

One week later

“Today’s the day!” Annaliese beams, opening the blinds of my room. “You can finally get out of this terrible place.”

She turns and puts her hands on her hips. I can’t take her happiness. I have nothing to be happy about. I can’t take the fact that Benton hasn’t been back in my room, but I know he’s at least safe.

I warned him. I warned him that being around me would lead to nothing good, but he wouldn’t let it happen. Then he made me go and fall in love with him, and everything was ruined in one shot.

One shot that was meant for his daughter.

A tear slips down my cheek as I silently cry for everything I’ve lost. I didn’t deserve it, and I knew it, but it still hurts to lose the two people I love the most. It hurts thinking that he’s going to move on without me. It hurts to think that Hannah will fall in love with another woman, and maybe even call her ‘mom’ one day.

It hurts to know that everything I was learning to crave: love, affection, motherhood… was all ripped away from me in one moment.

Now, I have to learn to move on again, all by myself. Without Benton, without Hannah… and without Annaliese.

“You can head out. I’ve got this,” I say, trying to stand up from the chair I’m sitting in.

Wincing, my free hand immediately goes to my abdomen.

Shit that hurts.

“Sit, bitch. You’re not pushing me away. You can’t fucking walk on your own. I’m taking you home and I’m staying with you until Benton gets there.”

“Um…” I never told her I broke up with him. I couldn’t. She’s been here every day, but we haven’t really talked about anything. I don’t want to talk. I don’t want to be… I just want to be left alone and wither away. Living without Benton and Hannah is going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

“What?” She stops fussing with my wheel chair long enough to look up at me.

“I’m not going back there,” I whisper. “I broke it off with him.”

Her eyes narrow, and she slowly stands. Hands on her hips, she pegs me with those beautiful eyes and I know I’m about to see the wrath of Annie that only comes out in dire circumstances.

Fuck.

“Gabrielle Adriana Rosdale. Stop being a bitch, and get in the goddamned wheelchair, so I can wheel your ass out of here and back to your fiancé who is miserable without your sorry ass.” She narrows her eyes at me, then glances at the wheelchair she finally has ready and taps her foot, waiting for me to get off the bed.

Well, shit.

“Wait, are you seriously pissed?” I ask, surprised that, after all these years, it looks like I’ve actually pissed off the Annaliese Ryder.

“Yes. If you wouldn’t have been so… blah… these last few days, you wouldn’t be miserable right now. It’s fucking stupid, Gabby,” she says, sighing and sitting in the chair she just prepared for me. I raise an eyebrow at her and grin when she narrows her eyes at me.

“You don’t get to smile right now. Just listen, bitch. Your fiancé put his life on the line for you. Everything he has could be taken away because he loves you that much. Everything,” she whispers, furrowing her eyebrows at me.

“Excuse me?” He didn’t do shit. He’s the victim here, not me. He was the one my mom was aiming for… his little girl is his world, and if she‘d been killed, it would have killed him. What could he possibly have on the line because of this? I freed him. I let him go so he could out of this shit-storm.

“Gabby…” Annaliese sits on the bed next to me and takes my hand. “Honey, you haven’t heard yet… and I know Benton was going to wait to tell you,” she says, then sighs and curses under her breath. “Gab, Benton beat up your mother the day you were shot. He was there… he and Adam found you. I can’t… I’m so happy we weren’t on our honeymoon yet,” she whispers. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you left me.” She sniffles and takes a deep breath, still holding onto my hand.

“So… Benton went straight for your mom… he beat her so good she wasn’t even recognizable when the paramedics finally got to her.”

Wow.

I always knew he had a temper, and I know he used to fight, but I guess I never knew him to be the person to be able to beat someone to the edge of his or her life.

Then it dawns on me what she’s trying to tell me.

“Ann, are you telling me he killed my mother?” I whisper, not even believing that I’m having to say the words out loud. She groans and stands up, starting to pace. A reaction like this wouldn’t be this dramatic if she’s still alive. His livelihood and family and life wouldn’t be on the line if he hadn’t killed someone. “Shit,” I whisper.

She’s gone.

The woman who made my life a living hell. The woman I have been wishing dead since I was nine years old is finally gone. I should feel sad that my mom died… any normal person would… but, with everything she put me through, she never really was a ‘mom’. She was the devil in a pretty blue dress most days. She was the woman who made sure to put on a show that her daughter was pristine, and she was the epitome of perfect house wife on the outside, just to come home and throw her daughter down the stairs if her hair wasn’t just right.

She was the devil, and I’m happy she’s gone.

Strangely enough… I’m ecstatic that it was my Benton that killed her. Does that show how crazy I am? I should be scared shitless that he has it in him to kill someone, but I know he’d never hurt me. I should be worried that one day he’s going to hurt his daughter, but I know the love he has for her. I do fear for her future boyfriends, but that’s normal for any father of little girls.

No, I’m not scared at all that he’d ever hurt me. What I am scared of is the fact that he killed someone, and he’s going to have to pay for it, right?

“Oh God, Ann,” I gasp. “If he goes to jail… Hannah… Oh my god,” I whisper, tears starting to fall.

“Don’t worry about that, Gabby. Adam has the best of the best on it. You know, more than anyone, how what he did was in defense for you… it’s all going to work out.”

I’m going to be sick. Shit.