Dr. Rosenblatt sighed before he continued, “Kiera is in stable, but critical, condition. She’s lost a lot of blood. She was shot in the leg, chest, and head. We’ve been operating on her for the past several hours and were able to successfully remove all the bullets. Thankfully, they missed hitting all vital organs. The shot to the head appeared to just graze her. We induced a coma as a precaution to operate and remove bullet fragments.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Bridget asked.

“It’s touch-and-go at the moment. She still has quite a bit of swelling in her head so we need to keep her in a coma until that has reduced. Once the swelling begins to subside, I’ll know more, but until then, that’s all I can really tell you.”

“Can I see her?”

Everyone turned to the source of the voice. Mo sat there with a blank look still on his face, staring ahead at nothing in particular, his eyes glassed over.

The doctor looked at Kiera’s parents, silently asking permission if it was okay that he be allowed to see her.

“Like I said, Dr. Rosenblatt, this is Kiera’s family. Anyone here is allowed to see her as long as the hospital is okay with her having visitors.”

“Follow me, please,” Dr. Rosenblatt said to Mo. “No more than two people at a time.”

“Libby, dear, why don’t you go with him? He looks like he could use a friend.”

Olivia looked at Kiera’s mother. “Are you sure? You can go first, if you want to.”

“You go. James and I will go after you return.”

Olivia wrapped her arms around her, pulling her in tight. “Thank you. We’ll make it quick.” She turned, following the doctor and Mo down a long corridor past double doors marked ICU. They continued through what seemed like a maze of hallways before stopping outside the door to a private room.

Mo sobbed quietly when he entered the room and saw Kiera’s lifeless body lying on a stark white hospital bed. He sat down next to her and held her hand, his cries making his entire body shake.

Olivia walked in and closed the door, giving them some privacy. She placed her hand on Mo’s shoulder, still determined to remain strong, even though she wanted to break down and scream and cry. She had to keep it all together…for Mo.

Everything was her fault. She knew it. The letter Carol had shown her proved it. She had something these people wanted and they weren’t going to stop until they had it. But what was it? Was Alexander still keeping information from her? Carol’s words kept repeating through Olivia’s head: “Listen to whatever Alexander thinks is best. He’s only ever had your best interests at heart.”

After looking down at Kiera’s swollen and badly beaten body, Olivia couldn’t take it anymore. “Come on, Mo. Let’s give her parents a chance to see her.”

He slowly nodded. “You’re right. Sorry,” he said, his voice void of emotion. He raised himself from his chair and leaned over, planting a kiss on Kiera’s lips. “I love you, K.”

Walking over to the bed, a tear fell down Olivia’s cheek. She placed her hand over her friend’s, noticing how cold and lifeless it was. “I’m so sorry, Kiera,” she whispered. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

She turned and left the small room, closing the door behind her. Olivia resolved to do whatever it took so that none of her other friends met with the same fate as Kiera…even if it meant putting herself in danger.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

HOME

“HOW’S SHE DOING?” ALEXANDER asked as soon as they returned to the waiting room.

“Oh, Alex,” Olivia cried out¸ unable to muster any more strength after seeing Kiera’s lifeless body.

His arms were around her instantly and he soothed her tears, trying to comfort her.

“It’s so horrible. She looks like she’s dead. I just…”

“What is it, love? What do you need? Name it and I’ll do it for you.”

Her chin quivered as she listened to his heart beating in his chest. “Take me home, Alexander. Please. Get me out of here. I can’t be here anymore, and if that makes me a weak person, I don’t care,” she sobbed, clutching on to his back, wanting him to take the pain away.

“Olivia, look at me.”

She slowly tilted her head up, staring into his beautiful green eyes.

“Don’t ever think that you’re a weak person.” He brushed the tears from her face. “You’re not. You’ve just been trying for too long to stay strong. Let me be the strong one for a little bit. Okay?”

She nodded, wiping her tear-stained cheeks.

“Good,” he smiled. “Now, you said you wanted to go home. Do you want me to give you a ride to your place or did you bring your car?”

“I have my car, but I was referring to our home, Alex.”

His smile widened and he grabbed Olivia’s hand, pulling her through the sliding glass doors and out of the emergency room.

He led her toward the parking garage, grabbing his cell phone as he walked. “Martin, it’s me. Miss Adler’s Audi is in the garage at M.G.H. Coordinate with Carter to retrieve it and bring it to my place.” He hung up just as they reached his Maserati. He opened the door for her and she smiled, happy that things were starting to feel somewhat normal again.

He glanced over at her as he pulled out of the parking garage and onto Storrow Drive, heading back to the waterfront. “Olivia, darling, I know you probably have a lot of questions right now, and I promise…”

“Alexander,” she said, interrupting him. “I don’t want to think about any of that right now because I’m pretty sure I’m going to get pissed off at you again. Please. Let’s forget about all of that for now. I just want to sit here and hold your hand. I’ve missed feeling your skin on mine.”

He opened his mouth to say something, quickly realizing that she was right. She would get more than just pissed off when she found out how much he had kept from her. Instead, he smiled at her, happy to have her at his side once more, even if it was fleeting. “Okay, love. Whatever you want.” He grabbed her hand and clutched it in his, not letting go as he made his way through the busy Boston streets and parked his car in the garage beneath his building.

After a tension-filled elevator ride to the penthouse, they finally exited into the foyer. Olivia inhaled deeply, thankful to be back where she belonged. She missed everything about Alexander, including the smell of his home.