“Why did you have to ruin my life?” she shouted. Her eyes were wide and crazed as she watched Paul and me.
“I didn’t do anything to you. If anything, it was you who messed with me. I know you had something to do with me getting run off the road,” I shouted back.
“Shut up, Abbi. Can’t you see how serious this is?” Paul gritted out.
“Of course, I can, but this isn’t my fault. Maybe if she realizes that, she’ll leave.” It sounded stupid even to my own ears.
Poppy’s lip curled over her teeth. “Don’t be a dumb twat. You ruined my plans to get back with Jenner.”
If she thought he’d ever take her back, she was delusional. Which she clearly was.
Trying to get past Paul and not succeeding, I tried to stall for time. Someone surely had called the cops, and they’d be here any minute. “Please explain to me how I ruined your plan. You haven’t been in his life since you filed for divorce and cleaned him out. Did you think you’d win him back by going to the press with false stories about his life?”
“I never lied. All of it was true, and you know it.” She waved the gun around before she zeroed in on me again.
“You’re going to get us killed,” Paul gritted out.
I watched as he slowly took the smallest of steps toward Poppy. I wanted to yell at him to stop, but I knew it would only make the situation worse. The fact that he was an ex-marine and knew what he was doing didn’t help my fears of him getting hurt.
“You should listen to your brother,” she tilted her head to the side and twitched. “Better yet, keep going. I want you dead. Once you’re out of the picture, I’ll be there to console the poor and damaged widower, and then I’ll swoop in.”
My phone started to vibrate in my back pocket, and somehow I knew it was Jenner. He’d found out about Poppy holding us at gunpoint. If he knew, then the police had to know, meaning this would all be over soon. I wanted to answer, but I didn’t know how without alerting her of my movements.
“Just put the gun down, and we can talk about this. If you want Jenner, you can have him,” Paul negotiated.
“She can’t have him. She’s already had him once and threw him away. He’s mine.” Why had I said that? I could have let her believe she could have him until she was behind bars, but my possessive side reared its ugly head.
“He was going to be mine again,” she shrieked. “It was supposed to be me in Vegas, not you. It was always me,” she yelled up to the heavens.
Paul’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What is she talking about?”
“Oh, your dear old brother didn’t know you were drugged?” Poppy cackled.
“Explain,” he demanded.
“Your sweet, innocent sister here was drugged. It was supposed to be for Jenner, but she drank it instead. When he finally drank his drink, he couldn’t keep his hands off her. I tried to intercept them, so it would be me in his arms, but they were all over each other. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t separate them. The next thing I knew, they were married and getting tattoos.” Poppy’s eyes grew angrier with each word she spoke. By the end, she was spitting out the words with venom in her eyes.
“I knew it was too strange that neither of us could remember the night before,” I mused.
“It’s true?” Paul asked with hurt evident in his tone.
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter because Jenner was never going to go back to her. He loves me, and I love him.”
“Don’t do this, Poppy. You already tried to ruin my life once, don’t do it again.”
My body shook at hearing his voice, afraid of what Poppy would do now with Jenner in her sights. She was deranged enough to do anything.
Turning toward his voice, I almost cried at seeing the terrified look on his face as he took in the scene of Poppy holding a gun on us.
“I ruined your life? You ruined me. Do you see what I’ve become because of you?” she shrieked.
I could tell Jenner wanted to say more to her, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Paul rush Poppy, and time stopped. My heart stilled as I watched Paul grab her arm and disarm her in one fluid motion.
When the sound of a gunshot went off, my knees buckled, and I was one second from hitting the ground when strong arms wrapped around me. Jenner shielded me with his body and took off with me in his arms as I struggled to see my brother. I couldn’t let there be a world where my brother was shot or even worse. Especially not by fucking Poppy.
“Stop fighting me,” Jenner growled as he sat me down in the passenger seat of his car. The sound of sirens filled the air and grew louder. “I am not going to let that crazy bitch hurt you.”
Tears filled my eyes, and my chin trembled. “But what about Paul?”
Squatting down until we were eye to eye, Jenner cupped the side of my neck. “Listen, your brother knows how to take care of himself. He’s ex-military.”
“I know, but he’s still my brother. My only connection to my parents. I can’t . . . ” I choked on a sob.
“Okay, I know. I know,” he hushed me. “I’m going to check on him, but you need to stay here. Promise me.”
I nodded my head rapidly. I needed to know Paul was okay, and I’d do anything that was asked of me to get that information.
“I’m going to lock the doors, so if you try to get out, the alarm will go off.”
“I’m not going to try and escape.” Placing my hands on his solid chest, I narrowed my eyes at him. I understood he wanted me safe, but not knowing about my brother was killing me. “Now, hurry up before I push you out of the way and go see for myself if Paul’s alright.”
Jenner gave me a stiff nod and stood to his full height. Turning on his heel, he faltered. Breath caught in my lungs. Gripping his hand, I pulled to stand next to him but couldn’t see with the car next to us in the way of my view.
“He’s fine,” he murmured against my ear. “The police have Poppy in cuffs, and . . . ”
I stood on my tiptoes, trying to see. Was Paul okay?
“Paul’s fine. He’s glowering at Poppy and talking to the police. He looks pissed, but that’s it.”
“Let’s go up there and find out what’s going on.” I tried to push past him, but Jenner wrapped an arm around my middle.
“Hold up, baby girl. The cops won’t let us through, so we might as well hang back here until he’s finished. Come here.” He pulled me in front of him so I could see all the action, but clamped his arms around me so I couldn’t go anywhere.
Leaning back into his body, I watched as the police put Poppy into the back of one of their cruisers. She turned to look out the window, her murderous glare on us. If looks could kill, we would have been eviscerated on the spot.
My body started to shake at the realization of what had almost happened. I could have died at the hands of a deranged woman hell-bent on stealing my husband.
Resting his cheek to the top of my head, Jenner spoke in a quiet, soothing voice. His hands moved to rub up and down my arms, trying to calm my frayed nerves. “It’s all over now. Everything’s okay,” he kept repeating as if that would make the situation better.
“She wants me dead,” I cried, turning in his arms to bury my head between his pecs.