Eric spat. “Fuck you, Martínez.”
“You’re the one who’s fucked. Either I take this evidence to the police, or you disappear from my sight. Either way, once your father finds out, I’m sure you won’t get a cent of his money.”
Eric’s face got progressively redder, his eyes flashing. Jaime stood and waited for him to give in. The O’Neills were such a prominent family in the state and country that any hint of scandal like this would be a huge coup. Jaime hadn’t known how much Eric would care about something like that, but clearly, it mattered.
“So what’s it gonna be, Eric?”
Eric refused to look at him. He stared at the ground, like it would give him some kind of an answer to Jaime’s question. Jaime could feel the wind picking up, and snowflakes melted against his face as the clouds opened up.
“Either give me an answer or I’m taking this to the police.” When Eric didn’t reply, Jaime began counting down. “Five…four…three…two…”
Eric stood up and, reaching into his coat pocket, pulled out a gun. His arms trembled as he held it, but Jaime stilled as he aimed it straight at his head. The snow began falling faster around them.
“Fuck you. Fuck you and everything you stand for,” Eric said. “You can’t make me do anything. You’re going to jail because you’re the one they want, not me.”
An odd sense of calm enveloped Jaime. Perhaps he knew that Eric didn’t have the balls to shoot him. Or maybe this was just how you felt before your last moments. If he was supposed to die here today, he only hoped that Grace would find happiness.
But Jaime didn’t want to die here today in cold blood. He held up his hands, placating Eric. “You don’t want to do this,” he said in a low voice.
The gun trembled in Eric’s hands. “Yes, I do. I’ve dreamed about shooting your brains out. It would be worth it.” But his voice bespoke his fear, and his eyes were wild.
Jaime stepped toward him slowly. “Put the gun down, Eric.”
“Fuck you. Stay away from me!”
Jaime stopped. His heart hammered so hard he could barely breathe. Snow fell on his face, melting against his hot skin.
And then before he could say another word: a gunshot, deafening the world around him.
Chapter Nineteen
Grace sat at Joy’s and stared at the clock. The minute hand seemed to slow down with each passing second, until she had to stand up and pace around the room. Joy watched her, saying nothing, because there really wasn’t anything that could be said.
Jaime was out there confronting Eric because he was a brave idiot and she hated him as much as she adored him. She wanted to be there for him, but he’d made her promise she’d stay put. So she had. She waited, and she paced, and she prayed that this would be over before the sun lowered below the horizon that day.
“Grace, you’re giving me a headache. Come sit down at least.” Joy patted the couch cushion next to her.
“I can’t. I can’t sit still.” Grace wrung her hands. She felt like an army wife left behind while her husband was deployed. Except her man was only a few miles away, and with every passing minute, she wondered why she’d agreed not to go with him.
A knock sounded on the door. Joy raised an eyebrow and then after looking through the peephole, opened the door to allow both Adam and Gavin inside.
Grace turned. When her brothers saw her, their eyes widened.
“Grace, what the hell happened to you?” Adam demanded as he came toward her.
“Was it that boyfriend of yours?” Gavin gritted his teeth. “I swear to God, I’ll kill him myself…”
Grace put up her hands to stem the tide of male rage. “No, no, Jaime would never hurt me.” She touched her cheek. She’d thought she’d put enough makeup on to cover it, but apparently not.
Gavin tilted her face so he could inspect the bruise closer. “Who did this?” His voice was low, dangerous. Grace had to stop herself from shivering. While Adam was a bundle of rage, Gavin’s anger was quieter.
“Eric O’Neill attacked me. Jaime is with him right now.”
Both men yelled, “What!” at the same time, and then the questions started pouring in. Joy, seeing that Grace was about to tell them to go away, tugged the Danvers brothers to the couch, made them sit, and told all three of them that they were going to discuss this like adults and not do anything stupid.
“He hit my little sister! Are you pressing charges? Why didn’t you go to the police?” Adam was about to stand up, but Joy pushed him back down onto the couch.
“Let your sister talk,” Joy said, pointing a finger in his face. “Yelling over her isn’t going to help.”
“I’m not yelling!” he yelled.
Grace just buried her face in her hands.
After Joy had gotten the two brothers to quiet somewhat, Grace told the story as best she could. Adam looked close to storming out to enact some kind of medieval vengeance, while Gavin listened more attentively, but with an equal amount of rage. Joy sat next to her fiancé, and he held her hand, like her physical presence barely tethered him.
“So he’s with him right now?” Gavin leaned forward. “Why does he expect to do? Have some kind of duel?”
“He wants this over and done with. I told him it would be dangerous, but he’s stubborn.” Grace felt tears press at her eyelids. “I’m so afraid for him. Eric is a loose cannon…”
As she spoke, Adam turned pale. Joy noticed and pulled at his arm. “Hey, what is that face?” she asked. “You’re scaring me.”
“As I was driving here, I heard gun shots.” Adam licked his lips; his eyes were stark. “I thought it was deer hunters, but now…”
Grace didn’t stay to listen to anything else. She grabbed her phone, stuffed her feet into her boots, and threw her coat on as the sound of her brothers’ shouts followed her. She didn’t hear anything as she got into her car and began driving the few miles to River’s Bend. She barely heard the operator at the end of her call to 911, and she didn’t recognize her own voice: strangely calm and level. She gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white.
When she got to the vineyard in record time, she hid her car some distance away and began running. She heard shouts as she neared the main building, and then there was another gunshot. She covered her mouth to stifle a scream.
Running, she went to the back of the building, hiding herself in an alcove. She knew Jaime would kill her if he saw her, but she couldn’t simply just stand around and let him die. She gazed around the corner and saw that both men were still standing. No one was bleeding, as far as she could tell. Jaime was trying to get Eric to calm down as he continued to wave his gun, his expression frantic.
“Don’t do this,” Jaime said. “You don't have to do this.”
“You’ve given me no choice!” Eric leveled the gun at Jaime once more.
Grace wondered if the earlier shots were warning shots. Or perhaps Eric’s aim had been too abysmal to hit his target, given his emotional state. She watched, horrified, as a gun was pointed at the man she loved, and she knew there was nothing she could do to stop it.