Help Me Remember (Rose Canyon, #1)(96)

“We need to move,” Quinn says from behind him.

Spencer lifts me into his arms, carrying me back down the staircase as I sob. My tears stain his shirt, and he only holds me tighter, as if he needs the contact as much as I do.

“Is she okay?” Quinn asks.

I don’t hear what he says, but I’m not okay. I’m insane and upset and angry. I have no idea what happened, but the police are around us, talking to Spencer and Quinn.

I know I’m weak and ridiculous, but this is all too much. Facing the man who killed my brother and tried to kill me, seeing Myles that terrified and Sonya frozen in fear . . . it was all just too much.

He was terrifying, and all the bravery I had before I got here evaporated the second I set eyes on him.

“Brie, you need to answer some questions,” Spencer says while rubbing my back.

I slowly release the death grip I have on him as he lowers my feet to the ground, and I wipe my face. For the next hour, I answer every question I can, and then I watch as Quinn, Spencer, Sonya, and Myles go through the same thing. By the time the police tell us we’re free to go, the sky is dark and we’re all exhausted.

In the end, it worked out, I guess. No charges will be filed against any of us, and my brother’s killer no longer walks this earth.

Still, it isn’t as satisfying as it should be.

I wanted him to be put away, but I should be content that, at least, there is no chance of him ever hurting anyone ever again.

My emotions level off as the adrenaline subsides, and Myles walks over.

“Hey, bud.”

He smiles. “Thank you for saving us.”

Spencer crouches in front of him. “You were very brave to leave that note.”

“Brielle always told us that if we need help, we should ask. I sent the note to a friend who delivered it.”

“That was smart,” I tell him.

“Very,” Spencer follows up.

Sonya comes over, wrapping her arms around her son. “We are going to head home. I am so sorry, Brielle. I am sorry for what he did to you and your family. I am sorry that I was not strong enough to leave him years ago.”

I grip her hand. “It’s over, and it’s not your fault.”

She nods once and then walks off, and it’s the first moment Spencer and I have had alone.

“You scared the fucking hell out of me,” Spencer says, taking my face in his hands.

“I . . . I have no excuse.”

“No, you don’t.”

I hold on to his wrists as he leans his head against mine. “I was so afraid that he hurt you.”

“Whatever fear you had, sweetheart, amplify it by one thousand. That’s what I felt when you were gone.”

I lean back, staring into his deep green eyes. “I knew you’d come for me.”

“After I went crazy running through the alleyway.”

“I knew you wouldn’t let me be here alone.”

He drops his hands. “Damn right I wouldn’t have. I would’ve called the cops and had them do their job. Then Quinn and I wouldn’t have had to hope the receptionist could throw a brick through the back window. We went through all that, and you didn’t even let me rescue you.”

I force myself not to smile. “When he went into the bathroom, I wasn’t going to wait around.”

“But you knew we were coming.”

“I did, but I also thought—”

“Stop doing that,” Spencer says, not looking amused.

“Doing what?”

“Thinking. Next time you think yourself into a great idea, run it by a rational person. Blindly running to save a boy from a madman who has a gun is not a good plan.”

“No more thinking,” I promise.

He sighs deeply and pulls me to his chest. His lips press to my forehead and stay there. “No more thinking.”

“We’re safe now,” I muse.

“We are. There’s no more threat to you or anyone else.”

“For now,” I say, leaning against his strong body.

“Yeah, until you find the next stupid thing to get caught up in.”

I laugh at that and melt into him. “I love you, you know?”

“I do.”

“I like those words,” I tell him.

“Your turn to say them,” Spencer demands.

“I do.”

“I like them on your lips.” He stares down at me, something glimmering in his eyes. “Run away with me.”

“What?”

“Let’s leave. Now. We don’t go back to Rose Canyon, not as just Spencer and Brielle anyway.”

My brows scrunch together. “What would we go back as?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Cross.”

My lips part and turn up at that idea. “You want to marry me?”

“Yes. Right now.”

“We can’t . . .”

He takes both my hands in his. “I want to marry you, Brielle. I want to spend every day of whatever life we have left with you as my wife. I want you to know I am always here and that I will love you until the day I die. Let’s go.”

He’s crazy. I shake my head, trying to slow him down. “We can’t.”

“We can. Let’s get in the car right now and drive to Reno.”