The Last Time I Cried Your Name novel Chapter 440

Before Laura fell, her hand was locked so tightly around Petty’s arm that her nails dug deep, almost breaking skin. Even as she dropped from the bullet, she refused to let go.

Petty stumbled backward under Laura’s weight. Her legs gave way, and she nearly hit the ground.

Right then, a tall shadow sped straight toward her.

Suddenly she was lifted, pressed up against a chest that was rock hard and ice cold. Franco’s clothes were soaked and freezing, the warmth of his jacket long ago given to her back in the woods.

Franco shoved Laura’s limp body aside. The bodyguard rushed in, checked Laura, and confirmed what everyone already knew—she wasn’t getting up again.

Franco kept his gun hand at Petty’s head, shielding her from the scene behind her.

“I need to talk to her. I have to know what happened,” Petty choked out. Her eyes were red and wild, a tremor running through her bones she couldn’t shake.

The baby…

If Laura poisoned her, why was she fine and the baby gone? Was it because the child was so small? That didn’t make sense. Laura had said something else. The baby was a substitute… A substitute for what?

Petty’s head throbbed, the answer just out of reach. She couldn’t make sense of Laura’s words.

Franco looked down at the shattered woman in his arms and spoke in a low, steady voice. “Let’s go down the mountain first.”

Without warning, Petty struggled, desperate to break free. There was panic in her unfocused gaze. She sounded hollow, her voice barely more than a whisper. “What did Laura mean? What did she say about my baby?”

A substitute for what?

Why would Laura say that?

“Why didn’t you let her finish? Why are you hiding things from me?”

She was frantic, completely forgetting how close she’d just come to dying. Laura’s words echoed in her mind, as cruel and relentless as a curse. It hurt so much, a pain worse than death, eating her up from the inside.

She wanted to make the pain stop, to grab something sharp and drive it into her chest, dig out whatever was rotting inside her heart.

“Petty!”

Franco caught her vacant eyes, and the sight sent a cold chill through him. It was just like that night more than a year ago, after she lost their child.

A wave of panic crashed over him. He held her so tightly, he was almost afraid to let go.

He pulled her head to his shoulder, cradling her close. Ignoring everyone else, Franco pressed his lips to her forehead. “Listen to me. I shot her to keep you safe. Don’t torture yourself over what she said. You don’t need to.”