The Last Time I Cried Your Name novel Chapter 442

A blur shot past Hans and dove straight for Petty, moving faster than any human should.

All Petty could register was a deafening blast. The ground rattled beneath her, something slammed into her with brutal force, and everything went black.

***

After the explosion, the mountain was left scarred and raw like earth freshly dug up. The air was thick with smoke and the gritty scent of soil.

A helicopter hovered overhead, blades chopping through the pale dawn. The sky had faded to a washed-out gray, the moon barely hanging on. Visibility was awful, and the cold had crept in.

Jay knelt on the rocky slope, blood streaming from his arm. He gripped a metal tool with shaking hands and, together with the bodyguards, pried at the boulder pinning Franco and Petty to the ground.

There was a clatter as the rock shifted at last.

“Franco!” Jay called, his voice taut.

Franco was facedown, curled protectively over Petty. He didn’t move, not even at Jay’s shout.

Panic twisted in Jay’s gut. This was bad.

“Hurry up!” Jay barked, and everyone scrambled down to help.

They gently turned Franco over, everyone holding their breath at what they might find.

Franco’s eyes were shut tight and his face looked even paler than the cold moonlight.

Jay’s hands froze for a split second. His calm mask slipped.

He reached for Franco’s neck. There was still a pulse.

“Get Franco to the helicopter. Now.”

Franco’s body stayed curled because he was still holding Petty, clutching her like a shield. Even unconscious, his arms wouldn't let go.

No one could separate them. They gave up and hauled Franco and Petty to the helicopter together.

At the hospital, the medical team needed to treat them, but Franco’s hands seemed welded around Petty, stubborn and impossible to pry loose.

It was that promise that made Franco finally let go.

Jay had barely shed his coat and rolled up his sleeve when the elevator doors slid open. Light spilled in, silhouetting a slim figure racing his way.

She was backlit, her face hard to make out.

Jay almost looked away, but then a flustered voice cut through the hallway. “Is Petty okay?”

His hands stilled. When he looked up, the woman’s face jogged his memory.

It was Amy—Petty’s old coworker and close friend.

Franco had asked Jay to contact her once. He’d left it for his people to handle. Jay never liked dealing directly with women, especially the kind who seemed to have grown up in warmth and light. They were a different world, one he didn’t want to get close to.

It was probably Hans who brought her here.

Without another glance, Jay gave a clipped answer. “She’s got a head injury, but nothing else is serious.”