Searing pain was like a fire in my lower right side. Willow's face was in my lap and we were barreling down the road. "Ma'am? Ma'am, did you manage the gearshift?" a man's voice called over the system's speakers."What the fuck is going on?" I lifted my foot off the gas pedal. "Sir? Are you the driver of the car?" the man asked me. "Of course I fucking am." What kind of idiot had Willow called. "I'm the police officer following you. Your passenger alerted us to an issue. You've been shot. We're trying to get the car to slow down."That's what the fiery pain was. I eased Willow back against my chest as I tried to lift my leg to step on the break. "We were headed to Good Shepherd.""Yes. We have their ambulances en route. We just need to know your end destination," a woman called. "I'm Claire with Land Rover InControl." I snorted a laugh. "InControl."Her laugh was a bit hoarse. "A bit of a misnomer at this point in time. Are you okay, sir?""I can feel that bull
I settled back against the gurney as the fireman stepped back to make room for the EMTs. "Previous arterial injury?" the female technician asked me.I nodded. Pushed the black clouds of pain from my mind as much as possible. "Arterial separation from sharp implement."Her brown eyes widened. "Where?"I pointed to my right hip. "Femoral artery."She yanked me flat, slapped an oxygen mask on my face. "I've got to cut your dress. Less chance it depositing anything into an open wound. You don't have any blood, but I need to do an examination."I nodded as she jumped up on the gurney with me. Her partner started running with us as she relayed medical terms I was completely unfamiliar with. "Good Shepherd is expecting us. Dr. Sweeten has been alerted. She's waiting for you," the female tech said. "Your incision looks good. No open wounds or even leakage. No irregular heat or redness. What kind of pain?""Like someone stabbed me and now they're wiggling the blade all around."He
Just as she was about to get her hands on me, a clear loop of plastic tubing was lowered over her head. She jerked back. Her eyes bulged as her tongue protruded from her mouth slightly. Nico's face appeared from over her shoulder. "Not today, bitch." Angela's fingers went to her neck. Her nails dug bloody grooves into her flesh as she tried to loosen the makeshift noose. I would remember her sobbing gurgles in my nightmares. All at once, my room was full of people. Shouted questions ricocheted from one end of the room to the other. I couldn't hear any particular thought, just a loud, screaming cacophony that made my teeth ache and my jaw clench. Putting two fingers in my mouth, I whistled once. A sharp, shrill cry that shut everyone up in an instant. The blessed silence wrapped around me. "One person at a time, for crap's sake." This was a hospital with fully functioning adults, right?A distinguished black gentleman moved to the front of the medical posse. "What is go
"You keep wiggling around and I'm going to restrain you to that bed. I don't like my work being ripped open, Ryker Anthony Penn," Jessa snarled at me. "Then either bring Willow here or let me go to her and neither of us will have a problem, Jessa Rose Sweeten." I was seconds away from launching myself from this stupid hospital bed. I couldn't escape the feeling of phantom hands all over my body. Just the thought of it had my belly dancing a jig that made sweat bead on my brow. I just hoped Jessa didn't think it was because I was running a fever. The other, more important, horrifying thought settled in my brain again: I had been unconscious and lost Willow. Not only was she lost, she was out of my sight and hurting. I was the one who took care of her. Me. The only one allowed to touch her. I needed to see her. See with my own eyes that she was fine. I needed to feel her skin against mine. "Jamie is bringing her down this way for the CT scan. I'll make sure you can talk to
As I lay on the table while the giant donut machine made images of my body, I treasured the knowledge that Ryker loved me. He knew every part of me, the ugly, the dark, the broken, and he still said he loved me. Except for the Amatucci family, no one had ever said those words to me. Not my parents. Certainly not Ethan. Not even during our dating stage. I'd said it to him, but I had been in love with an illusion. I'd never gotten to know the real Ethan. Not really. From start to finish, he'd been a chameleon. Never trusting anyone to reveal his true self too. I snorted. Probably a good thing, that. Although, if he'd been locked up earlier in life, I wouldn't be so crazy. I also wouldn't have met Ryker. The thought blew through my mind with all the subtlety of a spring tornado in Kansas. Because of Ethan, I met Ryker. Because of Ethan, I was keeping Ryker. Thanking my goddess for her divine intervention, I yawned as the machine gave another whir. The lights had been lowere
"Just answer the damn question, Nico," I growled as I got my pants zipped up. "It shouldn't be a hard one."He was quiet on the other side of the room. I pushed the flimsy curtain aside, winced when the action tugged at my stitches. "Well?"He was sitting in one of the visitor chairs. Certainly better than the ones found at General Mercy, but they were still just visitor chairs. The man looked like he'd been welded into the damn thing, he was so still. I walked towards him. Snapped my fingers to get his attention. "Nico?"He scrubbed his hands over his face. "What the fuck do you want me to say, Penn? My guys went to the accident site. Your Rover was towed. They tracked it down. Four fucking bullet holes." His body shuddered as his swarthy skin went pale. "She could have died. Hell, you could have died. And while I wouldn't have cared as much about you, I know she does."I snorted. "Thanks, man. I'm feeling the love."He flipped me off. "We need those dossiers Nik put t
I looked Ryker up and down. He's back in his bloody clothes he came in with. His face is white. "Hey." I reached out for his hand. "Do you need to sit down? You look like you're about to pass out."He took my hand, yanked me into his arms. "I'll kill her if she touches you." His voice was a rumble through his chest as his breath moved through the strands of my hair. "I'm glad. I'll kill her if she touches you, too." I swallowed. "Just for clarification, who is she?""Antonia de Silva."I jolted. "Silva. Like Sylvia? The woman Angela was going on about?"He just hugged me tighter. "I guess. We're going to take Antonia off the map, so let's hope it's the same woman. Otherwise, we'll have two bodies to vanish."I pulled back from his arms enough to look up into his face. "What are you talking about?"Ryker licked his lips, nodded. "Yeah. You need to know. All of it." He pulled me over to the hospital, sat down on the edge of it. Tugged me over to lean next to him. The fa
Seeing my Grams out of her bed for the first time in over a year should have had me jumping up and down. It probably would have-were it not for Willow in my lap. And the reason we had to move my Grams at all. Fucking Antonia de Silva. My raging erection died like someone had dunked me in ice water. A bit abrupt, but it certainly got the job done. I eased Willow up off my lap. Bonus for the dead erection. Not scaring Grams with the fact that I was ready to mount up and ride Willow like she was my favorite horse couldn't be over-appreciated. I pushed to my feet. "Hey, lady. Where do you think you're going?" I looked down at her. Her emerald eyes were sparkling under the bright lights of the hospital room. She chuckled. Shook her silvered, coiffed head. "If you think we're going to chat about my being out of bed instead of that sweet young thing you all but dumped from your lap, you've got another think coming." She reached out a hand. Heavily veined and covered with delica