Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
I curled my hand into a fist, seeing nothing but red—
“Easy,” Ridge’s voice said into my ear as he pulled me back.
I was shaking as he continued to walk me back toward the stairs. Farther away from Anne, farther away from assurance that she really was all right.
And as her father watched me with that same hatred in his eyes, it all compounded inside of me—ten years of not being good enough, of not living up to an impossible standard. No wonder Anne had lived the way she did. Nothing was ever good enough for him.
It never would be.
That truth clanged through me like the ringing of a bell.
Nothing would ever change.
And I was an idiot for thinking it would.
“Come on,” Ridge said, guiding me through the stairwell door. “We’ll get answers,” he said as we descended. “Just, when you’ve cooled down.”
I nodded, letting him lead me back to the main floor lobby, where Lyla was waiting for us, waters in hand.
I chugged mine then shook my head. “I’m going home,” I said, utterly defeated. “As long as he’s here, he won’t let me near her.”
My entire world felt like it was crashing down around me, the love of my life lying in a hospital bed with no way for me to get to her while her father was standing guard like a deranged protection detail.
As if I was a threat to her.
As if I didn’t love her more than he could even fathom.
As if I didn’t have a ring in my pocket right this very second, begging to slide onto her finger and claim her as mine forever.
CHAPTER 17
Anne
“Jim?” My mouth was so dry it made it hard to say his name.
Memories come rushing back to me as I opened my eyes, the action like trying to lift a damn car. The smell of sanitizer hit my nose right before I registered where I was.
A hospital room.
I was hooked up to an IV, solution dripping slowly down the tube. I blinked a few times, remembering the events at Lyla’s. I felt exhausted, then the pain…then nothing.
I glanced around the room, expecting to find Jim asleep in a chair next to my bed, but it was empty.
“Hi, Andromeda,” a pleasant female voice said as she walked into my room. “I’m Jillian, your nurse.”
“Hi,” I said, forcing myself to sit up in the bed.
“How is your pain right now?” she asked, checking my IV drip before wrapping a blood pressure cuff around my other arm.
I did an internal check, relieved when the pain from my memory was nowhere to be found. “A two,” I said. “I’m a little groggy.”
“That would be the pain relief medication we administered when you first arrived,” she explained, nodding as she took my blood pressure and then removed the cuff. “Along with some antibiotics,” she said. “You had an infection from fluid buildup around your liver, but your levels are stable now.”
“Damn,” I said, blowing out a breath. “Is anyone here?”
“Your mother and father are just outside. Your sister too, I believe. There were a few others here last night, but they had to leave since they’re not family.”
That explained where Jim was, even though he was more family to me than my own at most times.
“Do you want me to send them in?”
“Can you give me a few minutes?” I asked. “I need to make a call before I can handle…”
Jillian gave me an understanding look. “I got you,” she said. “The doctor will be in to check on you in about fifteen minutes anyway. I’ll see how you’re feeling then, all right?”
I nodded, and she headed out the door.
I grabbed my phone that rested on the small table next to my bed, expecting to see at least a few texts or missed calls from Jim, but there was nothing.
Dread settled heavy in my stomach, but I hoped that had more to do with me waking up in a hospital than him not checking on me. Surely, he was fine, right?
I dialed his number in a hurry, panic flashing through me about something terrible happening to him on a call or an accident or—
“Hello,” he answered, his voice cold and low but relief still barreled through me at the sound.
“You’re okay,” I said.
“Are you?”
“I’m fine, I think. I just woke up.”
“That’s good.”
“That’s good?” I asked. “That’s it?”
“It’s really good, Anne. I was worried about you.”
“Then why aren’t you here?” I asked. “Surely the visitation can’t be that strict. Tell them you’re my boyfriend—”
“It’s not the hospital’s fault,” he said. “Your father threw me out.”
“What?”
“Yeah,” he said, his tone all wrong. He sounded angry and defeated and something else I couldn’t figure out. “He wouldn’t let me see you. Then proceeded to blame your entire situation on me and then—”
“Hey,” I cut him off. “We all know my father is a real dick,” I said. “That has nothing to do with you not being here. I’m in the hospital.”