Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Taking care of business, where else?”
“Here,” he growled. “Kat needed you here, bro.”
“She doesn’t need me.”
Emmett let out a bitter laugh. “But yet, here you are. Why?”
“I needed to see her, to make sure she’s all right.” Emmett refused to call with updates, Sadie too, which meant it was up to me to come here and see for myself.
With his hand on the small of Vanessa’s back, Emmett nodded for me to follow him. “You can’t go inside but there she is.”
Took a few hesitant steps forward, heart beating wildly out of control as I prepared myself for what I was about to see. Except nothing could prepare me for the sight of Kat Ashby, normally so lively and bright, dimmed by an ugly hospital gown and flat yellow lighting that took away her life force. The drabness, the bleakness of it all, seemed to diminish all the things that made Kat who she was. It was a shame, and I couldn’t see her like this.
I wouldn’t.
“I have to go.”
“You have to stop running at some point, Terry. That’s what our folks do, not us. You and me, we face our demons head on. We kick them in the balls until they submit.”
My gaze bounced between him and Vanessa, noticing his protective stance, close almost hovering. “Do we?”
Vanessa blushed and shook her head, but Emmett nodded. “We do, goddammit. None of the women are to be alone until we figure out who did this,” he said by way of an explanation, but Vanessa’s blush told me everything I needed to know. Em was interested in the pretty widow. Good for him.
“Right.” I nodded, knowing Ashby protocol because I’d help create it.
“Good. I’ll see you around.” I leaned in and gave my brother a side hug. “Take good care of Kat, bro.”
“I will but only until you get your head out of your ass and come back for her.” He flashed a grin, but Emmett was a romantic. He fully expected I’d be back with a big bouquet of roses and probably a poem or some shit.
“Don’t hold your breath, little brother. Take it easy, Vanessa.” With a half a wave, I tugged the cap lower and strode out of the hospital, satisfied to see Kat was healing. She was fine without me.
And better off.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Kat
“Good to see your color returning, Kat.”
Oliver’s smile beamed wide and bright in the rearview mirror as Ma and Vanessa worked tenderly to make me comfortable for the ride home from the hospital.
“Color? Is that what this greenish-gray shade is supposed to be?” I was only mostly joking but I’d caught a glimpse of myself under the fluorescent bathroom lights inside the hospital. Now I knew what the expression ‘death warmed over’ meant.
“It’s good to be outside of a casket, Oliver. Thanks for the lift.”
“My pleasure.” Oliver turned his gaze back toward the road when I was finally settled in back. Sadie was in the front seat, and we were on the move.
“How are you feeling, Kat?” Vanessa’s piercing blue eyes scanned my face with worry. Her hand rested on top of mine and gave a gentle squeeze. I hated to be fussed over, but I could only imagine how my brush with death made her relive Lance’s fate.
“I feel like I got shot, Nessa. Otherwise, I think I’m all right.”
The painkillers worked for the nonstop ache in my abdomen caused by the two bullets that went through my stomach and spleen and the surgery to remove the bullets and repair the organs. It was a shame they didn’t work on heartbreak. That was a pain that no drug could soothe. I felt like a dumb fuck for still being upset about a man who hadn’t bothered to come see me in the hospital.
Not one fucking time. And I had no doubt Emmett had shared the news because he’d shown up every day I was bed bound.
Vanessa smiled. “That’s what Lance would call me when he was annoyed with me.”
I managed a smile, with difficulty. “I’m not annoyed, but with the ponytail and fresh-faced look, Nessa seemed more appropriate.”
Vanessa had been my most frequent visitor, sitting by my side throughout visiting hours, brushing my hair and keeping my lips from turning to leather.
“Thank you for…hell, for everything. I haven’t heard so much celebrity gossip since I was a teenager.”
She laughed and blushed prettily. “I didn’t know what you liked and real world news seemed too heavy given everything you’d already been through. And I wasn’t sure if romance would be welcome.”
I snorted and shook my head. “I’d rather hear about anything else at the moment, thanks.”
“Come on now, Kat. It’s not that bad, is it? You’re on your way home to rest and recover. Your shooter was found bright and early this morning in a dumpster behind Mother Mary Cathedral. Agent Beck stopped by with the news first thing.”