Chapter 36
It’s been two fucking days, and the nurses haven’t given me any updates on Liam or Devon’s conditions. If Rhyann hadn’t snuck into my room late last night to sleep beside me, I wouldn’t even know that Devon requested to share a room with his brother. Well, demanded according to Rhyann. She sustained the least injuries so she’s less confined than the three of us are.
It took the hospital staff over an hour to find her last night, and when they did, she told them if they didn’t move her to my room immediately, she would stop any donations her company made to the hospital every year. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face hearing her make her first executive demand. She’s going to do an amazing job running Devereux Publications.
The thought of her taking over her family”s company brings me joy, but with it comes a tsunami of sadness. The detectives came in and spoke with us this morning, and that’s when I heard her recount the events that transpired after she went back down into that basement. They also told me the DNA tests came back and I am—was?— my fathers son. The same father who sacrificed his life to save the only woman I ever loved. The same woman sleeping soundly in my arms, her head resting on my chest right now.
“I fucking see how it is,” A familiar, raspy voice says from the doorway.
I look up to see the only man I’ve ever loved, in a wheelchair being pushed into my room by a sour faced nurse. “I’ve been wondering when they’d release you from the psych ward.” I laugh.
Devon smirks at me and flips me the middle finger as the nurse parks his chair next to my bed. “So, I’m stuck with Liam and the constant beeping of his machines and you get to snuggle up to a warm body?”
“From what I heard, you threatened to burn down the hospital if they separated the two of you. Something about you came into this world together, and if one of you was going to leave it, you wouldn’t do it alone?” I quirk a brow and smirk back at him. “I’m glad the nurse was kind enough to bring you in.”
Dev laughs, like really laughs. It’s one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard. “I kinda had to threaten to tell Rhyann on them if they didn’t. Who’d have thought our little princess would become such a powerful person overnight?”
“Right?” My laugh is half hearted. Everything that happened two days ago could have been avoided, my dad would still be here, Liam wouldn’t be lying unconscious in a medically induced coma from the traumatic brain injury and skull fracture he sustained during the altercation with Cole. “So, how is he?” I hesitate to ask.
“They stabilized him last night and he’s currently in surgery to repair the skull fracture.” Devon”s expression darkens. Rhyann told me about Liam”s condition last night. She also told me about Dev’s broken ribs. “The doctor said he’s going to stay in the coma until they’re sure he is healing properly. They’re hoping it won’t be more than a few days,” Devon says. “As long as there’s no complications.”
I don’t even want to ask what kind of complications there could be, I have a vivid enough imagination to know all the things that could go wrong with my best friend’s condition. “It should have been me.” I shake my head. “I shouldn’t have let him go into the club by himself.”
“It’s not your fault, Tate.” Devon wheels himself closer to the bed and rests his hand on mine. “Those fuckers were prepared and knew us all too well.”
He’s right. They did know us too well. Cole had been watching us for years, he had been the one to rape and kill Gemma. The detectives told us they were going to reopen the investigation into her murder. The kid whose DNA was found on her body swore that someone else was involved, but they never found the person, never found any proof that another person was there that night. Cole’s confession before he died gave the police enough to question the original case.
“Aubree’s father stopped by yesterday,” I say out of the blue.
Devon”s hand goes still and his eyes darken. “Why? What did he want?”
“He came in to apologize, to tell me he had no idea what his kids were planning. That he had no idea about any of it, or how long the two of them had been scheming.” I shake my head. “Then he told me that he was hoping to still be able to work with me when I stepped in as CEO at Devereux Pub.”
Devon scoffs. “He assumed you’re going to take over for your father?”
“Yeah,” I laugh. “I told him it was Rhyann”s company, and he actually told me a woman has no place running a business like Devereux.”
“What a misogynistic prick,” Dev says. “Now we know where his fucked up kids got it from.”
I laugh darkly and Rhyann stirs in my arms. “How is our girl? I saw her yesterday after she raised her own hell within the hospital, but the nurses won’t tell me anything about either of you.”
I pull my hand from Devon”s and caress Rhyann”s hair. Devon rubs loving little circles over the small of her back. “Physically, she’s fine.”
“And mentally?” Dev asks.
“She woke up in a cold sweat from nightmares last night,” I tell him. “She refuses to talk about or sleep alone.”
He nods. “I wouldn’t want her with anyone else while she’s in here.”
I smile. I feel the same way. I know Rhyann loves all three of us, and I know Devon loves her as much as I do, but I’m selfish enough to admit that I want her with me, I want to be the one to comfort her and protect her. “The doctor told her he would release her today, if she was ready to go home.”
Devon looks at me quizzically. “Does she want to go home?”
“I told the doctor home is wherever my men are, and I’m not leaving until you guys do,” Rhyann says. Her voice is groggy. She turns in my arms to face Devon and smiles brightly at him. “I missed you.”
Devon laughs. “You just saw me yesterday, silly.”
“I know, but I still missed you. I miss Liam too. When can I see him?” She must have missed the majority of our conversation because when Dev and I stare at each other silently, her head pivots between the two of us. “What aren’t you telling me?” I hold Rhyann tighter as Devon clears his throat and explains Liam”s condition. “Is he going to be okay?” Rhyann asks when Devon finishes speaking, her voice cracking with her words.
“He’s going to be fine,” I reassure her. I think I say it to reassure myself and Devon as well. “And we’ll all go home together.”