Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Elle
Rhett was going home today, and who knew the man would be so damn prickly after a couple of days in the hospital.
"What's taking the nurse so long with my discharge papers. She said she would be back soon. That was almost an hour ago," Rhett grumbled.
"It's only been ten minutes," I chuckled when his jaw dropped.
"No way. It's definitely been longer than that."
"It only feels like that because you've spent the entire time complaining," I reminded him, which earned me a scowl.
"I don't like hospitals," he said while crossing his arms.
"Gee, I never would've guessed."
Zack snickered from where he sat in the corner, listening to our exchange.
"What's so funny?" Rhett snapped at his brother.
"I like her. She keeps you on your toes."
I bowed my head in Zack's direction. "Why thank you."
Rhett, on the other hand, didn't appear to find us very funny because he scowled. Luckily, the nurse chose that moment to enter back into the room with his discharge papers.
"Here you go." The woman was very chipper and thankfully ignored Rhett when he grumbled that it was about time.
"Make sure he follows the directions to a T," she said to me on the way back out the door.
I looked at Zack who merely rolled his eyes. Probably thinking the same thing I was. There was no way Rhett would be listening to the doctor’s orders.
"Let's get you the hell out of here." Zack pushed up from where he sat on the hospital chair.
Waiting for us outside was an SUV that Black sent to pick us up. "Curbside service, must be nice." Zack chuckled.
"Oh shut it," Rhett argued back. "Wes would do the same for you."
"Who is Wes?"
Both guys looked at me like they had almost forgotten I was there. "My boss," Zack answered when it was obvious Rhett wasn't going to.
"Ohhh." I was guessing Wes was similar to Black, but I didn't want to ask. That wasn't my business, and honestly I just wanted to leave the hospital already.
Zack slipped into the driver's seat while Rhett climbed into the back with me.
"I'm going to need you to give me your address since I didn't even know you were living in Boston." The hostility in the vehicle was thick enough that it could be cut with a knife. I hoped like hell it wasn't going to be like this the whole ride.
Rhett rattled off the address without bothering to reply to his brother's snarky request. I didn't understand the dynamic going on here, but I knew one thing. I didn't want to be stuck in the middle of it.
The drive took almost a half hour, and as glad as I was the two didn't argue, the silence might've been worse.
Nope, correction, it was worse.
By the time we pulled up in front of a row of town houses, I was more than ready to get the hell out of the vehicle.
"Not where I would've expected to find you living," Zack commented, and I had to agree. Based on everything Rhett had told me about himself, I expected some run-down apartment or house in a shitty neighborhood.
"Black purchased the entire row for my team to live in. We didn't have a choice."
Now, that made more sense.
Well, not the fact that his boss bought a row of seven town houses. That seemed a bit extreme, but the fact that he wanted somewhere safe for his employees to live made sense.
"I can see why you like working for Black so much."
"All right, enough," Rhett yelled. "I get it. You're not happy I kept my employment a secret, but you know what? Too damn bad. It's my life, and I can choose to live it how I want."
Zack turned around in his seat and hollered back. Apparently we were going to have this blowout in the SUV.
"I just don't understand why you felt the need to hide it from all of us. Mom and Dad would love to know you're living in a nice neighborhood in Boston. Not to mention we would've loved to actually come visit you rather than only seeing you once every few years."
"That's the thing. I didn't want you to come see me. I didn't want my life to taint yours and the kids’."
I looked back and forth between the brothers. Rhett was breathing hard, and Zack looked like someone had slapped him.
"You really thought that?"
Rhett sighed. "Up until recently? Yeah, that's exactly what I thought." Rhett grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together. "Elle helped me see myself differently though."
"Does that mean you will see your nieces and nephews more? They miss you and honestly so do the rest of us."
When Rhett looked at me with pleading eyes, I gave him an encouraging nod. He could do this.
"I would like to."
"Good, because I missed seeing your stupid face at holiday dinners."
All three of us laughed, and the tension that followed us throughout the ride suddenly dissipated.
Zack and I helped Rhett out of the vehicle and into the town house, despite his insistence that he could do it himself.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how nice the place was when we got inside.
"Did Black decorate for you as well?" Zack took the question right out of my mouth.
"Yup, he had a designer come in and do all the work. I can't take credit for any of this."
The town house had an open concept and was gorgeous.
If you walked straight into a small sitting area, on one side and the staircase leading upstairs on the other, straight back was a kitchen-and-dining-room combo with the living room off that.
I couldn't say for sure, but I guessed upstairs had at least two bedrooms and a bathroom based on the size.
"It's gorgeous."
"Glad someone can appreciate it," Rhett grumbled.
I rolled my eyes. "You could too if you stopped being so damn stubborn."
"On that note, I'm going to leave."
I was shocked by Zack's statement. After all his harassing about family time and he was just going to leave?
"Wait, what?"
The man had the nerve to chuckle. "As much as I would love to stay and continue this bonding experience, I think you have it handled. Besides, I have a wife at home with my three offspring. I assure you she's going to kill me if I stay gone too long."
Well, now that he said it like that, it kinda made sense. Those three kids were probably giving her a run for her money, and I didn't even know them that well.
We said our goodbyes, and I walked Zack outside.
"Take care of him, will you?"
I smiled at Zack. It was clear as day he loved his little brother. "I'll do my best."
"I know you will. Otherwise I wouldn't leave. I would sooner fly Leslie and the kids up here."
I doubted that was a good idea. I didn't think Rhett was ready for that much family interaction.
I waited until Zack pulled away before heading back inside. I found Rhett waiting for me on the designer sofa in front of the window.
"Finally some alone time." His eyes sparkled, and I knew that look.
"The doctor said no strenuous activities for you, mister."
His face fell. "You're really going to make me follow the doctor's orders?"
"To a T," I advised him.
The smoldering look he gave me told me I was in for trouble and would likely cave long before he was allowed to partake in activities.