Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Merci led me through the labyrinthine corridors of the hospital.
Clipped footsteps and the steady beeping of distant monitors trailed us until she ducked us into a tucked-away café.
The air shifted instantly—from bright lights and an antiseptic sting to the cozy hum of espresso machines and low chatter.
The barista, a bored-looking guy with a mohawk and a silver lip ring, took our order and set about making two lattes.
Merci led me to a corner table, the surface scratched but clean.
I leaned back in my chair. “How long have you been a doctor?”
She smiled sheepishly. “I’m barely a doctor. I’m an intern. I just graduated from med school. I got lucky landing this residency so close to home.”
“You’re a lot younger than your brother,” I observed.
She laughed. The bright sound eased the awkwardness between us. “Fifteen years. I was a surprise.”
The barista called our names. We retrieved the steaming cups and returned to our seats.
“Enough about me.” Merci tried to school her face into a serious expression. “What are your intentions with my brother?”
We burst into a fit of laughter. A woman reading a thick tome at the table beside us threw us an annoyed glare.
Merci tapped the table impatiently with her fingers. “Seriously, though. I can already tell he’s different around you. Lighter. Is it serious?”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “It’s new. We’ve been friends for a while now, and I only realized there was something more right before Hatchet crashed.” Guilt twisted in my gut. “He crashed because of me. God, I feel so bad.”
“What do you mean? He hit a deer on his bike.” Merci raised a brow. “Are you Snow White? Do you give orders to the creatures of the forest?”
I huffed a laugh. “Hatchet tore off on his bike after I told him that I’d felt nothing when he kissed me.”
“Wait. Hatchet kissed you? Where does Merrick come into play then?”
I covered my face with my hands and shook my head. “Hatchet kissed me, and I felt nothing. So I ordered Merrick to kiss me.”
“You ordered him?” she asked skeptically. “Merrick doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do, so I don’t exactly think you bullied him into it.”
I laughed. “We’d been skating around how we felt for a while, I think. After everything we’ve lost …” I trailed off.
Merci tilted her head in question.
“I know about Rose. My fiancé died, too. Car accident.”
Her smile faltered, and her eyes softened with sympathy. “I’m sorry.” Her fingers tapped on the table. “I know it’s an unimaginable loss. It changed Merrick.”
I nodded. “He’s the first person who truly understood me. I think that’s what drew us together. He seemed to really love her.”
Merci bit her lip, seeming to weigh her words.
“I lived with Merrick and Rose for a few years. Our dad died when I was fourteen, and our mom planned to move away. I wanted to stay to finish high school. Merrick remembers their relationship with, well, rose-colored glasses. I think his guilt got tangled up in that. He remembers the relationship he wishes it’d been. ”
A tall man in a crisp white coat appeared beside our table. His badge read Dr. Luca Marchetti, Thoracic Surgery. He bent to kiss the top of Merci’s head. His cologne, sharp and expensive, wafted around us.
She looked up at him and smiled. “Luca, this is Kenna, my brother’s … girlfriend.”
She glanced at me with a slight question in her eyes, like she wasn’t sure whether we’d put a label on our new relationship. I offered a small smile, not even sure what Merrick would call me.
“And Kenna, this is my fiancé, Luca. He’s a surgeon.”
Luca extended his hand, his expensive Rolex catching the light as he spoke with a thick Italian accent.
“A pleasure,” he said, his accented voice smooth.
“Merci, amore mio, I have a few more patients to see before we start our holiday. You should shower and change so we can get on the road as soon as I’m done.
” There was an edge to his voice, a quiet command beneath the charm.
Merci’s smile was tight as she nodded. Luca’s gaze lingered on her for a beat before he strode away.
“A surgeon fiancé,” I teased, trying to shake the tension. “Should we start calling you Meredith Grey?”
Merci snorted. “Fortunately, I was never his intern. We met at a charity gala in Chicago. We’re getting away this weekend.
Though apparently, one day of it will be spent with his family.
” She rolled her eyes. “Which means endless passive-aggressive questions from his mom about when I plan to ditch this pesky little career and start pumping out babies.”
I cringed. “Ah, one of those future mothers-in-law.”
Her fingers clenched tighter around the cup. “Yep. His mom thinks a woman’s place is in the kitchen, preferably barefoot and pregnant.”
I cringed.
“But Luca knows who I am. And Merrick would murder me if I gave up my career to play house.”
I raised a brow in question.
“Merrick paid for my college,” she explained.
I blinked, caught off guard. “He what?”
Merci nodded. “Books, rent, everything. Told me I was the smart one. He wasn’t going to let me waste it by staying in the club and becoming someone’s old lady.”
For a moment, I didn’t know what to feel. Warmth flooded my chest at the thought of Merrick quietly funding his sister’s future. But underneath that was a ripple of unease. I couldn’t help wondering just what kind of blood or deals had padded those tuition checks.
Merci’s phone pinged, interrupting my thoughts.
“We’re being summoned. Merrick says Hatchet wants to see you.”
My stomach fluttered as we made our way back. I wrung my hands as I followed Merci into Hatchet’s room. She pulled the chart at the foot of his bed while I stood in the doorway. I bit my lip as I searched Hatchet’s face.
“Hey, beautiful. Come on in.”
Merrick stood and stepped toward me. When his hand wrapped around my shoulder, my tension eased slightly. “I’m going to give you two a few to talk,” he said as he pressed a kiss to my cheek. I flushed as Hatchet shot me a look that promised endless teasing.
“Everything is looking good,” Merci said briskly, closing his chart.
“Thanks, doll. Can I get a sponge bath later?” he asked with a wink.
The comment earned a snarl from Merrick.
“It’s Dr. Doll to you, asshole. And I’m sure one of the nurses will be happy to give you a sponge bath. Nurse Jason is working today. He’s got nice, big hands. I’ll ask him to fit that in his schedule,” Merci said with a devious grin.
Hatchet held his palms up. “On second thought, I think I’m all set.”
“Good. I’m off for the next few days. My fiancé is taking me away for the weekend, so Dr. Soos will be taking over your case. Take it easy.”
Merci and Merrick slipped out, leaving me standing stiffly in the corner. I chewed my bottom lip and wrung my hands.
Hatchet patted the spot next to him. “C’mere.”
I moved closer and perched on the side of the bed facing him, still uncertain of what to say.
“It’ll take more than Bambi to take me out.”
The little laugh I tried to let out broke into a sob, and before I knew it, the whole dam burst. “I am so sorry,” I whispered as tears streamed down my face.
“Hey, hey,” he said, pulling me against his chest. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
I sobbed something unintelligible, and he held me tighter.
“Kenna, I’m fine. It was an accident. Could’ve happened to anyone.”
“But if I hadn’t blindsided you—”
He hushed me with a firm squeeze. “Stop that. Like I already told Merrick, you two make sense. If I’m gonna be pissed at anyone, it’s me—for not seeing it sooner.”
I pulled away. “You really think that?”
“Yeah, I do,” he said, wiping the tears from her cheek with my fingers. “Can you do something for me, though?”
“What?”
“Share a donut with me?”
I stood, grabbing two donuts from the box. “I want my own,” I said as I bit into a jelly-filled donut and handed him a bearclaw.
“Unbelievable. I almost died, and you won’t even share the best one.”
A knock on the door interrupted our laugh.
“Maybe we should start calling you Crash,” Reaper called as he walked in, Eva tucked under his arm.
Hatchet grinned. “Too late. No take-backs on the road name once it’s given. Those are the rules.”
As the men drifted into a debate about the salvageable parts on Hatchet’s bike, I turned to Eva. “How’s Brisket?”
Her grin spread. “Having the time of his life with Hawk. I’m asking Rhetta to make them little matching cuts with Maverick patches.”
Reaper’s head jerked around. “Dog cuts are not a thing.”
Eva stuck out her tongue at him. “Don’t think I won’t parade them into Church once they’re officially patched in.”
Reaper rolled his eyes, and Hatchet wheezed out a laugh, wincing as he grabbed his side. “Fuck, you can’t say shit like that.”
Reaper shook his head, returning the conversation to something about exhaust pipes.
Eva leaned back in her chair. “Seriously, though, it’s been nice having Brisket around to keep Hawk occupied. I might need to get a dog for my dog.”
“Wow,” I teased. “Already expanding the family? Jesus, you two move fast.”
Eva chuckled. “We move fast? Pot, meet kettle.”
“You and Hawk moved in with Reaper after, what, twenty minutes?”
“Under duress,” she shot back. “Big difference.”
Before I could retort, Merrick walked in. His gaze flicked across Eva and Reaper, then landed on me, softening as his lips curved. “How’s my second-favorite PR consultant?” he asked Eva.
Eva gasped, hand over her chest. “Second?”
Merrick hooked me by the waist and lowered his mouth to mine, the kiss slow and deliberate. When he pulled back, there was a satisfied smirk tugging at his lips. “Sorry. Kenna’s my number one now.”
Eva rolled her eyes and grinned. “She’s mine, too. Why don’t I just keep Brisket another night?” She raised her brows as she threw a suggestive glance my way. I flushed.
“That would be great,” Merrick said. “Kenna will be staying at my place tonight.”