Chapter 17
W hat the hell was going on with her?
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Spencer asked.
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
They all stared at her for a long moment, then each other. To her surprise, Slade leaned down, moving slowly. And then he brushed his lips over her cheek.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Call me if you need anything.” He leaned back to shoot her a stern look. “Anything.”
Was he crazy? She wasn’t going to call him. If she needed anything she’d get it herself.
“Why would you come back tomorrow?”
“To see you, of course,” Slade said. “We can tell you’re exhausted. We don’t want to overwhelm you. But we will be back.”
“There’s no reason to come back,” she told him.
Slade cupped her face with his hand. His tattooed hand. And, God, that was hot. “There’s every reason. We’re not leaving you alone this time, beautiful girl. Understand? We’re here to stay now.”
Beautiful girl?
He’d never called her that before .
And damn if it didn’t send a sharp pang of desire through her, pooling in her stomach like thick, warm hot chocolate.
She wanted more.
Even if she knew it wasn’t good for her.
Indie didn’t nod or reply, knowing that would likely piss him off.
Only he just gave her a small smile and kissed her forehead.
Urgh. He needed to stop touching her. It was infuriating!
And you love it.
Which is why you can’t tell him no.
When had she ever been able to tell Archibald Slade no? God, his first name was so ridiculous. What were his parents thinking?
Quaid moved up next to her bed, taking Slade’s place. She gave him a wary look and he nodded.
As usual he had the ability to read her.
Then how come he couldn’t read you that day? See how confused and sincere you were?
“I get it. I deserve that look. I guess there has always been a part of me waiting for you to betray us. I’ve always been like this.
A habit I’ve never really tried to break.
It could be time to try. I made a mistake, and I’ll do my best to rectify it.
If you think of anything you want from me, any way that you want to punish me, you will tell me. ”
Always with the orders.
But then he wouldn’t be Quaid if he wasn’t so commanding. Not that Slade couldn’t be equally as bossy. Just in a different way.
“I don’t want anything.”
“You will. And I will give it to you.” He leaned in to whisper to her. “Even if the thing you want is Billy’s head separated from his body. I’ll give you anything.”
“And if I want yours?”
To her shock, he drew back and his face seemed warmer. “You don’t want that.”
Of course she didn’t. She didn’t even want Billy’s head for this. And it was slightly concerning that that was where Quaid’s mind went. She knew very little about his family other than the fact that his dad was an actual freaking duke.
“Be good for Spencer. I’ll see you in the morning.” Quaid nodded at her.
Be good for Spencer? What did that mean? She glanced over at Spencer. But her gaze was caught by Rock who’d moved to the end of the bed. She tensed. This was the closest he’d gotten to her since they’d entered the hospital room.
Was he going to say something? He didn’t talk much and when he did, he spoke slowly and quietly. As though he was measuring each word.
Was he going to speak or just stare at her?
What was going on here? Why wouldn’t he look at her?
Maybe he can’t stand the sight of you.
Do not get upset.
Do not cry.
You are better than this. You do not need their approval or caring or . . . love.
“I’ve still got your money.” She didn’t know what possessed her to say it. To just blurt it out like that. But it came out without her being able to stop it.
Once she’d said the words she couldn’t exactly take them back, could she?
Rock moved back a step as though she had physically hurt him.
Had she?
She hadn’t meant to. She’d just . . . she’d wondered if he was thinking about the money. If he’d been wondering why she’d taken it if she wasn’t guilty.
“Money?” Slade asked. “What money?”
Oh. They hadn’t known?
Looking at the other three, she could see that they hadn’t.
“Nothing,” she muttered.
A squeeze on her foot had her looking up. Rock drew his hand back quickly, and she caught his gaze for a moment .
It was filled with such utter misery. A terrible sadness that went soul deep. And her breath caught.
No.
She didn’t want Rock to feel like that.
“Rock,” she murmured.
He grabbed out his phone and tapped on it. Suddenly, they all checked their phones. He must have sent them a message.
Slade frowned. “Rock gave you cash to help you? When?”
“And why didn’t you use it?” Spencer asked incredulously. “Didn’t you need it?”
She shot him a look. “Need it? Of course I needed it. I’ve been working at a local café doing dishes and cleaning. I had to be paid under the table so Billy didn’t find me.”
All of them made these low, rumbly noises.
It was like she was in the middle of a pack of wolves or something.
“What?” she asked.
“You shouldn’t have been working a job like that,” Slade told her.
“Why not?”
“On your feet all the time, it must have been exhausting,” Spencer said worriedly.
Oh.
Well. That was true. They really had no idea of exactly how exhausting it had been.
She’d get up and vomit until there was only bile in her stomach.
Then she’d get dressed and head into work.
She wouldn’t be able to eat until around the middle of the afternoon by which stage she’d be lightheaded and ravenous.
She should call her boss. She’d sent him a text to tell him that she was ill, but she hadn’t read his reply.
She couldn’t face the news that she’d lost her job.
“Why not use the cash, Boo?” Slade asked. “Why not stay at home and rest?”
“Um, because I’ll need to do that when the baby comes.
I was trying to earn as much money as I could before that happened.
It’s surprising how much I remembered from when I was younger about cutting corners to save money.
I don’t really need that much to eat. Plus, I was always given one meal at the café.
Usually, I’d only eat half of it and take the other half home.
The bakery down the road from the café always sold stuff off cheap at the end of the day so I could often get something there as well. ”
Another strange noise erupted from all of them.
Slade started swearing and pacing. He turned to the wall, his hand curled into a fist.
“Do not punch the wall!” she said urgently. “I cannot afford that bill.”
Slade turned and pointed at her, his finger trembling. She thought he was about to let loose on her and she braced herself.
This was it.
The moment that would sever any ties left.
However, he simply took a deep breath.
Then another.
“You have been living on one meal a day and old bread?” he said in a hoarse voice.
“Um, not always.” Sometimes she’d eat noodles too.
“Jesus, no wonder you’ve lost weight,” Spencer said.
She glanced over at him with an eyebrow raised.
“Not that you aren’t beautiful,” he said hastily. “You’re always beautiful. Most gorgeous woman in the world and we are lucky to be able to look at you.”
Even for him that was ridiculously over-the-top and she should have scoffed at him. Instead, she found herself sitting a bit taller.
She knew it wasn’t true, but it was just what she needed to feel . . . soothed.
Settled.
“But a lot thinner,” Quaid added.
Sheesh. He always had a way of bringing things crashing down to reality.
“Well, all the vomiting is probably the reason for that,” she said dryly .
“Vomiting?” Slade asked in alarm.
“I assume that’s from morning sickness,” Quaid said, his gaze narrowed as if he was thinking.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, my poor Princess,” Spencer said. “We need to find something to help that. Is it every morning?”
“Yeah, well, not while I’ve been here. They gave me something for the nausea because they didn’t want me vomiting with cracked ribs.”
“Plural,” Slade got out between clenched teeth.
“What?” She gave him a startled look.
“He means do you have multiple cracked ribs?” Quaid asked. “Not just one?”
“Yes. Multiple.” She let out a yawn. It was a deliberate move although she did feel exhausted. The fake-yawn turned into a real one. Complete with heavy eyelids.
Yeah.
She needed a nap.
“We should go,” Quaid said. “Let you rest. But your time of eating old bread is gone.”
“I like bread,” she muttered.
“Which is fine,” Spencer reassured her. “But it’s probably not enough to keep you and the baby healthy is it?”
She had to admit that she’d had those thoughts herself.
“So you were saving the money until when the baby came?” Spencer suddenly asked her. “The cash that Rock gave you.”
She eyed him, then nodded. “Yes. But I can give it back.”
Although she really could use it now that she likely didn’t have a job.
You’ll make do.
Like you always do.
“No,” Rock said sharply. Then he turned and walked out.
She gaped after him. “Was it . . . did I do something?”
Where was her calm and collected Rock? The one who always had his shit together? She wasn’t used to him being volatile .
“No, Boo. This is just something he’s working through,” Slade told her.
“Like we all are,” Quaid added.
They said goodbye to her again and then Spencer followed them both out.
Without saying goodbye to her at all.
Rude.