Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
RUBY
Something warm and strong shifted beside me and my eyes instantly popped open. I shot up in bed, gazing around with my sleep-filled eyes before a hand rubbed my back.
“Morning,” Diego said, his voice filled with gravel.
I threw the covers off me. “I have to get back to my room.”
He yawned and laid his arm in my lap. “Just a few more minutes.”
But I slipped out of bed. “Puck’s room downstairs is right next to mine.”
Then, it was his turn to lean up in bed. “Shit.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, no shit.”
I threw my clothes on and stumbled around trying to slip my flats onto my feet.
I rushed over to Diego’s bathroom and ran my fingers through my hair before splashing some water on my face.
I noticed that I had my dress on backwards, so I quickly struggled to turn it around before slipping my arms back through the holes.
Then, I turned to face the man whose side I didn’t want to leave. “I’m sorry it has to happen like this.”
He nodded, perched on the side of the bed. “It’s not your fault.”
I walked over to him and cupped his cheeks. “Take your medication, okay?”
He turned his lips to my palm and kissed it. “You have my word, beautiful.”
My cheeks blushed. “All right. Now, let me sneak back down into my room before Puck starts poking his nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Leaving Diego’s side was hard, especially after the wonderful rest I got lying next to him all night.
But as I crept down the steps, I heard footfalls coming toward me.
I paused with my hand on the doorknob as I held my breath, watching the shadow pass by the door as it fluttered beneath the little slat right at the very bottom.
But once the footfalls turned the corner, I quietly opened the door.
I looked up and down the hallway before I stepped out into it. I raced toward my bedroom, silencing my footsteps as much as possible as alarms went off around the warehouse. Shit. Everyone was rising and shining, and I was still running around in yesterday’s outfit like a fucking maniac.
And just as I laid eyes on my door, Puck’s swung open.
“No, that’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
I pressed myself against the wall and prayed with all my might that he’d go down the other way.
“I said what I said,” Stone grumbled.
“And I think it’s the wrong call,” Puck said as he chased after the man.
Thank fuck they’re going the other way.
I didn’t care what the two of them were arguing about. All I cared about was getting back to my room before someone came looking for me. As I heard their voices grow quiet, I peeked around the corner to find the hallway completely empty.
So, I made a mad dash for my room and quickly closed the door behind me.
“Thank heavens,” I whispered to myself.
As I flipped my lock, I leaned against the door.
I slid all the way to my ass and let my flats fall off my feet as I closed my eyes and relived the beauty that was last night.
I shivered at the thought of Diego’s hands gripping my hips.
I felt the phantom touch of his lips against my neck and my hands trembled.
My nipples puckered against my bra. My thighs quivered before they squeezed together, desperately seeking friction that only Diego could give me.
I loved being with him, and on top of him, and alive within him.
I’m starting to fall for him.
You always fall for the wrong guys.
Puck’s voice filled my mind immediately and my eyes ripped open.
Even when he wasn’t there, he always had a way of getting on my nerves.
I grumbled to myself as I got up from the floor and shed my clothes.
I left a line of them trailing from the door to the bathroom and I gazed at myself in the mirror.
I brought my fingertips to my neck, studying the hickies left behind that I’d have to cover with makeup.
And still, the thought of Diego made me smile.
Before my brother ruined it.
Why do you think I keep you so close?
“Shut up, Puck,” I grumbled.
Seriously, Roo. Look at your past relationships.
I shook my head. “He’s different and you know it. That’s why you don’t like him.”
No, I don’t like him because his lifestyle is going to get you killed.
“No!” I roared.
I rushed my arms along my bathroom counter, and everything crashed to the floor. The soap, my makeup, my face wash, and my toothpaste. It all clattered to the ground before I sank to the floor, crying silent tears of fear, worry, and frustration.
And as much as I hated to admit it, the Puck in my head was right.
My entire life, I had always chosen the wrong guys.
I mean, the guy I fell in love with back in high school was nothing but a damn bully.
My brother had always accused me of falling for the boys that needed to be fixed.
For going after guys that needed my support instead of guys that simply wanted me around because they enjoyed me for me.
I let the tears fall against the tiled floor before I scrambled to pick everything up.
He’s right. You always go for the guys that need help.
And even my own mind’s voice betrayed me.
“Thanks a lot,” I hissed.
A rapid knock came at my door. “Ruby?”
I heard Freya’s voice and sighed. “I’m fine. I know you heard the crash.”
She jiggled the knob before sighing. “Can you let me in? Puck’s worried.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tell him I’m fine. I get to throw things around in frustration every once in a while just like he does.”
She paused. “Are you sure that’s all it was?”
I gathered everything in my arms and dumped it onto the counter. “Freya, I’m stuck in a warehouse with a bunch of pumped-up men with the cartel breathing down our necks, and you’re wondering why I’m—”
“The cartel?” she asked.
I closed my eyes. “God damn it.”
And when I heard her scurry off, I knew I’d be in for an earful sooner rather than later.
“Can’t bother me if I’m in the shower,” I whispered to myself.
I walked over to the beautiful glass walk-in shower and slid the door off to the side.
I toggled the water until steam filled the bathroom, then I slipped inside and let myself sink back to the floor.
Mindless tears crept down my cheeks as I pulled my knees as close to my chest as I could.
And as I leaned my head back against the shower wall, my mind drifted back to my ex.
Blake.
That man had really given me a run for my money. He was a broken soul who drowned his sorrows and anger in pills and booze. When sober, he was the sweetest and kindest person I’d ever met. But when he was high or drunk, he was the meanest son of a bitch I’d ever come across.
I thought I was the one capable enough and strong enough to help him. To change him, really. I wanted to be his lover, his girlfriend, his therapist, and his support system. But even Puck knew enough about relationships to know that all of those roles thrusted onto one person wasn’t manageable.
I didn’t listen, of course. I thought I knew what was best. I was in love, and he was in love with me when he was sober. I figured so long as things stayed positive then he could cling to that positivity as a way of keeping himself sober.
How wrong I had been.
“I’m so sorry, Blake,” I whispered to myself.
Hearing about overdoses in class was nothing compared to stumbling across it oneself.
And the night I found Blake slumped lifeless in his bathtub was the moment I decided to become a nurse.
No matter what I did that night, I couldn't save him. I didn’t know CPR.
I didn’t know the Heimlich, not that it would have mattered.
None of the things that the 9-1-1 emergency operator told me to do were things in my wheelhouse, and on my bad days, I still blamed myself for his death.
But from then on, I knew I never wanted to be in another situation like that and still not be able to handle things.
Was Puck right, though?
Was Diego yet another Blake?
“Do I really think I can save Diego from the cartel?” I whispered to myself.
And if I had the absolute audacity to even think it, how in the world would I even go about doing it?
A knock came at my bathroom door. “Roo?”
I groaned. “Can you guys not give me any sort of privacy at all? And I want the key that you used to get in here, asshole.”
He sighed. “Will you let me in? Freya’s worried about you.”
“I’m fine. Just overwhelmed.”
“You sure that’s it?”
I shook my head. “Look, I don’t know what the fuck you think has happened, but all I want is to be left alone. I’m pissed. I’m not at home. I don’t have any of my normal comforts. I’m coping the best I can.”
He paused for a very long time before he knocked his knuckles against the door one more time. “I’m here if you need me, okay?”
I sighed. “Lock the door again on your way out and leave your goddamn key behind or so help me God—”
“All of the crew members have keys to every door in the warehouse.”
I growled underneath my breath. “Just go away. You’re only making things worse.”
And without another word, he finally did as I asked.
For once.