Chapter 24
LEX
Miami, Florida
Apparently in some sort of hospital.
Shit. Am I dead?
I blink awake through a bright white haze and try to roll my shoulder—nope! Definitely not dead.
A deep, dragging throb radiates through my entire side and carves down my leg.
“Fuck,” I rasp.
A shadow sitting at my side comes into view. Deep, warm, and comforting brown eyes stare back at me.
“Welcome, back l’ombre,” Sabine murmurs, placing her hand in mine.
“C-Ca—” I try to ask, but all I manage is a low guttural noise.
“Shh, Cade’s fine,” she whispers, leaning her body back slightly so I can see him passed out on a small chair in the corner of the room, cuddled up under a white sheet.
“Poor thing finally drifted off not long ago. He’s stayed the entire time. Waiting and pesterin’ every nurse and doctor who stepped foot through that door.”
“How long?”
She tilts back into my line of sight. “A few days.”
“Days?!” I sputter. The word lodges in my throat, forcing a jagged cough that sends another sharp and searing flame through my shoulder.
Sabine nods, her expression softening as she reaches out and brushes a stray hair off my forehead. “Took you straight into surgery, they did. Had to stitch up that heavy muscle and a couple o’ nerves fizzin’ through your soul the second you arrived, but you were strong.”
She lets out a slow, relieved breath. “A true fighter.”
I grunt, gazing down at the high-tech straight jacket locking my shoulder and arm at a rigid and uncomfortable as fuck angle. I flex my hand and a burst of electricity shoots through my forearm damn near causing me to scream.
“Don’t feel all that strong right now.”
“Save your strength,” she says, giving my hand the faintest squeeze. “You’re safe now.”
???
A few hours later.
“No, they came in earlier and took some more vitals. The doc said surgery wasn’t as invasive as they originally thought he needed,” Cade says from somewhere nearby. “He’s pretty doped up. They’ve got him in a monster of a sling, so I’m sure he’ll be thrilled about that when he wakes up.”
My lashes flutter open. The light’s not so bright this time, not blinding my eyes to hell anymore. I shift slightly and catch him sitting beside me talking to someone on his phone. His free hand rests on the bed near mine, pinky just brushing my wrist. He jerks when my hand grazes his.
“Lex?!” Cade says quickly, standing so fast he drops his phone on the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Been better.” I try to sit up like a dumbass and immediately regret it. My whole body screams in pain.
“Don’t,” he orders, catching me fast. “Don’t try and get up, babe.”
I sink back onto the pillow. His hand steadies me as I try to fucking breathe through the hell of barely moving my body.
“UM… HELLO?!” Ellie’s voice shrieks from Cade’s phone.
“Shit,” Cade mumbles. “Hold on.” He grabs his phone, thumb stabbing at the screen. “El, You’re on speaker. He’s awake and—”
“Lex!” she sobs. “Are you… oh my God, are you really okay?”
I tilt against the pillow with another grunt. “Still kickin’ Little Whitmore,” I say, clearing my throat. “You should see the other guy.”
“I see you’re still a smartass. That’s promising,” she says jokingly, but I can hear the tears she’s trying to hide in her voice.
There’s a shuffle on the other end.
“You sound like shit,” Haley’s voice comes through, laced with a hint of her signature snark. “Absolute shit, babe.”
“Thanks for the support, Hales.”
“Anytime,” she laughs. “But, seriously. You scared the hell out of us.”
Knock. Knock.
Cade straightens. “That’s probably the doc. Girls, we’ll call you back.”
“Absolutely not!” Ellie snaps. “Cade James Whitmore, don’t you dare hang up on us. We want to hear!”
“Woah,” I rasp with a half-laugh and then immediately wince. “Calling out the middle name and everything, goddamn.”
“She meant to say please,” Haley adds sweetly.
The door swings open. I try to sit up again but a bolt of pain shoots through my shoulder, locking me in place.
“Glad to see you’re awake,” a tall man in a lab coat says, flipping my chart open as he approaches. “How are you feeling?”
“Like someone plugged a fucking car battery into my shoulder,” I mutter. “And then ran over my leg for the hell of it.”
He chuckles under his breath. “Fair enough.”
“How bad is it?” I ask, my teeth clenched.
“We won’t know for sure until the full extent of the swelling comes down, but based on the scans, you’re one lucky man.
Vitals look good. No permanent damage or any signs of infection that I can see.
You’ll be sore for a while. You had some minor nerve issues, but it was mostly your muscles that took the biggest hit. ”
“When can he come home?” Ellie’s voice blurts out from the speaker.
The doctor cocks a glance down at the phone. “The wife?”
“Eww, disgusting!” Ellie immediately fires back. “More like the loving sister-in-law.”
He smiles, amused. “Let’s keep him overnight just to be safe. I want to take another look at that shoulder in the morning. If it all still looks good, he’ll be free to go.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Cade says, his voice thick with relief as he extends a hand. “For everything.”
“Yes, thank you so much!” the girls yell from the phone.
“You’re welcome.” The doc nods, giving me one more glance. “I’ll need you to keep that sling on for a few weeks and I’ve already sent word to a physical therapist in New York. She’ll be expecting you once you get back.”
“Physical therapy,” I groan, slumping further into the pillows. “Are you fuck—”
“He’ll be there,” Cade cuts in, glaring down at me. “Thanks again, doc.”
“Rest up,” the doctor says to me as he nears the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Once the door closes, Cade picks up the phone. “Alright, girls. I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Don’t forget,” Ellie warns.
“We love you guys!” Haley adds.
“Love you too,” Cade says, smiling faintly before ending the call.
“I’m not going to see some fucking physical therapist, Cade.”
“Yes you are,” he bites back.
“No. I’m not. End of story.”
“Lex!” Cade snaps, slamming the phone on the bed. “You almost bled out in front of me in that ring. If the doc says that’s what you need then you’re going. Fuck, I almost watched you—” he stops himself, dragging a hand down his face.
“It’s just,” he breathes, leaning in. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
“I’ll try not to,” I whisper.
“I’m serious,” he warns, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I thought I lost you.”
I reach up, dragging my fingertips along the sharp line of his jaw. “I’m sorry, babe.”
“I know.” He sniffles, pulling back slightly and brushing a thumb across my cheekbone. “You want me to get you something to eat? I need to go update the guys out there.”
I nod slowly. “Who’s all out there?”
“Just Roman and Rez,” he answers. “Sabine and Knox flew back with Tex yesterday morning after they took Marisol home. They wanted to get a jumpstart on the collars now that we have one of them on hand.”
“Good,” I mutter, a phantom shock tingling my neck.
Cade leans down, placing one more kiss on my forehead before turning toward the door.
“I’ll be right back,” he says. “Don’t move.”
I scoff. “Not like I could if I wanted to.”
He’s gone all of three minutes before there is another knock at the door.
“It’s open,” I mutter.
Roman steps in and strides over to me. “How are you doing?”
“I’ll live.”
“Never doubted that,” he says, folding his arms. His voice is quieter than usual. A little less steel and a little more sincerity. It’s weird. I don’t like it.
“Thanks,” I say after a beat. “For jumping in there so fast and helping me.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t mention it. You shoved your hands in my bleeding chest to save my ass. The least I could do was return the favor.”
I huff a laugh and immediately get a fuck you, Lex from my shoulder. “Shit. Don’t make me laugh, it hurts like hell.”
“Sorry,” he says but his mouth twitches.
He moves to the window and is silent for a second. “How are you doing with everything?”
“Fuckin’ hurt,” I mutter, squinting at him through the haze of the painkillers. “I already said that.”
“I don’t mean the pain, Lex.” He turns, his eyes locking on me with a weight that makes me want to look away. “I mean, how are you doing?”
“You mean how am I doing now that I had to kill my cousins?”
The words land hard in the silence. But he doesn’t back down. His gaze sharpens on me, just waiting for an answer.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “At the time adrenaline sort of took over.” I breathe in slowly. “But now I don’t really want to face my family.”
“That’s fair.” He nods.
“And it’s not even really my family I’m worried about.” My voice drops. “It’s Cade.”
He doesn’t interrupt.
“He’s always known I’ve… well… that I’m,” I ramble. “I mean he’s seen me with blood on my hands before but never like this.”
Roman walks over and drops into the chair beside my bed. “Cade’s stronger than you think.”
I blink at him. “You say that like you know him.”
“I know him enough,” he deadpans. “Now, anyways.”
I sigh. “How’d you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Come back from that edge?” I ask, my voice shaking more than I fucking want it to. “I’ve always flirted with that darkness, with that line. I’ve left men in the ring bloody and broken, but always breathing. Now, I don’t know how to—”
“You’ll get used to it,” he interjects.
He says it so bluntly and so eerily calm. I sometimes forget that behind the man who brings bouquets of roses to Bella’s dances, lies a ruthless mafia kingpin with more blood on his hands than both of my parents combined.
“You did what you had to do to survive. No one outside of that ring gets to judge you for this. And if they do?” He leans forward, his steel eyes blazing holes in my skull. “You send them to me.”
“Careful, Roman,” I chuckle. “That almost sounds like you care.”
“I do. Just don’t tell anyone.” Roman smirks. “It’ll ruin my image.”
“Thanks.”
He nods. “In the spirit of caring and all that shit, you should know I called Northvale.”
“Northvale?” I echo.
“Yes,” he confirms. “Dean Chambers is a client of Atrum and owes me a favor or two. Or three, but that’s not the point.
” He shakes his head and laughs. “Anyway, I got him to agree to slap a temporary hold on your course load. You’re still enrolled, but everything’s paused.
I couldn’t have you out there flunking while searching for my daughter, she’d have both our asses. ”
“No shit,” I laugh, then wince. “Wait, what do you mean paused?”
“You’ve only got two classes left to graduate,” he says. “Your architecture class is officially frozen. Timeline’s suspended. When we get her back, you can pick up where you left off.”
“I’ve already done most of that senior project,” I mutter. “Just need to get the damn presentation finished.”
“Good. Now you’ve got time to make it legendary. The other professor was more of a dick about it.” He shrugs. “But we persuaded him. As long as you pass the final after she’s back, you’re golden.”
“Wow. Thanks.”
“Called Wexley too,” he adds, pushing up from the chair. “Had to get Cade’s dad involved to back up my story, but they agreed. Cade’s on hold as well.”
“Appreciate that.”
“Don’t mention it.” He shakes his head, turning to head to the door.
“Roman?”
He halts his steps and turns back to face me.
“Thank you,” I say. “I mean it. Not for just shoving your hands into my blood, but for what you said.”
“We’re family now, Lex.” He huffs, rubbing his shoulder. “Whether your mother can stomach it or not.”