Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Pressure, not pain exactly, but an unfamiliar tightness in his abdomen, woke him. His heavy eyelids wouldn’t open. A dull ache spread with every breath he took. Slow and steady beeping echoed through the fog in his head. The sharp scent of disinfectant assaulted his nostrils.
Hospital.
The word landed with clarity and confusion.
He shifted and instantly regretted it.
Comforting warmth radiated from his shoulder.
“Don’t move. Rest,” a soft, familiar voice stated.
His throat was too dry to respond.
He forced his eyes open.
His mother leaned over him, touching his shoulder. Concern laced her warm brown eyes.
“Mom.”
“You’ll be alright. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry.”
“Hey, son,” Dad said as he stepped into his line of sight. “You ruptured your spleen. The doctor said you were lucky, and he repaired it, but you were in surgery for a long time.”
That explained the discomfort in his torso.
“You scared us so much. Just like your brother that time. You two are going to be the death of me,” his mom said and then kissed his forehead like she’d done when he was six years old and had hurt himself.
“Luck is doing a lot of work here. Wouldn’t you say, Hunter?” Cici’s voice sounded on the opposite side of the bed where his parents stood.
Cap rolled his head to look at her. She stood next to their brother, who had a dumb-looking smile on his face.
He focused on his brother and swallowed a couple of times to moisten his throat.
“Where’s Emma?”
“She’s safe.”
That didn’t answer the question he asked.
His heart jolted.
“Where is she?” he asked again.
His brother hesitated long enough for Cap to realize the answer wasn’t one he wanted.
His mother squeezed his shoulder, and he turned his head toward her.
“She went home.”
“Home! By herself? She needs protection.”
Pain ripped through his abdomen when he tried to sit up. Hunter’s hand flew to the opposite shoulder that his mother held. They both applied pressure to keep him lying down.
“She’ll be fine,” Hunter said. “The drug dealer is dead.”
“How?”
“Brown County Sheriff’s Department found him. There was a high-speed chase. The guy crashed and was killed, so Emma’s safe.”
A wave of relief washed over him.
“Yes. She went home,” his brother said quietly.
The room seemed to tilt.
“Home?”
The seriousness in Hunter’s gaze caused his stomach to flop. It wouldn’t have been so bad if not for the hint of hurt that accompanied the seriousness. Something wasn’t right.
“Why?”
Silence.
Hunter reached over to the table and picked up a folded piece of paper. His brother’s chest slowly inflated and then deflated.
“She left you a note.”
His heart seized. He remembered all too well a similar situation when Hunter had received a note from Hannah while lying in a hospital bed. A bad note. One that broke his brother’s heart. But, in the end, that situation turned out well because Hunter and Hannah got back together and married.
Married. For chrissake. What was he thinking? He’d just met Emma a few days ago.
The paper shook in Cap’s hands, and it took a few seconds for the words to come into focus.
He could feel his family staring at him as he read the note, not once, but twice.
Emma’s words echoed in his head.
You got hurt, almost died, because of me.
I dragged you right back into the dangerous life you left.
Love shouldn’t cost you your life.
Please don’t come after me. I need you safe.
His heart cracked in half. She had left him after all they’d shared.
Cold, hard anger quickly replaced the hurt in his heart. He’d been down this path before when Blythe dumped him. When was he going to learn? Never trust a woman with your heart.
The door to his room opened, and his brother’s new wife walked in.
She edged her way between Hunter and Cici.
She gave Hunter a light peck on the lips and held his gaze for a moment.
The love radiating between the two of them was unmistakable.
Hannah turned her head and focused on him.
A soft, caring smile stretched across her face.
“You gave us quite a scare. How are you feeling?” she asked.
Well, he felt like shit both physically and emotionally. But seeing her with his brother gave him hope that he could resurrect this thing with Emma. Still, should he? Was Hunter and Hannah’s relationship an anomaly?
Cap recalled Hunter’s pain. Hunter’s story was a little different.
Hannah had been forced to go on the run, even changed her name to escape the wrath of her ex, whose father was the head of a cartel.
For chrissake, how had it come to be that both he and his brother got mixed up with women evading cartels?
Was this some sort of sign, or was he just grasping at anything to hold on to?
The cynic in him argued with his heart, telling him to take the gift he’d been given and let her walk away. But he loved her even though she’d hurt him.
He was tired. He’d think about this tomorrow.
Two days later, the pleasant aroma of bacon woke Cap.
How much he’d actually slept was up for debate.
Between the lingering aches and pains from his surgery every time he rolled over in bed, and the pain in his heart from being dumped, he’d bet he’d only slept a couple of hours at best. So much for the doctor telling him to get rest.
With as much as he didn’t want to get up and go to the kitchen, the smell of the bacon had him flipping the covers back. What he dreaded was the pathetic look his sympathetic mother would flash him. It was the same look he recalled from five years earlier when Blythe had dumped him.
Mom and Dad insisted on staying with him on his first night home. That was nice, he supposed, but he really just wanted to be alone, and he wanted to get his life back on track. Pretend he’d never met Emma Brown.
“Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep well?” Mom asked in a tone as if she were talking to a six-year-old boy.
“Morning,” Dad said from his seated spot at the kitchen island as he looked at him over the top of his newspaper.
“Morning.”
“The bacon is almost done. I’ll also scramble some eggs for you, just the way you like them.”
“I eat them over medium now.”
Mom’s smile faded. He’d upset her. It might have been the tone he used that he shouldn’t have. She was just trying to be nice and help him. But he was edgy and couldn’t shake it.
He sat next to Dad, and Mom cracked six eggs into a frying pan.
When he looked at Dad, he got that look. The one that said he should be nicer to Mom.
Mom placed a plate with eggs, toast, and bacon in front of Dad, then one in front of him, and then she filled one for herself. Rather than sitting, she stood opposite him and Dad at the island.
“Looks great, Mom, thank you.”
She smiled.
He was back in her good graces.
“I talked to Hunter this morning. He and Cici have worked out a schedule to cover your charters.”
His sister was already busy with her own charters, and Hunter had stores to run. They couldn’t possibly take on all of the scheduled charters. He dreaded the thought of having to cancel some. That wasn’t good for business.
“I’m grateful, but maybe I should try to reschedule some of them. I’m sure I’ll be able to take over again soon, maybe next week.”
“You will not, Capricornus,” Mom said firmly. “The doctor said the recovery is four to eight weeks.”
He cringed at her use of his full name. First, he hated that dumb name; second, she knew it and only used it when she really wanted to grab his attention.
Cap glanced at his dad, who kept his focus on his food. No help there. Smart man.
“But…” was all he said before her hand raised into the air in the stop position.
“I’ll stay here the entire eight weeks if that’s what it takes to keep you from doing anything you shouldn’t.”
The placement of her other hand on her hip showed she meant business, so he needed to convince her he’d comply. Not that he minded having his meals cooked for him; but the issue was that, since the surgery, she spoke to him and treated him as if he were still a young boy.
“You don’t need to worry. I’ll follow the doctor’s orders.”
His mom took a bite of eggs while boring into him with her gaze. Probably trying to decide whether she should believe him.
“Tell me more about this girl,” Mom demanded.
Cap’s jaw tightened. Emma was exactly what he tried not to think about.
He worked to loosen his muscles and finished chewing his eggs.
Mom’s gaze stayed on him. A small part of him wondered if his family had read Emma’s letter before he came to, but then he realized they would never invade his privacy like that.
“She was just a client. An innocent bystander. Her ex dragged her into this whole thing.”
Mom’s dark gaze stayed on him, intensifying with each passing moment. Then, she arched a brow.
“Nothing else? You went through an awful lot of trouble to protect her, even though that line of work isn’t what you do anymore.”
He glanced at his Dad, only to find there would still be no help from him.
“I guess it’s in my blood to look out for people.”
“You make me proud.”
Mom’s compliment made him feel good.
“Hunter said he thinks you really like her.”
Damn his brother. Sold him out.
“Cici agreed.”
Double damn. There was no way to lie his way out of this mess. One, he wasn’t one for lying, and two, his mother already knew.
“I thought I did,” he stated flatly.
He tried to look away from Mom, but her magnetic gaze held his.
“So, have you talked to her since your surgery, since reading her letter?”
Cap’s facial muscles tightened.
“We did not read the letter,” Mom stated.
“No, we didn’t,” Dad assured, in a tone as if he’d taken offense at the accusatory look he must have flashed his parents.
Cap stared guiltily at his plate. He supposed his mother’s curiosity about killed her. Especially since he hadn’t spoken of Emma at all to his parents, even though they knew of the mysterious letter.