Chapter 1
Xavier
Present Day
Fuck, my head hurts. I try to open my eyes, but the lights around me are too bright. Something stirs next to me.
“Xavier? Can you hear me?” I hear a woman’s voice ask.
“Water,” I croak out.
There’s shuffling, and suddenly, I feel the edge of a paper cup against my lips. I swallow down the cool water greedily before slumping my head back against my pillow, causing me to wince in pain.
“I can ask the doctor to bring you more pain meds,” she says. “He needs to know you’ve finally woken up.”
My eyes fly open, and the glaring light hits me, sending me into a wave of nausea. I hurl over the side of the bed, noticing at the last minute that a puke bag is already held out right in front of me. My eyes travel up dainty hands and arms until they land on a set of vibrant green eyes.
She goes to say something, but we’re interrupted by a doctor walking into the room.
“You had quite the accident, Mr. Delacruz,” he says to me, stirring a sense of deja vu.
“Accident?” I ask. “What accident?”
Then it hits me. I must still be dreaming, so I do the only thing that would be obvious to my dream. “Where’s Amy?" I ask, feeling my stomach twist into a knot.
The doctor looks at me questioningly, “Amy? Sir, I’m not sure who…”
The door opens again, and Sebastian strolls in, holding Riley‘s hand.
Why the fuck is he holding his new intern's hand? Fuck, this is the worst dream ever. My heart rate picks up, so I lean against the pillow and close my eyes. Maybe if I count to ten slowly, when I open them again, I’ll be awake, and this horrible nightmare will end.
One…two…three.
I feel soft hands touch my arm.
“Don’t touch me,” I growl out as I jerk my arm away.
Green eyes sucks in a short breath and pulls her hand back quickly.
“Mr. Delacruz, you were in an accident,” the doctor repeats. “Fortunately, everyone survived; however, you hit your head pretty hard. Considering your previous accident had already left some scarring on the brain, we need to run some tests on you for observation for at least a few days, if not a week. There might be a bit of amnesia.”
“Amnesia?” Sebastian asks the doctor. “How long does that last?”
“Well, it’s hard to say,” the doctor replies. “Until we do further testing, we won’t know, but I’ve seen some cases that only last a few days and others that last up to a year.”
I look at the doctor and Sebastian, then Sebastian‘s intern, and then the girl beside me.
My heart rate starts picking up again. I was in an accident. Sebastian is holding Riley’s hand. A girl is sitting next to me, yet I have no idea who she is.
I feel my anger rising. I can’t even help myself, and this is not my usual response. “Why the fuck are you two holding hands, Sebastian?” I blurt out.
Her eyes go wide and she looks up at Sebastian in question.
“I need a minute with Xavier, please,” Sebastian says to Riley and the mystery girl.
They both walk out the door, a look of sadness crossing over Green Eyes’ face as she closes it. My stomach coils up, making me cringe.
“What’s the last thing that you remember, Xavier?” Sebastian asks me.
I try to think back, but my thoughts are all messy.
“Do you remember the Jizz incident in college?” Sebastian jokes.
“Yes, fucker,” I reply chuckling, “I also remember being framed for it.”
“Okay,” Sebastian says, getting serious. “You remember Riley, though, because you said her name?”
“Yeah, she’s your intern, and you still haven’t answered me about why you were holding hands with her, Sebastian.”
“She’s my wife, Xavier,” Sebastian says, scrunching his eyebrows. “We got married almost two weeks ago.”
“What? You’re telling me that THE Sebastian Bolt married one woman for the rest of his life?”
Sebastian hears the sarcasm dripping out of my voice and the look of worry drops off his face before being replaced with a glare. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” He growls out. “I don’t need anyone else.”
I smirk, and his gaze softens. “I knew you wanted her,” I say matter-of-factly. “It was just a matter of time before you caught her. I’m happy for you, brother.”
Suddenly, a lightbulb goes off in my head. “I remember the gala and her drunk ass husband puking everywhere!” I say.
“Do you remember going to Lock & Key?” Sebastian asks, rubbing his chin.
“No,” I reply, “is it somewhere I should remember?”
Sebastian blows out of breath. “Well,” he continues, “it’s kind of where you met your girlfriend, who just happens to be Riley’s sister.”
“No,” I say. I can feel the anger rising.
“Xavier, I know what happened before,” he starts, but I cut him off before he can finish.
“No,” I state.
“Can I just fucking explain?” he grits out, clearly getting irritated.
I can feel my heartbeat starting to race faster. The machine next to me starts making a lot more noise than it was moments before.
“I don’t have a fucking girlfriend Sebastian…I can’t.” Two nurses rush in, I’m assuming to check my vitals.
“You need to leave,” one of the nurses says to Sebastian.
“Wait,” I say, freaking out. “Don’t make him go.”
“Don’t worry, brother,” Sebastian replies as a nurse sticks something in my arm. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“Okay,” I mumble as everything goes black.