Chapter 63
SIXTY-THREE
KADE
I was greeted with the sounds of something breakable crashing on the penthouse floor and Lucy barking her head off outside of Evan's bedroom door.
I rushed over and petted Lucy’s head. “Shhh, girl. It’s okay,” I soothed, fully knowing I was full of shit.
Machine was in one of his episodes. I heard him grunt and growl as the sound of multiple things breaking echoed in the room. I slammed my fist to the closed door, knowing that he wouldn’t hear me if I wasn’t forceful.
It had been a while since he’d had one of these manic down spells. I’d known it was coming as soon as he woke up in the hospital. His trauma from multiple deployments was enough to drive anyone crazy. So if Machine was having a bad moment, then I knew he had to be internally hurting.
The doctor was confident that Machine would have a full recovery, physically anyway, but two weeks after being released from the hospital, he was still in a mental spiral.
He had fallen so far into a depression, I was worried that my best friend would do something he couldn’t take back.
Between the overwhelming grief about my failed relationship with Evelyn accompanied by the stress of Stefanos, and now Machine’s depression, I felt as though the walls were caving in on me.
I slowly opened the door. “Evan! Machine! It’s me!” No answer. “I’m comin’ in buddy.” I pushed the door open and found Machine on the floor of the guest room rocking back and forth, his dog tags on a thin chain hanging between his fingers.
This was bad. Really fucking bad. A mirror above a charcoal-colored dresser was shattered along with everything that had been breakable.
Shards of glass and crystal lay scattered all over the floor.
A half-empty bottle of cheap whiskey sat next to him on the floor.
I knelt down in front of him, feeling helpless.
The strongest man I had ever known sat before me, broken and scared.
His black t-shirt was cut in several places, most likely from glass that ricocheted.
A small spot on his shirt over his lower abdomen was saturated with blood.
“Evan, look at me,” I ordered in a stern voice. He listened, although I could tell that his focus was not on me. “I am going to help you up and get you cleaned up.”
Machine nodded his head, still looking with his eyes unfocused. As I helped lift my best friend up, he began to sway on shaky legs. I looped an arm around his waist and moved one of his arms around my shoulders. Slowly we made it to the primary bedroom’s en suite bathroom.
Machine sat on the toilet. “Jessica…” He spoke so quietly I almost thought I misheard him.
I grabbed the first-aid kit from under the sink and looked at him. “Who—" Before I could finish my sentence, he looked up at me with more focus and resilience than I’d seen so far.
“Badger. I need her,” he elaborated.
My brows knitted together. “Like Evelyn’s Badger?”
Badger showed up forty-five minutes later with an empathetic expression. She placed her purse on the counter and sat down on the floor as Lucy greeted her with kisses and butt wiggles. Shock must have been evident on my face because Badger burst out laughing. “What?” she asked with a smile.
“I’ve never seen her act that excited to see someone other than Machine or myself.”
“Lucy is my girl. Aren’t you, princess?” she cooed. “Now I need to find out what your dad has gotten himself into this time.” Badger stood up and wiped the fur off of her yoga pants.
I knew Badger and Machine had become friendly, however, based on Lucy’s reaction, it was clear they had been hanging out more than I knew.
I left Machine in the Badger’s strong hands as I went back to my penthouse to change. As I changed into clean clothes, I received a text from Lennie.
Lennie:
Found out who was messing with our system.
Me:
Who?
Lennie:
Evelyn’s brother. You need to come in.
I looked at the message several times before cursing and heading to the office, not allowing myself to overthink about the first time I would be facing Evelyn since breaking things off.