Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
ROYCE
I woke up in the hospital, surrounded by pink roses all stuffed into various glass vases. My throat was dry, my arm hurt like a bitch, and I was starving. I tried sitting up but couldn’t apply any pressure to my arm, so I sank back into the bed.
“Oh, good, you’re up!” A nurse walked in, looking chipper.
“How long was I out for?” I asked, feeling groggy and tired.
The nurse walked over to my arm and removed the bandage, gently touching the sewn-up wound. “You slept for about five hours, honey.”
“Slept? You mean the drugs knocked me out?”
Her brown hair, which was swept up into a sleek updo, looked flawless. Her mouth twitched, though, as she replied. “We didn’t have to administer any drugs, just a topical anesthetic. According to your boyfriend, you hadn’t slept the night prior. Your body was likely exhausted and needed the nap.”
Oh. I fought the blush invading my face, but lost. “So, I could have gone home…hours ago?”
“Yes, but it’s no big deal. We’d rather ensure you’re nice and rested.”
I gazed over at all the pink flowers, which made it seem like I had been here for days. “What about all of those, why are they here?”
The nurse smiled again, closing the bandage on my arm. “Your sister, I believe. She came in and said the room was too bleak.”
Oh Taryn, my favorite human at present. “Are my parents here, or anyone else?”
Did they really all leave me here?
“They’re all here. We asked them to leave the room because they couldn’t agree on who would stay.
I seem to recall there being a rather surly guy who said he wasn’t leaving because you were ‘his’…
not sure what he meant by that, but he seemed very invested in you being okay.
Then there was your dad who seemed really upset, and your mom sat down and refused to get up.
Your sister and two other girls stopped by…
I’m not entirely sure what happened, but security told them all to leave. ”
That sounded about right.
“Could you ask my sister to come in please?”
The nurse thinned her lips in a placating sort of way. “Honey, you’re discharged. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up. You can go whenever you’re ready.”
How could they be so nonchalant about this? “I was shot…”
“You’ll be fine, but I will send your sister in to help you load up all these flowers.” She patted my shoulder on her way out of the room.
Unbelievable. Pushing the covers down, I realized I wasn’t even in a gown. They’d ripped my sleeve so they could access my arm. Otherwise, I was still completely dressed.
“Royce, oh my gosh, are you okay?” Taryn rushed into the room. With the way her hair was styled today, she looked almost like Florence Pugh. I was so jealous of how easily she changed her hair or her makeup to test out something new or that might look different on her.
“I’m fine, just a little embarrassed.”
Taryn slid onto the bed, her golden brows furrowing. “Why?”
My shoes were tucked under the nearby chair, but Taryn saw where I was looking and jumped up to grab them.
“I was only admitted because I was tired. I’ve been discharged for a while…but they were waiting for me to wake up.”
My sister’s mouth spread into a smile. I pointed my finger at her. “Don’t laugh.”
She bit her lip as if to hold off the sensation.
“Only you would get shot by a bullet and need to sleep it off. And only you would actually be allowed to stay and sleep.”
Pushing my feet into my shoes, I stood up. My head ached, right along with my arm.
“Grazed. I was grazed. How did I get here anyway?”
My sister let out a dreamy sigh, falling back onto the bed. “Ford carried you. I guess he found you out there…and the rest I probably can’t talk about here.”
Right. Rodney. A swarm of raw emotion filled my chest. It was mostly anger and hurt, not any sadness at all. While I didn’t remember what had happened, I knew the Stone Rider world well enough to know that Rodney wouldn’t have made it out alive.
“How does Ford seem?” I asked hesitantly.
My sister grabbed my purse and leather cut that somehow made it back here.
“Protective, angry, and tired.”
“Shit, he hasn’t slept either.” I rubbed my brow.
Taryn waved me off. “He napped in one of the chairs out there, he’s fine.”
“Well, is he waiting for me out there or what?”
Taryn lifted her shoulder. “I mean, I think he’s taken with you, sis. Aren’t you guys together now?”
Yes, but I was still upset with him. My sister would know that, though.
With a sigh, she walked with me. “You might want to hear him out…Mom forgave Dad.”
“Of course she did.” I laughed. Mom and Dad could never stay mad at each other for more than a few hours. But this was a big lie…It made me curious about his side of things. I was actually jealous that Mom got to hear what was going on, and I hadn’t yet.
“Can you sneak me out the back or something? If they were all kicked out of here because they couldn’t agree on who stayed with me, then it’s going to be a mess in agreeing who will take me home. I’m still pissed at Dad and Ford.”
Taryn pulled out her bike key and smiled. “You got it, sis.”
We got home before anyone else. I wanted to shower, but I was too afraid to get my bandage wet, so Taryn helped me wrap it with plastic wrap.
“Do you need me to help you?” Taryn watched me attempt to pull my shirt up over my head.
With the fabric half over my mouth, I explained that I could do this.
“Just get me a fresh towel please!”
Taryn raised her hands while walking out of the bathroom.
Once I was finally out of my clothes, I stepped under the hot spray.
I was frustrated with myself about the encounter with Rodney.
I knew I did everything I could, but I still felt angry over how I was the one in the end who got shot.
Rodney nearly blew my fucking arm off, and the asshole had the audacity to try to kidnap me.
My mind raced, tossing the scenario that Rodney had spewed over and over.
“Just putting this on the toilet!” Taryn yelled, but I didn’t turn to look. The door clicked shut and I finally had the breakdown I’d been holding in since I discovered that my father and boyfriend had lied to me.
Lifting my face to the water, I let the scorching heat wash away my tears.
It was nearly impossible to nail down all the ways I’d fucked up.
I didn’t see the betrayal from Rodney coming, or Ford, fuck, not even my dad.
How was I so blind? Or worse, if I really wanted to dig into that ball of pain inside my chest, I’d confront that I felt stupid.
“Royce?” Someone yelled through the door.
I wanted to sink to the bottom of the shower, but I knew I had to keep my arm dry.
Turning off the water, I was about to reach for the towel left for me on the toilet seat when the door opened and Ford stepped inside.
Seeing him sent a rush of pain to my chest, but maybe that was just my arm.
“What are you doing here?”
Ford’s gaze slowly traveled down my body as I wrapped the fluffy white towel around me. “I tried to see you at the hospital.”
His voice was achingly soft, and with him standing in front of me in a stark, white T-shirt and clean jeans, and not a hint of his patches or colors, made my lip tremble.
Like he was just Ford again. The one I grew up with.
The one who kissed me when I was nine, and the one who’d stuck to my heart like an extra vein all throughout my life.
I turned away from him so he wouldn’t see the hurt on my face.
“I know that you might not want to see me, and I understand that. I just—I needed to see you.” He stepped closer, and then I saw his expression in the mirror as the steam dissipated.
“You saw,” I clipped out.
He stepped closer. “How’s your arm?”
I found my toothbrush and began prepping it with toothpaste. “It’s fine.” Not true. It actually ached and burned like a son of a bitch. I knew I needed to go get some pain medicine and some food.
“I know you’re—” Ford started, but I turned on my electric toothbrush, locking eyes with him in the mirror. He stopped talking, knowing I couldn’t hear him over the loud buzzing sound.
His chin fell to his chest, making the hair that was longer on top slide forward.
After taking an extraordinarily long time to brush, I finally turned it off and rinsed.
“Royce, come on. Please talk to me.”
Spinning around, I pushed past him, heading for the door. Ford’s hand came above my head, keeping it against the door so I couldn’t leave.
With my back against the wood, I crossed my arms over my chest.
“I need to go get dressed. I want to get medicine, and I’m hungry.”
Ford’s sad gaze searched my face, as if he needed to see me up close to ensure I really was okay.
“Would you let me take care of you? Please?”
I hated how badly I wanted to curl into his chest and let him hold me. I hurt physically and emotionally, and his strong arms around me would feel so good. But as I tipped my head back and met his sad stare, I remembered that exact moment when I realized he’d been lying to me.
“What happened to Rodney?” I asked.
Ford’s jaw tightened as his free hand came up and gently tugged on a loose piece of hair that fell near my ear. “I killed him.”
I wasn’t sure why it mattered that Rodney died. Deep down, I already knew it, but part of me worried that Ford would lie to me again.
“Good. Maybe now I can have his job.” I tried to joke, but my voice came out broken and pathetic.
I’d known Rodney my whole life…once upon a time I thought of him like an extended member of my family.
Then he’d started being a jerk about the promotion and giving me that ultimatum.
It was all planned…he’d played me, and I danced so easily.
Dad had lied as if it were the easiest thing in the world, and Ford…
he’d just not cared enough to share that part of his life with me.
“I’ll buy it for you, Rose. If that’s what you want, I’ll buy it and you can run it.”
I shook my head as a tear fell from my lash. “No, I don’t want that. It’ll be tied to the club. I don’t want anything tied to the Stone Riders.” There was enough mirth in my tone that he knew how angry I was with him.
“That club is in your blood, Royce.”
I lifted my chin defiantly. “And yet I was lied to by that very club, and the man who said he loved me.”
Ford’s chest heaved. “I do love you, Royce. I didn’t have the freedom to tell you. There was too much on the line, and the people we’re in business with…lives were at stake, including yours.”
I didn’t want to think that through because logic had no place among my heartache.
“Let me go to my room,” I deadpanned, staring over his shoulder.
“Will you please let me take care of you at home? Come be with me and Gus.”
Yes, that was all I wanted actually, but he’d lied to me. “Why do you want me there? I’m not going to fuck you.”
He gave me a nasty glare which nearly made me apologize, but I held firm. “You really think that’s all I want from you? After everything?”
I smiled up at him, tilting my head back. “Well, you don’t want to be honest, so, yes. Fucking me is all I think you care about.”
My hand went to his chest, shoving him away, and this time he let me. I escaped to my room with a set of tears in my eyes and a dull ache in my chest.