Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Chapter 3
JASMINE
“I’m taking her out of the country,” Chase said.
I wondered who “her” was as I began to wake up.
It better not be me. I’m not leaving.
I lay in a soft bed. Blankets covered me. My right arm ached, but didn’t feel half as bad as it did before we made it to the hospital. My eyelids hung heavy, giving me only a few seconds of vision before closing again. All I could make out were two figures towering over my bed.
“You’re not taking Jasmine anywhere.” The voice sounded like Benny, but I wasn’t sure.
Fog clouded my head.
“Plans have already been made,” Chase continued. “Once the doctor says it’s okay, we’re going.”
“Does she know about these plans?”
“She will eventually.”
Chase and Benny are talking without coming close to blows? I must be dreaming.
“I’m not going anywhere.” I moved my fingers and head with a sort of sluggish determination.
Chase’s voice held an edge. “I told you that you would wake her up.”
“I’m her family,” Benny pointed out. “I have more of a right to be in here than you.”
“When she fully wakes up, you have less than fifteen minutes to visit,” Chase said, “then I want you out of here.”
“Why, Chase, my boy.” Benny laughed, which usually was a bad sign. “I had no idea you were so ready to die.”
Yeah. Bad sign.
“Be nice, please.” I opened my eyes.
Both men stared down at me.
Benny clasped his hand onto mine. “How do you feel, sweetheart?”
“Better.” I glanced down at my bandaged arm. “Did I pass out in the limo?”
“Yes.” Chase combed his fingers through his hair. In the restaurant, those midnight black waves were soaked in sweat from our sex. Now, they returned to sculpted perfection and framed his face. He must’ve changed during the time the doctor put stitches in my arm. A new and expensive suit draped his body. “I carried you inside. Doctor Scott said you may have reacted that way from shock or too much blood loss.”
I tightened my fingers around Benny’s huge hand. “What did they do to my arm?”
“The doctor stitched you up and said there were no big problems.” Chase’s gaze went to Benny’s hand and mine. “No major vessels were hit. No severe muscle damage or infection.”
“So I can leave soon?”
“You have to stay overnight.” Chase directed his view to me. “You’re not supposed to use the arm too much for a while. He gave me a list of doctors I can get to do your rehab for a month or two until it’s back to normal.”
“Where is this list?” Benny looked up at him. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I can do it myself.” I stretched my good arm. “Thank you both for helping me out, but I’ll take everything from here.”
“I disagree.” Benny released my hands and patted my head like I was a little kid. “I’ve made arrangements for you and Vivian to move back into my house. You’ll both have your own rooms and—”
“Vivian!” I struggled with trying to sit up and collapsed back into the bed. “How’s Vivian?”
“Troy is with her, two floors down.” Benny formed his lips into a frown. “They’re pumping her stomach. They think she tried to kill herself or overdosed on whatever pills she swallowed.”
“We have to get her someone to talk to,” I offered. “A psychiatrist or counselor.”
“I’ve already taken care of that.”
“Good.”
“Back to what I was saying—”
“I’m not moving in with you, Benny.”
I bet Vivian won’t either.
“You are coming back home.” Anger darkened the corners of Benny’s eyes. “Vivian attempted suicide. Someone shot you. You two are ruining your lives over men.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Oh, really? You left me in the park earlier today to go on a date with Gabe and now you’re lying in a hospital bed with a stitched arm and the devil standing beside you.”
Chase snorted at the devil comment. I was already tired of Benny’s being in the room.
I rubbed the temples on my forehead as an ache rose in them. “Chase is not the devil.”
Bennie snarled. “Are you sure about that?”
“Watch what you say, old man.” Chase sat down in the chair next to my bed. As if he’d secretly called for them, two guards entered the room and flanked the door. He tapped his fingers on my bed. It was a nervous habit of his. “I have some names for you myself. Murderer comes to mind first.”
Murderer?
“Let’s stop with the name calling.” I blew out a long breath.
“Why were you with him and not Gabe tonight?” Benny rested both hands on the side of my bed. “I’m sure Chase figured out a way to strong-arm his way into your evening. Didn’t he?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I have time,” Benny countered.
“You actually only have ten minutes left.” Chase glanced at his watch and then gestured for the body guards to come to the foot of my bed.