Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Good. My stomach feels all weird and wobbly,” she admitted, climbing off the bed, and snagging one of my t-shirts to throw on before following me out to the living room.
We ate while talking about the party. Mostly about what happened when she was drunk, because it was entertaining as fuck watching her get all scandalized at how open and extroverted she’d been.
After that, I let her shower first as I took Frida for one of her long walks before jumping in the shower myself.
“Feeling better?” I asked as she grabbed her purse and phone while I held the door open for her.
“Slightly more human, yeah,” she agreed. “Though that sun is being a real asshole,” she said, squinting at it.
“Did you… did you just say asshole?” I asked, mouth falling open in faux outrage. Because, yeah, the woman almost never cursed. Which was fucking adorable. But not as adorable as when she did.
“You’re a bad influence in many ways,” she accused me as we climbed into the car.
I snagged a pair of shades out of the center console that must have been left there by one of the girls, and handed them to Siana to slip over her actual glasses.
“I need to order new prescription ones,” she said after declaring she felt ridiculous.
She was quiet for the rest of the drive, and I didn’t know if she was just nursing her hangover still, or was thinking about her apartment, about the destruction, after the reminder about her sunglasses being broken.
When we got to the hospital, I caught her actually shaking her shoulders, like she was trying to shrug off a bad feeling.
We made a quick stop at the gift shop where she scooped up some flowers, then we made our way to Kylo’s room.
“The fuck is this, darlin’?” he asked as soon as he saw the vase of fresh yellow flowers.
“I heard somewhere that the first time most men get flowers is at their own funerals. And that is just really sad,” she said, placing them near the window.
I had no reference for what Kylo might look like.
Even in the hospital bed, he seemed tall and well-built. Covered in ink. Dark hair. Dark eyes. Traditionally attractive, though he worked hard to have more of an edge to his looks.
“Almost was my funeral,” he admitted, giving her a small smile. “Who’s this?” he asked, jerking his chin toward me.
“Oh, um, this is Alaric,” Siana said, shifting her feet, uncomfortable. Not sure what to say. “He’s my—“
“Boyfriend,” I filled in for her, watching her head whip in my direction, eyes wide for a second before the smile spread.
“Boyfriend?” Kylo asked, brows raised. “Really?”
“I know,” Siana said, shaking her head at herself. “It’s, uh, it’s just been since that night really,” she admitted.
Kylo was silent, waiting for more information, but Siana was clearly struggling coming up with a passable half-truth.
“We were on a call,” I told him. “I heard the gunshots. Came to check on her after. Then she called me after she came to visit you, when she saw the guys again.”
That sure as fuck got Kylo’s attention.
His whole body stiffened.
Then his worried gaze slid to Siana.
“What do you mean you saw them again?” he asked, voice tight.
“I was coming back from walking Frida, and I saw them getting out of their car outside of the building.”
A muscle was ticking in Kylo’s jaw at that.
“Darlin’, the fuck do you mean again?” he pressed through clenched teeth. “You saw them that night?”
“I… yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“When you were bleeding all over yourself and me?” Siana shot back, and I felt my lips twitch, proud of her for snapping back. I had a feeling that wasn’t normal for her. It showed she was learning to start to stand up for herself. And while I was more than happy to stand up for her, I liked that she was gaining the confidence to do it for herself. “Or maybe when you were unconscious on the stretcher?” she asked.
“Fair enough,” Kylo agreed. “But please fucking tell me you saw them through the fucking peephole. Out the window…”
Siana’s gaze slid away, but moved back to him.
“No. I opened the door,” she admitted. “I thought they were gone. But they were in the elevator.”
“Fuck,” Kylo snapped, chest starting to rise and fall faster as his monitor showed a big spike in his pulse.
“It’s okay,” Siana said, reaching out to place a hand on his leg, then rethinking it, likely remembering he’d been shot there as well. “Calm down.”
“Did they see you seeing them?” he asked, ignoring her request for him to calm down, his body just getting tenser by the second.
“Yes.”
“What did they say?”
“They didn’t,” she said, not telling the whole truth.
“Tell him,” I demanded, watching Kylo’s gaze slide to me, then back to her.
“They did this,” she said, forming a gun with her hand, and miming shooting. “What are you doing?” she gasped, jumping back a foot as Kylo reached toward his hand, ripping out his IV, then trying to knife up off of the bed.