Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
“Christ.” Stitches grinned. Then chuckled. “Bro, you’re so fucked.”
“Bastard.”
He shrugged. “Well, you wanted answers. I just read the paper and tell you what the numbers mean.”
“Yeah, well, I still need answers.” I stood. “She needs food in her stomach.”
“And rest. And water. Hydrate her with something other than booze, will ya?”
“All over that.”
“You gonna tell Blade?”
I paused. Was I? “Not sure. I’ll have to think about that. I’ve already violated her privacy.”
“Whoa there, brother.” Stitches stood, raising the lab test results once before tossing them to the desk. “She gave up that right when she chose to get blackout drunk and pass out in your arms. She scared the bejesus out of you and me both.”
“I could just see having to call Blade and tell him his sister was brain-dead from alcohol poisoning.”
“Same. So, any right she had to privacy went out the window with the alcohol she consumed.”
I gave a crisp nod. “Fine. But I’m not telling him until I hear back from him. Ain’t makin’ a special call for this and I’m not telling him if he’s eyeball deep in work. She’s an adult. She can work this out herself. She has people here to help her through it, including me.”
“Especially you.” Any humor Stitches showed before now vanished. “Especially you, Cyrus. You get that, right?”
“I get she latched on to me for whatever reason. I never encouraged her to do so.”
“At some point, you need to learn to play well with others.”
“Why? All that does is invite someone else to force me into decisions I wouldn’t otherwise make.”
“It also puts someone in your life you care about. Who cares about you?”
I snorted. “All the more reason to avoid, as you say, playing with others. If you care about someone, they could leave you. Betray you.” I clenched my teeth, pushing the memories back down where they couldn’t overwhelm me.
“That can happen to anyone, Cyrus. Anyone can leave or die. Or betray you.”
“Not here. Not at Tzars. We have a code --”
“That works for someone not betraying you, but not leaving. We all live dangerous lives. You saw what happened last month.”
“Yeah. I did. Atlas lost a child and nearly his woman. Brick almost lost his woman.” I snapped out my answer harsher than I should have, but that memory was a raw, ugly scar on my mind. They weren’t my women or my child, but the whole experience had been… uncomfortable. Even now, I absently rubbed at my chest. We could have lost so much more that day than just our peace of mind. “I won’t put myself in that kind of position.”
Stitches gave me a knowing look but wisely, let it drop. “All right.” He raised his hands in surrender. “But I think you’re missing out on more than you realize.”
“That’s my problem, Stitches. Not yours.”
With that, I stood and left. I needed to get Odette some food and make sure she was settled in. Then I’d turn her over to the old ladies. They’d see to it she had what she needed and was taken care of. I’d keep an eye on her, but from a distance. If she had some romantic hope I’d be the one to save her, she could think again. I didn’t do old ladies. Or children. I couldn’t. Either would make me vulnerable and I couldn’t have that. Not again. Never again.
I snagged the food I’d promised Odette and stomped my way back to my room. Why I’d put her in there I had no fucking idea. I needed to get Roman to assign her another room. Her own. That created its own set of problems, but they wouldn’t be my problems.
Opening the door, I stomped in… only to find Odette wasn’t where I’d left her.
“Odette!” I barked out her name, irritation and something else filling me. “Get your ass out here!”
Nothing.
“Odette!”
I moved to the bathroom. The shower had been used recently, but there was no sign of her. I glanced around the room and spotted the trash can. She’d removed her IV and dumped it and the half-finished bag of fluids into it. Her clothes from last night were gone and the shorts I’d put her in tossed onto the vanity. I couldn’t find my shirt. Further evidence she’d come here to see me.
“When I get my hands on you, little girl, I’m gonna beat your ass.”
I pulled out my phone and shot a text to Wylde. If she had a phone on her he could trace it. He could also pull security footage and see if she’d already left the compound, and if so which way she went and if she was on foot.
Seconds later, Wylde facetimed me. “She left about fifteen minutes ago. Looks like she called an Uber. I hacked into her phone as well as the phone of the Uber driver. Looks like they’re headed to The Women’s Hospital Deaconess. She’s gotten an appointment with an OB? What the fuck?”