Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 74005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
His eyelids twitch—barely. Or maybe I’m imagining it. Maybe I’m desperate. But I take it as a sign.
“You’re not alone,” I whisper, voice shaking. “Not now. Not ever. So take the fucking hand I’m holding out and come back.”
A throat clears behind me.
I look up.
My mother.
“Mom,” I say.
“Hawk,” she chokes out.
I rise to give her my chair.
She nods, not offering any thanks. But now is not the time for me to bemoan the fact that my mother and I aren’t close. That’s just a fact of my life I accepted a long time ago.
The only person I have to worry about now is my brother.
And Mom, for all her faults, will take care of him no matter what.
I have to go the bathroom, anyway. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Mom ignores me, her hand clenching Eagle’s. “Please, baby. Please,” she murmurs.
I walk down to the end of the hallway where the bathrooms are, touch the door to the men’s room, when a voice stops me.
“Hawk?”
I turn.
Daniela stands there, looking more beautiful than ever. If only I could sink into her soft body at this very moment and forget everything else.
Forget that my brother might die.
“What?” I say, my tone irritated.
I don’t mean to be short with her. None of this is her fault.
“I… Vinnie’s taking me home. He has to get home for a meeting, and Raven is staying. I just wanted you to know.”
I look down at the floor. “Okay. Thank you for telling me.”
She caresses my arm tentatively. I can’t help, even given the current situation, but be aroused at her touch.
“We all had ice cream,” she says.
Ice cream? Who cares. My brother is dying, and my family went for ice cream.
“My mom’s back,” I say.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Are you… Are you okay?” she asks.
Her beautiful dark eyes are full of concern. What I wouldn’t give to take her in my arms and reassure her.
But I can’t.
I can’t let myself feel anything right now. Only concern for Eagle. I have to get my brother through this. Nothing else matters. Not even Daniela.
“What do you think?” I ask. “My brother could die.”
“I know,” she says. “I just want to make sure…”
“Make sure what, Daniela?” I huff. “Make sure I’m not reeling from this? Make sure that despite my father still being in here and my brother now fighting for his life, I’m somehow miraculously okay?”
She bites on her lip, says nothing.
“Newsflash. I’m not okay. I’m not even slightly okay.” I open the door to the bathroom and go in.
I half expect her to follow me, but this is the men’s room.
She doesn’t.
Of course she doesn’t. I’m being an asshole.
None of this is her fault. It’s all my fault.
Before I take care of business, I open the door to the bathroom again to tell her I’m sorry.
But she’s gone.
Fuck.
I return to the bathroom, take a quick piss, and wash my hands.
As I’m walking down the hallway back toward Eagle’s room, I turn.
I head to the other end of the hallway toward the elevators.
Maybe I just need some air. Need to clear my head. Plus I don’t want to interrupt my mother’s time with her favorite son.
I take the elevator down, walk toward the exit, glancing around. Maybe Daniela is still here.
But I don’t see her, so I leave the hospital and walk to my truck.
Fuck, where did I park?
Shit.
I gave it to the valet.
I walk back, grab my ticket and a ten-dollar bill, hand them to the attendant.
A few minutes later my truck pulls up. I get in, but where the hell am I going?
I can’t leave the hospital. Not yet.
I find a parking spot in the visitor lot and just sit.
I check my phone for texts and calls. Never again will I ignore my phone.
Then I get out of my car, wishing I had a cigarette or something.
I haven’t smoked since I was eighteen, but I’d do anything right now to relax.
I get out, pace around my truck, and then I notice through the window into the back seat—
“Fuck, no!” I yell out loud.
I open the back door.
The cocaine. The trash bag full of cocaine from when Eagle and I were trying to dig up the body of Diego Vega.
The body wasn’t there.
But the drugs were.
Except one bag is open, sitting on the back seat, along with powder.
Last night…
Last night when I didn’t answer my door.
I already figured out it must’ve been Eagle, but then… Why didn’t I dispose of that cocaine?
I was too involved with Daniela. With taking care of her. With trying to figure out who’s threatening her and then getting her in my bed.
I meant to get rid of the cocaine. God, a cop could’ve stopped me, and I could have gone to prison for possession.
And that would’ve been preferable to what actually happened.
Eagle.
Eagle saw it. In a moment of vulnerability, when I was ignoring him.