Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
“What?”
“You coming to stay with us,” he said. “Please, Indie. Come stay with us. Let us take care of you.”
“I don’t . . . I can’t. I just . . . c-can’t.”
25
Fuck.
Slade hated the broken sound of her voice. He leaned against the doorway of her hospital room. It was obvious that neither of them had heard him open the door. Spencer should really be more alert.
But he couldn’t call him out. Not when Slade knew he’d probably be the same way.
Wrapped up in Indie.
Her care.
Her needs.
She was all he could think about at the moment. She was under his skin. An itch he couldn’t get rid of.
And didn’t want to.
A gift had turned up from Shepherd just as they were leaving for the hospital. Four pairs of knee protectors.
Since they’d be on their knees begging forgiveness. He’d be grouchy about the gift if it wasn’t so apt.
“You can’t stay in a hotel forever,” Spencer told her. “Where are you going to live? Will you get another apartment? What if Billy finds that one too?”
Rock sucked in a breath behind him. Slade knew that he didn’t like the way Spencer was arguing with her, that he was bringing up Billy.
The fucker.
But Slade shook his head at Rock. Maybe this was good. Get things out in the open. Get Indie talking.
If they were all there, she might clam up.
Quaid stood back from Rock. Apart. But from the small frown on his face, Slade knew he could hear what they were saying.
“Maggie said she’d stay here or that I could go to Escana with them. That might be the best plan. No chance of Billy getting me there.”
Slade sucked in a sharp breath. If she went to Escana they’d never get her back. They didn’t let just anyone cross the border. And what if she found a nice harem of guys who she had no baggage with? Ones who hadn’t betrayed and broken her?
There was no way he could let that happen.
“That’s what you want?” Spencer asked, sounding broken. “You want to leave? To live in Escana?”
There was a long beat of silence. And Slade felt hope fill him. Because wouldn’t she have answered ‘yes’ straight away if she actually wanted to move to Escana?
“No. But I’m finding that very little in life is about what I want.”
Ouch.
That stabbed him in the stomach. He hated that her life had been like that. But there was so much more life to live. And it would be up to him to ensure that she got everything she wanted.
Everything she desired.
Yeah, he was going to see to that.
Slade stepped into the room, drawing both of their gazes. Indie looked surprised, but Spencer just nodded.
Okay, he’d cut the guy some slack. Maybe he had known that they were there.
“We don’t want you to go to Escana, Boo,” Slade said, coming to sit on the mattress facing her. She glanced at him, then over to the others.
He turned and sighed.
Once more, Rock had taken up sentry duty by the door, facing away from Indie. As though looking at her made him face his failures. Or perhaps he just felt too ashamed.
Quaid was in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall and staring at his feet.
Fuck.
They were all a fucking mess. And it was going to be up to him to try and convince Indie that it was in her best interests to go home with them.
He wished he could just order her to.
Life was much simpler when people just did what he told them to.
Like you always get everything right.
Like she should trust you.
You wouldn’t if the tables were turned.
“Why would I do that?” she asked, twisting her fingers together. “I don’t even understand why you’d want me to stay with you all.”
Slade laid his hand over hers, gently separating her fingers and holding her right hand in his. She felt so delicate and small. “Because you belong with us. And we owe you big.”
It was the wrong thing to say. He didn’t need Rock’s growl or Spencer’s groan to tell him that. He saw it in the way that she flinched.
“Right. So you want me to stay out of guilt.” She drew her hand away from his.
Well, she tried to.
He’d spotted a bruise on her knuckle. Faint, but there. Had she gotten it trying to hit back?
That motherfucker.
Fury built inside him until he was shaking with it.
“Slade?” she whispered. “Are you okay?”
“I . . . I am just so fucking mad. At Billy, for doing this to you. But mostly at myself for putting this distance between us. And now you don’t trust me anymore. You always trusted me. And I threw that gift away. I don’t . . . I don’t want you to stay with us out of guilt. I want you to stay with us because I want a chance to make everything right again. I want you so much that everything hurts. And I know I’m not the only one. However, I won’t talk for them because that’s not the way things work. I broke us and I have to fix what I broke. Only I can’t do that if you’re halfway across the world where I can’t reach you. And there is no reason for you to give me this. I know you must be scared and mad and that you probably want revenge. I’m just praying there’s a part of you that wants me back in your life. That might be willing to give me a second chance even if I don’t deserve it.”