Page 177

To his credit, I hardly remember how we get to the hospital. It’s like one second we’re driving over the bridge, and the next, the black SUV is screeching to a stop in front of the doors.

Even getting to the car was a blur. Lex, carrying an unmoving Verity toward the headlights, blood dripping down her calves. Wicker’s pale face and panicked expression as he drove over Father’s prized roses.

I just remember dragging her into me the second we got inside, trying desperately not to freak out.

If we lose her…

If we lose him…

“Pace!”

I blink, looking up at my brother. The glare of the emergency room lights burns behind him, turning his long, auburn locks into a fiery halo.

“Let go of her, brother.” He leans over her body, prying my arm from around her chest. “It’s okay. They’re going to put her on the gurney and take her in.”

Another blink, and she’s gone, the three of us following blindly, breathless and trembling as she’s carted away by the hospital staff.

We only get as far as the waiting room before she disappears behind some bullshit, official-looking double doors. I barely have time to inhale before Wick spins around, hurling his words at me.

“How did you let this happen?! It’s your job to keep track of her!

“Me?” My jaw locks, and I spring forward, jabbing a finger into his chest. “You’re the one who showed her all those passageways! You know they’re not monitored.”

His face twists murderously. “Because keeping her locked up was killing her! She needed some freedom. Some air!” His hands slam into my chest. I rock back, avoiding his next hit, but preparing to make one of my own.

“Fuck you!”

“Hey!” Lex’s roar carries over our fight. “Knock it off!”

He appears between us, hands shoving at both of our chests. But even though the sudden emergence of emotion on his face is like a bucket of cold water poured over me, it’s not his intervention that keeps me and Wick from pummeling each other.

I feel a strong hand curl into the back of my shirt at the same time I watch Wicker lurch abruptly backward.

“You heard him,” a deep, rumbling voice says in my ear. “Knock it the fuck off.”

Simon Perilini’s face is an inch from mine, his hand perilously close to my neck. I took Maddox in the ring, but only with my knife. Based on pure physicality alone, Perilini could snap my spine in half.

“Fine,” I say, shrugging him off, but I direct my glare at Wicker, who I now realize is being held back by a stone-faced Nick Bruin. “But keep him away from me.”

I turn around and—

Crack!

A fist slams into my mouth.

“You had one fucking job!” Ballsack stands a foot away, vibrating with rage. “I told you to keep her safe!You—specifically.”

I spit blood on the floor, wanting nothing more than to release all this helpless, frenetic anger building in my chest. But no one here deserves it less than Ballsack. “Look,” I begin, trying so hard to keep my fury in check that there might as well be electricity arcing from my skin, “she freaked out and ran. This wasn’t us.”

“Wasn’t it?” he barks, fist balled again. “She called the Duchess and said she was running away fromyou.”

“What did you do to her?” Remy Maddox says, suddenly marching up into the mix. Behind him, I see the Lucia girl, who looks angrier than any of them. What the fuck did Verity say to her?

“Hold the fuck up,” Lex says, voice level and calm. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding here because I know everyone wants Verity to be safe.”

“She was scared,” Lavinia Lucia says, eyes burning into me. “She said she was out in the garden and wanted me to meet her.”

“Meet you where?” Nick asks.