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I clench my hands into fists and take a step back.
It’s never the right time because I’m not interested in her pussy.
Sure, keep telling yourself that, man. You wanted it back then, and you still want it now despite what happened.
Shit.
I can’t deal with this right now.
After a few tugs and pulls, I free the blanket from under her body and drape it over her legs. With her underwear successfully hidden, I take a step toward the head of the bed and carefully take her hand to examine her palm. The bleeding seems to have slowed down already, and since I can’t see any glass shards in the wound, I gently wrap the washcloth around it.
She smacks her lips. The motion is slow, like the movement takes up all the energy in her body.
“Do you want something to drink?”
She gives me a little nod. “Please.”
“One sec.” I walk to the fridge I keep in the corner to grab a bottle of water.
Back by her side, I unscrew it and place a hand by her nape to help her up enough to drink.
“Small sips.” I watch her like a hawk, satisfied she listens. “Good girl.”
At the words, her eyes flicker to mine lazily before dropping to the bed.
She makes a humming sound to indicate she’s done, and I put the bottle on the bedside table. She looks exhausted, like whatever just happened in the music room zapped all the energy right out of her. “Rest. The doctor will be here soon.”
To my surprise, she listens again and closes her eyes. Her breaths even out, nothing like the erratic breaths when I first found her.
I don’t know how long I just stand here, staring at this woman inmybed, who is as much of a stranger as she’s familiar. However, I can’t shake the feeling the needle hasunwittingly swung to familiarity after tonight. Our lives are so tangled, I was conceited to think I could bind her to me without our past interfering.
In this relaxed state, she seems so much like her younger self.
What a fool I am, indeed.
After a while, a knock sounds on the door, and I quickly cross the room, slipping outside quietly to not disturb Evangeline.
My best friend peeks past me through the gap in the doorway I left open. “Doc should be here soon. Is she okay? I saw her on the camera feed, man. One second she was fine, and the next she just lost it.”
I blow out a breath and shrug. “She didn’t really say anything.”
“Nothing?”
“No.”
We stare at each other for a long beat until Holden shakes his head.
“I don’t like this. There’s so much not adding up, and things just . . . I don’t know.” He rubs a hand over his beard. “They just don’t feel right.”
I sigh and push a hand through my hair for the hundredth time tonight. “I hear ya.”
“You know, I’m all about revenge and people getting what they deserve, but is there any chance it wasn’t her on the recording?”
My breath stalls for a moment before I shake my head. “No, it’s her one-hundred-percent. She didn’t deny it either.”
Holden crosses his massive arms in front of his chest, his biceps bulging. “Then something else is going on that wearen’t aware of. She’s hiding something. I can feel it in my gut. I’ve met many despicable people and have seen them do all sorts of nasty things to others. But they all have that dark spark in their eyes because they enjoy it to their very core. It makes them happy, smug even.”
His gaze flickers through the open door to a sleeping Evangeline. “She’s as far away from being happy as she could be. And I’m not just saying that about the whole engagement thing. She’s sad, Phoenix. Like deeply to the bone. My guess is she has been for years.”