Page 10 of Corrupted By the Shadow King (Hope Runs Deep #3)

Nikki

I should not be listening to their conversation, but after Ricky got me all the supplies I need and I returned upstairs, the guard outside the door had disappeared.

I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I stand outside the cracked door and listen.

I want to know more about these men, to find out who Alex and Angel really are.

There is something about them that exudes danger, but there is something about Alex that calls to me.

Maybe it is the fact that he needs me right now, and I can’t turn away someone in need, but I don’t know.

When I sleep at night, I see his handsome face, and when he opened his eyes and met my gaze, I really thought I could get lost in those deep pools of brown.

“Doc?” I hear Alex say.

“Decided to take a holiday,” Angel responds, sounding a little irritated.

“ Mierda! ”

“Any other injuries? The men?” Men? Had more than Alex been involved in whatever got him shot?

Who is Alex? I don’t know his last name or anything about him.

He has to have money since he lives at the top of the newest high-rise in San Antonio, but that’s all I know.

Is he involved in something illegal? Does he plan to keep me?

And why does that thought give me a thrill instead of making me want to high-tail it out of here?

“Why the hell did she call you twin?” I almost laugh and give myself away.

I hear Angel laugh. “For some reason, she thinks you and I look identical and thought we were twins.”

“Identical?” Alex chokes. “We look nothing alike.”

“That’s what I said too, but she claims we do.” They really do. Angel’s features are as sharp and masculine as his brother's, and yet, Alex is a bit edgier. They do look a lot alike, though.

Before I can listen further, I hear the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs and pretend to be double-checking the supplies I collected.

“Missing something, pajarito ?” Ricky asks.

I whirl around to face him, a smile on my face, but the way my face flushes and my breathing becomes erratic probably gives me away. “Not at all. I just wanted to make sure I have everything. I thought I forgot the saline bag.

He lifts an eyebrow, and I am certain he doesn’t believe me one iota, but he nods and walks toward the door, pushing it open. “We’re back.” I expect him to tell on me and reveal my secrets, but he doesn’t. Instead, he walks over to the bed and says, “Good to see you awake, Alex.”

“Good to be awake. I thought for a minute la muerte had come to claim me,” Alex says, a smile on his face. That small lift of his lips has my heart racing.

“We knew that would not happen. Instead, an angel was sent to heal you. Pajarito has been taking very good care of you day and night.”

“That is what Angel has been telling me.” His gaze shifts to me, his eyes raking over me from head to toe and back again. “I hear she has been very attentive, like a good little nurse.”

That annoys me and snaps me out of whatever fog I’ve been drifting in since he ran into me on the street. “Fuck you.”

“What was that?” Alex asks, his grin growing.

“You heard me. Fuck you. I jumped into a stranger’s car because you were injured, and I was afraid you were going to die, and then they threatened to shoot me, but did I jump out?

No, because I thought you needed me. And you did!

Do not try to belittle me, be a dick, or fuck around.

Fuck you. Just because you have a dick doesn’t mean you have to act like one.

To me, you are a nobody who will disappear in the sea of faces.

It happens all the time with all my patients.

So, fuck you!” I know I’m ranting and probably word vomiting all over the place, but I don’t care.

I’m tired, stressed out, and have been scared for his life for three days. I’m done.

I really am done. I don’t know why I shouted or why I’m choosing this moment to have some sort of mental break, but I’ve reached my limit. Between worrying for him, worrying about going back to work, and everything that happened the last day I worked…I. AM. DONE.

Dropping everything in my arms, I turn around and walk out of the room, down the stairs, and toward the front door, where two burly men try to stop me. “Move out of my way,” I seethe.

Neither speak nor flinch. They just stand there like statues.

“ Muévete. Ella puede irse ,” I hear from the second floor.

Suddenly, the Neanderthals move, and I make my escape, never looking back.

I do feel a little bad since Alex is still hurt, but I have to leave.

I have to get out of here. He is fine. He is healing and out of the woods.

And if he really needs more medical attention than Angel or Ricky can give him, they can either take him to a hospital or call their doctor friend.

I do not feel bad for abandoning a patient.

I do not feel guilty for leaving.

I do feel both of those, but I can’t stay here. I have to get back to my life. All of this was a dream or a nightmare. However you choose to look at it. And it is time to wake up once again.