Page 7

The two weeks Austen had to wait to do Rain’s surgery were hell.

He finally got to see Rain’s performance from beginning to end.

Austen spent the entire time wincing. While Rain never showed an ounce of weakness or missed a step, sometimes Austen saw the pain in his eyes when he thought Austen wasn’t watching.

He was so fucking grateful to have Rain on the table about to go under.

His medical staff and surgical crew readied the room while Austen sat near Rain’s head. He waited for the anesthesiologist to run through everything with Rain before stealing his attention.

“Thank you.”

Confusion crossed Rain’s features. “For what?”

“Trusting me to take care of you.”

Rain’s features cleared. “Oh. That’s nothing. I trust you above all others. There’s no miracle you can’t perform.”

Austen realized he was smiling. Everything about Rain always fluffed his ego. “Thanks to Beau finding me some help, I’ve cleared my schedule for the next few weeks. Guess who’s getting pampered?”

Rain chuckled as the anesthesiologist put an oxygen mask on him. Austen gave the guy a nod. He started the IV.

“I’ll be the first thing you see when you wake up.”

Rain nodded. His eyes were already drooping.

Austen kept an eye on his vitals. “Okay, guys. Let’s get started.”

Even though Austen went through the motions, he was hyper aware it was Rain.

He went slowly, taking his time and ensuring everything was completely perfect before finishing up.

Rain would stay off this foot until it healed if it was the last thing Austen did.

He gave a few instructions to the team and then headed out to remove his PPE for sterilization.

As he stepped from the room, muscular arms encircled him, lifting him from the floor.

A sea of men wearing all black and various-colored LED masks surrounded him. Rage flared through Austen.

“I have a patient on the table. What in the fuck is wrong with you people?”

He went ignored.

The largest of the bunch motioned toward the room where Rain would wake soon. “Ridge. Shore. Clear the room. You know what to do. Shadow. Take care of your boy.”

Three men broke off and headed inside the surgical suite.

Gasps and screams filled the air, making Austen's already snapped temper skyrocket. “If you let Rain die, I swear to God you won’t live to regret it.” He struggled against the hold of whoever held him.

It was like being trapped in a steel vise.

“I have the connections to make you wish you were dead.”

“Let’s find a place to talk. You took my brother. I can’t let that stand.”

While he had thought this was likely the family Rain spoke of, realizing he was correct didn’t make him feel better. They still endangered Rain with their bullshit. Not to mention terrorizing his staff.

“This isn’t a kidnapping. It’s foot surgery, dumbass.”

Nobody moved, but the hold on him didn’t lessen. An alarm sounded.

A guy with black hair and crystal blue eyes stuck his head out the door. “Um. Something’s wrong.”

The shot of panic that hit Austen gave him superhuman strength.

With a solid elbow and head butt, he was free and back with Rain.

He eyed the machines. Rain didn’t have a heartbeat.

“Get my fucking staff.” Austen leaped onto the table and started CPR.

Rain would not die on his watch, especially not because of his fucked-up family leaving him unsupervised within minutes of surgery.

These motherfuckers. He would see them dead.

Austen had never felt so much fury in his life.

He had nowhere to go with it. His skills and the best team money could buy saved him.

He worked, and they worked until they had Rain stable again.

“Pump him full of clot buster. When he wakes up, we’ll start him on an anticoagulant.

” Austen pressed his forehead against Rain’s and took a shaky breath.

His entire body shook with fear and unchecked rage.

No one had fought to be with him the way Rain had.

No one meant as much to him. The more he thought about losing Rain, the more the fury built.

He needed to clean up and be ready for when Rain woke. Austen couldn’t let the anger win. He had an amazing man counting on him. Austen turned. A group of mask-less, guilty-looking men stood behind him. Everything inside Austen exploded.

“What in the fuck were you thinking?” He tore off his gown. “He could’ve died.” Austen screamed the words at the top of his lungs while motioning behind him. “Is that what you want? Is that what you were trying to do?”

The obvious leader of the bunch—like a dumbass—spoke up. “He disappeared without letting us know where he was.”

“That’s because he’s a grown fucking man!

” Austen couldn’t stop shouting. “Let me tell you.” He took a step forward, ready to fight them all.

“The first goddamn thing you’ll do is apologize to all these people you terrorized.

I suggest you fucking mean it, or I’ll make you disappear.

You might think I’m weak, but I promise you I’m not. No one will ever find your bodies.”

“Damn. I like him.”

Austen ignored the smiling red-haired man who he had seen once at Rain’s place. “Then, when Rain wakes up, not only will you confess what you’ve done, you’ll beg his forgiveness. You better hope he gives it because you’ll never have mine after almost stealing the other half of my heart.”

“Austen.” The weak-sounding voice had Austen spinning toward the table. Rain was awake. He looked groggy and confused. “Why are you yelling?” He swallowed. “My throat hurts.”

Austen motioned for a nurse to get some water. He cradled Rain’s head. “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got some water coming.”

“My chest hurts.”

Fuck. He wasn’t ready to explain that. Plus, he fully expected the dumbasses to do that.

He looked toward a different nurse.

She immediately pushed a needle of pain meds through the IV.

“That’ll stop in a second.” He kissed Rain’s forehead.

Tears filled his eyes. His anger showed its true face: terror.

When he pulled away, Rain was out again.

Austen straightened. He cleared his throat.

“Thank you for the amazing job today. I appreciate you more than you know. Please keep me informed of any changes. I’ll be back in a few minutes.

” Austen headed toward a different door, choosing to go a way that wouldn’t force him to face the objects of his current hatred.

“Let’s talk, Austen.”

Austen held a finger up and kept walking. He couldn’t do this right now. Austen had never been more frightened of himself. One wrong word and he might make good on his threats. Rain would never forgive that.

Rain slowly came awake. A set of crystal blue eyes stared down at him, startling the hell out of him. His heart rate jumped through the roof. A machine blared.

“Oh, good. You’re awake.”

“What’s happened?” Austen’s panicked voice broke through his confusion. He shoved Shadow aside to get to Rain. His gaze swept every machine, studying each one before focusing on Rain. He softened. “Hey, baby. How are you feeling?”

His gaze swept Austen’s bedroom. Machines were parked next to one side of the bed, monitoring Rain’s vitals. His brothers crammed the other side of the room. “Confused.” He dragged the word out, unsure of why there was a crowd. Alarms clanged in his head when his entire family avoided his gaze.

Austen stroked his arm. “It’s okay. A blood clot broke loose after surgery, stopping your heart. I had to do CPR, but you’re good. As for the rest, I’ll let your dumbass brothers explain.”

Rain blinked at not only the hatred in Austen’s voice, but the way his brothers allowed it. “Oh no.” He didn’t know what happened, but he knew it was bad. His family never looked guilty, and Austen never looked enraged. He sat up.

“You should rest.”

Rain shook his head. “I’m fine.” He really was. While he was sore, he felt more rested than he had in ages. Austen rushed around, fluffing pillows behind his back and using more to elevate his foot.

“I’m your shadow.”

Rain took Shadow’s hand. “I know that, sweetie.” Shadow was his person. It had always been them. They had to be perfectly in sync. That took hours of work and unwavering trust. They had to know each other’s minds like their own.

“You didn’t give us an exact date for your surgery.”

Edge’s claim did nothing to clear his confusion. “Yes, I did. I told you it was immediately after the run ended.”

“Some of us tried to say that,” Shadow said, sounding condescending in a way they only spoke to each other.

After all the fussing over him, even ensuring a cup of ice water and a bottle of pills sat nearby, Austen climbed into bed with him on his other side and cuddled close.

Rain flashed him a smile. “I thought you said you’d be the first face I saw when I woke up.”

Austen didn’t smile. “Oh, they’re not through.”

Rain’s gaze slid back toward the group of men who had each found chairs like they were part of an audience, and the show was watching Rain sleep. He knew them. They weren’t their usual cocky selves. “What did you do?”

Edge cleared his throat. He crossed his legs at the ankles and uncrossed them again. “Like I said, we didn’t have an exact date and you just kind of dropped off the map.”

They were all in black—like dressed for a job. Suspicion and horror built. “And?”

“So we came to get you,” Field finished for Edge.

Rain stared at the usually laughing red-haired jokester. “You didn’t.” He needed someone to say that hadn’t stormed Austen’s home.

“We tried to call. We even tried the work line. You’ve never ignored us.”

At Edge’s claim, Rain rubbed his forehead. “Why do I have a feeling this gets worse?”

“Because it does,” Shadow said, sounding bitter. He knew Shadow would never willingly do something this stupid without protest, but Edge was the boss.

“Someone needs to spit it out. I’m in too much pain to pull fucking teeth today.”

“Do you need some meds?” Austen was back to looking like the worried mother hen.

Rain kissed him. “I’m tougher than I look.”

“Not suffering doesn’t lessen your toughness. I know you’re strong.”

“We cleared the surgical room, and you were left without medical staff directly after surgery. That’s when the blood clot broke loose and almost killed you.

If we hadn’t shown up here, you would’ve been monitored and kept safe.

” Shadow said the words fast, as if he couldn’t take everyone else’s silence and pussy-footing.

After all, he was Rain’s shadow. They were too much alike to endure nonsense.

Horror washed over Rain. His gaze moved from guilty face to guilty face. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

Field piped up. “For what it’s worth, your man threatened to kill us and make sure no one ever found our bodies.”

“As he should,” Tracker added. “It’s just as Edge said.

We couldn’t reach you and that’s never happened.

I tracked your phone here, and we worried you were being held against your will.

We don’t know your man. He could be anyone.

That surgical room could’ve been prepared as an attempt to extract information.

It’s a home suite, after all. We didn’t expect you to have surgery in some dude’s house. ”

“He’s not some dude,” Rain said, hearing the exasperation in his voice.

“Austen is the top surgical physician in the world. He treats only the most influential clients. They don’t go to doctors' offices or hospitals. He goes to them or sees them here. Fucking Beau Bosi can’t walk into County General with a bullet wound. ”

Nine heads bobbed in agreement, but Tracker continued to be their mouthpiece. “We know that now, but you should’ve said something sooner. You keep secrets.” He motioned toward Austen. “If he’s so special, why would you hide him?”

“Because he’s special.” Rain didn’t look Austen’s way as he made the confession. “I don’t know how to force all this on him.” He swept his arm wide their way. “Look at all of you. You don’t know how to act.” He focused on Shadow. “That doesn’t include you, babe.”

“I know.” Shadow sounded as confident as he should. He would never condone this.

Edge shot Shadow a look as if he was a traitor.

Rain’s temper made an appearance. “Don’t look at him like that. You’re the one who called for this bullshit plan. You almost killed me.”

Edge’s expression immediately shifted to guilty again. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s my job to keep you all safe. If any of you go missing, it’s my job to rescue you. What if someone had really taken you? Wouldn’t you want us to come for you?”

Rain pinched the spot between his eyes. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand their side, but he was tired.

So goddamn exhausted, and it had nothing to do with surgery or almost dying.

For once, he wanted something normal. That was what Austen gave him.

A normal life with pampering and love. No one else truly cared if his foot fell off dancing.

They would blame him for not quitting ballet and toss his rotten foot in the trash.

Austen sat with his back against the headboard and tugged Rain into his arms. He kissed the top of Rain’s head. “It’s okay, baby. I’d never let anything happen to you. No matter how many idiots stood in my way.”

A laugh burst from Rain at the bitterness in Austen’s voice. It would be a long time before he forgave this one, and Rain couldn’t blame him.

“I gave everyone on staff a hundred thousand apiece, if that helps,” Edge said, cutting through Rain’s annoyance.

A guy in scrubs came into the room. “Knock. Knock. Sorry. I need to take out your IV.”

Rain nodded and held out his arm. He stared at the guy while he worked. “Were you here?”

A sweet smile flashed his way. “Yeah.”

Rain’s eyes fell closed. “I’m so sorry.”

The guy winked. “Don’t be. I’m happy to work with any doctor who brings down the roof for us the way Dr. Flowers did. The staff here have never felt safer or more appreciated.”

Rain looked Austen’s way.

He seemed almost embarrassed. “You flatlined. I might’ve shown out a little.”

A few nervous chuckles rumbled around the room.

“It was awesome,” Field said, returning to his ridiculous self. “I hope to have a fierce zaddy one day too.”

Rain covered his eyes. They were really proving why he hadn’t introduced them.

Austen chuckled.

The sound made Rain smile. He didn’t know where this shit show was headed with his family, but he was glad he had Austen. Just like Austen’s staff, he had never felt more protected. He hoped like hell he could keep him.