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KNIGHT

The last time I felt this fucking horrible was when I had a knife lodged in my chest. I tried to sit up but failed miserably. The windowless room I was in made me feel trapped and irritable as hell, but there was nothing I could do about that in my current state. I had no idea where I was or why I was here, but I wasn’t dead, which was about the only fucking positive thing I could see.

A groan slid past my lips as I shifted again, trying to sit up. The door jerked open and a man strode through, walking right over to the computer. “How are you feeling this morning, Mr. Knight?”

“Who are you?” I grunted, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Dr. Larson,” he answered without turning to face me. His fingers flew over the keys as he typed something into the computer. “What’s your pain level?”

I gritted my teeth at his demeanor. The only person I wanted by my side was Kate. She’d been there, hadn’t she? It wasn’t a dream. It couldn’t be.

“Fucking irritated,” I ground out.

He smirked at that, continuing typing before turning to me. “Alright, let’s take a look at things.”

He reached for me, but I grasped his hand, my strength much weaker than it should be. But I still stopped him from making a move toward me.

“Where the fuck is my wife?” I snapped. The energy I was exerting was taking its toll, but I refused to back down. It just wasn’t in me.

“Your wife is perfectly fine. She won’t be here for a while.”

He started to extract his hand, but I stopped him. “What the fuck does that mean?”

He quirked an eyebrow at me. Yeah, I was pissed at the situation, too. “It means that she went to considerable lengths to not only keep you alive, but make sure that no one else knew you were. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to check on your wounds so that she doesn’t let that psycho outside tear me to pieces with his knives.”

My hold immediately loosened as I laid back in bed. “Fuck, don’t let him in here,” I groaned.

“I’m afraid I have no control over him, especially not while he’s playing musicals,” he muttered.

I flinched as he peeled back the wound dressing and examined what I could only assume was a stitched-up hole in my chest.

“It’s healing nicely. Considering the journey you made, I wasn’t sure what we’d be dealing with this morning.”

“Get me the fuck out of here,” I growled.

A slight chuckle left his lips as he replaced the dressing. “I would love to give you whatever you want, but as I said, there’s a psycho on the other side of the door. And I happen to like my head. Besides, if I were to move you right now, you’d be in a lot of pain. Your wife is currently getting all the medical supplies needed, and until she comes back with another dose of medication, you’re going to start feeling every slice in your skin.”

I grunted and rested back in the bed, satisfied that she was at least coming back. “How did she convince you to come here?”

“Money,” he answered, snapping off his gloves. “Lots and lots of money.”

“Where are we?”

“A safe house. She assured me that we’d be safe here. I’ll be back to check on you in a little bit. In the meantime, your friend has a movie for you to watch.” He shook his head with laughter. “Sounds thrilling.”

As he turned to leave, I almost shouted at him to make Fox stay out there, but the bastard walked through the door before I could say anything.

“It’s The Kamau! Man, that was some amazing shit you pulled back there. I didn’t actually see what happened, but it’s you, so that means you must have been in the firefight of your life. Am I right?” He strode over to the table and snatched the remote. “So, in honor of your amazing battle, I decided we should catch something that will really resonate with the situation at hand.”

“Fox—”

“Not that I don’t love The Phantom, but sometimes you need something else.”

“Fox—”

“And let me tell you, the little lady was not that thrilled that she had to save your life yet again. I did what I could to smooth things over, but the amount of blood coating her hands is not something she’ll easily forget.”

“Do not put on a fucking movie,” I ground out.

He didn’t even bother glancing over his shoulder at me. He just continued to rattle on as if there was nothing else to think about. “I always wished we could watch this movie together. I mean, really, it’s a no-brainer. But now that we’re brothers?—”

“We’re not brothers,” I snapped, grimacing when my chest ached.

He tossed his head back and laughed. “I love it when you do that. I know you. You love me, even when it’s hard to admit.”

“I don’t love you.”

He glanced back at me and nodded. “I get it. It’s hard to admit sometimes. But hey, you’re my brother. That’s what we do for each other. Like when I walked in and you were laying on the floor bleeding. I could have gone over to you and helped out, but that’s not me.”

I listened intently as he recapped what happened. I’d been out of it and didn’t remember much.

“That asshole hid, but I drew him out and then pinned him to the wall.” He inhaled deeply, his eyes closing as he seemed to recall the events. “That first slice of scalp is something I’ll never forget the feel of. Ever taken a scalp before?”

He cocked an eyebrow at me, but I just laid there staring at him. The insanity in his eyes was receding, but it still lingered. He was just barely hanging on. I needed to call Anna.

Or watch his fucking movie so he didn’t fly off the handle and murder the doctor.

“No.”

“Shame,” he shrugged. “There’s nothing quite like watching a man squirm as you peel the flesh back from his head. But it wasn’t enough. It never is,” he said, almost to himself. “It wasn’t until I was holding his heart in my hands with his guts spilling all over the floor that I knew I’d gotten through to the bastard. Of course, he was dead by then. It wasn’t like he could feel any remorse.”

He turned on the movie and grinned, walking over to the chair next to my bed. “But there’s nothing like watching Annie to make yourself feel better after a kill.”

“Fox,” I said slowly, drawing his attention to me. “Where is Kate?”

“Oh, no worries, man. She’s all good. I would never let anything happen to your lady love.”

That wasn’t good enough. After being away from her for weeks and nearly dying, I needed my hands on her. “Bring her to me.”

The low rumble of my voice had him slowly turning to face me. He must have seen the desperation in my eyes because he nodded and got to his feet. “She’ll be back by tonight.”

He turned for the door, but I called out to him. “Fox.”

His eyes met mine again and determination burned bright in them.

“Thank you for taking care of her.”

A smile twitched his lips. “That’s what brothers do for each other.”

* * *

“Garrick, stay with me.”

I felt her fingers grip mine and rolled my eyes toward her. I wanted so badly to kiss her lips again, to feel her soft breath on my skin, but everything was giving out.

“Kate…”

Those beautiful eyes filled with tears as she stared at me, pleading for me to stay. I was fighting like hell. My chest ached and the desire to just let go grew stronger, but for her, I would walk through hell.

“Love…you.”

“Don’t do that,” she cried. “Don’t tell me goodbye!”

There was some kind of siren wailing, pissing me off. My eyes slipped closed and the darkness took over.

I gasped, my hand flying out in search of hers.

“I’m here,” she answered, sitting on the edge of the bed. Tear-filled eyes met mine as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine. “You’re okay.”

“Not worried about me,” I grumbled, holding her hand tighter. “You were gone.”

She chuckled, wiping a stray tear from her eyes. “Funny that you’re criticizing me for being gone when you’re the one who got yourself shot. Care to explain that one?”

“I’d like the answer to that as well,” Fox rumbled from the corner of the room.

I hadn’t noticed him there until I heard his voice. Fuck, I must have been really out of it to not see another person in the room.

He shoved out of his chair and walked over to the bed, his cool demeanor gone as he cocked his head at me. “So, you want to tell us how the hell you ended up shot?”

“Cash,” I muttered, sighing as I rested back.

“What the fuck do you mean?” Fox snapped.

“Exactly as it sounds.”

The whole room grew quiet around me and I peeled my eyes open, watching the confusion flicker across Kate’s face.

“Why would your brother shoot you?”

It didn’t matter the reason. He had done it and it was over with. It was time to move on. “When do I get out of here?”

When Kate didn’t immediately answer, I peeled my eyes open.

“That’s all you have to say?” she snapped. “Your own brother shot you and you ask when you’re getting out?”

“Kate—”

“You could have died!” she shouted, pushing off the bed. “You did die. Twice! I had to wait in a fucking waiting room while they tried to stitch you back together, and you can’t even tell me what the hell happened?”

“There was no other choice,” I bit out, refusing to get into this right now.

“There’s always a choice.”

“That doesn’t sound like Cash,” Fox mused. “Then again, nothing sounds like him since he shot his brother.” A smile flickered across his face. “What do you know? He’s shot two of his brothers. Interesting.”

“Interesting?” Kate snapped. “It’s not interesting. He could have killed Garrick!”

“Hudson,” Fox corrected. “The walls have ears.”

“I don’t care! This has to stop! I can’t take it anymore,” Kate cried. “How many times am I going to lose you? You swore this wouldn’t happen again!”

“And then you sent me off to help my brother,” I gritted out. “You wanted this.”

“I wanted you to be safe,” she argued.

“There’s no safety when you’re dealing with men like this, Kate. You fucking knew this when you met me. I warned you?—”

She charged at me, her eyes wild and crazy. “You also promised me this would end. I understood that you wanted to help your brother. Yes, I wanted you to do whatever you could, but why is it that you’re always the one who gets ruined by it?”

“I’m not ruined,” I bit out. “I’m still fucking alive.”

“Not if you want us and everyone around us to live,” she cracked. “The price to pay for everyone’s safety is that you remain dead. Again.”

“Does Hunter know?” The thought of keeping the truth from him sent a spear through my already wounded chest.

“Yes, he knows. We’ve already lived through your death once. I wasn’t about to do that again,” she snapped, turning away from me. “For now, he’s back at Reed Security planning your funeral. I have to leave tonight to keep up appearances. The only reason I’m agreeing to this is because Fox said he would stay with you and the doctor.”

“Not happening.”

“Oh, it’s totally happening, brohima! Don’t worry, I’ve got us covered for your entire stay. More musicals than you could ever wish for, and a delectable smoothie regimen that will get you on your feet in no time!”

My eyes slid from my psychotic friend at the foot of the bed to Kate. “I’m not staying?—”

“You have to. It’s already been decided.” She got to her feet and walked toward the door. “Fox has my permission to do whatever’s necessary to keep you here.”

“Kate, don’t fucking walk away from me,” I growled.

She turned back, blinking away her tears. “I’m not walking away. I’m protecting what’s left of my heart.”