Page 43 of His Secret Betrayal (Cedarwood Valley Duology #2)

It’s not until we’re all marching down the hallway, Jax’s eyebrows bunching together as his gaze continuously darts in my direction, that I remember who I’m supposed to be.

I get a sinking sensation in my stomach because Jax and Maddison don’t know Luke has been living with me, much less sleeping in my bed.

They don’t know that I would gladly trade places with him right now, or that I would die for him.

That my life would be over if anything were to happen to him.

They think I’m just his best friend’s dad, his boss.

Shit, they probably think me being here is weird.

Jax and Maddison walk into the room ahead of us, and I hesitate outside.

When I make a distressed sort of grunt, Caleb shoots me a concerned expression.

I shake my head, wiping sweaty palms on my trousers, and taking a fortifying breath.

It feels wrong, wrong, wrong to pretend Luke isn’t everything to me.

For a moment, panic rises in my throat as my heartbeat becomes erratic.

How do I walk into this room where his broken body is lying in that hospital bed and hang back like he’s just an acquaintance?

He’s the love of my life and he belongs in my arms.

If Luke isn’t ready to come out to his brother yet, I can’t pull him into my embrace and soothe him. Can’t baby him the way he deserves right now, no matter how badly I want—need—to. I can’t make that decision for him.

Even though I want to shout to the world that he’s mine, mine, mine.

“Alek,” Luke’s voice croaks. It’s nothing more than a broken, needy whisper, but I hear it all the same.

That’s all it takes for me to barge through the open doorway, breathing wild as I rush to his side.

Jax grunts as I shoulder my way past him, his head rearing back as I essentially push him out of the way.

I barely manage to keep from crying out, a wave of grief assaulting me as I get my first look at Luke since they pushed him through the ambulance bay and barred me from following.

He looks fragile.

His right eye is now swollen shut, the skin around it mottled in a nasty blue and black coloring.

His lip is swollen as well, crusty flakes of dried blood still around the edges of the cut.

There’s some kind of medical tape wrapped around his fingers, no longer dislocated, and a sling on one arm.

The light blue-green of the hospital gown washes out the coloring of his pale skin.

“Alek,” he repeats, a whoosh of breath escaping him, almost as if he had been holding it the entire time we had been separated. When his eye begins to shimmer, the fingers of his uninjured hand shaking as they reach toward me, I don’t hesitate.

I grab his hand.

“Kiss me,” he demands.

Relief floods me then, oxygen filling my lungs as I exhale.

But then I tense, remembering the nurse mentioned he was on a lot of pain meds.

When my eyes dart to Jax and Maddison, who are frozen in place, their gazes fixated on our joined hands, Luke’s own gaze follows.

There’s a look of peaceful acceptance on his beautiful face as he gives me a sleepy, reassuring smile.

“Fuck it,” he whispers. “I want you to get down here and kiss me, big guy.”

With a half-strangled sob, I bend down and brush a gentle kiss along the corner of his lips.

Luke makes a needy whine, chasing my mouth when I try to pull away.

Gently, so gently, I thread my hand underneath his neck and guide his head where I want it.

The kiss is incredibly awkward and not actually a real kiss as I try to avoid the split lip.

He’s had enough pain tonight, and I refuse to cause him even an ounce more of it, so my lips brush over the opposite corner, our breaths mingling as I place gentle kisses on the unmarred skin.

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” I whisper against his mouth, ignoring the protest in my back as I remain bent over his prone body.

Luke gives me a teasing smile, his thumb brushing the stray tear gliding down my cheek. “Don’t ever get beat up again?”

“Yeah, that.”

His eyes soften. “I’ll mark it off my bucket list.”

Jax clears his throat, and I reluctantly pull back.

When Luke’s attention is finally pulled back toward his brother and future sister-in-law, his entire body tenses.

He gives them a weary, nervous-yet-hopeful sort of look, but his fingers remain interlaced with mine.

Maddison blinks at him, her lips parted in an O before it quickly transforms into a beaming, wide smile.

Jax gives me a hard, assessing stare that I suspect would make most people squirm.

I stare right back.

“Does he treat you well?” Jax asks his brother.

Luke releases a long, breathy exhale. “Yes.”

Jax pierces me with a steely glare. “As long as that doesn’t change, we won’t have a problem.”

I dip my chin. “Understood.”

Grumpy bastard. We’ll get along just fine.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys sooner,” Luke says quietly, his voice timid, “but I’m…bisexual.”

Jax’s expression softens as it swings from me back to his baby brother and, in a few short strides, he’s at his other side. “Hey, buddy, this changes nothing. You know that, right? It doesn’t matter to me who you love.”

Luke nods, but I don’t miss the rapid flutter of his eyelashes or the light sheen of his eyes. The moment passes quickly, his lips quirking into a taunting little smirk. “As long as it’s not Maddie, right?” He laughs at his own joke, only stopping to clutch his ribs and hiss.

Maddison giggles, her eyes lighting up with mirth as she clamps a hand over her mouth. Jax and I shoot Luke a dark, disapproving glare, but the little shit just grins at us.

“That’s not even funny,” Jax mutters. Despite his flat tone, the corners of his lips tick up ever so slightly.

Then his eyes sweep over Luke’s body, all amusement fading as he seems to catalog the various injuries.

His jaw clenches, something cold and determined flitting through his gaze before he quietly asks, “Who did this to you?”

Luke’s smile vanishes, his Adam’s apple dipping as he gulps. “We need to talk.”