Page 16 of Operation Annulment (Silent Phoenix MC)

fifteen

Kate

O h god, I did it again…

I groan into the pillow, unable to determine whether the constant buzzing pulling me out of a dead sleep is coming from my phone or my aching head. The harsh taste of booze lingers on my tongue, leaving me fighting a sudden wave of nausea.

Mistake. Such a mistake.

I swore that last time was the last time and now look at me. Just look at me—barely clinging to consciousness in a body that’s primarily composed of booze.

The buzzing continues, and I peel my arm off the mattress with a soft whimper before carefully reaching for my phone.

“Never drinking again,” I croak as I blindly swipe at the screen. “H-hello?”

“Kate?” My mother’s voice sounds strange, and for a moment, I prepare myself for a lecture on the dangers of leaving town without telling anyone. Just as quickly, the more rational part of my mind sluggishly chimes in to remind me that I’m a grown woman who can do what she wants. Sort of.

“Listen, your sister’s up at the hospital with Zane. He was shot earlier tonight, but he’s going to be okay. He’s out of surgery and resting in a room now, but Dakota wanted me to let you know.”

I suck in a sharp breath and struggle to sit up before the pain in my head kicks in, forcing me down again. “Oh my god. I can meet you there. Just let me throw some clothes on?—”

And get rid of the hangover from hell.

“Katydid, take your time. Do you need me to book you a return flight?”

“A return flight?” I echo, forcing my legs over the side of the bed. “What do you mean?”

“From Vegas,” she says before quickly correcting herself. “Or wherever you are.”

I frown, knowing it isn’t a random guess. “How do you know?—”

“That doesn’t matter. Just get here, and we’ll talk, okay? I love you, baby.”

She ends the call before I can question her further, and I exhale a heavy sigh. Because I should have known I couldn’t skip town without someone noticing. Clearly, she has people watching my every move.

As I stand, my shin collides with the corner of the nightstand, and I bite back a curse before stumbling over to the window. The strip is a kaleidoscope of colors against the still-dark sky.

So much for a weekend of irresponsibility and room service. My twelve-hour reprieve from reality—and men in general—is over before it’s even begun.

I sigh heavily and shove my tangled hair off my face, catching several long strands on my ring.

My ring…

Time seems to slow down as I lower my wide eyes to the obscenely large diamond on my left hand, convinced I’m seeing things. But this is no hallucination. The gem winks in the light coming from outside, sending sparkles across the glass .

How? A sudden heaviness fills my chest as I try and fail to piece together last night’s events.

“Fuck, babe,” a deep voice groans from beneath the mound of blankets on the bed. “Never drinking again.”

I fall to my knees on the plush hotel carpet with a strained gasp.

What in the actual hell did I do last night?

“Nate?” I croak, folding my arm across my stomach. “Is that you?”

“Who the fuck else would be in your bed?” he growls, kicking off the comforter.

I peer down at the offending object on my finger, feeling lightheaded.

“We—we might have a problem.”

It means nothing.

Maybe I saw the ring and decided to use my newfound funds to treat myself.

“Yeah, we do, Katy girl,” he says with a low chuckle. “Why don’t you come back to bed so we can solve it?”

“I’m not—” I swallow past the lump in my throat. “I’m not talking about sex.”

“Babe, we’re in a hotel in Vegas for the weekend. Let’s get romantic.”

I inspect my left hand again on the off-chance the ring happened to disappear in the last ten seconds. “Oh, we got romantic, alright.”

“What? What are you doing over there?” Nate rolls over and slaps at the nightstand until he finds the light switch, flooding the room with light.

I wince at the sudden brightness, blinking through watery eyes until he comes into focus.

The mattress groans as he swings his leg over the side of the bed and cracks his neck from side to side. After raking a hand through his medium-length dark hair, he stands with a yawn and stretches his arms overhead, either unaware or unbothered that he’s completely nude.

And completely aroused .

The sight of his cock bobbing against his abdomen as he pads over to me provides a momentary distraction from the problem at hand.

On hand.

He rubs the sleep from his eyes and scans my body, silently assessing the situation before asking, “Are you sick?”

Worse, I think…

As much as I want to reassure him that, physically speaking, I’m in tip-top shape, I can’t seem to find the words. Instead, I can do little more than stare in transfixed horror at the black titanium band on his left hand before an uncontrollable shudder sweeps through my body.

“No, we didn’t,” I whisper, shaking my head in a slow back-and-forth sweep of denial.

Nate reaches for me before visibly paling when he sees the ring on his finger. His brown eyes immediately move to my hand, and he swallows hard. “We’re?—”

“Don’t say it,” I plead before he can finish, hugging my knees to my chest. Saying the word will make it true, and it’s not. “We didn’t. It’s just jewelry. It doesn’t mean anything.”

But the evidence says otherwise.