Page 130 of Power

“I’d like to see him,” I demanded.

Blake glanced at Tessa, at the boys, then back at me. “I’m afraid I can’t allow that.”

“Why?”

“For one, it’s family only. The only reason you’re going to be able to see Jace later is because I cleared it with his brothers. Two, respectfully, you look like you’re going to hunt down another high heel and shove it into his eye socket.”

“I’ll pay one hundred bucks to see that,” Axel said.

“He sliced his neck open. That’s not a fistfight gone wrong,” I said. “That’s intentional homicide.”

“I’m sure the police are taking that into consideration with his charges.”

“He doesn’t deserve to be alive.”

“See?” Axel motioned to me with his hand, arching an eyebrow to Blake.

I sensed some kind of a disagreement between these three men, but I didn’t care what it was about.

“I know you’re angry,” Blake said.

“Angry?” I stepped closer to Blake, feeling the eyes of Axel and Ryker on me. “That man is a traitor. He pretended to be Jace’s friend, and then he tried to kill him. Why should he have the resources of the doctors and nurses in this hospital trying to savehis life when the victim of his attempted murder is fighting for his?”

“I like this girl,” Axel said. “I’m going to advise Jace to keep her around.”

“They had a violent fight,” I said. “Please tell me Marcus’s injuries are just as severe. Better yet, tell me Marcus will leave here in a body bag.”

“Okay, Ilovethis girl,” Axel said. “When Jace wakes up, let’s invite her over for poker night.”

“Come on,” Tessa said, placing a hand on my back. “Let’s get you cleaned up. I brought you a change of clothes.”

“I want to stay here.”

“When you see Jace, you don’t want to scare him with all this blood. Let’s get you cleaned up and get you something to eat so that when you visit him, you can take your time.”

“It will be at least an hour before you can see him,” Blake added.

Hesitantly, I nodded and then looked up at the tall, muscular doctor in front of me. “Thank you, Blake. For everything.”

My cell phone buzzed with a text message from my barn manager, of all people. It read,She’s so happy!with a picture of Buttercup attached. While a sliver of my heart was happy that Buttercup happened to be having a good day today, especially after all the agony she had been through, that little seed of happiness didn’t take root. I didn’t even click on the picture to see it full-size either. Because all I could think about was that the last time I had seen Buttercup, I was with Jace.

“Come on.” Tessa wrapped her arms around my shoulders. That was when the light caught something sparkling on her finger.

I took her hand, turning it over to catch the diamond’s brilliance under the harsh hospital lights. “Is that what I think it is?”

“We can talk about it later,” she murmured, gently pulling her hand back with a quick, apologetic glance at Blake.

“I want to hear about it now.” My voice cracked. “It’ll take my mind off … everything.”

Tessa shook her head, her eyes soft but determined. “Later.”

I thought about pushing it—my stubbornness usually won these battles—but I could tell she had her mind made up. Besides, I didn’t have the energy. That conversation deserved champagne toasts and squealing and jumping up and down like idiots. I was, at best, a muted version of myself. At worst, a black hole of fear threatening to collapse in on itself.

Plus, I was still covered in blood. Not exactly the Instagram-worthy moment you want when congratulating your best friend on her engagement. Some things, even filters couldn’t fix.

So, I let her guide me out of the room, my feet moving mechanically across the squeaky floor. Behind me, I could hear whispered voices rising into a small disagreement about Marcus. Something about “two in a short period of time … prison.” Just another thing I was too exhausted to care about right now.

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