Bind (Manhattan Lux Book 1): Manhattan Lux

by Olivia Devon

  When it came to Jinx, when it came to her safety, every instinct fired on automatic. Weapon holstered. Wyatt didn’t think, he acted, changing tactics before he was even aware of it.

  He moved.

  Back. Twist. Wind up the momentum. Kick.

  He thrust his bad leg out and swept both women off their feet with such strength that they popped up in the air before they went down.

  Jinx clawed to her knees, grabbed the dropped Taser and straddled Kristie, pinning her down just as the rest of the crew thundered into the hall.

  “That was amazing!” Aiko said as the lights came on. She was holding Aaron’s phone, looking back and forth from the image on the screen to the real life version. “Holy shit Bimbo Barbie,” she said, swaggering over to where Kristie lay on the floor. “You just got your ass thoroughly kicked.”

  Wyatt smiled and looked down. Below the knee, his lower leg hung at a funny angle. It looked ghoulish. Painful. Just…wrong. It didn’t hurt though. In fact the whole thing was numb now, right up to the top of his thigh. Somehow, that was not reassuring.

  “Wyatt,” Jinx said, standing as Aaron and Jack rushed forward to take over with Kristie. “Your leg.”

  Wyatt looked up, met her gaze and frowned. “Your head,” he said, as she crossed to him. “You’re bleeding.”

  “Both of you to hospital, I think,” said Malcolm approaching them with his mobile phone already raised to his ear.

  “No cops,” Jack said, zipping Kristie’s wrists together behind her back.

  “No sir. I’m arranging private ambulance now.”

  “Thanks for not shooting her,” Aaron said, jerking his head towards Kristie. He bent down, hooked an arm around Wyatt’s back and helped him to stand on one foot. “A shooting would’ve guaranteed an investigation. I’m glad we can avoid that.”

  “You’re welcome,” Wyatt said, wincing as Jinx stood on the other side of him, trying to keep him stable. “Hopefully you can get some information out of her…and….figure out…..who’s….beh—”

  “Wyatt?” Jinx’s voice sounded hollow, distant.

  He tried to answer her. She sounded worried, he wanted to swivel his head around and give her boo boo a kiss. But he was having trouble moving his head, and everything seemed a little fuzzy, like the world had gone out of focus.

  “Wyatt?” Her heard Jinx say again, and the tremor in her voice cut right through him. He tried to speak again.

  “Ju—” he began, and then the world went black.

  Wyatt felt his consciousness float back into his body the way it does when waking from a dream. But he was pretty sure this was no dream. Time for a reality check. He knew he was in the hospital, that felt true and real.

  What for?

  He did a pain check. Actually, pretty good. His knee hurt, like it always did, but in a different way than it always did. That was something of a relief.

  Wait…different? Uh-oh.

  Time for a limb check.

  Two arms. Check.

  Two legs. Ch….eck?

  He could feel one, for sure. Wiggled his toes. Yep, there it was. Wiggled the other toes. The wiggle felt like a memory, then fizzled into nothing.

  Oh right…that’s because…

  The memory hit him like a stack of phonebooks being dropped on his chest. His face felt hot, and muscles in his throat constricted. His nose tingled and tears started to well in his eyes.

  He’d finally done it. He’d let them take it. It wasn’t his knee that hurt, it was the part of his world in which that knee had formerly resided that hurt. The empty space.

  He was thinking about wallowing, taking a moment of silence for that poor limb that had served him well for so long, but his thoughts were interrupted.

  Voices.

  Low. Murmuring.

  One man. One woman.

  Familiar.

  “I don’t know,” said the male. “I kind of hope this recovery lasts for months, especially if it means keeping you here with me.”

  “Oh stop,” said the woman. “You’re as bad as him with all the teasing and silliness.” There was laughter in her tone. Warmth. Love.

  Wyatt felt a soft hand on his forehead, brushing back his hair.

  “It’s gotten so long,” said the woman. “He needs a haircut.”

  Mom, he thought, and forced his heavy eyelids open.

  “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Oh, Wyatt! Sweetheart! Oh he’s awake. Look Jack, he’s awake!”

  “Yep.” Wyatt tried to speak but the words came out in a croak. His mother retrieved a glass of water from a side table and brought the straw to his lips. He sipped, then sucked hard when he realized he was parched.

  “Easy now honey,” his mother said. “Take it easy.”

  “Well, Cuz,” Jack said, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. “How much do you remember?”

  “Don’t worry,” Wyatt answered. “I know what I’m in here for.”

  “Yeah, they managed to wake you up for the consent. But you’ve been in and out a lot, and the nurses said the pain meds you’re on can mess with your memory. So I wasn’t sure—”

  “You were thinking you’d have to break the news to me that I’m down a limb?”

  “Half a limb buddy.” Jack slapped the empty bed where Wyatt’s missing calf should’ve been. The blankets flattened over the stump at the end of of his thigh and Wyatt frowned. “Just half. You’ve got three and a half working limbs now.”

  “Yes and working is the important part,” Wyatt’s Mom said. “The specialist said that with prosthetics these days you’ll be in better shape than you were before! Honestly I don’t know why you waited this long. So stubborn you are. Just like your—”

  “My father. Yes Mom I know.” Wyatt smiled and patted her hand. He’d been hearing about the epic stubbornness of the Calvert men since he was a young boy. It might’ve annoyed him if he ever thought she meant it unkindly. But a person had only to look into Mimi Calvert’s eyes when she was speaking of her deceased husband to know there was only deep love there and longing.

  He felt a lump forming in his throat. “I’m sorry I put you through all this, Mom. You’re right, I should’ve done it when they wanted me to.”

  “Not like this!” she said, “With Jack having to rush you to the hospital and flying in that surgeon.”

  Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “You flew in a surgeon? I guess I missed that part.”

  “Only the best for my family.” Jack grinned. “Good thing, too. He said you basically amputated your own leg. Shredded all the blood vessels, muscle started dying, you had blood clots. When we got you upright, that night at Aaron’s, your blood pressure dropped, and you passed out. Which was probably a good thing considering you’d have been in a hell of a lot of pain if you’d been conscious.”

  “I can remember the consult now, and signing consent. But the finer details, they’re pretty fuzzy. I remember when you showed up, Mom, and I remember Jun…” Suddenly he was alert, agitated. His memory told him Jinx had been hurt too, but he didn’t recall if she was alright. “Is she okay Jack?” Wyatt asked. “Did she have a concussion or anything?”

  “No she’s fine,” Jack said, pushing Wyatt back against the bed with one finger. “Relax. It was just a cut and a nasty bruise. Kristie has a hard head.”

  “Kristie!” Wyatt said. “What happened with all that?”

  “I put her in prison!” Aiko crowed as she strode in through the door of Wyatt’s hospital room. “What’s up, stumpy?” She pushed her way in front of Jack and leaned over for a quick hug. “They tell you the bad news yet?”

  “What bad news?”

  “You had a big blood clot in your groin man, they had to amputate your dick.”

  Wyatt rolled his eyes and flashed her a wry grin.

  “That’s why Jinx didn’t come visit with me,” she continued. “I mean, without that, you’re kind of useless to her, so why bother right?”

  “Aiko,” Wyatt’s mother chastised. “He just woke up. Behav
e now.”

  “Anything for you Mama Mimi.” Aiko flashed her a big grin and Wyatt watched the two of them, amazed.

  “I guess you’ve met,” he said.

  “Oh we’ve met, had drinks, ordered pizza, and smoked a fat one back at my place while watching a bunch of Zombies get splattered all over my flat screen. Right Mama Mimi?” Aiko offered her fist to Wyatt’s Mother, who bumped it obligingly.

  “That’s right,” she said. “Aiko is my homegirl.”

  “Jesus Christ.” Wyatt slapped a hand to his forehead and scrubbed it over his eyes. “Clearly I’m still asleep. This is a dream. Or a nightmare.”

  “Nope.” Jack laughed. “What was a nightmare was getting any information out of Kristie at all. I think it would’ve gone much better if we’d had your help, Wyatt. Aaron and I aren’t well versed in interrogation tactics.”

  Aiko shook her head. “I told you, boss,” she said. “There’s nothing to know, because she didn’t know anything. Torrid Technologies is in the wind. There’s no trace of it. The money they invested with Conroy was all numbers on paper—it never existed. They ran this scam to get their hands on his cash. The VR stuff and all the corporate spying shit, that was a wing and a prayer. I think they knew there was very little chance they’d get anything out of it.”

  “Then why bother?” asked Wyatt.

  “Well that’s the question isn’t it?” said Jack. “Aiko has a theory about that as well.”

  “See, I knew we couldn’t just let Kristie walk,” she said. “So I did some digging. Our background check on her was done by another firm, not us. Jack only started having me do it recently. We kept meaning to get around to everybody but with everything going on—”

  “I get it,” said Wyatt “We had other priorities. We all trusted Kristie.”

  “Right, except her real name is Jaclyn, and she’s got a nice little record. When I did my background check I found an outstanding warrant and a lot of identity theft, passing bad checks etc. The warrant is what put her away, at least for now. We dropped her off at the nearest precinct, and they took care of her.”

  “I bet that was fun.”

  Aiko grinned.

  “So what’s your theory?”

  “This whole thing has been sloppy,” said Aiko. “It was a mess—a bunch of crazy crap with no clear goal. And weirdness. Like Daisy being involved, living in Jack’s building. We thought this was aimed at Glow, then at Aaron. There hasn’t been an obvious objective or any kind of real focus.”

  “I agree. That is strange.”

  “I think it’s just the truth.” Aiko shrugged. “I think it was a fishing expedition put on by a bunch of newbs. Hackers playing super villain. I think they picked a few targets and started messing around, making up their objectives as they went along. I think they were hoping to find something and then decide what to do with it. They’re a mess, but they’re smart, so we still don’t know who’s behind it yet, but they’re inexperienced, hence all the mistakes and general fucking weirdness.”

  “So we’ll catch them,” Wyatt said. “We’ll keep on it and figure it out.”

  Aiko chewed her thumb. “Maybe. I mean, I’m not giving up. But honestly Jack, the trails run pretty cold already. Kristie doesn’t know shit. Everything with her was via text, email, disposable cell phones. Daisy is in the wind. Even Bryce hasn’t heard from her. Conroy’s money is up in smoke, and I can’t find any hard trails for any of the cyber activity. Nothing tangible. These guys may be fuck-up newbs, but like I said, they’re still pretty good. And they won’t be newbs anymore. They’ll have practiced.”

  “We’re also newbs,” Wyatt said. “At least we were at this. Two traitors in our midst, and we had no idea.”

  “That was my fault,” said Jack with a sniff. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “Not just your fault,” said Wyatt, glancing down at his leg. “My house wasn’t in order, so I couldn’t lead this team like it needed to be led. That has to change. If we’re really going to do this, then as a group we’ve got to train, and learn how to work together as a team, flawlessly.”

  Jack nodded. “We will,” he said. “First things first. You get better.”

  “Working on it,” said Wyatt.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  After Aiko cracked more amputee jokes, Mama Mimi started to get misty-eyed and this set her on a track of reminiscing. Wyatt’s childhood, dead father, Navy career, injury and everything and anything else she could think of that would bring the whole room to sniffles got covered. In detail.

  She’d been staying with Jack while Wyatt was in the hospital, and he’d become very attached to the home-cooking she’d been spoiling him with. Now that Wyatt was on the mend, she was heading back to Connecticut. But first she’d promised to stock Jack’s freezer with a dozen meatloaves. Jack was anxious to have her get started.

  So, finally, mercifully, it was time to go. They left.

  Aiko left shortly after.

  Bryce called. He’d sent flowers and promised stop by for a visit tomorrow, and Wyatt reassured him that he was fine and just wanted to rest.

  Aaron, like the tech addict he was, sent a text saying he could get Wyatt a meeting with a prosthetics company whose engineers were on the cutting edge of the latest technology. Wyatt thanked him and said he’d be interested. If he could get a bionic leg out of this whole situation well hell, why not?

  Evening fell, and the nurse brought him a dinner tray. Salisbury steak, canned green beans, a whole wheat rock masquerading as a roll, a fruit cup, and a tiny bottle of sparkling water. Wyatt ate grimly, the food turning to chalk in his mouth as he chewed, his gaze fixed unseeing to a crappy reality show on the room’s small television.

  Where is she?

  The one person he really wanted to see, needed to see, the person who’s reaction to this whole mess was most important to him, was notably absent.

  Why hasn’t she come? Does she still want me? Does she still—?

  He felt a tightness in his chest, heard the heart monitor quicken its beeps and glanced over as the nurse came in to check on him.

  “Feeling okay?” she asked.

  She took his wrist, felt for vitals, watched his eyes and then smiled gently. “A little anxious?” she asked. “It’s totally normal. This is a dramatic change in your life.”

  “Yes.” Wyatt sighed, fell back against the bed and closed his eyes. “Yes that’s probably it. I’m…Well, I’m not sure—”

  “I understand,” said the nurse softly. “Try to rest. I’ll see if I can find something that might help you relax.”

  Wyatt inhaled. Worked on steadying his breathing. In. Out. Deep. Slow.

  Lips pressed against his. Soft. Warm. Sweet.

  He inhaled again. Deeper this time, and his senses were overwhelmed with her scent.

  “Jun,” he breathed against her lips. “Kitten. It’s you.”

  “It’s me, cowboy,” she said, without breaking contact, her smile curling against his mouth. “In the flesh.” She sank her hands into his hair, her fingers tightening in his curls. His Mom was right, he did need a haircut. Jinx’s tongue swept into his mouth, tangled with his in a kiss so deep it was more than a welcome back, it was a claiming.

  That kiss went straight to his cock. Wyatt checked “working dick” off his list and wondered, as hard as he was right now, if it might just count to his overall limb total.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she said when she broke the kiss. “I had a ton of neglected errands. The dogs were hungry and needed a walk. We had a mini-crisis at the club that needed handling, and….” she reached into a brown paper bag she’d set on Wyatt’s dinner table. “I stopped to get you this. Eat it quick, while the cool nurse is still on duty, because Nurse Ratched comes on in ten.” Jinx pulled a white styrofoam container from the bag and set it on Wyatt’s lap. He lifted the lid and nearly fainted.

  “Oh my God. You angel.”

  “Meatball sub and extra fries.”

  “F
rom that food truck we went to that one time?”

  “Yeah Vinny’s Vittles. He asked about you by the way. Says to get well soon and he’ll hook you up with a free sub when you’re out.”

  “Goals!” said Wyatt, diving into the sandwich. “Oh, mah, gah, you wonnervul woman, vis is tho wewishus.”

  Jinx chuckled and handed him a napkin. “Don’t talk while you’re eating.”

  “Yeth m’am.” Wyatt wiped his mouth and went back to chewing.

  “So, cool nurse says you’ve been a bit mopey this afternoon. You okay?”

  Wyatt swallowed. “You know all the nurses huh?”

  “I’ve spent all week with them, I hope I know a few by now.”

  “You have?”

  “Your mom and I took turns during the day, but at night we made her go to Jack’s. Her back can’t handle the sofa in here.”

  Wyatt stared at her, this beautiful creature. His girl, she’d been here all week. She’d hung out with his Mom, helped care for him, watched over him. It amazed him. She amazed him.

  “I would’ve been here today, too,” she said, as she flew around the room, straightening his blanket, and moving the empty hospital dinner tray out of the way. “But I had a ton of work and things piling up and the mini-crisis I mentioned. Everybody told me to go. I argued, but they insisted, and I told them.” Jinx wagged her finger, irritated anew at the memory. “I told them you’re exactly the kind of obstinate, trouble-making patient to wake up at exactly the wrong damn time.” She threw her hands up in the air, clearly exasperated. “And you did! Carol, that’s cool nurse, she called me as soon as you woke and told me. I could not believe it.”

  “I’m sorry,” Wyatt said, and took another bite of his sandwich. “It was welly inconthiderate of me to wake up.”

  Jinx stopped flitting about the room, turned and broke into a broad smile. “It was,” she said. “I’ve been worried for you. You were so…” she stepped closer to him and her voice broke. “You…right before they took you into surgery…I know you were on all kinds of meds but you were still awake and you were trying to talk to me. Do you remember?” She moved the food carton to one side and sat on the edge of the bed.