"Good morning to you too," he says with his eyes still closed and a smile on his face.
"Good morning, lover."
"What did I do to deserve this delightful morning greeting."
"Exist."
All of a sudden Cutter roughly rips the cover off of us. Sending it sailing through the air and onto the floor. He yanks me up and pulls me on top of him.
"You're saying all the right shit this morning. Ride my face. Now!” he growls.
My palms slap against the wall behind the bed as Cutter works my pussy in the most delicious way. The sensations of his warm morning mouth all over my sex are almost unbearable in the best way.
"Cutter," I moan from deep within.
He lightly slaps each of my butt cheeks as I continue to writhe in agony and grind my pelvis against his face.
"That's a good girl," he praises. The vibrations of his words bouncing against my skin and every one of my clitoral nerve endings. "Work that pussy for me, Princess."
Something indiscernible leaves my mouth.
Something primal.
Something dominant.
I flip myself around. Still allowing him to eat me out, but positioning me to pleasure him as well. The perfect sixty-nine position, and it looks like it was a good decision. His dick is practically weeping.
I hear guttural noises coming from deep in Cutter’s chest as I work my mouth up and down his shaft. He's going to come quickly. Maybe even before I do. I almost feel like it's a race. To see who can finish first or rather who can last the longest.
"You ready to come?" he says into my skin.
"Are you?" I respond with a mouth full of him.
"Keep sassing me, and I'm getting the rope."
"Get it,” I challenge.
“Hey, I just got a text. Something's up with the little hobbit. I'm going to need to head over to Penn Hospital in a few,” Cutter says as we lay post coital in the bed.
"Is Jade ok?"
“The text didn’t sound like he was about to choke anyone, so it can't be all that bad. We're probably just going to have the meeting at the hospital instead of the restaurant. He's definitely not going to set one foot outside of the hospital without that woman in tip top condition."
True.
"You want eggs or a bagel with your bacon?"
"Eggs and make my bacon crispy."
"Okay, bossy, I know how you like your bacon."
"I know you do, but I'm just making sure."
"Stop topping from the bottom, Sloan."
"What are you my master now?"
"In all things and in every way. Don't ever forget it, darlin’.”
I laugh although he's definitely right about one thing. Cutter King is the master of my body. He literally made me feel like I was floating outside of it this morning. I should try taking charge in bed more often. It drives him nuts. He always has to "punish" me afterwards, yet somehow it always feels like a reward.
"So I'd like to us to set an August date."
Cutter lays the last slice of bacon in the frying pan then turns towards me in disbelief.
"August?"
"For the wedding," I say casually.
"To me?”
“Cutter.”
"Is this about your father? You think he's going to jail, so you’re in a hurry to get down the aisle?”
"What? No."
"You haven't brought his situation to me up since you found out. That tells me something, Sloan. You’re not dealing with it well.”
"It tells you that there's nothing to talk about. My father has a gang of lawyers and the truth on his side. He'll get himself out of this mess. I'm sure this won't even be an issue in another week or so."
"You're sure that you’re ok?”
"Me wanting to get married in August has nothing to do with his case and everything to do with the fact that I just pulled my head out of my ass. I am engaged to the only man on this earth who I trust with my life. A man who never makes a stupid decision. The one man who has my back. The only man I love or will ever love. "
I stand on my tiptoes and wrap my arms around his neck.
"Marry me, Cutter."
He bends over. Hanging his head low by my ear.
"In August?" he whispers.
"Whenever you want, my liege." I rub my hands over his freshly shorn head. "Just tell me when and where, and I'll be there."
"Then August it is, Mrs. King."
He kisses me passionately as our breakfast bacon burns to a crisp.
"And move all of your shit out of your apartment and in here by the end of the week."
I giggle to myself.
"Yes, sir."
CAMDEN
"Sit down. You're hovering and it's making me nervous."
"Ditto."
"What do you mean ditto?"
"You're making me fucking nervous too."
"I fainted, Cam. People faint everyday. You've got to relax. You're just in a pissy mood that you can't control this situation like you do everything else."
"Fainting is not normal. You shouldn't have gone to work. I shouldn't have let you go to work. You've been sick for days. Roman knew that shit. I should–"
"Roman is not at fault. I think I was simply overheated. It was hot in his house. Something about the compressor on the central air unit needing to be replaced."
"Jade...is it possible that you're pregnant?"
"What exactly are you accusing me of?"
"Did that sound like a fucking accusation? I'm just asking you if you're pregnant. In the family way. With child. Did I knock you up?!"
"Absolutely not."
"You seem shocked that I'm even asking about the possibility."
"I am a little."
"Why? We have sex– repeatedly."
"I also take the pill– daily."
"The pill isn't foolproof, but let's table this discussion. I don't want you to get overheated again."
"Funny."
Some doctor with a fucked up last name, Jeremy Dick MD, comes in the room with another man and woman following closely behind him, both in scrubs and white coats.
Penn is a teaching hospital, so it's to be expected that there will be more than one person in the room, but I don't like it. I asked for a department head not an attending physician and his flunkies.
Dr. Dick glances at his clipboard in a very perfunctory way and then looks at Jade over top of his reading glasses.
"Miss Barlow."
"Yes."
"Heard you had a fall today."
"Yes."
"How are you feeling now?"
"A little weird but not as badly as before. I think I'm just dehydrated or something."
"Stop trying to diagnose yourself, Meredith Grey, and let the doctor here do his job." I say in a sarcastic voice.
The two residents giggle at what I've said, but Doctor Dick ignores me as if I'm not even in the room and continues with his questions. Yeah, I definitely don't like this dude.
"Do you work out, Miss Barlow?"
"Yes."
"What do you do?"
"Running. Weights. Spin. Sometimes pilates."
"Did you work out today?"
"No."
"She hasn't been feeling well for days," I interject.
Again, he ignores me.
"Have you been taking your pill regularly?"
"Yes."
"Have you ever had any problems with the pill or any other kind of birth control?"
"No."
The doctor makes some notes, flips through some of the papers on his clipboard for a moment, and then speaks again.
"I'd like to talk about your family history a little now."
"Okay."
"Are both of your parents living?"
"No. My mother is deceased and my father...well he's actually dying."
"Of what?"
Put some sympathy in your voice, Dr. Dickhead.
"Cancer."
"What kind?"
"I don't
know exactly."
"And your mother. What was the cause of death?"
Jade pauses for a moment. Swallowing hard. It's hard for her to talk about her mother. Sometimes I forget that Cutter and I got to have a bit longer with our mother than she did with hers. So we have memories. Jade doesn't have many good ones. All she remembers is her mother being sick.
"Ovarian cancer."
Dr. Dick gives Jade a look that chills me to the bone.
"Do you get regular pap smears, Miss Barlow?"
"Yes."
"Have they ever come back irregular?"
"No."
He glances at me for the first time, then my tattoos, and then back at Jade.
"Any venereal diseases?"
She clears her throat. "No."
I'm ten seconds away from choking him with that fucking stethoscope.
"Okay, well I think we're going to need to do a little more testing. Dr. Keller here is going to take your blood pressure and the nurse will be in here shortly to take some more blood and run an IV. Then we're going to send you up to gynecology. I'd like to get another pap smear."
Oh, shit.
Does he think she has cancer?
Jade turns her face to me, and I see the fear in my heart reflected back in her widening pupils. I cradle the side of her face with my hand and wipe the one lone tear running down her face with my thumb.
"It's going to be fine, baby."
She nods her head, but I can tell she's terrified.
"I'm ruling things out, Miss Barlow," the jackass says. "There are a ton of medical reasons why you could have fainted today. None of them serious, but it doesn't hurt to rule everything out."
"How long are these additional tests going to take?" I ask.
"The nurse should be in shortly. Gyno may take another thirty minutes. Then we have to wait for the results. So expect to be here for most of the day."
I hate hospitals.
"Don't call Jana," Jade asks while the male intern gets the blood pressure cuff ready. "She'll freak, and we don't know if there's anything to freak out about yet."
In my panic, I called everyone, but there's no way I'm going to let Jade know that. I can hold Jana off.
"No problem. I've got you."
She nods her head with relief.
"Thank you."
Jade is sitting on the edge of the examination table. Her hands gripping the edge of it. Her legs dangling off of the side. She looks more vulnerable than I've ever seen before. I want to wrap myself around her and protect her from the world. My tough girl holds it together for all of us all of the time when inside I know she's soft as butter.
"No thank you's are necessary between us, baby."
I lean down and press my mouth onto hers. Saying a silent prayer to myself, to God, or to whoever will listen as I do.
Please let her be all right.
Please don't take her from me.
"Listen, I'm going to step out while they take your pressure and all of that. I'll be right back." I give the two interns a stern look. "Unless you don't want me to leave."
"Go ahead," Jade chuckles while squeezing my hand. "I'm fine."
"Okay, baby. I'll be back in thirty. I love you."
"Ditto." She smiles.
CAMDEN
My brothers and I were supposed to meet later tonight at the tapas lounge about the Provident job, but I'm meeting with them in the hospital cafeteria instead. That's the great thing about family. At least this family. They always have your back.
"How is she?" Cutter asks with concern etched in his face.
"We don't know much yet. They're still running tests."
"Stone's not here yet?"
"No, he's on his way."
"So she passed out at Roman's?"
"Yeah– Roman said she was fine when he went to give Elizabeth her lunch, but when he got back to the room Jade was on the floor unconscious."
"Shit that's scary."
"Yeah."
"And Roman makes lunch?"
I crack a smile at that. "I guess he does. So listen, I wanted to talk to you about something real quickly before Stone gets here. He's about five minutes away."
"What."
"Our first client out of Provident is a ball player."
"Sweet. Who is it. Anyone I know?"
"Not a professional. It's a kid. Plays for LaHova. Name is Tommy Newton."
Cutter's face drops.
"Please tell me that he has nothing to do with that party and Sloan's father."
"I'm afraid that is has everything to do with him."
"What's a Division Two kid like that doing with Provident's level of legal representation?"
"He's not being represented by the talent division but rather the criminal division."
"He killed the girl."
"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking."
"Why else would he hire a firm so high-powered?"
"Samar got access to a few conversations they had. Not much. But what he did hear disturbed me. The kid has a few NBA teams interested in signing him which explains why Provident is involved. It seems as if the kid and his lawyer are trying to build a defense naming Dan Pearson as the one who hit the girl, and getting as many people as they can to support his statement. He may have already got four kids to roll on Pearson already."
"Fuck me."
"What has the glamazon said about it?"
"She talked to her father and is convinced that he has it all under control. That he has the truth on his side. Who's the kid's lawyer?"
"That's the only good thing. It's Prentis. You remember him from a couple of years back right? At least we know him."
"Fuck!"
"What?"
"He's in the middle of hiring Sloan for a design job, and there's no way that shit is a coincidence."
"That asshole. He's got some balls on him."
"I want to put that kid Newton and Prentis under the fucking jail."
"Noted, but since murder is not on the menu let's think of an alternate plan."
"Sloan finally set a date. I'm getting married in three months. Pearson can't be convicted, Cam. In fact he can never go to trial. That kid has to confess and quickly."
"Married in August?" I slap my brother on the shoulder. "Congratulations, little brother. Let's fix this shit then."
Looking just like our missing triplet, our brother Stone finally enters the cafeteria. He glances at the both of us then takes a seat.
"What did I miss."
"You've been assigned your first fix, big brother," I say. "His name is Tommy Newton. He's twenty years old. Ball player at LaNova. And we need him to sing like a bird."
"Done."
Cutter smiles with relief.
"How's wifey?" Stone asks me.
Wifey. I know it's just a term some men use to describe a long term girlfriend, but it gets me really thinking. Jade should be my wife. My legal wife. She's it for me. And if she's sick, I'm going to hold her hand through every step as her husband. Not just some dude she's fucking.
"She's going to be good, man. I'll make sure of it."
JADE
There is nothing fun about hospitals. They're sterile and cold and you can't get a good blanket to save your life. My mother died in a hospital. I don't remember everything about that day. I just remember thinking that my mom must have been cold, and that she probably wanted her fluffy white blanket with the small pink roses on it. I want out of here.
When the doctor returns to my room it's sooner than I anticipated. The IV must be kicking in because my stomach feels more settled. That's why I sent Camden out to buy me a green drink from somewhere. I'm hungry.
"How are you feeling, Miss Barlow?"
"Pretty good."
Several men roll another bed in next to me.
"What's this?" I ask looking between it and the doctor.
"Where's your boyfriend, Miss Barlow?"
"He stepped out. Why?"
"We discovered what the issue is and
we're taking you in for emergency surgery. Can you sign the consent please."
I need Cam.
"Consent for what?!"
"Your hCG levels were abnormally high. Upon further examination we discovered the issue. You are pregnant and it's ectopic. Meaning the baby is growing in your Fallopian tube. We need to operate. Your life is at risk."
"I need to call my boyfriend."
I feel like I'm about to hyperventilate.
"Sign the consent and this privacy form which will allow us to share your medication information with him, and we will make sure to tell him everything he needs to know."
I quickly sign the papers, not exactly sure what I'm signing, but petrified that if I don't– I will die right here in this room. Alone. Unable to say goodbye to the man I love.
"Here."
"Gynecology knows what they're doing, Miss Barlow. They're top 20 in the country. You're in good hands. Dr. Medwick will be performing your surgery and will be here shortly to brief you and start your procedure ok?"
"Yes."
Tears start to roll down my face.
"Can I text my boyfriend now?"
"You really shouldn't because of all of the sensitive medical equipment in this room but go ahead. One quick text. I'm sure you want him here.”
I can't do this without him.
“Thanks.”
Me: They have to operate:( Come back now.
STONE
"What are you doing?"
Because I am a felon, I'm not licensed to carry, but that doesn't mean I can't toss a few baseball bats in the back of my Chevy truck.
"Have to work."
"What are you a Little League coach now?"
"Protecting myself."
"From who?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
I will never lie to Ariana again, although sometimes it's a difficult promise to keep. I never want to see the look she has on her face right now. All I want to see are smiles and laughter.
"Yes."
"A killer."
"Does this have something to do with your brothers?"
"Yes, but it involves your friend too."
"Which friend?"
"Sloan."
"What about her?"
"One of the kids that plays for her father at LaNova is setting him up for the girl's murder charge."
The King Brothers Boxed Set Page 60
