She agrees and when I walk out, I hear her softly talking to Harper.
I follow Kace down the hallway and into the waiting room. The club is sitting there and even though I don’t say it, I do appreciate their concern.
“Any news?” Gloria asks, standing up.
“Nothing yet,” I say, running my hand through my hair.
“You should go home and get some sleep. They’ll call if anything changes,” Nora suggests.
I snap my head to her and the anger in my eyes has her take a step back. “I’ll fucking leave when she does.”
“Watch it,” Enzo hisses.
I scrub my face and look around. “What?”
“We sat on Club Kingsley and nothing. It’s open and guys are coming and going, but no sign of Kingsley,” Alex says.
“No word on the street. Everyone heard what happened, but they all say Kingsley hasn’t shown his face,” Porter explains.
It’s really not surprising. I didn’t expect anyone to come out and say something. If they did, Kingsley would kill them before they had a chance to get home.
“What about the Italians?” Riley asks, looking between Brooks and Enzo.
“They wanted to discuss some extra protection on one of their pickups,” Brooks starts.
I glance at Kace and he crosses his large arms. “But we don’t do that shit. That’s what you told them right?” he asks.
It’s quiet for a minute, but Enzo finally nods. “Yeah, of course that’s what we told them. They weren’t happy, but they understood.”
Bullshit. I don’t believe it for a second. I step forward to say just that, but Kace puts his arm in front of me. “Z and I are going to talk to a nurse now about Dom. If we find anything out, we’ll be in touch.”
“I’m gonna have a smoke first,” I say, walking toward the exit.
Before I’m even out the door, I light my cigarette and take a long drag. I lean against the brick building and drop my head back. We’re getting nowhere. Holding our dicks again while the Vegas Kings are ten steps ahead of us. Something needs to give.
“You need to get your emotions in check,” Kace says, lighting up next to me.
“Fuck you.”
He blows smoke up into the air and turns his head to me. “Zane, you’re all over the place. You’re pissed, sad, frustrated, but you need to keep that shit under control. I’m not always gonna be around to stop you when you’re about to run your damn mouth. You’re gonna make shit worse.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I yell. I throw my smoke and stand in front of him. “If she’d just wake up, I could focus.”
He nods his head and pushes off the wall. “Ivy’s with her now. I’ve been checking around and I think I found a nurse that will give us some information on Dom.”
The thought of actually getting some news helps me push my anger down a bit. “How do you figure?”
He laughs and puts his cigarette out. “She’s been eye fucking you since she walked in the door tonight.”
For the first time since everything happened, I laugh. “Well, let’s go see if I can get her attention.”
We go back inside, and I grab his arm, stopping him when we get to the waiting room. I shake my head looking around at my club, my brothers. “I appreciate you all being here. It’s not gone unnoticed, but you can go. Kace and I are gonna talk to the nurses and then I’m staying with Harper. If anything happens, I’ll let you know. Go home, get drunk.”
It takes a bit of arguing, but I finally get them to agree to leave. I ask Riley to take my mom home and keep a watch on her house. I can’t be worrying about safety, so I’m not asking Finn. I need someone I can trust.
My mom kisses my cheek and hugs me tightly. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
“I know, Ma. Just don’t give Riley a hard time.”
“I’ll try my best,” she says, with a small smile. “I love you, my sweet boy.”
“Love you, too, Ma.”
They start to leave, so Kace and I walk back toward Harper’s room.
“She’s a short, brunette with bright red lips,” Kace says.
I nod as when we walk past the nurse’s station, I would've known it was her without the description. Her eyes follow me and when she notices me staring at her, she blushes. Perfect. This might actually work. I wink and grin when she starts to stand up. I motion with my head for her to follow us.
A small laugh leaves me as I look at Kace. “Told you,” he says smiling.
We walk into an empty room and she isn’t far behind us. When she walks in, Kace closes the door and leans against it. She looks terrified, until my hand touches her shoulder.
“Relax, sweetheart. I just wanted to talk to you for a minute.”
She visibly swallows before clearing her throat. “Oh sure, of course.”
“If you’re half a smart as you are beautiful, I think I’m in luck,” I say, wrapping my arm around her.
I can feel her tense and notice her bite down on her lip. She turns her head to look at me and finally a smile spreads across her face. “Thanks, Zane.”
“So, you know who I am, huh?”
“Of course, who doesn’t?” she asks, wringing her hands together.
I reach my other arm around and rest them on her hands. “Do I make you nervous?” I seductively whisper.
“A little,” she admits.
“I don’t bite, sweetheart. Not unless she wants to be bit,” I say, squeezing her hands.
She searches my eyes and I grin. “Can we talk alone?” Her eyes slide to Kace and he grins.
“He needs to stay, but maybe if you help us, we can help you.” I step away from her and Kace moves to stand next to me.
She straightens her back and lifts her head slightly. “What do you need help with?”
“I need to know if you treated a guy named Dom Veneto?”
“I didn’t, but he was here with two gunshot wounds,” she says.
Fuck. “He left?”
Her eyes bounce between me and Kace. “Yes, he was here last night. He was treated and sent home.”
“Was he alone?” Kace asks.
“I shouldn’t have told you what I did. I really can’t give you that information,” she says.
I’m not making any mistakes this time. I won’t walk away until I have all the information I need. I grab her shoulders and shove her up against the wall. I push my knee between her legs and move my mouth close to her ear.
“Sweetheart,” I breathe out, biting her earlobe. “You help me, and I’ll help you.” I push my leg against her, and she lets out a small moan.
“Someone dropped him off, I’m not entirely sure who he was. But Mr. Kingsley is the one who was here to bring him home. He was asking around about his daughter, but no one knew anything at that time,” she says, digging her fingers into my arms.
“Fuck,” I yell.
I move away from her and she tries to come toward me. “Better you don’t,” Kace warns. “I appreciate everything you told us. It won’t go unrewarded, but you need to get out now.”
She doesn’t take his warning and I pin her with my fury. “Get.The.Fuck.Out,” I growl.
She rushes out and Kace slams the door. I grab the IV stand next to me and throw it across the room. “Mother fucker,” I yell.
“Hey, fuck, relax. This is good news. We know Dom is injured and we know Kingsley isn’t hiding. We’ll take it to the club.”
“No. That piece of shit was here, under our noses again. He asked about Harper, like he has the right to even think her name. I’m staying with her. I’ll fucking leave when she does. Anyone wants to talk to me, they can find me,” I hiss.
He shakes his head and opens the door. “Let’s go.”
We get back to her room and Ivy is talking to the nurse. They both look at us when we walk in.
“What’s going on?” I ask, rushing to her side.
“Nothing, I’m just checking her vitals,” the nurse says.
I shake my
head and grab the tablet out of her hands. “Why the fuck isn’t she awake yet? You all keep telling me she’s doing well, so why isn’t she awake?” I seethe.
“Z, chill,” Kace says.
“Sir, I assure you, she’s doing wonderfully. Her vitals are great, her incisions are clean, her reflexes are perfect, these are all good signs. Sometimes the body just takes longer to come out of anesthesia after major surgery.”
“You keep saying that. I need someone to do something. She needs to wake up,” I yell.
“Alright Zane, enough,” Kace yells over me.
“Sir, please lower your voice, there are other patients,” the nurse loudly says.
I laugh and kick the chair. “I don’t give a fuck about the other patients. I care about my girl and until she wakes up, I’m gonna be as loud as I fucking need to be,” I shout.
“Hey.”
We all turn, and I drop to my knees. Holy fuck, she’s awake.
4
Harper
The nurse clears the room, and everyone leaves, except for Zane. Kace helped him stand up before he walked out and Zane has just been standing with his hands behind his neck, staring at me. He hasn’t said anything; hasn’t moved, hasn’t blinked.
“Ouch.” I turn my attention to the nurse.
“Sorry, that IV line seems to be a little red. I’ll send someone in to put in a new one for you,” she says, typing away on her tablet. “How’s the pain?”
“It’s not too bad,” I tell her, my voice cracking. “Can I get some water?”
She gives me a smile, nodding. “As soon as I check your incisions, I’ll go get you some water and pain medicine.” She glances at Z and back to me. “Do you want privacy while I check them?”
I don’t even bother looking at him, I just shake my head. “No, he’s seen it all.”
She pulls the blanket down and lifts my very ugly hospital gown up. I don’t want to see anything, so I close my eyes. As soon as I do, everything begins to replay in my mind and when my father picks up the gun, panic hits me and I jerk my eyes open.
“Does that hurt?”
Zane rushes over and finally grabs my hand. Tears fill my eyes as I stare up at him. “No, it’s not that, that hurts,” I whisper.
His eyes are wild. Fear, pity, regret, and anger grace his handsome face. It’s too much, so I turn my head toward the nurse as she fixes my gown.
“Everything looks great, Miss Kingsley.”
“Please don’t call me that, it’s Harper,” I say.
She nods and takes off her gloves. “Alright, Harper. I’m going to put in for some pain medicine and get you some water. The doctor will be in to talk to you about everything when he’s out of surgery. If you need anything, just press the call button and we’ll be right in.”
She walks out and I slowly turn my head to Zane. “Please sit this bed up, I’m not comfortable laying down this far.”
He nods his head and grabs the control for the bed, sitting the bed up for me. I tell him to stop when it starts to hurt. We start at each other, unsure what to say next. It’s like we are frozen in the moment and it’s making me wish I was back asleep.
“Say something,” I rush out, my eyes bouncing between his.
A single tear rolls down his cheek and the pain I felt when I first looked in his eyes intensifies tenfold. He’s ruined.
“Fuck, Harper. I’ve been begging you to wake up since it all happened, and now I feel like my goddamn heart stopped beating.” He leans forward and rests his forehead on mine. “I thought I lost you. It's gonna take a minute for the fear, agony, and anger to subside.”
I don’t even realize the tears are rolling down my cheeks, until he brushes them away with his thumb. “I’m scared, Z.”
He puts the side of the bed down and lays half his body next to me. One leg on the bed, the other still on the floor. With the most tenderness I’ve ever seen from him, he wraps an arm around me and gently guides me to his chest. I grab a hold of his shirt and the tears become sobs as I lay in his arms. Everything is overwhelming suddenly. The pain I’m feeling, the fear of being shot, the unknown of what has happened since. I’m feeling everything and I don’t want to.
“I’ve got you, babe. I failed you and that will never happen again,” he whispers, kissing me softly under my ear.
I don’t have it in me to argue with him right now. He didn’t fail me. He actually made shit worse by coming. Things would be completely different right now if he just would’ve let me handle it, instead of rushing in to be the hero. I can’t get into that now though, because right now being in his arms, I know I saved him.
“I have so many questions,” I say, lifting my head slightly to look at his face.
“Like what?” He uses his free hand to wipe my wet cheeks.
I clear my throat and briefly wonder where that nurse is with my water. “How bad am I? Is he dead? What happened after I was shot? How long have I been here? Who knows I’m here?” I rush out. “I don’t know Z, I just feel like I have no idea what is happening right now.”
He takes a deep breath and lightly grabs my chin, keeping his fingers there to have me look at him. His deep blue eyes search mine. “You had damage done to your heart and the bullet was lodged in the muscles in your back. They repaired everything and said you will have a complete recovery. I’ve never been more scared in my life,” he admits. He presses a soft kiss to my lips and once again sighs. “You’ve been here just about twenty-four hours. Everyone knows you’re here. Ivy, my mom, Nora, Gloria, and Kace have been in here. The rest of the club has been in the waiting room hoping for updates.”
“And my father?” I push.
“He’s alive and waiting for us.” I try to pull away from him, but the pain hits me, and I grunt. “Hey, come on, easy. You have a lot of healing to do.”
“How the fuck could he still be alive?” I angrily say.
I notice the look of rage pass over him. It happens so quickly that if I blinked, I would’ve missed it, but I didn’t. I saw.
His lips graze across mine before he pulls back to see me. “At that moment, you were the priority.”
A deep breath leaves me, and I rest my head on his shoulder. “Yeah, I know. So now what?”
“Now you heal,” he says, kissing the top of my head.
Just as I’m about to push for more, another nurse finally returns with my water. She sets it down on the tray and asks Zane to move off the bed. She takes out the IV and replaces it in my other hand. Once it’s in, she gives me a shot of pain medicine in it and an ice pack for my other hand. She checks my vitals and finally hands me the water before she leaves.
I feel the first sip of cold-water travel throughout my body. It feels so good on my dry throat. After a few more sips, Zane takes it from me.
“How’s the pain?” he asks.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
He shakes his head and finally kisses me with a bit more force. It’s a quick peak, but it’s something. “No more lies, Harper. I can’t take it. If you’re in pain, don’t try to be tough. Promise me.”
The pain medicine is kicking in and I feel the exhaustion taking over. “No more lies from either of us, Zane. You promise, I promise,” I sleepily say.
“Deal, babe. Get some sleep. I need to call everyone, but I won’t be far,” he says.
I want to argue, but my eyes are already closing. “Okay.”
His fingers sink into my hair and I’m not sure if I’m smiling, but I want to. “I love you, Harper. With everything I am.”
“I love you too, Z,” I manage, before I’m pulled under.
“She’s good. She didn’t seem to be in much pain, but you know how she is.” Laughter fills the room and I slowly blink my eyes open. “Shit, did we wake you?”
I clear my throat and try to sit up, but the pain prevents me. “No, I think I need more pain medicine.”
“I’ll go get the nurse,” Zane says, kissing me before he walks out.
“Hey,
” Ivy says.
“Hey,” I reply with a grin.
She starts to cry, and I shake my head. “Don’t fucking scare me like that again.” I let her hug me and she cries on my shoulder.
“She’s been like this since she heard what happened,” Kace says, drawing my attention. “Welcome back to the land of the living, sweetheart. Scared the shit out of your man.”
I laugh, but suddenly stop. “No jokes, not yet. How long until this pain isn’t so intense?”
He kisses my cheek quickly. “Everyone is different. For me it took a few weeks, but believe it or not, mine was worse.” He lifts his large shoulders like it’s no big deal.
“Guess I didn’t wanna take all your glory,” I say with a smile. “How long was I asleep?”
“We’ve been here about an hour and Zane called a few hours ago. I’m not entirely sure, but a few hours,” Ivy says. “Do you need anything? Want some water?”
I take a few small sips and tell her I’m done. I glance between Kace and Ivy, wondering if anything happened between them. He did say she’s been like this since it happened. Makes me believe he’s been with her the entire time. I grin to myself, if anything good comes out of this, maybe it brought them together. I’ll ask Ivy when we get a chance to be alone.
I take a second to stare at Kace. He appears to be concentrating on his phone, but I know he’s listening to every word being said. I don’t know what Zane would do without him. He’s his best friend, the logical, levelheaded one. The one who helps keep Zane grounded. And he knows exactly what I’m going through, having been here himself. My eyes drift from him to Ivy and back again. He’s sexy by anyone's standards. His messy brown hair, dark eyes, and the facial hair that is more than just a five o’clock shade, give him a mysterious look. The lip ring, that he’s had a long as I can remember, gives a hint to his other piercings. I know his nipples are pierced too, but it’s always made me wonder what else could be. He’s tall, muscular, and has brilliant artwork covering him, from his hand up his entire arm and across his chest. There’s no doubt in my mind that Ivy is drinking him in every time she’s brave enough to peek.
Redemption (Shattered Souls MC Book 2) Page 2
