“She’s not fine,” Ryker cut through her protest. “Someone clocked her in the head. Hard enough to drop her. Found her crumpled on the concrete.”
“Fuck.” I had never experienced the level of fury now boiling through my blood. My fingers balled into fists, and instantly, I could feel the shift in everything. The moment where everything in my life changed, split into the before and after.
Before she was attacked. And after.
Before I took her for granted. And after I realized I couldn’t survive without her.
Before someone dared touch her. And after, when I’d hunt him to the ends of the earth to make him pay for what he did.
While my mind was preoccupied with rage and concern, Blake slipped into emergency-doctor mode and knelt next to her head, his movements clinical and efficient.
“She needs stitches,” Blake said. “And a CT scan.”
“Stitches?” Dakota’s voice pitched higher. “Can’t we just use butterfly bandages?”
“Sunshine.” I moved closer so I could take her hand. “You’re doing whatever the doctor says.”
Her lips pressed into that stubborn line I knew too well.
Jesus. Look at her, lying there on my couch. She wasn’t crying. Not even after being attacked and left bleeding on concrete. With blood actively leaking from her wound, trickling down her neck to stain the silk, she looked more uncomfortable with all the attention this was bringing her than with the injury itself.
Strongest woman I’d ever met.
“Before we leave for the ER, I’d like to get gauze on the wound to control the bleeding. You have a first aid kit?” Blake eyed me.
I nodded, then sprinted down the hallway toward my bathroom. When I returned, Mathew was huddled beside her with an ice pack from my freezer.
Mathew’s voice was soft. Snake-like. “Just try to stay still, Dakota. You’ve been through enough tonight.”
My pulse pounded in my ears as I watched him lean over her, playing the concerned ex-boyfriend. Now he was trying to be the knight in shining armor when he was the one whose big mouth had caused this mess in the first place.
I stormed over to him, grabbed him by his expensive suit collar, and flung him backward across the living room like a rag doll. He hit the window with a satisfying thud.
Too bad it didn’t break and send him free-falling to his death.
“What the hell—” Mathew started.
“Keep your hands off her.” I took his spot, handing Blake the gauze.
Blake’s glare could have frozen hell, but I didn’t give a damn about his judgment.
“Did you see who did this?” I asked Dakota.
She shook her head, but worry creased her brow as she scanned the crowd of guests still watching like this was dinner theater.
She didn’t need an audience.
“Everyone, out.” I didn’t look up from her wound. “Now.”
“I’m not going anywhere until I know she’s okay,” Mathew declared, straightening his tie like he hadn’t just been hurled across the room like a little bitch. He made the mistake of taking a step closer, so I shot to my feet and shoved him with both hands.
Jace materialized in front of me, holding me back, while Ryker moved in front of Mathew.
“She’s hurt because of you. Your big mouth,” I snapped.
“I told her what she deserved to know! You’re the one who lied!” Mathew’s voice stayed level, controlled. “And now look what’s happened. She’s hurt, Axel. This is what I was worried about.”
“You seriously think this is how you win her back?” I snapped.
