“You can see a doctor without him,” Fern whispers. “And if youweredrugged, Kade should—”
“Please.” I tighten my grip on her hand. “You know he won’t let me speak to a doctor alone. He’ll sit in the room. He’ll ask questions. I can’t—” My voice cracks. “Fern, I need you.”
Kade reaches us and kisses my head. I glare at Fern, silently begging her to improvise.
She straightens immediately. “I was thinking,” she says brightly, “I’ve got a gynaecology appointment at the hospital in an hour. Why don’t I take Eden with me? We’re going the same way.”
“It’s fine,” Kade says, brushing her off. “I want to see for myself that she’s okay.”
Martha steps in. “Back off, Kade. She’s my sister, we’ll take her. And you’ve got tattoo appointments all day.”
Kade smirks. “What are you, my stalker? Diesel can pick them up.”
“Martha’s right,” I add quickly. “All this fuss is crazy. I’m fine. But if you insist I get checked, she can come with me and you can go to work.”
He studies me like he’s trying to decode something. Then he shrugs and leans down to kiss me.
The moment he gets close, the scent hits me—
Zesty. Sharp. Wrong.My whole body goes rigid.
His hand slides to my chin in a gentle caress, but it collides with a flash of memory so vivid it knocks the breath out of me.
Bruising fingers. Pinching. Hold still, bitch. Dirty—
I flinch violently.
When I open my eyes, Kade is staring at me like I’ve just slapped him.
“What’s going on with you?” he asks, brow furrowed. “I kiss you and you freeze up on me?”
“I… I—I…”
“Pres!” Diesel shouts from down the hallway.
Relief washes through me so hard my knees weaken. Kade looks away. Fern and Martha are watching me with wide, terrified eyes. I force a small smile.
“Call me the second you’re done at the hospital,” Kade mutters. “We’ll talk about this later.” Then, quieter, he adds, “Did something happen last night?” I shake my head hard. “Queenie…” His jaw tightens. “If I find out you did something—”
“Jesus, Kade,” Fern cuts in, laughing nervously. “Like Eden would ever do anything like that to you.”
He hesitates, confused, still frowning at me, then turns and heads to his office.
The moment he’s gone, the smile falls from my face, and I release a long, shuddering breath.Fuck.
KADE
“I sent two of my best men to watch my ol’ lady and she went missing. What the fuck happened?” I growl, pacing behind my chair.
Cole won’t look at me. “Pres, I saw her go to the toilet and then I got sidetracked.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Sidetracked how? And if you tell me it was because of a woman—”
His silence answers for him.
I slam my palms on the desk so hard the pens jump. “You lost my ol’ lady because you gotdistracted? By some random fucking girl!”
“Pres—”
