I jerk the wheel.
Mary screams.
Chapter 30
My ex
Dina
Iwake up groggy, in a room with dim, soothing lights. The headache starts pounding at my temples almost immediately. It takes me a moment to orient myself. The smell of cleaning supplies and the sound of a monitor help me realize I’m in a room in the hospital.
Memories rush at me. Is Connor still under the rubble? Did they really leave him there? Or worse, did they use a crane to bury him even more? What time is it?
There should be a clock on the wall opposite the bed, but there isn’t one.
Someone clears their throat. I think it’s a man.
“Hello?” I call out.
Sergei walks up from in front of me. He’s wearing a nice dark suit and smells as fine as always. Not even his five-hundred-dollar haircut paired with his dark blue eyes can make me look at him with anything more than distaste.
“I’m here, Dina.”
“What?” I clear my throat. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m your emergency contact. I was worried you were in the salon when it exploded.”
I snort, unlike a lady. “You came to see if I’m dead?”
“Believe it or not, I want you alive for our daughter.”
“Since that never stopped you from cheating or being an asshole to me, you’ll have to excuse me for not buying into your concerned ex-husband act.”
“I’m not here to argue with you. How are you feeling?”
“Fine. Great. My salon is in rubble, and there’s a man trapped under there.”
“What man?” Sergei asks, a tic in his jaw.
He’s jealous. Even when he doesn’t want me, he wants to control me. He told me it’s because he was my first. Fuck him. I want more than just a few lovers in my life. After Declan ate me out, I’m never going back to non-eaters. If a guy isn’t an eater, I don’t want him.
“Declan Crossbow,” I say. “He’s trapped under the rubble.”
“They said nobody else is under there. The crews stopped working.”
“Oh no,” I cry out, the sound strangled and pained.
“Maybe he crawled out from under there like the cockroach he is.”
“He didn’t.” He couldn’t have. He was with me, and he went under like I did. “Wait. How do you know nobody is under there?”
Sergei points at the TV, which isn’t on. “It was on the news. You’re the only person they dug up. Now they’ll just secure the site and keep people away in case something else collapses.”
Oh no.
“Yeah.” Sergei continues. “They pulled back the rescue teams. By the way, Chi-chi and your dad are coming.”
“No!” I scream.
