There, standing in front of me, is my new boss and lover, who no doubt has seen and stitched up whatever injuries that asshole gave me. I try not to cry, but my bottom lip starts to tremble. Thankfully, I’m able to inhale a deep breath through my nose and let it out my mouth. To calm myself before I fall apart in this room in front of him.
He flicks his gaze up from the clipboard when I don’t respond to him immediately. When his eyes meet mine, that’s when I know that shit was bad. I know because I can see the pity in his gaze.
“George?” I ask in a whisper.
He gives me a sad smile, shaking his head once before he clears his throat. “I found you in rough shape, Cidney.”
“What do you mean, you found me?”
I can hear the horror in my voice because what the hell does he mean, he found me? He found me.
He. Found. Me.
“It’s okay, Cidney. I was worried when you didn’t show up for your first day of work, so I came by when I had a break between patients. The door was cracked open, and I found you on the floor.”
How embarrassing. I open my mouth to say that, but he shakes his head once. “You’re not going to apologize or be embarrassed. You’re going to give the police report when the detectives come back, and you’re going to heal.”
My stomach drops at his mention of the worddetective. What the actual fuck? I can’t talk to the cops. I open my mouth to say that, but he takes a step closer to me, dipping his chin slightly as his gaze focuses on mine.
“I know about the Reapers. I know this probably involves them in some way, but I don’t care.”
“If you know, then you should care,” I say with a hiss.
He gives me a halfhearted smile, shaking his head once. “My mother was one of their whores, babe. Iknowthe Reapers. But what happened, I can’t write any of that off as a slip-and-fall type of injury. You were violated in the worst possible way, and the person who did that to you needs to pay for their crime.”
I almost laugh, but I don’t need to, because George chuckles first. “Whoever it was, they’re going to pay, aren’t they?” he asks.
“I know who it was, and yes.”
George reaches out, taking my hand in his, and he squeezes it gently. “Just tell me it wasn’t him. The guy you’re trying to get over?”
“No, it wasn’t, I assure you.”
“Good. Now get some rest.”
He turns and walks out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Thankfully, I’m not awake long enough for those thoughts to get too deep. I blink a few times, my eyelids becoming heavy, and then the room around me slowly drifts away to nothingness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CIDNEY
I wake again,but this time, it’s not because of the beeping. It’s because there are voices in the room. Deep, manly voices. I suck in a breath, my heart slamming against my ribs as I instantly begin to panic, but as those deep, manly voices register, I realize one of them is Justin’s.
Letting out a long sigh of relief, I turn my head slightly and look over to the little sofa against the wall and see him, Posey, Maverick, and Zadie. Justin and Maverick are standing together. They’re the ones talking, but the moment they sense I’m awake, they stop, and their gazes swing over to meet mine.
Maverick doesn’t make a move, but Justin does. He walks with purpose to my bedside. I don’t know what I expect him to say. I’m still pissed at him, but at the same time, I’m really happy to see him.
“You know who it was?” he demands.
“I’m feeling okay. How are you?” I snap.
His brows snap together, then his entire face softens, and I see a dash of pity in his eyes before he shakes it off and speaks.His voice comes out soft, almost like warm honey that soothes all of me from the inside out.
“How are you, Cid?”
My lips curve up into a small smile. It’s about all I can muster because the pain meds are beginning to wear off, and that phantom pain I was feeling earlier is very much real now. And it hurts just as I expected—everywhere.
“I don’t know yet,” I whisper. “It hurts.”
