“Enzo’s knee is bad.” I rushed the words out, hating that fact that I was going against his wishes.
“Okay.” He stood, then got the bottle of Advil down, and he was gone before I could even get the ice pack from the freezer.
Was Ryker mad at me? Did he regret taking Enzo in?
Sniffing to keep my tears at bay, I did everything I could to push it out of my mind. I’d figure it out later. Right now, Enzo was the priority.
Back in the bedroom, Enzo was glaring at Ryker. His gaze didn’t change as his eyes fell on me. I felt smoke billowing from my ears at the look alone.
“Sorry,” I squeaked, freezing at the end of the bed.
“It is okay if touch your knee?” Ryker asked after Enzo took the pills and water bottle.
“Like my answer matters.” He turned his head away from the both of us.
“It does matter. I can have an on-call doctor make a house visit instead to check it out. To me, it looks infected.”
“Whatever.”
“Emery?” At Ryker’s voice, I looked up, fighting back tears. “Can you put the ice pack on his knee while I make a phone call?”
I nodded, fearing that if I spoke, tears would definitely come.
He gave me an encouraging smile before stepping out of the room. I waited for his quiet voice to float through the house before I crawled back on to the bed, careful to not move it at all.
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t,” I stated, gently putting the ice pack on top of his knee. He hissed at the touch. “You’d have done the same thing for me. I can’t risk losing you again. Please, don’t make me the bad guy every time something’s wrong.”
“I’m fine.” He spat the two words.
It wasn’t worth it to argue with him.
We weren’t the kind of people to fight, but I was the one to always give in. I always went along with whatever he wanted, even when I probably shouldn’t.
“I’m going to go talk to Ryker. You stay there.”
“Emery…” My name was a plea that made me pause.
Speaking over my shoulder, but not looking directly at him, I said, “I love you, Enzo. But I will walk away.”
I wasn’t going to play games anymore. Steven still had a hold over the man that I loved, but that didn’t mean I had to deal with it.
Ryker
It took a little over an hour for Collin and Emily to show up. In tow was their lover and boy, Silas. He was still sleepy-eyed while the others seemed wide awake.
“Hadn’t expected you to need me so soon,” Collin laughed, giving me a handshake. “Em, Silas, an old friend, Ryker.”
A few years back, Collin had found these two on the dark web. The human traffickers were long since dead, but that didn’t stop others from selling and buying humans like they were pets.
I remembered the many news reports over the past year alone. A lot of the criminals were now in jail, or dead. All thanks to this guy here and his family.
“Thanks for getting here so quick. I don’t think he was up for a ride to the hospital.”
Heck, since I'd given him an Advil, all Enzo had done was give me and Emery the silent treatment. I had no clue what was going on between them, and I wasn’t going to push just yet.
“Not a problem. Emily is happy to help. She’s getting good at being a doctor.” At the praise, Emily ducked her head, a light blush tinting her cheeks.
