“Sir, please back up,” a firm voice says, and a stranger kneels beside me where Percy was. He immediately turns my head to face him and flashes a bright fucking light in my eyes. I try to bat his hands away so I can see Nico, but they don’t stop fucking with me.
There’s a whirlwind of activity as I try to fight the paramedics off, but I’m weak as a fucking baby. I can barely keep my eyes open.
I’m loaded onto a gurney and pushed out the door, the paramedics shouting shit to each other.
“Nico,” I whisper. “Nico.”
“Here, baby.” He’s so close, his warm breath drifts across my face.
He’s here, really here. It’s not a dream, not a figment of my imagination. He’s warm and solid beside me.
I grab his hand and squeeze it tightly. “I love you too.”
Then I’m out like a light.
CHAPTER 27
NICO
Machines whir and hiss around Declan as he rests peacefully on the bed. His face is swollen, black and blue everywhere. A few stitches peek from his blond hair, blood soaking the bandage.
His hand is in a cast, wrapped up tight after the doctors said they had to remove bone fragments, as well as operate on the tendon that he tore when he slid his hand through that fucking handcuff. There was nothing they could do for the missing finger other than remove the bone shard and sew him up.
Six of his ribs are broken, as well as his orbital bone. His jaw was swollen and the surgeon thought that it was broken as well, but it was just dislocated.
He has one chipped front tooth and a missing molar. Fractured ankle and six missing fingernails. A dislocated elbow. Internal bleeding. Cuts and bruises cover most of his body.
They hurt him bad.
He was in surgery for fourteen hours and even after all they did for him, doctors said it was touch and go.
From what Kai told me after they wheeled Declan back to surgery, he killed two captors on his own. I’m not sure if there are more out there or if Austin was one of those two, but I will kill anyone that put their hands on him.
A doctor tries to enter Declan’s room, an iPad in his hands, but won’t be let in until Kai gives the orders.
After we realized the betrayal came from inside the Whitlocks, Kai said he’d put his own loyal men—like Manuel, who’s guarded The Fox Club for as long as I’ve been around—on Declan until Carter can vet all the Whitlock men. Not that long ago, Carter would’ve objected to a St. Clair man guarding Declan. Now, I think he’ll do whatever keeps his brother safe.
Manuel looks down at the doctor, cracking his knuckles menacingly. The doctor gulps but doesn’t break eye contact.
“Mr. Whitlock. I’d like to update you on your brother’s condition,” the doctor says, holding up the device.
“Let him through,” Carter says to Manuel in an exhausted tone. His face is drawn and haggard as he looks at Declan lying in the bed. Kai stands from his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he silently supports Carter.
The doctor steps inside, first looking at the monitors, tapping his notes into the chart, then adjusting Declan’s IV drip.
Sighing, the doctor says, “He was in one hell of a scrap.”
When he was admitted, we only told the ER that he was in a fight, not that he was kidnapped and tortured.
“What are you waiting for?” I ask, pushing off the wall. “Update us on his condition.”
The doctor looks between me and Carter, then faces me fully. “And you are?”
“His partner. Now tell me what you need to tell us so we can get him out of here.”
“Well, that’s not the smartest move,” he says, mirroring my pose. “He needs to recover for at least?—”
“Don’t give a fuck. Tell me what’s wrong with him.”
