Christian turned to her.“She walk out or was she taken?”
“She shouldn’t be walking at all due to her condition.She has a fractured radius, and there are two layers of gauze covering her burns.Additionally, the IV medications are still metabolizing in her system.If she got up and left, I’ll eat my stethoscope,” May said.
Damian’s jaw snapped shut.“Oh, you don’t know her.I’d bet my life that brat ignored the pain and walked right out of here.”
Christian looked at Damian, whose green eyes burned a deep fire.“Who is she?”
“Stella,” Damian said, his teeth audibly grinding.
“Your ex-wife?”Christian had never been so shocked in his entire life.
Damian’s chin lifted with a look most people would run from.“We didn’t exactly get divorced.”
What the fuck?
Chapter35
Amka stepped out of the restroom and paused, adjusting to the cooler air in the hallway.The hospital lights were too bright, but her headache had dulled to something manageable.It had settled into a soft throb behind her temples.Man, she hated needles.Why did she have to have another tetanus shot, anyway?She rolled her shoulders, and the soreness in her body made itself known.A deep, even ache stretched across her thighs and down her back, earned the good way.
Something had changed with Christian that morning on the ridge.With them both.She didn’t want to let him go.At the thought, she paused.She’d probably been in love with him for months.Her chest heated.
If he thought he was getting away from her, he’d lost his mind.
She walked slowly at first, letting her body settle.Thank goodness she’d been able to get some of her own clothing.Her home had still smelled like chemicals, but they’d at least cleaned up.She hoped Jarod hadn’t been killed there, and Christian said he didn’t see any evidence that he had.She had grabbed fresh clothes and an overnight kit.
Now, as she made her way down the quiet hallway, she thought about Lorrie Warner.
The woman had been knocked down during the chaos at the tavern.Amka had barely gotten a look at her before Christian had pulled her away from the fire, but someone had said Lorrie had taken a mug to the head.One of Amka’s mugs that decorated the place had fallen from a shelf.That detail wouldn’t let go.Lorrie’s husband was dead, and Amka had no idea whether the woman had even had a chance to grieve properly.
May had mentioned that Lorrie had stayed overnight.
The least Amka could do was look in on her.She turned left at the end of the hall and stopped outside Room 3.The door was slightly ajar.The light inside was dim.She hesitated and then quietly walked in, not wanting to awaken the young widow if she’d found sleep.
What Amka saw didn’t fit.
Lorrie was sitting up in the hospital bed.Her blonde hair was down, loose across the pillow.The blanket was pulled to her waist.Her expression was soft, even peaceful.Steve was leaning over her.His hand cupped her face.He was kissing her.
Not on the cheek.Not her forehead.
Mouth to mouth.Close.Long.Intimate.
Amka didn’t move.What the heck?Was Steve taking advantage of the poor woman?She was about to intercede when Lorrie lifted her hand and touched his chest.There was nothing hesitant about it.No confusion, no distress.She looked at him the way a woman looks at a man she wants.
What was happening?This didn’t make any sense.
Steve leaned back and chuckled, his blond hair catching the light from the bathroom.“I can’t believe it worked.This was insane, and we did it.Fucking Eli.Damn, he was hard to kill.”
Amka gasped.
Steve turned at the sound, eyes catching hers.The smile dropped from his face in a blink.“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” he said, too calm.He grabbed her by the arm and yanked hard, pulling her fully into the room, quietly shutting the door behind her.He shoved her onto the bed, where she fell, her mouth opening to scream.
“Stop,” he hissed, yanking a gun out of his jacket pocket to point at her.A matte-black pistol.
Amka pushed herself off the bed, her gaze shifting between them.“What did you do?”She looked at Lorrie, whose eyes had gone wide.“Lorrie?”
Lorrie plucked a loose string on the white blanket covering her.“Eli was mean.A total jerk.Steve and I have been in love for years, and he thought, well, we should be together.”Tears filled her eyes.“They’re business partners, and Steve is so much better at it than Eli is.He should run the construction company.We should do it together.”
Amka tried to make sense of the entire situation.“You’re an influencer.”She would not look at the gun.Instead, she tried to make eye contact with Steve.“You have tons of followers.”
