Silas’s face was a wreath of torment. Oh God, this was his fault. He never should have left her care to others. She was his responsibility. Not Evangeline. Not anyone else. Hayley washisand he’d failed her and his brother unforgivably.
“Let me go,” he choked out, finally shaking loose from the restraining hands.
He hurried to where Hayley was hunched down on the floor, her arms covering her head entirely. His heart hammered violently as he took in the amount of blood—Zander’s blood—on her clothing.
He reached out, his hand shaking, and touched her hair.
“Princess?” he whispered. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Say something to me, my darling girl.”
She reacted violently, wrenching away from his touch, her eyes wild as she scooted backward, bumping into the chair at her side. Pain instantly flashed over her face, but what she said stopped him in his tracks.
“Don’t touch me!” she hissed, shrinking farther away from his outstretched hand. “Don’t ever call me that. I’m notyouranything.”
His mouth fell open in shock and then he glanced over his shoulder to where the rest of his brothers were gathered, looks of extreme worry in their eyes. In Maddox’s and Justice’s, though, he saw faint pity and understanding. What the hell was going on and what hadn’t they told him?
Something Maddox had said to him on the phone only just registered. At the time he’d been frantic with worry over Hayley, fearing that she’d been seriously injured.
She was devastated that you weren’t at the recital. She wasn’t herself.
He closed his eyes as sorrow gripped him. And so much regret.
“We need to get you up, Hayley,” he said in a soft voice. “I need to make sure you weren’t injured. I can’t tell what is Zander’s blood and what could be yours.”
It was the wrong thing to say. A haunted look filled her eyes and tears welled, sliding soundlessly down her cheeks.
“Is he dead?” she whispered.
“No, princess! He’s going to be okay. I swear it. They’re taking him to surgery, but nothing vital was hit. He lost a lot of blood and he’ll need time to recover, but I swear to you he’s going to be all right.”
“I’m not your princess,” she said tearfully. “I don’t evenmatterto you.”
His heart nearly exploded out of his chest. He wanted to cry like a baby, but he held it together by the thinnest thread.
Then she suddenly began pushing herself up, ignoring the protests from his brothers that she shouldn’t move. She pushed his hands away as he reached to steady her, but as his hand glanced over her bare leg before her dress fell back into place, fear lanced through his entire body, temporarily paralyzing him.
His palm came away bright red with fresh blood. Terror seized his veins, turning his own blood cold. His apology for missing an event he’d sworn to her he wouldn’t miss would have to wait. Everything would have to wait until it was determined how badly she was hurt.
She stood to her feet, her hand immediately clutching her side as she swayed precariously in front of him. Pain and confusion registered in her eyes, making her look even more vulnerable than she had when he’d first seen her huddled on the floor covered in blood.
“Hayley,” he said in a soothing voice one might use when trying to calm an injured wild animal. “Listen to me, sweet girl. You’ve been hurt. I think you may have been shot. You’re bleeding, baby. Let me get a doctor to look at you. I swear to make things right just as soon as you’ve gotten the care you need.”
“You’ll never make this right,” she whispered in a voice strangled by tears and emotion.
Devastation was written all over her face and she seemed to not even register anything else he’d said other than he would make things right. She was in fierce denial of her injury, her sole focus only on Zander and his well-being.
When she took another wobbly step back, another savage round of objections rose sharply from his brothers, and Maddox suddenly appeared at Hayley’s side, his eyes bright with concern.
“Hayley, sweetheart, listen to me,” Maddox pleaded. “Honey, you’re hurt. You’re bleeding badly. You have to let us get you back to an exam room.”
She shook her head adamantly, her eyes going wild once more. She was obviously in shock and only partly cognizant of her surroundings and completely unaware of the danger she was in. Seeming to forget that Silas was still in front of her, in her haste to move away from Maddox and his entreaty for her to submit to medical care, she bolted forward.
Silas lunged for her as her knees gave way and collapsed beneath her. She dropped like a rock and he barely managed to catch her before she hit the floor.
“Get me a doctor!” he roared as he surged to his feet, clutching Hayley to his chest in desperation.
He watched in horror as her blood dripped to the floor, and then he glanced back to where she’d been ever since she was brought into the ER, and he nearly lost his mind when he saw the bright smear of blood all over the area where she’d huddled.
Impatient, he charged through the swinging doors that led back to the treatment area. He was immediately met by a nurse who stared at him in shock.
