Our eyes lock. “We’ve been so focused on which of them stood to gain the most from this that we haven’t considered a third party. Someone who is maybe benefiting from these families killing one another. After all.” Valentina’s eyes glint suddenly. “A third party wouldn’t think twice about kidnapping you or shooting Cassian if they werecertainwe would blame someone else.”
“You think we’re being played?”
Valentina nods and groans. “If Bradley were here, he’d know. He always sees the big picture so easily.”
“When is he due back?”
She shrugs and pulls her phone from her pocket. “I’m going to call him.” Rising, she glances at Ivy and then back at me. “Be careful,” she murmurs, then she steps out of the room with her phone pressed to her ear.
“Ivy?”
She’s paced to the window and stands there, gazing out at the city while shifting her weight from foot to foot. She doesn’t speak, nor does she move until I approach and stand beside her.
“Affairs are normal, right?” she murmurs. “I keep thinking how ordinary it is compared to everything else that’s happened. Home invasions as well. What if…” Her eyes close. When they reopen, she turns to look at me. “What if there is no link?”
Something heavy curls in my chest, like something has sat down directly on my heart. “What do you mean?”
“Listening to you two is so alien. All the things you’re talking about, everything that’s happened to me. What if my parents are just victims of some random psychopath?”
“Well…” I suck in a deep breath, fighting to ease the tightness, but it doesn’t shift. “If they are, that psychopath is still out there and deserves to be behind bars.”
“If…” Her lower lip twists into her mouth and a question hangs thick in the air. She’s on the cusp of asking it but something makes her change her mind. Her eyelids flicker in a half-blink and she drops her gaze away from me. “I feel like everything I need to know, everything we both need to know, is locked inside my mom. If I could just talk to her. Do you think I can go and see her?”
Last I called, there was no change in her mother’s condition, but something like that can’t be believed with just words.
“She’s not awake,” I reply gently.
Ivy wraps her arms around herself. “I know, but I want to see her. I want to talk to her doctor. I need to do something that makes me feel useful. Please?” She glances back up at me, and the pain in her eyes spears into my chest. Last night, there was nothing but lust and desire in her gorgeous eyes. Today, it’s all been swallowed under the weight of her life.
“Sure. We can go.”
Against my better judgment,we arrive at the hospital a couple of hours later, accompanied by a full security team. There won’t be a repeat of last time. Ivy walks quickly next to me, her stature rigid like a statue and her lips constantly pursed as she chews her lower lip so much it becomes a vibrant crimson. The growingurge to comfort her almost strangles me from the inside, but each time I’m about to reach out for her, something stops me.
How can I fuck her like she’s the only woman in the world, yet hesitate at holding her hand or asking her how she’s feeling?
I’m so caught up in my thoughts that she manages to get a few steps ahead of me as we hurry down the hallway and the moment a man approaches her, anger swells in my chest. It spreads through me when the man places a hand on her shoulder and my gut twists.
“Hey!” I bark, catching up to them in three strides. “Back off!” My hand slams into his chest just as Ivy squeals in alarm.
“Ruslan! He’s the doctor! Stop!” Ivy grabs my arm just above my elbow and tries to pull me backward.
“The doctor?” I quickly scan the man as he stumbles back against the wall with a grunt, his eyes wide in alarm. Without a white coat, it’s difficult to tell who he is until I spot his I.D. badge attached to his belt. “Where’s the white coat, huh?”
“I’m so sorry!” Ivy pushes past me to help the doctor up, her actions only fueling the anger deep inside me.
“It’s quite alright,” the doctor says, brushing Ivy’s hand away. “It happens all the time.”
“Really?” Ivy squints up at him, brushing his sleeve with her hand.
“No, but…” The doctor glances up at me and when he catches my eye, I narrow them. “Tensions run high in hospitals.”
“That’s no excuse,” Ivy gasps. “I’m really sorry, he’s just protective. And an idiot.” She throws a glare at me over hershoulder as she speaks. “Just ignore him. You were saying something about my mother?”
“Yes.” He clears his throat and steps to the side, smart enough to put Ivy between the two of us. “As I was saying, I’m sorry but there’s been no change in your mother’s condition. Initially, we kept her in a medically induced coma in order to treat her and allow her time to recover, but after weaning her off the medication, she hasn’t shown any signs of waking up.”
“What… what does that mean?” Ivy’s voice is strained and just like that, my anger melts away.
The urge to comfort her rises like a tidal wave but as I step forward, Ivy steps closer to the doctor, pleading.
