I slowly stepped up to her and my hand lifted, but I stopped before I touched her. This was my fault. I was the reason she was assaulted, beaten and stabbed. I couldn’t lose her—not in life, not in death. She completed me. She made my life better. I knew finding love after loss would be difficult, but she made it easy. I was the one who made things complicated.
My hand dragged across her face slightly, and she didn't move. I moved the strands of hair from her face and brought my lips to her forehead. My lips lingered for a moment before I pulled myself back up. “I’ll be waiting for you, princess. I love you. Please don’t leave me.”
I slowly back out of the room, taking a deep, shaky breath. The adrenaline finally wore off, and I winced. Worrying about Kadence, I forgot Elijah stabbed me. It might be serious, but I’d have Doc patch me up.
“Thank you,” I told the doctor.
“Of course. She is a lucky girl. She’s a fighter.” She had no idea.
“Yes. Yes, she is.”
Walking back to the ICU, her father was on the phone. When he saw me, he hung up and walked towards me. I really didn’t want to talk to him, but I knew the two of us needed to have a conversation. I lifted my finger to his face, walking into the regular waiting room. I looked for Doc, seeing him with Annika and Hunter. Everyone at the club had been worried sick about me and Kadence, more so Kadence than me.
“Doc,” I called him, and everyone looked at me. “Only Doc, Hunter, and Hawke. I’ll update you in a few.”
The three of them walked towards me, and Hunter pulled me into her arms. “Is she okay?” she asked.
I lifted my head, brushing away my tears. “She is for the most part. Everly raped her. Oral and her fingers.”
“Good God,” Hawke growled.
“Doc, I need your assistance,” I told him as I looked at him. He should know me by now. I didn’t say anything as I lifted my shirt up and three pairs of eyes grew.
“Goddamnit, Blaize,” Doc cursed, grabbing my arm and dragging me into an empty hospital room. Thankfully, he had connections here or this wouldn't end well for us. “I’m tired of your shit.”
“Kadence was more important than a superficial wound.” Doc moved his hands dramatically like he wanted to choke me. He dealt with my bullshit for years now. Why was he surprised?
Everything would slowly get back to normal, but now I just needed my queen to wake up.
CHAPTER 84
KADENCE
Princess.
Come back to me.
A gasp ripped through my body, jolting it and sending ripples of pain through my nerves, causing a scream to fall from my lips. It must’ve been louder than I realized, because the door to the hospital room I was in slammed open, hitting the wall as Blaize and someone else rushed in. I looked at the man with the gun drawn. I blinked, taking a double take, not believing who was in the room with Blaize.
“Dad?”
“Yeah, Cade—Kadence.”
I blinked again, not taking my glare away from him. “Wh-why are you here?”
“Someone left me a cryptic voicemail saying you were being trafficked. I got the address to this strip club you work at. Turns out I came at the right time, because you were kidnapped.”
It still didn’t answer my question. “Why are you here?” I asked more sternly and demandingly, even if everything inside me was screaming. He didn’t answer. “Why do you fucking care?” My voice broke as my heart monitor started screaming at me.
“I’m sorry, okay?”
“Sorry?” I mimicked, raising my voice. “You’resorryfor neglecting me? You’resorryfor shoving a gun down my throat? All the years of emotional and mental abuse? Do you know what that does to a child when their father is their first bully?” He opened his mouth to say something, but I didn't let him. “I lost my brother, my mom,andmy father in the span of a week. Nathan was the only one who died. I lived under your roof, but you didn’t bother. Nothing I did was good enough for you. Nothing. Meeting Dominic finally made you care, then I was raped. Youblamedme. I didn’t ask for it! I just wanted you to care enough to—ahh!” I screamed as a sharp pain shot through me, and my monitor went haywire.
The door opened, and the doctor and nurse rushed in. I winced in pain, feeling something warm. “Fuck me. Not again,” I whimpered.
“Both of you out.”
“She can stay,” I told them, reaching out for Blaize. “He can go.”
