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"As you did," Chase reminded him. He wasn't ready to forgive the other man for that.
Drew nodded slowly before meeting Chase's eyes again. "I courted her and I married her because I thought you wanted her. I thought, look at me, the big shit. I have something Chase Falladay wants and can't have. "
Chase stared at him in surprise.
"You always had her, though. " He sighed. "And when I saw her in that room, willing to die to protect you, I guess I finally grew up. " He shook his head. "Maybe, if I had cared more for her than I had for myself, things might have been different. "
Chase shook his head. "I would have taken her from you eventually. "
To that, Drew smiled. "No, you wouldn't have. Kia keeps her promises, Chase. All of them, no matter what, no matter how much it hurts her. You'll find that out. She doesn't back down. She doesn't fight. She doesn't rage. But you'll see. " He nodded, amusement sparking his eyes.
"You'll find out. She's stronger than any other woman you'll ever meet, and most men. "
He already knew that. Chase stared back at Drew, holding that knowledge close to himself. He had known that for a while now.
"I'm heading to England," Drew said then. "New job, better position and pay. " He shrugged. "Tell her I said goodbye. "
He turned and stepped toward the door.
"Drew. " Chase stopped him as he passed the end of the bed. The other man turned back to him. "Thank you for being there. For seeing what I missed when she stepped into that elevator. "
Drew's lips quirked. "You weren't the only one worried. " Then he nodded and turned and walked out of the room.
Chase stared down at Kia and whispered another prayer. A thank-you.
Other than the concussion and some bruising, she was going to be fine. She would be out of the hospital in the morning and home where she belonged. In their home. In his bed.
"Hey, bro. Dinnertime. " Cameron swaggered into the room, a greasy bag in one hand, two cups of coffee in a holder in the other.
He looked at Kia, his gaze flashing with compassion before his attention was distracted by his fiancée moving in behind him.
"Is she asleep?" Jaci whispered, her big green eyes concerned.
They had stuck by him the past two days, Cameron and Jaci, sleeping in the chairs in the hallway or stretching out on the couch in the waiting room when they could. They hadn't left until that evening to rest and shower before coming back.
Khalid had a bodyguard outside her door just in case there was further trouble and another doctor had been flown in from New York to consult with Sanjer, just to be on the safe side.
Friends surrounded her. Ian and Courtney, Ella and James, Terrie and her husband, Jesse. They had all been there. Even Devril, Lucian, and Tally had cut their vacation short to return home and visit her in the hospital. Saxon and Marey, friends of Chase's who Kia hadn't met yet, had called several times from where they were visiting with Sax's family in California, and Kimberly and Jared had been in to see her several times. Flowers filled the room, and he hoped she felt the friendship.
She would never be alone again, Chase promised himself. No matter what happened, there would always be friends surrounding her.
"Come on, Chase. Coffee and food. " Cameron tapped his shoulder, drawing his attention. "She's going home tomorrow, and everything's going to be fine. "
"She's coming home. " And he could finally believe it. Finally, that lonely, dark apartment full of the memories of a life that had ended when he was a child would be a home.
Because of Kia. Because she had taken pleasure and turned it into love. Because she had filled his heart, just as he knew she was going to fill his life.
It wasn't only pleasure anymore. Hell, Chase knew, it never had been.
Epilogue
A WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Kia stepped out of her parents' limo, her little shopping bag rolled up carefully in her overlarge purse and her heart lighter than it had been in years.
She was still bruised. Her face was healing, but she looked like a human punching bag beneath the makeup. Her mother and aunt had known the right person to call to help cover the bruising so she could finish her Christmas shopping.
"I'm walking you to the elevator," her father informed her, coming out of the limo as the chauffeur helped her out. "You should have let me call Chase and let him know you were here. "
