He answers on the second ring, not wasting a moment, and his words make my blood run cold. “Damon’s having some kind of seizure. An ambulance is on the way.”
“Strychnine poisoning?”
My words are filled with incredulity as I stare in disbelief at Fraser Cartwright, Damon’s doctor at Brant Hamilton Memorial Hospital.
He nods grimly. “That’s what our preliminary tests have shown, Mr. Holloway. It’s probable that he ingested it accidentally. The next twenty-four hours will be crucial, but you can rest assured, your employee is receiving the very best of care.”
Then he scribbles something on Damon’s chart before handing it off to the nurse at his side.
“I’ll keep you updated.”
And with that, he pivots on his heel, swiftly disappearing down the corridor.
I turn to Lenny with a heavy sigh, pressing two fingers against my right temple, where a solid throbbing has resided since arriving at the hospital.
“I need you to hold down the fort for a little while, Len.” I wait for his nod before I continue. “I have to make several calls, and then I’ll handle things with Miss Hart’s security detail. In the meantime, ensure she stays in this room. I’ll be back shortly.”
I glance into the hospital room where Emerson is waiting alongside Lawson, assuring her safety, before I move past Lenny toward the stairwell. Once I’m hidden behind the door, I growl a low expletive, then quickly dial Alex’s cell.
It goes directly to voicemail. Vaughn’s does, too, so when Grayson answers almost immediately, relief unfurls in my chest.
“What’s up, Tex?”
There’s silence on the other end of the line as I bring him up to speed.
“Now I’ve just got to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do about Emerson’s security. Lenny’s good, but he’s no Damon. And until I know where the strychnine came from and exactly how it got into Damon’s system, I’m hesitant to allow her out of my goddamn sight.”
“Why don’t you just do it yourself?”
I grimace at his words. “Are youshittingme, Rich Boy?” He proceeds to snort at my rarely used nickname for him. When I’d discovered Grayson’s rigid upbringing, along with his hatred for his old money family and their downright odd peculiarities, I couldn’t resist the jibe.
He’s chuckling when he replies. “I’ve seen you pine for this woman for the last three years. Since your drunken confession to me by the firepit the night we celebrated Sentinel’s launch.”
I wince at the hazy memory of the night I let loose in Gray’s ski lodge in upstate Vermont while our friends had slept soundly with their wives as he continues.
“And I’m positive there’s not another living soul on this planet who has a bigger investiture in the safety of America’s Sweetheart than you do.”
He’s not wrong.
Even so, I’m torn.
After five years in the shadows, watching and protecting from the sidelines, can I step into her light and, when the job’s done, leave unscathed?
Or worst. Might I end up breaking her as badly as I broke myself the day I walked away…
EMERSON
“You want a coffee, Em?”
I lift my gaze from my lap to meet Law’s concerned eyes, and I nod with a small, reassuring smile. “I’d love one. Thank you.”
As my sweet fake boyfriend slips from the room, I look back at my lap, my thoughts immediately returning to Damon. Witnessing those seizures that wracked his whole body was one of the scariest moments of my life, and every time I close my eyes, I see it all over again.
Just then, my stomach grumbles with hunger, and I sit up taller, remembering that I haven’t eaten today. I reach for my cell, intent on calling Law, and asking him to grab me something downstairs, when I realize I left everything back at the photoshoot.
“Dammit.”
I push to stand and quickly cross the room to follow him instead, but I come up short when I practically crash into a wall of shirt-covered muscle.
