Page 45 of Coveted By Cupid

“I have lectures and my clinic hours at the counseling center—I can’t miss them,” Vanessa says, cracking her eyes open to slits.

“Not for the next forty-eight hours you don’t,” Scalpel says pointedly, leaving no room for argument. “Attempting to return to normal activity before you are ready can set your recovery back weeks.”

“Missing a few days is better than missing weeks, Butterfly,” I say evenly, trying to reason with her.

She sniffles. “I don’t want to fall behind in my mandatory therapy hours and risk my graduation. It isn’t fair to me. I’ve worked too damn hard to fail now.”

“No worries. I’ll write you a medical excuse—they need to comply with that or risk a lawsuit. Perhaps your professors will allow you to attend virtual lectures until you can return to in-person classes. We’ll make a compelling case for you at the counseling center to get your required hours in on time after you return,” Scalpel says reassuringly.

“But I have to work,” she argues, tears streaming down her face. “I won’t be able to afford my rent if I don’t work my shifts at the deli.”

My crew freezes, their eyes turning on me. The whole room is quiet aside from the clock ticking on the wall.

Scalpel squeezes her shoulder gently. “We’ll worry about work in two days, okay?”

“Okay,” she mumbles, closing her eyes. “Can I sleep now?”

“Sure. Get some rest.” He rises from his seat on the edge of the bed, motioning for me to follow him.

We move to the other end of the apartment where she’ll be less likely to overhear us.

Scalpel leans in, whispering, “Does she know she’s not returning to this place?”

I shake my head. “She knows nothing. I don’t believe she overheard me on the phone with Oaks, either.”

He rubs the back of his neck, grimacing. “She’s not going to be an easy patient, is she?”

“Probably not,” I admit. “She’s stubborn.”

“Great,” he mutters. “Do me a favor. Break the news to her gently. I don’t want her getting upset while dealing with a head injury.”

“I’ll do my best.”

While Vanessa sleeps in her bed, the rest of us box up her belongings, hauling them downstairs to the trucks outside. Between the five of us, we clear out the place quickly and as quietly as possible. All that’s left is to move Vanessa to my truck.

I gather her up into my arms from her bed, kissing the crown of her head gently as I carry her out of the apartment and lay her in the backseat of my truck. Throughout the whole thing, she doesn’t wake, snoring softly.

Crypt hands me my truck keys, and I reluctantly give him the keys to my hog. “Be nice to my baby.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Am I ever mean?”

“Just don’t go off-roading with her like you do my truck.”

He cock’s his head at me with pinched brows, not realizing I’m being sarcastic. “Of course not. It’s too dark to do that.”

I roll my eyes, climbing into my truck and starting the engine. I take a moment to check on Vanessa in the backseat, running my hand over her soft cheek.

“Let’s go home, Butterfly.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

BODEN

Pounding on my apartment door had me stumbling from my bedroom, running to see who the hell was here at this time of night. I glance through the peephole, and my stomach plummets.

“Open the fucking door, Boden,” Kirill yells from the outside.

Behind him is Mikhail—one of Kirill’s top dogs—with a busted nose and swollen face.