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His eyes narrowed on my face, turning contrary and intense. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Eight
Conway
The doctors were reviewing my chart, deciding whether I could leave or not. I’d been there for a few days, and despite my bruises and pain, I was perfectly healthy. I was eager to get home, to put this nightmare behind me.
Sapphire sat at my bedside, her hand constantly resting on my own. She was too pregnant to get into the bed with me, her stomach extending far out and making her waddle everywhere she went. Just like my mother, she constantly looked at me with worry. When she first saw me, she broke down into tears. Just weeks ago, we’d enjoyed our romantic honeymoon, and now, I was lying in a hospital bed.
A man in a suit had pulled me aside when the banquet finished, saying that Nicole had something for me. When I followed him into a dark hallway, I was blindsided. Three men took me down, dragged me into the alleyway, and then beat me into submission. They could have just put a syringe in my neck, but beating me was obviously more enjoyable.
Everything that happened didn’t matter to me because the only person I cared about was my wife. As long as she was okay, everything else seemed irrelevant. Worrying about her was much more painful than a few broken ribs.
Sapphire watched me, a permanently emotional look on her face. Her wedding ring glittered under the fluorescent lights, and despite her sadness, she still looked beautiful. She’d been stressing about me this entire time, even though the doctors said I would be okay.
“Muse, you should go home and get some rest.”
“No.” She squeezed my hand tighter. “We aren’t leaving unless you come with us.” Now she always referred to herself as two people, feeling the baby inside her kick every night while we tried to sleep. “The doctors say you might be leaving soon anyway. Let’s just wait.” For no reason at all, she started to cry.
“Muse…” My hand glided up her arm, doing my best to comfort her without moving and affecting my ribs.
“The pregnancy hormones…I’m just a mess right now.”
“Muse, I’m alright. Nothing to worry about.”
“I know…but I hate seeing you like this.”
I squeezed her hand. “In a few weeks, I’ll be back to normal. I’ll be the strong man that you married.”
“It’s not that you aren’t strong. I just hate knowing what happened to you.”
It was nothing compared to what could have happened to her if Bones hadn’t intervened. I hadn’t had a chance to thank him…or tell him that I was indebted to him for the rest of my life. He saved my wife and baby. How could I ever repay him for that? “It’s in the past. We have such a great future to look forward to. Let it go.”
“What if they come back…?”
“My father said they killed everyone.” I didn’t know what the future held for me. The Skull Kings had hired someone else to do the job. Did that mean they were still after me? Or would they back off now that they’d seen what the Barsettis could do? I had no idea. But I hoped they had bigger fish to fry.
Sapphire nodded, like that eased her mind.
All I wanted was for her to feel better, so I screened the truth from her. All she needed to worry about was having our baby. I would take care of the rest.
“Your parents offered to host us at their house. That way you could recover, and they could look after us.”
“We don’t need that, Muse. We’re—”
“I said yes.”
I didn’t press my argument, wanting her to feel safe instead of getting my way.
“Your dad and uncle are there, so that way we won’t be alone…”
“I would hire men to watch the house.”
“But men aren’t loyal when it comes to money. Men are only loyal when it comes to family.”
That was well said.
“I feel more comfortable staying with them,” she whispered. “Until you’re better.”
I let her have her way. “Alright, Muse.”
Carter tapped his knuckles against the door before he poked his head inside. “Hey, man. Is this a bad time?”
“No, come in,” I said. “Sapphire and I have just decided to stay with my parents for a while, until I’m back on my feet.”
Carter would normally make a smartass comment, but he’d been in a distant mood lately. He approached me on the opposite side of the bed as Sapphire. “Can I speak to him alone for a minute? If that’s alright?”
Sapphire kept holding my hand, like she didn’t want to let me go.
“Muse, get something to eat with my mom.” I pulled her hand to my mouth and kissed it. “It’s been a while since you’ve eaten.”
Her eyes still shifted back and forth with hesitation, but after a long pause, she finally rose and left the room.
