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There he was. Her Fallen angel. She let go of his hand and slowly slid hers up his chest to his stubbled cheek. Loving the scratchy feel on her palm. She swiped her thumb slowly back and forth over his lips. He was real. He’d saved her. He reached for for her hand and moved it to press soft kisses all over it.
“Here baby, drink some of this.” He pushed a straw past her lips.
She sucked and a sugary sports drink washed over her tongue and soothed her dry throat. It was bliss. After a couple of huge gulps she pushed the straw from her mouth with her tongue.
“You done?”
“Yes, thank you.” Thank god she could talk, or whisper at least. It was a struggle but it was worth it to talk to him. The smile that graced Duke’s face was dazzling.
“I’ve been waiting to hear that voice for a week.” He sighed and caressed her cheek. Fury flashed in his eyes before he hid it. “You’re pretty banged up, baby. Slam should be here soon to give you some more meds.”
“No. No.” She didn’t want any meds. She didn’t want to go back into the darkness of her mind. She could deal with the pain if it meant she could keep looking at him.
“Don’t start that fucking shit, Nicole. I can see you wince every time you breathe. I’m not gonna let you be in pain, baby. You don’t get a choice here. You need rest and to heal and I need you to lay here in our bed – safe – while I sort those bitches.”
His face was anything but serene, she’d never seen him so angry and upset. She finally thought of what she must look like to him. She knew from every pain that she would be a mess. All week she’d imagined being reunited with Duke and this was the opposite of every scenario she’d imagined.
Tears slipped from her eyes. Duke swept them away. “They’re the only tears those fucking sluts get from you! Don’t waste anymore on those pathetic whores.”
He was wrong. She wasn’t crying over Helen and the others. If there was one thing she woke certain of was that Duke would make them bitches pay for what they did to her. No, he was wrong. She was playing his words through her head. He’d said…..our bed.
“Okay.” She tried to smile at him, he grimaced when she did. There was her definitive proof that she wasn’t looking good but Duke never turned away or moved his eyes from hers. He kept a steady stare infusing her with his strength and something deeper, heartfelt.
There was a hard rap on the door. Duke shouted for whoever it was to come in. She wanted to yell out to keep away. She just wanted to lie here with Duke, no interruptions. She braced herself for Duke to shift her off his chest but he didn’t. If anything his grip on her hand grew tighter. Prez, Shel, Hollywood, Razor and Slam all walked into the bedroom.
“Hey darlin’. How you feeling?” Slam was always so sweet to her.
“I’m okay…” she started about to boldly lie about her pain level to avoid more meds when Duke spoke up.
“Like fuck she is!” Duke interrupted. “She’s in a lot of pain, brother. You need to give her some more of that shit to knock it off.” Nicole smoothed her hand over his chest to calm him down. She hated seeing him this tense, especially when she was in no position to help calm him at the moment. She looked towards Slam again and saw him snarl.
“Fuck you, Duke. You know I’d never leave her to suffer.” His voice softened as he addressed her. “Nic, I’m gonna give you some more painkillers but Prez needs you to tell him what happened first. I’ll give you the drugs straight away after, then you’ll be able rest.”
She could see Slam was trying to be a calming influence in a room full of seriously pissed brothers. She saw that his eyes kept wandering to her exposed back and legs. The devastation and guilt she saw in them broke her heart.
“It’s not your fault, Slam.” She said with as much conviction as she could muster.
“It fucking is! If I hadn’t left, this wouldn’t have happened!” So much for being a calming influence. She’d never heard him shout before.
Prez took hold of his shoulders as everyone was trying to reassure him that he wasn’t to blame, even Duke made the effort to reassure him. Prez spoke loudly above them all. “Look, all this blaming shit is pointless. It’s happened, now we deal with it like we would do anything else. Okay?”
There were a few heavy sighs and grunts but after a few seconds everyone nodded and stayed silent. He grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and straddled it by the side of the bed. His focus unwavering from Nicole. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. His face was blank and she didn’t know him well enough to guess.
“Now, Nicole. Helen has said she caught you with a burner cell phone talking to someone. Is that true?” Duke growled underneath her. Her whole body jerked. What was he accusing her of?
“No, absolutely not. I haven’t touched a phone since I got here. Who would I call anyway? I don’t understand.” She started to mumble, thinking out loud.
Now more than ever she wanted to stand and defend herself but she couldn’t and frustration filled her to her limit. She could feel the tears building behind her eyes and her body trembling. Duke grabbed her hand again and squeezed while tenderly running his hand gingerly down her back.
Still all business, Prez continued, “Apparently you were heard talking to Wrath.”
“I promise I didn’t have a phone. I haven’t spoken to anyone. I would never contact Wrath. What did she say I was saying?” She blurted out. She turned her head to look directly at Duke, gritting her teeth against the pain in her neck. “Please Duke, I swear I’d never do that to you or the club.” She rambled her plea to him, praying he would believe her. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks at the thought that after all this he would leave her if he didn’t.
