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She cleared her throat, but her racing pulse clogged it back up again. She had to tell him the truth. She had no choice. More importantly, he had no choice, which was the entire problem.
She coughed, then plunged in. “It didn’t look like you would make it if we waited for an ambulance.” She met his gaze. “Archer gave me a choice; let you die or make you my permanent plus-one. As a board member, I’m allowed a permanent partner. You are now a full member of the society but not a board member. I’m allowed to discuss everything with you, though.”
Hawk narrowed his eyes at her. “What is it? What aren’t you telling me?”
Her palms became sweaty. She couldn’t look at him, so she fiddled with smoothing the blanket, over and over. “To be my permanent plus-one means we have to get married.” There, she’d said it.
He opened his mouth, but she put up her hand. “There’s more. Hawk, we can never separate or divorce. You can never leave the society. They’ll kill you if you do. Unless I do something stupid and they kick us both out at which time they’ll kill us anyway because that seems to be the consequence they like the most.”
She hazarded a glance up at Hawk but quickly went back to staring at the blankets. “As a plus-one you have access to more information than a regular member. You will know where all the bodies are buried, and if you choose to leave the society, or leave me, you will die.”
When she finally did look up, their gazes locked. She tried to read what he was thinking, but his face was blank.
“I know this is not what you wanted. The last thing you need is to be hooked to me and this…mess for the rest of your life, but it was either that or watch you die. I—I know it was selfish, but I just couldn’t take the chance that you would die on the way to a regular hospital. I couldn’t live with it if that happened.”
Hawk stared at her for a moment and then opened his mouth to speak just as the doctor breezed in. “Mr. Hawkins. Glad to see you awake.” He smiled at Remy. “If you wouldn’t mind giving us a minute, Ms. Tanger. I need to check my patient.”
Remy nodded and got off the bed. “I’ll be back later.”
She hurried from the room and fled down the hallway. She was a coward for not waiting, but she just needed a break. She headed up the stairs and used the retinal scanner to call the elevator. The doors opened and Jerry, the elevator operator and security guard motioned her in.
She entered and rode the elevator silently up to the underground parking garage. Jerry hit a series of buttons and the doors opened again. She exited into a small non-descript room where she used another retinal scanner to unlock the last door. She walked out into the parking garage and headed for the stairs. A minute later she went out into midtown.
It was cold, but she decided to walk all the way to her shop. Good exercise. Good time waster. She didn’t have it in her to face Hawk right now. What if he didn’t want to be married to her? What if he yelled at her that her decision had been a huge mistake? Her heart couldn’t take that. She was in love with Hawk. If he rejected her, the next fifty years were going to be long and painful.
Later that evening, Remy walked down the hallway to Hawk’s room. She’d stayed at the shop much longer than she should have, but it was nice to do something normal, something ordinary. As she approached the door, a young nurse with a high blond ponytail and big brown eyes stepped in front of her. “I’m sorry, Ms. Tanger. Mr. Hawkins has asked not to be disturbed.”
She stopped. “Oh, okay. I’ll stop by in the morning then.”
“Actually, Mr. Hawkins has put a do not disturb notice on his room for the foreseeable future.” The nurse smiled brightly. “I’ll be happy to let you know when he lifts it, if you’d like.”
Her stomach churned, and a corner of her heart splintered. Hawk was rejecting her. What the hell did she expect? She’d just tied the man to her for life, his life, and they’d only known each other for less than a week. Could it really be so little time? Nausea hit her, and she put her hand on her stomach. “That’s… I’ll… Thanks, I’ll reach out in a few days.”
She turned and headed back down the hallway. She didn’t blame Hawk. Not one bit. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right, but there was nothing she could do to change it now.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
Eight Weeks Later.
“You’re still dropping your left,” Archer said as he watched Hawk hit the heavy bag.
“Thanks,” Hawk grunted. “Don’t you have anything else better to do? Or is harassing me on the top of your to-do list today?”
“I have to have some fun.” Archer gave him a ghost of a smile. Archer caught the bag and stopped it. “Actually, we need to talk.”
Hawk stepped back and grabbed his water bottle. He took a long swig. Then he wiped his face with his towel. “What?”
Archer leaned on the bag. “You’re better. Your doctors all agree you’ve made a miraculous recovery. You got the all-clear this morning, or so I’m told.”
“So much for privacy.”
“There is no privacy in the society. Know that. It’s true.” Archer continued. “I’m getting pushback from some of the board members. You and Remington need to get married as soon as possible. They are quoting the rules to me. Me! I fucking hate that,” he growled. “I’ve bought you as much time as I can. It needs to happen now.”
Hawk glared at him. “And then what?”
Archer shrugged. “What do you mean?”
“Am I supposed to sit around here all day? Go back to normal life? What?”
