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That night, the fierce parts of her only flickered in her eyes. She hid them. Pretended they didn’t exist.
I know that game. I’ve pretended parts of me don’t exist since the first time I met a man in an alleyway. Accepting their crumpled-up twenties was easier if Gabriel Hill had nothing to do with it. I smoothed out the bills as much as I could before I used them to pay for food and medicine and rent, but they were still wrinkled.
Elise holds my hand in both of hers. There are no flickers in her eyes now. It’s a blaze of murderous heat.
It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.
My body lights up with it under its layer of bruises and the head-to-toe ache that even the painkillers can’t completely erase. Back in those alleys, I wished someone would kill for me.
“Sweetness.”
Her eyes narrow. “Gabriel.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“Can’t let me do what?” Her voice is as sweet as her face, but it’s not an innocent question.
I can’t let her go up against her father. He’s too dangerous. Getting close enough to kill him would risk her safety, and I won’t let that happen. And despite the love and conviction burning in her eyes, Elise isn’t as ruthless as she lets on.
Her father’s mistake was in thinking he could use her as a weapon. Yes, she has the intelligence. What she doesn’t have is a cold, black heart. If Elise Bettencourt was truly evil, she’d have stayed by his side and run Bettencourt International.
The name of her bakery is Take the Cake, for Christ’s sake. She’s not a monster.
My head throbs, and I close my eyes to let it pass. The painkillers make the thudding at my skull distant, disconnected. It’s the strangest fucking thing.
I could drift off, honestly.
There’ll be time to sleep later. I open my eyes and find Elise watching me, waiting for an answer.
First, I squeeze her hand. It hurts. My elbow. My wrist. My fingers. A short ache, softened by the painkillers.
“You need to stop.” Elise’s eyes get wide and skeptical. “Jacob will get Catherine, and I’ll handle your dad.”
“He almost killed you. It’s a miracle you got out.”Miracleout of Elise’s mouth sounds like buttercream frosting tastes, but that’s not all of it. That’s not nearly all of it. She’s made that frosting a million times. It doesn’t matter that she’s never taken anyone down. She’s going to go after her dad.
“Gabriel Reese Hill, how fuckingdareyou.” Mason fills up the doorframe and enters the room like he’s on a righteous mission from God. “Where is everyone?” He shouts over his shoulder. “Why is my brother still in the goddamn emergency department?”
A nurse rushes up to him. “Sir, we can’t release patient information without—”
“I’m on every one of this motherfucker’s forms. If you want to take the time to check, go ahead, but I want someone here now. Unless there’s some compelling reason to keep him here, I want him in the VIP wing away from all this bullshit within the hour.”
“I’ll need to see some identification. A driver’s license, or—”
“Look at his face.” Mason points at me. The nurse looks. “Now look at mine. I’m his brother, Mason Hill, and I’m on every form you could possibly imagine. Send someone to update me in the next five minutes. Is that understood?”
“He’s fine.” Projecting that far makes the ache reignite in my lungs. “He’s my brother. Tell him whatever he wants to know.”
“Of course, Mr. Hill.” The nurse disappears, speeding off to avoid Mason’s wrath.
I don’t blame her.
Mason comes further into the room, Charlotte and Remy right behind him. Elise jumps up out of her seat and goes to Charlotte, who wraps her arms tight around Elise.
My siblings come to me. Mason sounded like an asshole to that nurse, but there’s panic in his eyes. His knee hitches with every step. He’s not hiding how much it bothers him. The machine near my bed beeps faster. That gait on him brings back his white knuckles on the edges of the sink andGabrieland silent tears on the way to free clinic hell.
He did all that so nobody would know what hurt him. He learned how to hide that falter in his knee. It only comes out when he’s upset.
They both get to my bed at the same time. Remy leans over me and kisses my temple with tears in her eyes. Mason sits on the edge of the bed, takes my hand in his, and bends down until our foreheads touch.
