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I shrugged. “What can I say? It is what it is, Sadie. If Jasper doesn’t trust me, then I can’t do my job. And we both know Jasper will make her life hell if we stay together.”
As much as it hurt right now, it taught me a valuable lesson about belonging. I’d never believe I belonged anywhere else ever again. “You should get to Kat, she needs you.”
Sadie’s delicate shoulders fell but the icy look in her eyes only intensified. “She needs you, Manning. If it matters to you.”
“It matters, dammit. That’s why I’m going to take care of it. For Kat.”
“Bullshit. That’s the easy thing to do. To go out and get revenge. Big bad Terry’s going to make him pay. Well, you know what’s hard? Getting your ass to the hospital no matter what Jasper says. Being a man. Being there for Kat. But you and Jasper both want to use your big bad guns instead of your brains.”
“She needs to get better and she can’t do that if me and Jas are arguing. My guess is she’s still pissed at him too.”
“She’s still in surgery getting the bullets removed and fighting for her life, so right now she’s not pissed off at anyone. But both of you are doing a damn good job of pissing me off.”
“Get to the hospital, Sadie.”
She nodded and made her way to the door. “What a pity. I really thought you were a real man for my Kat. Guess I was wrong.”
I snorted a bitter laugh. “Lots of that going around lately.”
“Glitz Memorial Trauma Center, just in case you find your balls and decide to go after the woman you’ve loved your whole fucking life.” She shook her head in disappointment, turning one last time at the door. “Happened just outside House of Ashby.”
Shit. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. Show up for Kat.”
With those parting words, Sadie left me alone with my thoughts, which all centered on Kat. She was hurt and as much as I wanted to go to her, to be with her and see for myself that she was okay, I didn’t have that right. I wasn’t family and I wasn’t a friend. I was the man who had purposely broken her heart and seeing me wouldn’t help her, no matter what Sadie thought.
There was one thing I could do and that was give Kat the peace of mind to know that the fucker who shot her was no longer walking the streets, was no longer a threat to her safety. To know that the fucker was no longer breathing.
To do that there was one Ashby I needed to reach out to.
“Calvin, you think you can get me surveillance from House of Ashby?”
“Terry? Why the fuck aren’t you at the hospital, man?” His lack of anger said he probably didn’t know about everything that had gone down, especially given the divide between his girl and the rest of the Ashbys. Right now, I didn’t feel like getting into it.
“This isn’t about me, Cal. It’s for Kat. Can you get me that footage?”
“Yeah,” he said eventually, sounding worried and exhausted as I was sure the rest of Kat’s family was.
“Sending it now. Terry?”
I held my breath and nodded even though the youngest Ashby couldn’t see me and prepared myself for whatever threat he wanted to lob my way. “Yeah?”
“Make this motherfucker pay.”
“I plan to Cal. Thanks.” The call ended, and I went to the safe in my home gym, gathering everything I would need to hunt down the motherfucker who did this and make the rest of his short life miserable.
Two days later I snuck into the trauma center after hours, desperate to see for myself that Kat was getting better. With a baseball cap pulled down low to hide my face, I walked the halls of the hospital as if I belonged there, the damn maze of corridors making it impossible to find her room number.
I turned a corner and ran into a petite woman with dark hair. “Oh my goodness, I’m so…Terry, right?”
I blinked and looked at the woman I instantly recognized as Lance’s widow.
“Vanessa? What are you doing here? Stupid question,” I said even as she flashed a knowing smile. “How is she?”
“Still out of it, but the surgery was pretty major. Doctors said she’ll probably wake up tomorrow.”
My heart stopped. “She hasn’t woken up? Is she in a coma?” I felt panic rise up my throat and fear took hold deep in my gut. Kat had to be all right. She had to.
“No, but the pain’s been so bad they’ve kept her pretty sedated. Want to see her?”
I nodded first and then shook my head. “Yes. No. Hell, I don’t know.” A hand dropped on my shoulder and I turned, ready to fuck someone up.
“Hey man, you can’t…Terry. Oh shit, I almost put you down.” Emmett smiled and clapped me on the back again. “I still might, man. It’s been two fucking days. Where have you been?”
