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“Not if I have anything to do with it,” I say grimly.
“You can delay it, but you and I both know, it’s only a matter of time before the news is all over the media.”
I grip my coffee cup tighter.
“So, what are you going to do about it?” he asks.
“What do you mean?”
“So, she turned you down… What are you going to do about it?”
“What can I do about it?”
Familiar voices reach me, and I glance up to see Michael and Sinclair making their way toward me. JJ pauses to speak with Rick. Both turn in my direction. Then JJ claps Rick on the shoulder and follows in Michael and Sinclair’s wake. Michael turns around the chair on my left and straddles it. Sinclair slides into the one on my right. JJ hauls a third one over to our table, and plants it between Michael and Cade before seating himself.
“So—” He leans across the table. “Where were we?”
I scowl between the three of them, not liking where this is going. Knowing this is an intervention, and unable to say anything to cut off their monologues before they start.
I raise the cup of coffee to my mouth, only Sinclair snatches it away before I can take a sip. Some of the brown liquid splashes onto the table in front of me. A slow burn starts at the base of my neck, but I ignore it.
I reach for one of the two cups of water Cade placed between us, but Michael snatches it and holds it out of reach. I reach for the second cup of water, but JJ gets to it before me. He drains the water, crumples the paper cup, and tosses it onto the table. The burn turns into a flash fire that ignites my entire body. I jump up with such speed, my chair crashes to the ground.
I hear a gasp, then out of the corner of my eyes, I spot Finn escorting the two nurses and the doctor out the door. He steps out and slams the door shut behind him. I crack my neck, then face down the men, none of whom have moved from their chairs.
“Sit down.” Michael nods toward my chair.
“Fuck you,” I growl.
Sinclair yawns. “Sit the fuck down, if you know what’s good for you.”
I show him the bird.
Cade barks out a laugh. When I glare at him, he wipes the smile off his face.
“Good to see you’re behaving like the loser you are.” This from JJ. I throw myself across the table and at him, only Michael and Sinclair move as one. They each grab one of my shoulders, haul me back and to my feet, and drag me through the space between the tables and chairs behind us to throw me against the wall.
My back smashes into the hard surface. Pain zips down my spine to my feet, then bounces back up to meet the burning sensation at my nape. It’s like a lit match to fuse, and every cell in my body sparks. I growl and charge forward, but both men grab me and hurl me against the wall again with such force that bits of plaster from the ceiling float to the ground. My back screams in protest, my bones feel like they’ve been tossed around in a rollercoaster, and sparks of red fly behind my eyes.
I shake my head to clear it, begin to straighten myself— Only, I’m tossed back into the wall, over and over and over again. I hear a crack, then an entire section of the ceiling crashes to the floor on my right. Suddenly, I’m released.
I draw in a breath and my lungs burn, but it’s nothing compared to the agony that I feel in every breath I take. My entire body goes numb, then spasms, then goes numb again. The pattern repeats until I’m panting in earnest and seeing double. The specks of darkness in front of my eyes close in on me. I resign myself to falling unconscious, when water drenches me. I gasp and snap my eyes open to find all four of them staring at me.
Michael places a jug of water on the table next to him, then narrows his gaze on me. “Better?”
I’m never going to get fucking better.When I don’t reply, Sinclair grips my shoulder. I shake it off.
“You’re going to have to man up and do the right thing here,” he snaps.
“You think I haven’t tried?” I take a step forward. My back spasms, the pain slices through me, and the darkness tries to overwhelm me again, but I shove it aside. I find my focus, take a deep breath, then another, and will the pain to subside. When it turns down a notch, I take another step forward. “I offered her my kidney; she refused.”
I don’t need to bring them up to speed, I know Cade messaged them, which is why the fuckers arrived here. I wish they’d stayed out of my business, but at this stage, I’m beyond caring. I simply want... Her to accept my kidney.
“What are you going to do about it?” JJ rises to his feet and walks over to stand in front of me. “You going to moan and cry about the fact that she turned you down, or you going to find a way to convince her?”
I scoff, “Like I haven’t tried that.”
“Try harder,stronzo,” Michael drawls.
