AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Where is he? Emerald?” If they were looking at me and we were taken care of, did that mean someone took out my kidnapper?
“Dexen handled him,” Peyton said. I wanted to ask how, but again, didn’t have the mental capacity. My best guess was because Emerald worked for him, Peyton filled him in. At least Emerald wasn’t here. Dexen didn’t do anything in half measures.
I moved my arm again, the pulling sensation I now saw was an IV.
“I gave you fluids and an antibiotic,” the doctor said. “I can take it out. It’s almost empty. Your arms are going to be sore for a while from how you were hanging with them above your head. Nothing is dislocated and I don’t believe you have any fractures. Just a lot of strain on your muscles. Your leg was flushed out and I gave you a couple stitches. Mr. Altair has my phone number and will contact me if you need anything else. You and Mr. Lynx both need to have your stitches removed next week. I’m also giving you a prescription for an antibiotic to make sure you don’t develop an infection. If you need anything else in the meantime, I’m at your service.” He worked to remove the IV from my arm and put a gauze pad and tape over the spot it was in.
“Peyton?” I turned and saw that bandage over his arm again. My voice rose to new heights when I asked, “What happened to you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, vixen.” He smiled, taking the doctor’s spot by my side. “It’s just a graze.”
“You were shot?” Apparently, I could go even higher. I was pretty sure only cats could hear me now.
“Don’t worry about me. You need to get better.”
“So do you.” My eyes found Perry’s, silently pleading with him to make Peyton rest, but Perry couldn’t read my mind and only looked at me with concern.
“Can we go home?” I asked, begged more like. I didn’t care whose home, I just wanted out of here. The scent of oil, smoke, and grease felt like it was in my pores, and now I had nothing but bad memories of it.
Perry gave me a sweet smile; one I wasn’t sure I’d seen on him before. There were lines at the corners of his eyes, along with dark circles beneath them. “Yeah, we can.”
A door closed with a slam somewhere nearby, causing me to jump. Dexen filled the doorway to the room I was in a second later. He wore a pair of jeans and a moss green Henley, one of the most casual outfits I’d seen him in. “Dom,” he whispered before shouldering Perry out of the way to come over to me. “Are you okay? How do you feel? Did the doctor take care of you? If not, I can find someone else. Whoever and whatever you need.”
“Take it down a notch, Dex,” I heard from behind him. JJ stood there with his arms crossed, leaning against the doorway Dexen just came through.
Dexen stiffened but ignored him, his eyes still focused on me. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
“It’s not your fault.” Then I found Perry, who was focusing on the floor. “It wasn’t yours either, Perry. It was none of yours. Emerald had us fooled. Shit, he told me a wild story. I remember that.” I don’t remember anything after he told me his story though.
“It was true,” Dexen confirmed. “But don’t worry, I handled him.”
“Handled him how?” JJ asked.
Dexen placed a kiss on my forehead before standing and turning to face JJ. “It’s nothing you have to worry about. I said I’d take care of him, and I did. I wasn’t going to let him live to pull this shit again. If you haven’t noticed, we were both oblivious to the wolf in sheep’s clothing working for us.”
JJ pushed off the doorframe and stalked over, getting in Dexen’s face. JJ was shorter by a few inches but broader than Dexen. He was definitely more intimidating, not that I’d want to get on either of their bad sides. “Did you kill him yourself or hand the task off to one of your guys? How dirty are your hands these days?”
“Why do you care? Last time I checked; you didn’t give a fuck what I did. My hands can get as dirty as I want them to be.” He inched closer, a piece of paper could barely fit between them. I couldn’t pull my gaze away. I shouldn’t be watching but I was injured. That was my excuse, and I was sticking with it.
“Do you miss my hands?” Dexen asked seductively.
JJ barked out a laugh. “Yeah, so much I imagine it’s them on my cock when I’m getting sucked off by someone else.”
Dexen growled, “Watch your mouth.”
“Or what? You going to try telling me what to do again? Try making my decisions for me? How well did that work out for you last time? I don’t take orders from you or anyone else. I’m sure you remember that day, just as well as I do. The one where you fucked things up. Epically.”
“He had a goddamn knife to your throat, JJ. Blood was dripping down your neck. It was either him or you. I made the right call, and I’d do it again if it meant you lived.”
If fire could have blazed from JJ’s blue eyes, it would have. “You swore to me you’d never do it again.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You did, but like always, Dexen Dremest does whatever the fuck he wants, consequences be damned! It was just another dead body, no big deal.”
“Consequences? Is that what you dying would have been? A consequence? Fuck you. I don’t need this shit.” Dexen turned to me. “Dominic, don’t come back to work until you’re healed. You have full pay and whatever medical care you need covered by me. I’ll call Junior or Pey to check in.” He faced JJ again. “As for you…” He shook his head, his voice sadder when he spoke next. “I hoped we could have put the past behind us, but apparently that was expecting too much.” He started to walk past JJ but stopped. “I always knew you’d look good in a suit, Jordan.” Dexen left, a door slamming closed just as loud as it did when it opened.
JJ’s face was a thundercloud of emotion, which he quickly locked down and put a mask over. “Corbin, thank you for your help tonight. Consider us even. I won’t bother you again.”
