Tragic King (The Dominant Bastard Duology 2)

“No.”

Rodrigo tried to stay calm as he opened the door and settled the dogs. Severin moved past them, down the hall, then started up the stairs with her.

“I’m perfectly capable of getting myself to a bathroom.”

He followed them, the dogs trotting anxiously at his heels.

“We’re cleaning you up, then we’re getting in a car and going for a drive,” Severin said. He’d switched to the voice he used when the dogs got skittish.

“What are you talking about?” Minnow grumbled. “Where are we going? It’s three in the morning! I want our bed.”

“Call,” Severin ordered.

Rodrigo turned and bounded back down the stairs, trying to figure out where the hell his cell phone might have ended up.

Chapter Sixteen

Minnow’s hair was tangled and draped across the pillow, but for the first time since Severin had met her it wasn’t sexy. It made him antsy. He wanted to fix it – to braid it for her – but he was too afraid to go near the bed.

She was small and helpless and in pain. Not the fun kind of pain either. Strangers kept touching her and he wasn’t allowed to growl at them. He clenched and unclenched his fists, trying not to pace. Trying to look calm.

He hadn’t signed on for this ride, and he wanted off.

Anger and despair welled up over and over, but they kept smiling at him like this was a good thing.

She was going to die. He knew it.

He wanted to vomit.

He wanted to smash every machine they intermittently hooked her up to and kill everyone who touched her without his permission.

The beeping was enraging him, and the whooshing. Why did the whooshing sound keep changing? Sometimes it stopped and his heart stopped with it, but Min would move the sensor and it would start again.

If she died, his life would be over.

It was hard to breathe. His heart felt like it was going to pop, and he was going to bleed out.

Unlike him, Rodrigo was helping her through the pain – sitting beside the bed, holding her hand, talking quietly. They’d told him he could wait in the waiting room, but it was full of people, and he was afraid if he left someone would do the wrong thing and she’d die. He had to stay to oversee her care, or at least stay to glare at people so they knew he’d snap their necks if they fucked up.

It had been easier when she’d been allowed to walk around. He could pretend she was fine. But now the doctor had said her blood pressure was high and she had to stay put. Was he making her blood pressure high? Making her worry?

He smiled at her and she grimaced at him.

“Maybe you should take a break, Mister Leduc,” she said, voice tight with discomfort. “You look like you could use a walk.”

“No. I have to be here.”

The doctor had said everything was fine, but she’d sounded as if she was lying through her teeth. And she kept leaving. That didn’t seem safe. Minnow could die if the doctor wasn’t monitoring things. What if the beeping was all wrong and they didn’t know it? No one had told them what to listen for. Or what if the baby came when she was out of the room? He didn’t know anything about delivering a baby.

This time the nurse had left too. Five centimeters sounded like a lot. They shouldn’t be wandering off.

“It’s hard for you, feeling like you can’t fix this,” Minnow said.

He froze. Nodded.

“You’re afraid, and it’s making you angry.”

God, had she been talking to his damned therapist? He didn’t dignify her comment with a reply.