I stared at her in silence while tears filled my eyes and fear clogged my throat. “What if he doesn’t come home?” I whispered. My throat was scratchy and sore, which made it difficult to talk.
I’d been in hospital for two days after being treated for multiple injuries including fractured ribs and a collapsed lung. Monroe hadn’t left my side until today when I’d been conscious enough to ask her to check on Nitro’s family. I was relieved to know they were safe.
Monroe took hold of my hand. Gently, because it hurt, too. Every inch of me did. “Your guy is tough, babe. He’s going to get through whatever he has to and then he’s going to come home. King was here yesterday, and the club is looking for him. They’ll find him. You can’t keep much hidden from bikers.”
She was right. But a lot could have happened in two days. The longer he was gone, the more concerned I grew. I just prayed that when they did find him, he was alive. My heart hurt worse than my entire body when I thought about him not making it out of that hellhole.
My phone rang and Monroe released my hand so she could answer it. After working out it was Billy, she held it up to my ear.
“Hey,” I croaked.
“Fuck, Tatum,” he said, pausing for a moment. I was fairly sure I heard devastation in his voice. “Thank fuck you’re awake.” His voice broke then. “When I saw you lying in that hospital bed last night with all those tubes in you and those fucking bruises and all that swelling….” He cleared his throat. “This shit has to stop. I swear to fucking God if anyone touches you again I will personally kill them.”
A torrent of emotions flooded me, his agony my undoing. Tears streamed down my cheeks, which was a bloody nightmare because it fucking hurt to wipe them from my face. So I let them fall and just waited for them to dry. “I’m done with being beaten up, too, Billy.” A little humour always helped. Especially with men who didn’t know what to do with their emotions.
“Yeah,” he said gruffly and then he added quietly, “Any news on Nitro?”
“No,” I whispered, unable to speak any louder. I knew if I did, the tears would flow harder than they already were.
“Okay,” he said. “You rest. I’ve been in touch with King and will help them find the motherfucking cunt who did this to you.”
“Thanks, Billy.” I jerked my head at Monroe to let her know I was done. Thank God Billy didn’t have it in him to talk about shit, because I couldn’t have handled any more. It hurt both my body and my soul to discuss this entire situation.
Monroe placed my phone down and picked up hers. Swiping it, she brought the Internet up as she settled into the seat next to the bed. Giving me a cheeky grin, she said, “Right, because you’re going to be in here for days according to the doctor, and we need things to keep us occupied, we’re going to surf this new singl
es site I found that has a lot of pierced cock on it.” Her eyes lit up. “And when I say a lot, I mean a fuckload.”
If I could have smiled without it hurting, I would have. Monroe knew me so well. She understood that I just didn’t have it in me to acknowledge my feelings. She knew when to push me and when to distract me. And it seemed her preferred way for the next few days was going to be with pierced cock.
“Okay, hit me. Show me what they’ve got,” I whispered.
She grinned. “I knew I could count on you to help a sister out.”
We’d been scrolling for a good fifteen minutes when King entered my room. I met his gaze and was taken aback at what I saw there. So much anguish. Something I never imagined King feeling.
“Tatum,” he greeted me, coming towards the bed.
“Have you found him?” Monroe said as she shot out of the chair.
He shook his head. “No, not yet. But I’ve got half of fucking Sydney on it so it’s just a matter of time.”
Disappointment filled me. I’d hoped he had come with good news.
He moved closer to me. “I just wanted to see how you were doing,” he said, surprising me even more. His gaze travelled over me and he hissed at what he saw. “I should have listened to him,” he murmured.
“What about?” I said.
He let out a long breath as regret settled into every line on his face. “Nitro warned me about getting into bed with Joseph. I was so screwed up in the head over this fucking war we’re in that I thought I knew best.” Scrubbing his face, he added, “It’s just another example of when I didn’t know best. And now we all have to deal with the consequences.”
This was a whole new side to King that I never imagined existed. The regret and anguish he expressed were real, and he seemed to feel it deeply.
Ignoring the pain it caused, I reached my hand out for his and when he gave it to me, I gently squeezed it. “We all fuck up in life, King. It’s what we do after that counts.”
He regarded me for a few moments, holding my hand in silence. When he placed it gently back on the bed, he said, “It’s a bitter pill to swallow, though. It’s a mistake I won’t make again.”
Monroe asked him a few questions, but I couldn’t keep up with them. Tiredness took over and as much as I tried to keep my eyes open, I couldn’t. The last thing I heard King say was, “As soon as we find him, Tatum will know.”
Sleep claimed me then, and I drifted into a web of nightmares where I never saw Nitro again.