I remember with utter clarity. This is the only warning you get.
I should be scared shitless over the fact that I just got stabbed, but I don't have time for it. I'm more than enough apprehensive over the speed with which Luke Carrington struck out at me. He had someone deliver his warning mere hours after Emiel Coppens called him. That spoke volumes about the money and power he retains.
But, as long as Macy is protected, none of that matters.
I just need to be more careful. I need to work more swiftly, and I need to have Keith fly very low under the radar. Maybe it's the drugs talking, but I'm more determined now than ever to take that fucker down.
"This wasn't a mugging," Macy says, and my stomach flips as I see more of the concern drift away from her eyes and a coldness start to ice her baby blues over. "The person who stabbed you knew exactly how to do it. Luke was very clear in his orders to just warn you."
"What?" I exclaim, trying for astonishment... disbelief. "No way. This was just someone after my wallet, Macy. It's nothing to worry over."
"It was Luke." Her voice is firm but flat. "He contacted me."
I'm drowning in complete dread. "How?"
"He had flowers delivered at approximately the same time you were being stabbed. With a typed note."
My hand that houses the IV curls tight into the bed sheets. Rage starts to fill me. "What did it say?"
I give her credit. She doesn't look away from me once, just holds my stare. "That's the only warning he gets. Ditch him so he calls off the hunt."
Reflexively, I squeeze her hand hard. It's a desperate attempt to keep her tied to me because I now recognize exactly what I was missing in her eyes before. I didn't get it then, but I get it now.
She's saying goodbye to me.
"Macy," I murmur. "Don't do this. Don't let him take something away from you again."
She shakes her head and for the first time, she won't look at me, letting her gaze drop. Her voice quavers... still resolute, and it's clear the words are killing her slowly. "It's done, Cal. I've already called Luke and let him know. He'll leave you alone now."
"No," I protest, but she continues right over me.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not putting your life at risk because you chose to love someone like me."
I pull my hand from her grasp and bring it to her chin. Lifting it up, I make her look at me. I'm pissed... and I want her to know it. "Don't let him beat us."
"He's already beat us," she says grimly. "He's made me give you up to ensure your protection. He's won."
"I won't stop going after him," I throw out at her, trying to make her understand that leaving me will be a futile quest to secure my safety. Ergo, she might as well stay with me.
Pathetic attempt, I know.
Her eyes fill with sadness. She leans in to kiss my parched lips. When she pulls away, she says, "I've told Luke we're over. That means you're safe as of this moment. If you choose to continue to go after him, it won't be on my conscience."
Those are her last words to me before she walks out of my hospital room.
I'm not sure I could be any more pathetic at this moment. A stab wound in my back, tethered to a hospital bed by an IV, a catheter shoved up my dick, and Matt sitting in a chair by my bed, looking at me with utter pity on his face.
"You don't have to stay," I mutter as I close my eyes, willing the medications to sink me into oblivion.
"Man, this is some fucked-up shit," he says, and my eyes spring open when I feel him put his feet up on the side of my mattress. It causes my body to roll slightly, and pain flares across my back.
I wince, but I don't say anything, because truth be told, I'm glad he's here. I need someone to give me hope that I can salvage this with Macy.
"What's your take?" I ask simply, digging my elbows into the mattress and pulling myself up higher.
"Macy's terrified for you. She called as soon as she got the flowers. Mac was actually on the phone with the police as they called her because they found her business card in your wallet."
"Did she really call Luke and tell him it was over?" Because I hope beyond hope that she was bluffing me about that. That would mean Macy has some doubts in her mind that she's doing the right thing.
"Yeah, she did. Mac and I went to your apartment. Saw the flowers, the note. We took pictures of them before Macy dumped the flowers in your garbage disposal and flushed the note."
"So she never even gave it some thought?" I ask bitterly. "She just tossed what we have away that easily?"
"No, man," Matt says. "We talked it out for a bit. She asked our opinions. She fretted over her decision."
"And what exactly were your opinions?"
"Mac and I told her not to give in to Luke's demands. That you could protect yourself now that you knew he was a threat."
"Your powers of persuasion clearly suck," I mutter.
"Listen," Matt says as he pulls his feet off the bed and leans forward in his chair. He's giving me that serious pep talk look that he's done in the past. Back when we were best buds. "She was terrified. At that time, all we knew was you were in surgery and your life was in the balance. She made a decision under very poor circumstances. Just give it some time and maybe she'll reevaluate."
I nod, suddenly overwhelmingly tired. Moments ago, I was filled with indignation and a renewed sense of determination for what needed to be done. But now... at this moment, I'm exhausted. Just very, very tired of everything.
"Get some rest," Matt says. "I'm going to stick around until Mac gets back. We'll take shifts staying with you."
I don't even respond, just close my eyes and let sleep overtake me.
Mac is sitting in the chair by my bed when I wake up again.
"What time is it?" I croak out, and she immediately hands me some water. I take a few deep gulps, immediately get nauseated, and hand it back to her.
"A little after nine PM." She looks tired. Her face is pale, dark circles under her eyes.
"You should go home. You need some sleep."
I feel her grasp my hand with hers. Her eyes fill with tears. "You scared the shit out of me."
"Scared the shit out of me too," I murmur, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
"Macy is so pissed at you right now," Mac says before she releases my hand. She leans back in the chair and props her feet up on my bed, just as Matt did but with a delicacy that doesn't disturb me.
"Pissed at me?"
She doesn't answer me directly. Instead, she says, "What did you do to get on Luke Carrington's bad side?"
Oh, that's why she's pissed at me.
"I was digging around... found out some damning information, and it got back to him that I know. He reacted quickly."
Mac's eyes narrow at me, but I also see a glint of admiration for what I'm doing. She knows it's for Macy. "Spill it all," she growls at me.
"Macy won't provide a statement that links her father to an illegal abortion. Fine, I get it. I accept it. But she said something to me the other day when she was telling me all the horrid details of what happened to her. She said Luke knew the doctor that did the abortion. I got to thinking... he probably knew of Coppens because he'd used him before. That's what I was digging into."
Eyes round with astonishment, Mac asks, "And did you confirm he used him before?"
"No, but my investigator confirmed Coppens was sufficiently spooked when he approached him about Carrington, and then he recorded the guy calling Luke right after. He's digging for more info. If I get something, I can take it to Dee Switzer, and she can use it to force Luke to take a plea deal. If he rolls, Travis will. They're the two kingpins, and if one falls, the other will too."
"That's a lot of supposition," Mac remarks thoughtfully. "And what of Luke's warning to you? Don't you think you should quit? I mean... you don't have Macy anymore, so what's the point of continuing to try to take him down? What exactly do you have to gain by this?"
Her words inflame me with righteous anger. "I'm not in it to gain anything," I snarl at her as I lean up in the bed. Then I dial it back a notch, because nausea hits me again. "And I may not have Macy at this moment, but that doesn't mean my love just gets turned off. I'm seeing this all the way through. Once I help send that bastard to jail for the rest of his life, I'm getting Macy back."
"Or you'll die trying," Mac says fearfully.
"Or I'll die trying," I confirm. "But I'm not going to let that happen."
Mac is quiet, chewing on my words. Absorbing the consequences of what could happen. Her face is pinched because this has been stressful on her... having her two best friends attacked.
"Cal... I love you hard for everything you're doing for Macy, but I'm not sure this is worth risking your life for. Luke Carrington is still a very powerful man. He can take you out in such a way that it never blows back on him."