Tainted Heartbreak (Tainted Knights 3)

The ringing of my phone jerked me awake. Groaning, I blindly searched for the device in my darkened bedroom. “Fuck,” I muttered, trying to open my eyes. My fingers found my phone, and I pulled it to my face, blinking at the name on the screen.

“What you want, Sin?” I bit out.

“Hello to you too, sunshine,” he laughed sadistically.

“Not in the fucking mood for your shit today, Sin. I’ve got the mother of all hangovers going on, and I’m itching to beat the fuck out of shit.” I rolled onto my back, glaring up at the ceiling as I fought the nausea roiling in my stomach.

“Yeah, well, I’m risking Roanna being pissed at me by even calling you. But I figured you would want to know I had to go to your girl’s place a few hours ago and carry her down to Riley’s car.” I shot upright in bed, my heart pounding. “She was sick as hell, man. Sweating and shivering. Coughing so bad I was surprised she was still able to breathe.”

“Which hospital?” I was already on my feet, grabbing the jeans I’d tossed aside in a drunken stupor the night before.

“Her ankle was pretty fucked up too. Purple and swollen. She couldn’t walk on it.”

“Which hospital?” I repeated, pulling a T-shirt over my head.

“And there were bruises on her wrists. You know anything about that, dickhead?”

I froze, the hand reaching for my keys and wallet dropping to my side. “I would never hurt her like that, motherfucker. You know I don’t do shit like that.”

“Yeah, well, when I asked her if I should call you, she said ‘Fuck Cash.’ When someone that sick is telling me shit like that, and I’m seeing with my own eyes physical evidence someone wasn’t being gentle with her, I’m smart enough to put two and two together and get four.”

“Shit,” I groaned, remembering how she’d jerked her wrists out of my desperate grip the night before. “Just tell me where she is, Sin. I need to talk to her.”

“I figured Riley took her to the one near their place. Girls were talking about it a little bit ago, and they said Amara was admitted. She has pneumonia, and her ankle is fractured. If I find out you did that to her, man, I’m gonna beat your ass until you can’t move. Feel me?”

“If I’d done that to her, I would sit and take the beating. But I fucking didn’t. I don’t know what happened to her ankle. I love that chick. I would never intentionally touch her with violence, and you fucking know it.”

There was a brief hesitation on his end before he grunted something under his breath. “Yeah, fucker, I know. Go take care of your woman.”

The hospital was only about twenty minutes from my apartment, but it took nearly double that time to get there with traffic and the weather. It was still storming, making the late-afternoon sky look more like midnight. The hospital parking lot was overflowing with vehicles and ambulances. Inside, it was turning into a madhouse, the people in the ER overflowing into the rest of the first floor.

Finding the information desk, I got Amara’s room number. Luckily, it was easy enough to find. Getting inside her semi-private room, however, wasn’t going to be nearly as simple.

Riley met me at the door, her eyes blazing with hate and distrust as she pushed me back into the corridor. “What the fuck are you doing here?” she hissed, turning her head to make sure the door had closed behind her. “She doesn’t want to see you, Cash.”

My eyes were glued to the closed door, my heart in my throat. I clenched my hands into fists, forcing myself to stand where I was and not burst into Amara’s room and beg her to forgive me and let me take care of her. “Sin called me. What did the doctor say?”

Something darkened in her eyes, and she poked me in the chest with her index finger. “If Sin called you, I’m fairly sure he told you what is wrong with her. I’m not telling you jack shit.”

“Riley,” I growled in warning. “I need to see her. If she doesn’t want me here, she can tell me that herself.”

Small fists grabbed my shirt and jerked me down until our eyes were even. “Listen to me carefully, Cash. You go in that room, and I will tear your dick off and feed it to the stray dogs running around this city. I don’t know what you did to her. Honestly, it doesn’t matter. You hurt her, and I will kill you before I let you do it again.”

I covered her hands, pulling them off me, but I didn’t straighten. “Do what the fuck you want to me. I don’t really give a damn right now. But you know me, Riley. I would never willingly hurt her. She was upset yesterday and wouldn’t listen to me. I can make this right. I just need a chance to explain everything better.”

“You think she’s so upset because of a misunderstanding?” Riley laughed coldly. “A misunderstanding doesn’t cause this kind of emotional numbness, asshole. Leave her the fuck alone.”

I raked my hands through my hair. My head was throbbing and the overhead lights were killing my eyes, but that was nothing on the ache in my gut. I needed to see Amara with my own eyes, to tell her I loved her and to take care of her while she was sick. I was losing my damn mind, and Riley was the one thing standing in my way of getting to the only person who mattered.

“When we were in Oklahoma, you said you could see how much I love Amara,” I reminded her. “Can’t you see that now, Riley? Can’t you see I’m dying here?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, her glare never wavering. “I don’t claim to know what happened between you two yesterday. She won’t tell me, and she’s so sick right now, I’m not about to push her into explaining what changed. What I do know? Every time your name is mentioned, she flinches and starts crying all over again. I’ve never seen her act like this. I don’t know if it’s because she’s sick, or if you’ve fucked up so bad that you broke her completely. So until she’s better and can think clearly again, I don’t give two fucks how much you love her.”

Turning, she put her hands on the door but didn’t push it open yet. Looking at me over her shoulder, she muttered, “There’s a waiting room two corridors over. If you love her as much as you say, stick around in case she starts feeling better and decides she wants to see you.”

Realizing it was as close to Amara as I was going to get anytime soon, I nodded. “If she needs anything, just let me know. I’ll get her whatever she wants.”

“Even if she wants you to stay away from her?”