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I pulled her into my arms and held her while she cried. I knew that she was worried about her uncle. I suspected that their relationship was closer to that of a parent and child, but I didn’t want to hurt her more by asking.
For the next few days, I tried to keep her distracted while maintaining my distance. It was nearly impossible. Somehow I managed to avoid having sex with her again even though my entire body burned for it. I was being eaten alive by my desire. Just when I’d reached my breaking point, the phone rang.
“Yes?” I snapped. It was the trauma nurse calling with an update. Vinny was waking up. “We’ll be there shortly.”
“What is it?” Delilah started to panic, thinking the worst.
“He’s waking up. We can go see him now. Are you ready?” We’d been up for a couple of hours and had been watching sitcoms on tv since breakfast. Delilah nodded and grabbed her jacket without saying anything. She seemed more quiet than usual on the trip, but I thought that she was worried about her uncle. He seemed to be important to her. I wondered again about her parents, but for some reason, that subject felt like it was off limits.
Chapter 26
Delilah
The drive to the hospital was brutal. Neither of us spoke. I think Viktor was trying not to remind me of what I had seen on the security feed from Midnight being destroyed. I was trying to forget how I’d made a fool of myself by trying to sleep with him again. You’d think I would learn to stop throwing myself at him like that, no matter how many mixed signals he sent.
I had no desire to go back to the hospital, but I did want to see Uncle Vinny. I hated watching the video of what happened to him. The memory of it haunted me, especially after Strain’s messages. I should probably tell Viktor about that, too.
I felt guilty for not telling him about Eli’s messages. Of course, there was no proof that Eli was going to kidnap me. He flat out told me that he wasn’t. And he knew where we were but didn’t make a move. It wasn’t like Viktor and I were in a relationship, either. I had no idea what we were exactly.
Part of me wanted to tell him. I wanted to see what he would say in response to Eli’s claims that he hadn’t been honest with me. Another part of me wanted to forget the whole thing and focus on healing my heart from Victor’s rejections.
I turned to face him as he drove to the hospital. “Are you okay?” He met my gaze.
“Yeah. Just nervous I guess,” I responded. I had been about to tell him about Eli texting me, but I couldn’t make the words come out.
Something stopped me every time I considered it. Maybe Strain was telling the truth. I had a nagging feeling that Eli was being more honest with me than Viktor was. I had no idea why. Maybe there was more to Viktor than he was sharing. In the end, I decided to wait and see what happened next.
We arrived at the hospital in record time and were escorted to Uncle Vinny’s private room with no issues. I wondered again how he would pay for all of this. It wasn’t like the bar had been making enough money for either of us to have healthcare.
I steeled myself at the door before entering. I wasn’t sure I could face my uncle knowing what he’d been through. He hated sympathy, and I was certain that would be written all over my face.
“Are you feeling all right?” Viktor’s voice behind me pulled me from my thoughts.
“Honestly, I’m on the verge of a panic attack. I just don’t think I can go in there yet. I need to use the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back.” I rushed down the hall after making my excuse, half expecting Viktor to follow me. He’d been extremely clingy since Strain had tried to apologize. Maybe that was part of the cover-up, a way to keep his secrets. It’s not like I could ask him without telling him that Strain had messaged me. Still, I was surprised he let me go alone to the bathroom.
I turned left at the end of the hall and ran right into a brick wall. “Ow,” I said as I looked up and met a familiar face, blue eyes staring at me smugly. Not a brick wall. Strain.
“Just the person I wanted to see,” he replied, refusing to give me any space.
I tried to back up, but his arms were around me before I could move. His large hand covered my mouth to prevent a scream. I grabbed at it and pulled until he let me speak. “Please let me go. Viktor is right around the corner. All I have to do is yell and he’ll be here.” I hoped that was true anyway. After everything that’s happened, I wasn’t sure if he would protect me or not.
“Shh, love, we’re just going to talk. I won’t hurt you.” He looked down at my arm as he spoke. His eyes seemed drawn to the deep purple mark he had left on me. For a moment it looked as if he felt bad for the bruise that still marked me. The handprint was dark and showed through the thin blouse I wore.
Strain picked me up and took me inside a janitor’s closet. The space was so small that I was pinned to the wall with his hulking form pressed up against me. My mind screamed danger, but my body enjoyed every second of the contact. My heart raced the same way it had when I’d met Viktor for the first time.
“What do you want? You said that you weren’t coming after me.” My voice came out breathy and tinged with desire. I wished so badly that I could sound tough just once when I was dealing with these men.
Strain brushed his blond hair from his eyes and bit his lip. “I had to see you. I had to know that you believed me, that you trust me.” He leaned closer and sniffed my hair. “I can smell him on you even now. It drives me crazy that I couldn’t get you out of there.”
I pushed against his chest to no avail. His pecs were like solid rock and didn’t budge. “You almost broke my arm. It didn’t seem like you were the one who was trying to save me.”
“Sometimes I don’t know my own strength, love. I promise I’ll make it up to you.” His stare was unnerving. I found myself leaning closer to him, staring at his lips as he spoke. I wondered what he would taste like. His scent was like chocolate mixed with fresh brewed coffee, and it set me off in the best way.
“You said you wanted to talk, so talk, Strain.” I tried to sound bitchy, but it didn’t work. I sounded whiney instead and it pissed me off. I wanted to ask about his hand, but was scared it would make him angry.
“Please, call me Eli. I do want to talk, but there isn’t enough time now. Maxwell will come looking for you if you don’t go back to him quickly enough. Trust me, you don’t want to see what he does when he gets angry,” he said with a hint of sorrow in his tone.
“Do you really hate him because he married your sister? Is she the only reason you’re interested in me?”
