Page 69 of Cruel Hearts

I gulped. It was nice of him to say, but he didn’t know how things worked down here.

“Are you thirsty?” He pulled a water bottle from the pocket of his blazer and unscrewed its top.

“Thanks.” I brought the bottle to my lips, letting the cool water slide down my dry tongue and throat. After a few sips, my stomach protested, and I handed it back.

He cradled my head with both hands, examining me with concerned, gray eyes. “Whatever state he’s in, it’s because he chose a dangerous profession. It’s nothing to do with anything you might have said or done, is that understood?”

My lips quirked into a smile. “What are you, my life coach?”

“It’s part of my duties as your boyfriend.” He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest for a boyfriendly hug.

At some point on the way back to Templar, I’d have to tell him to stop worming his way back to my heart. Right now, I needed his strength and support. Inhaling his masculine deep scent, it struck me as odd how many layers existed within this boy. Maybe his ‘Kendrick’ personality was really Maxwell without the flirting and bravado. It certainly wasn’t anything like the real Kendrick.

I shoved those thoughts aside and pulled back. “Thanks.”

Maxwell pressed a kiss on my forehead. “Don’t mention it. We’ll stand out here until you’re ready.”

“Let’s go.” I gave him a tight smile. If Billy Hancock was clinging onto life, I didn’t want to waste the time he had left out here.

The crowd of thugs parted for us, and the two uniformed officers at the ward’s doors blocked my entrance, muttering something about no one being allowed in unless they were family of the patient.

It was Maxwell who explained that I was Billy Hancock’s daughter, and they let us both in.

The Acute Cardiac Unit was a mausoleum of hospital wards. White walls, a hallway of white doors, and staff who sat behind their desks in silence. I would have asked for Billy Hancock’s room, but I spotted two burly police officers guarding a door twenty feet down the hallway.

My heart jumped into my thickening throat. Were they protecting him or making sure he didn’t abscond before his arrest? One of them scribbled down my name on a notebook along with the time and date. I glared up at him. What did he think this was, a crime scene?

“One visitor at a time,” said the taller officer. “Doctor’s orders.”

“Is he awake?” asked Maxwell.

“See for yourself,” replied the policeman.

With a long, deep inhale, I squared my shoulders and held my breath. My abdominal muscles tightened, calming my roiling stomach. Whatever I found in there, I had to stay calm.

“Lilah?” Maxwell placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m fine.” The words escaped me in a single breath. With one final glance at Maxwell, I pushed the door open and marched inside.

I had expected the whiteness. Expected the machines. Expected their blips and beeps and buzzes. But what I hadn’t expected was Billy Hancock’s sharp eyes slicing through my soul and making me feel like I was seven again and about to be dangled over snapping dogs.

His enormous frame sprawled under a thin cover, looking like he could rise up at any moment and attack.

“Lilah.” The first word came out like a curse.

Sweat broke out across my brow, and my feet fused to the floor. “Billy.”

Annoyance flickered across his pale features, and I ground my teeth. What did he expect me to call him after a lifetime of treating me like the unwanted nephew in the cupboard under the stairs?

He rasped. “Why are you standing over there?”

A cold shudder ran across my skin. If this was a fairytale, I would fully expect the figure on the bed to rip off his Billy Hancock skin and expose the hungry wolf underneath. But he was strapped to half a dozen monitors and had just survived a shooting and a surgery. This was no longer the monster of my childhood.

I edged forward and stood out of arm’s reach.

Billy Hancock closed his eyes. Maybe that show of dominance had zapped his energy.

“They set dogs on you, I heard,” he croaked. “Were you framed by that posh Scottish bint, the one who told us where to find you?” Although feeble, his voice dripped with satisfaction.