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The nurse sends me a sympathetic smile, humming under her breath.
“I’ll send in the agents stationed outside your door. You should be okay for a while. The doctor wanted to monitor your vitals and make sure you got fluids while the drug was in your system. I suspect he’ll want you here for another day to make sure it didn’t have any other lasting effects on you.” She smiles one last time, squeezing my arm before she walks out the door.
As soon as she exits, Olivia bursts in with a frantic look. Normally, she hides her emotions behind a thick wall of professionalism. Not today. Her eyes glide all over my body, taking me in.
“Bestie,” she murmurs, a hint of emotion filtering through her voice.
“Liv. What happened? Where’s Ly? Asher? Where’s Van? Did he…”
“Don’t worry, Dollface. I shot him in the dick,” Jordy quips, strolling in casually after Liv with a cocky grin plastered. “Don’t give me that disapproving face,” he says, pointing at Olivia, who huffs in response.
“He’s on Devil Head Island with the rest of the Veritas prisoners. They mended his…” She pauses, twisting her face. “His uh…manhood.” She grimaces, pointing between her legs.
“His dick. You can say it. D-I-C-K. Or what’s left of it. He’ll be permanently limp from now on.” He beams with pride, setting his eyes on me. “You missed, by the way. But that’s okay. Thankfully, Liv and I stormed the castle before he could drag you away to his lair.” He shudders at the thought, looking away with a head shake. “You were a lucky girl, Riv.”
“Super fucking lucky,” Liv murmurs through a breath.
“What the hell is happening?” I mutter, rubbing my temple. “So, he’s gone?”
“In prison for a very long time. The good thing about Veritas is he doesn’t need a damn trial. Besides, thanks to Asher’s quick thinking, we have his confession on tape. So, Van is there forever.”
“With sickening pride, too. Where the fuck did you find this guy, Riv?” Jordy asks, shaking his head.
“He was my ex, but he dumped me,” I groan, trying to process what they’re saying about him. “So, what is he saying?” I question with curiosity.
Olivia sighs, having a silent conversation with Jordy. Eyebrows raise. Hands move. But their mouths never open.
“I’m assuming everything he told you. From the admittance to what he did to you at that party and to stalking you since that moment ...” Olivia trails off, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Rad stiffens behind me. His breath picks up and heaves at the mention of the party so long ago. Rad, my hero. The man who scooped me up and took me to the hospital after Van and his little friends had their fun.
I squeeze my eyes shut, vomit rushing up my esophagus. Van fucking raped me. He took advantage of me by dumping drugs into my drink and luring me away from the mass of people and witnesses. Then, as a love-sick teenager, I fell under his spell and into his bed. Again. He took advantage of me more than once.
“We went through his house, Riv. It’s apparent he’s had a thing for you for a long time. Probably has been following you for longer than the three years he let on. We found the pictures, the videos, and everything in between to help him get to you. We also found his security companies shit all over the place, too. The same company in charge of your safety. Overall, it’s another dangerous criminal off the streets. He won’t see the light of day for the rest of his life.” As Jordy speaks, more anger seeps into his words. A red tint crosses his cheeks, and his muscles turn rigid.
“And Ly? Asher? Are they okay?” My heart pounds against my ribs at the last images I have of them running through a loop in my mind.
Her screams. His anguish. The gunshot. The threats. It’s all right there at the forefront of my mind, reminding me I couldn’t save anyone. Not even myself.
“Ly’s fine. She’s snuggled up with Asher right now, Pretty Girl,” Rad says reassuringly, running his hands up and down my arms again.
“He got out of surgery hours ago. He’s fine. She’s fine. Although Ly might be a little shaken up. She hasn’t really mentioned it. But Kieran took her to that therapist you have for an emergency appointment to make sure she’s okay since you were out for twelve hours, and he said they had a good talk about everything. She wants to continue to see Lyric on a regular basis. Something you might want to keep in mind,” Liv says with gentleness as she eases forward. “Shoo,” she rasps, waving Rad and Callum off me.
“Only this one time,” Rad grumbles, kissing my cheek. “We’ll snuggle soon. I’ll go check on the asshole next door. He’s been worried sick about you but couldn’t get out of bed.”
“See ya soon, Little Star.” Callum brushes his lips against mine, finally breaking away and removing himself from my hospital bed.
“I’ll beat feet and check on our little captive. I wonder if he had anything else to say. My boys can be so creative with their torture,” Jordy says, grinning as he manically rubs his hands together as he, too, exits the room. Leaving me alone with one of my best friends, fighting back tears.
“Oh, girl,” Liv murmurs, wrapping her arms around me. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. That asshole blew up my damn car!”
“Fuck, Liv. Your car?” I wheeze, strangled by her tightening hold. I don’t even remember hearing an explosion of any sort.
“We thought there was a security breach on the outside. Little did we know it was on the inside.” Pulling back, water pools in her dark eyes, slowly falling down her cheeks. “I almost lost you,” she hiccups.
“You didn’t, though. You got there in time. Right? Everything is so damn hazy. All I remember is him cornering me, and then he injected me…”
“Yeah, just in the nick of time. We found Ash and called an ambulance and reinforcements as your gun went off. We… God, I was so goddamn scared he had shot you. I raced in there with my gun in the air with Jordy right behind me. He hadn’t moved you yet. But he was getting ready to take you away. I shot a round in his back, but it didn’t stop him. It only made him face us with a gun in his hand. So, Jordy shot him in the dick without hesitation…” She grimaces at the thought.
