Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
I sighed as I moved out of my bathroom. I gasped in surprise when I saw Ink leaning against the doorjamb to my room, his arms crossed over his broad chest. Those unnerving, green eyes met mine, sucking me into their vortex.
“You didn’t come to breakfast.”
I sighed and helplessly waved my hand towards the empty plate sitting on my nightstand. I had complied—somewhat. I didn’t eat with him, though I did text Elaina and asked her to bring me food and a bottle of water to my room.
Ink laughed softly as he pushed off the door jamb and strode towards me, shaking his head. “You are one hell of a woman, Jessie.” He reached up and cupped my face in his hands, pressing his lips to mine. I sighed, instantly kissing him back as I grabbed his cut in my fists, stepping closer to him. “Thank you for eating,” he told me once he slowly pulled back from my lips.
I shrugged, but a small smile played on my lips. He pressed a kiss to my temple. “You ready to go see Gloria?” he asked me.
“No,” I blurted. I shut my eyes and reached up, rubbing my hands down my face. Ink’s hands settled on my hips, keeping me with him—keeping me calm and grounded. I drew in a shuddering breath as tears burned at my eyes. “I’m scared of what I’m going to see,” I told him, my voice hoarse and raspy.
He wrapped me up in his arms, pulling me tight to his chest. “I’ll be right there with you, my girl,” he gently reminded me. “But you need to see her. You two are close.”
“I know.” A tear ran down my cheek. “That’s why I’m so afraid to see her,” I choked out. “I’m scared of what I’ll see.”
“Oh, baby,” he whispered. He flexed his arms around me, squeezing my body tighter to his. “I’ll be right there by your side,” he promised. “You won’t see her alone.”
Nothing could have prepared me for the sight in front of me when I stepped into Gloria’s hospital room.
She was connected to so many machines, and she was pale—so fucking pale. It physically hurt to see her like this.
“Gloria,” I whimpered as I moved forward and placed my hand over hers. I sobbed. “This wasn’t supposed to happen to you,” I cried. “You were supposed to be safe—protected.”
Ink’s hands settled over my hips, his muscular, powerful frame pressing against mine. “Easy, my girl.” He brushed his lips to the back of my neck. “She’s going to make it.”
“This wasn’t supposed to happen to her,” I sobbed.
“I know, baby.” Ink turned me around to face him and held the back of my head, holding the side of my face to his chest as I began to cry so hard that my entire body was shaking. He sat down in the chair beside her bed and positioned me on his lap so that I was straddling him. Then, he just silently held me, letting me cry, letting me fall apart.
I’m so sorry we failed you, Gloria.
I didn’t know how long Ink and I sat in that chair. I knew at one point I fell asleep because when I woke up, it was dark outside of her hospital room window, and Joey was talking softly to Ink.
“Doctor says she should be waking up soon,” Joey told Ink as I slowly lifted my head from Ink’s shoulder. My head was pounding, as was common after I cried so much. “She hit her head on the concrete pretty hard when she fell backward. Concussion has kept her under, but he’s positive she’ll wake up in the next couple of days.”
I sat up some and reached up to rub my swollen eyes, a yawn slipping from my lips. Joey held a bag of fast food out to me. “Ink asked me to pick you up some food.”
I took the bag from my brother, but I glowered down at Ink. He shrugged up at me. “Eat,” he ordered.
I sighed. “Ink, seriously, trying to force me to eat three meals a day right off the bat isn’t going to work. My body isn’t used to it.”
He shrugged. “It’ll train your body that you’re hungry at certain times because you’ve trained it not to be hungry at all.” I opened my mouth to protest, but the dark look he shot me actually had me shutting my mouth. He smirked as he reached up and rubbed the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. “Now eat. I don’t care if you don’t eat all of it, but it’s three in the afternoon. You missed lunch. You need food.”
“God, you’re a right fucking pain in my ass,” I grumbled as I moved to get off his lap.
He smacked my ass, making me squeak in shock as he stood up as well. “Sit,” he ordered, pointing to the chair we had just been occupying. I glared at him as I dropped into it, setting the bag of food on my lap. “Joey will bring you home in a little bit. I have to go deal with some club shit.”