Deceitfully (Sinfully Series) (8 page)

Seeing him alone, asleep, and hooked up to all those machines was scary. I didn’t like seeing him so lifeless, so helpless. To be honest, I’d been in his room, watching and waiting for him to wake up for hours. While he was asleep, his strong muscles were relaxed, and he looked completely at peace. I couldn’t help but wonder what his life was like now. A player, for sure. He was too good looking not to be. Was there more to him, though?

The Tate I knew was powerful, confident, and always on the go. I was the girl he never noticed back in high school. We never hung out, but that didn’t mean I didn’t see him. Everyone saw him. Everyone wanted to be him or to be the girl on his arm that week. Sophia got that position for a fraction of time but she, being Sophia, fucked that up real quick. Tate might have been a player, but he was loyal to whomever he was with at the time.

Sophia? Not so much. She slept her way through the last two years of high school. The dumbass never saw what she had in front of her until it was too late.

Tate. He did something to me, even though I wanted to deny it. He’d ignored me for so long, but fuck if I didn’t feel this,
pull
, toward him. He was the bad boy. I was the behind-the-scenes baker at one of the hottest bakeries around. He was meant to be known. Meant to be seen. I was not. We simply weren’t compatible.

Walking down the halls, I was unsure of where to go. I had no authority to ask the status of other patients, even though I saw a handful of doctors I recognized. Before I knew it, I ended up in Sophia’s room and noticed Dylan asleep on the pull-out bed. He was one of the lucky few who came out unscathed. I made my way toward the center of the room as quietly as I could.

Sophia was awake but looked sedated. Her eyes were half closed and her body relaxed. They’d done surgery just a few hours ago for a lacerated spleen from one of the bullets, and I knew she was on heavy medication. She caught a view of me and turned slightly.

“Hey, sis. How is he?” Sophia questioned. Her voice was rough and weak. She tried pulling herself into a sitting position but gave up after her first attempt. “How’s everyone else?”

“I don’t know. I was coming in here to see if you two knew anything. I mean, I know about Cylas, but not anyone else really. I—had to tell Tate. He asked.” Tears dropped down both cheeks, and I didn’t bother wiping them away. More were to come anyway. “How did this happen to us?”

Sophia lifted her arm out, signaling me to sit beside her. It didn’t seem natural at all between us, but I needed someone right then. “No one knows why, only that there’s a reason for everything. We might not know what it is now, or tomorrow, or months from now. All we know is that we’re safe and that bastard is dead.” I know she was speaking of Victor. Word had spread as to who the shooter was, and while we all knew of him, no one really knew much about the guy.

“Four people died tonight, sis. How is there reason to that? I just had to break a man’s heart when I told him that one of his best friends died.” Brushing the hair out of my face, I mentioned, “I should be getting back to him. He wanted answers. I don’t know about his friends but thought maybe you did.” I looked over and saw her reaching for her phone.

“I only know about Cylas and that’s because he was the one who shielded me from Victor. Here’s Graham’s cell number. Go see if people have heard anything in the waiting area, and if not, call him. I haven’t seen him yet, but he’s probably around here somewhere. Check back in with me later?” Control was something she needed. The unknown scared her.

Nodding my head, I gave her a gentle hug and made my way down to the waiting room. Just as I pushed to open the door, I could hear dozens of people stand up to see who it was. The disappointment on their face was evident, and I knew they were waiting for answers, too. Looking over, I noticed a friend of mine from high school.

I pulled Tricia aside and asked quietly, “What do you know?”

She had been at the reunion, but we hadn’t talked in years. She’d aged since I last saw her, the lines around her eyes and mouth more pronounced now.

“Not much. One of the police killed Victor onsite. The organizer of the reunion was killed, also. She was one of our classmates. Rachel? I think was her name. No one’s been telling us shit. Only text messages and calls from people already admitted. People are piecing together what they saw, but with the smoke, it’s making it hard to know what really happened and who’s not okay. Any word back there?” She nodded her head toward the doors I just came from and I shook my head gravely.

“Tate’s awake. He’s going to be okay. Same with Soph. I should get back there. Here’s my number if you find anything out.” I went to pull out a pen, but she was smiling like she knew a secret.

“I still have your number. Go. Be with your sister.” She shoved me away and I felt like I was betraying everyone behind me who had to stay there. I did not intend to go back to my sister’s room soon, but they didn’t need to know that. They had friends and loved ones back there too, but were made to stay and wait in agony.

Just before I reached Tate’s room, I stopped at a nurse’s station to see if I could get any information to give Tate. That was what I was supposed to be doing, after all. There was a young nurse in purple scrubs behind the desk, typing away without realizing I was even there. I figured I’d wait a moment for her to finish up.

Taking a seat nearby, I pulled out my phone and reprimanded myself when I saw that there was only seventeen percent battery left. I didn’t plan to be gone so long, but I needed my phone. I was supposed to work in the morning and needed to be available if anything happened to my sister. We were the only family we had now, and I wasn’t about to leave.

Pulling out Graham’s number, I gave it a quick call, but it rang until it went to voicemail. I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to call again, so I left a quick message. “Hey Graham, it’s—Stella, just checking to see how you were and if you were still around the hospital. Tate would love a visit, I think. He’s in room five-oh-four. Umm, bye.” Scolding myself about how awkward I sounded, I wished that I had known these people better. It was clearly evident that I was the outsider.

Sending a quick text to Naomi, my boss, I gave her the abbreviated version of what had happened and let her know that I’d call her as soon as I knew when I’d be back. She was a sweetheart, and we had other girls to fill in. I wasn’t too worried.

I was putting my phone away when an older doctor came up to the nurse, causing her to instantly look up from the computer screen. Knowing that I shouldn’t be listening to their confidential information, I tried to busy myself by looking through my purse.

“We need to notify next of kin. I’m surprised he made it as long as he did. Poor guy was talking one minute and went into cardiac arrest the next. Check to see if he has a girlfriend or wife as well. He was too handsome to not have had one.” I stopped all movements at those words. Looking to my left, I was four rooms away from Tate. My stomach dropped and I kept repeating that ‘it couldn’t be him, it couldn’t be him’ over and over again.

The nurse quietly confided to the doctor, “There was a girl in there earlier. We’ll let the family know first. That makes it five now.” I heard her getting up and watched as she fell in step with the doctor. They dealt with death every day. It was all a part of the job for them. I doubt they even realized I was there, or that I knew the man they were referring to.

I watched the two with answers walk right past me and I never muttered a word. I wanted to ask who they were talking about but who was I to be nosy? Tate’s nurses had seen me in his room, but this was a different nurse, a nurse who wouldn’t know my relation to the patient.

What was my relation to the patient?
It was non-existent. I was a good friend, nothing more. Still, I looked up as their steps fell further and further away from me and was too scared to speak up.
Why didn’t I just walk over to his room and look in?
I couldn’t. Truth was that I wasn’t ready to face him being gone. He’d just come into my world. I needed more of him.

I hadn’t been gone that long.
He was talking to me!
My heart felt like it was crushing into a million tiny shards of glass, and it was consuming me. Walking toward a chair, I plopped down and began crying mercilessly into my hands.

This wasn’t happening.

I was supposed to be getting information. He was waiting for me. I curled my arms around my body. It couldn’t be him. It was just a small wound. How was I going to tell Sophia? She’d be devastated.

I could have been in that position for five minutes or five hours. A warm hand landed on my back and peeking up, I saw Dylan’s poignant face staring down at me.

“Not now, Dylan. I can’t tell her yet. I’m not ready.” I wiped my eyes and eyeliner smeared across both thumbs. I was a hot mess.

“Tell her what?” He crouched down so that we were eye level. He knew about Tate’s history with Sophia, I thought? Was it wrong of me to let him know?

“About Tate.”

“What about him?” He looked genuinely concerned. If he only knew the competition that Tate could have been for him.

“I heard a doctor say that he didn’t make it. Cardiac arrest.”

Confusion laced his face, his brows contorting to ask the question. “Cardiac arrest for Tate? Are you sure?” His hand found my thigh and began rubbing gently.

“I think so. They said he was talking one minute, and the next, he was gone. I’d left him for just a little while, but by the time I made my way back, it was too late. They said he had a girlfriend or someone with him. They meant me,” I simply told him.

“You’re mistaken, Stella. That wasn’t Tate.” He tried to smile, but I could see the pain in his eyes.

I looked up and questioned what he meant. Who else would they be talking about?

“Come on, I’ll walk you to him.” Dylan holds out his hand and I weakly grab hold.

Was he okay
? Who was the doctor referring to?

The thirty steps it took to get to Tate’s room felt like a lifetime. Why did I care so much? I barely knew the guy.

When we got to his door, Dylan instructed me to go in and he’d be outside if I needed him. I mouthed
thank you
to him and slowly pushed open the door. I saw his feet first, tucked safely under the covers. I breathed a sigh of relief, and by the time I was next to his bed, I couldn’t help but smile.

He was alive. He was still here
.

“Why are you smiling? That’s a good thing, right?” Tate looked up at me, and I could see the optimism in his eyes.

Fuck! He thought Cylas was okay and that I was wrong. I was going to crush him all over again. I desperately wanted to take his pain away—to make him forget about the events that had happened and how his friend would never come back.

“Stella,” he breathed. He offered his hand to me this time, and I forced myself to be strong. I let my hand rest on his and could feel in that moment that he was going to be different than all of the other boys.

I sat down next to him and prepared myself to tell him everything I knew. No secrets, no lies. He needed to know. I’d want the same for me.

“I’m sorry, Tate. I didn’t find out much, but Sophia confirmed that she knew about what happened to Cylas. He was right next to her and took two shots, one to the shoulder, and the other to the heart. He saved Sophia, though. She made it through and is now spleenless but will survive. I don’t know any other names, though.”

Tate closed his eyes, and I waited for him to yell at me again. When I saw the single tear fall from his cheek, I understood. Reaching for his hand, I let my hand rest on his but within seconds, he put my hand in his and squeezed. I wanted to comfort him, and this was the only way I knew how to at the moment. I wanted to lean in and whisper in his ear, anything to make it better. He was hurting.

We stayed like that for a while. His other hand eventually found its way to my leg. I couldn’t leave the hospital knowing my sister was still here, but I was even more compelled to stay because of the man in front of me. A man so strong on the exterior, but who was just as human as anyone else was beneath the surface.

SHE WAS GONE FOR-fucking-ever. I made her leave in a moment of anger and felt the loss immediately. How could Cylas be dead? My heart didn’t want to believe her, but my brain knew. He was gone.

Cylas had been such a good friend to me. He was going places. Just because some crazy fucker decided to play God, my friend was now dead. Who was Victor to decide who lived and who died? Was he targeting or was it purely random? These thoughts raced through my mind as I waited for Stella to return.

Stella.

Why was she with me? I knew she said Sophia had told her to, but that didn’t mean she actually had to agree? She looked so similar to her sister that it played with my mind. Those eyes. Those big brown saucers that stared straight into my soul.

She was gone for a long time. Sitting all alone, unable to get up and not really knowing what was wrong, I was restless. I had so many questions. On one hand, I needed her to get back to me, all the while wanting to be alone to mourn for Cylas.