Guys on Top 02 - Guys on the Side (32 page)

Breaking free of Corey’s embrace, Stewart stepped toward Angelo. “Where is your cousin?”

“The police are going to get him,” Angelo said. “There was a cop here when we arrived, I talked to him.”

“He had better be behind bars when I get out of here, because otherwise I’m gonna fucking kill him, you hear me?”

“Stewart,” Corey said. “Take it easy.”

Turning back to Corey, Stewart pointed at Angelo. “What is he doing here? He doesn’t belong here.”

“Stewart,” Angelo said. “I’m so sorry this happened. I’m devastated, Doug was trying to protect me, I’m so sorry.”

Stewart turned and glared at him, then walked toward him, hands on his hips. “Angelo?”

“Yeah.”

“Get the fuck out of this hospital.”

“I just want to stay and make sure Doug’s okay.”

“I said...” Stewart loomed over Angelo. “Get the fuck out of this hospital. Or I’ll
throw
you out.”

Corey grasped Stewart’s shoulders. “Come on. Take a breath. Go get some water, there’s a bubbler over there.”

Stewart stepped back. He started away, then spun around again, pointing at Angelo. “You better hope Doug’s all right. Keep your family the
fuck
away from
mine
. Or I will break you in half.”

“Come on,” Corey said, gently grasping Stewart’s arm. “Come on, Stewart. Go get some water. I’ll be right here.”

Stewart turned and strode away, running a hand over his mop of dark hair.

“I’m sorry,” Angelo said. “I didn’t want to upset him.”

Corey sighed, looking down at Angelo. “He was already upset. I’ll look after Stewart. But Angelo, you should leave.”

Angelo stood. “I don’t want to upset Stewart more, I just want to stay and make sure Doug’s all right.”

“Angelo.” Corey closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, then opened them. “I’m asking you to leave.”

“I don’t want to leave you, I want to help. Corey,
please
, let me help. I feel fucking terrible.”

“Angelo.” Corey stepped toward him. “I know you’re upset. But Stewart is beyond upset. I need to take care of my friend right now. And if you don’t leave, this instant, I’m going to get angry with you. And I don’t want to get angry with you.”

Angelo’s heart dropped to his toes. He swallowed hard, then nodded. Turning away, he headed out of the waiting room.

He followed the hallway until he found the double doors, then left the hospital. Once outside, he moved to a bench in the courtyard, and held his head in his hands.

“Fuck.”

“Keep your family the fuck away from mine
.
”

Stewart’s words, so similar to Tommy’s. For some reason, Angelo’s mind flashed back to the day he met up with Tommy at Uncle Len’s. Tommy trying to convince him he had to look tough to go speak to Corey. That stupid leather jacket.
West Side Story.

Conflict. Opposition. Violence. It had all started there, that day. And Angelo feared it was all going to end here. At this hospital. Not just the conflict that Tommy had started. But the bliss Angelo had found in the aftermath of that conflict. The promise of something amazing. It would all end here.

If it hadn’t ended already.

Chapter Twenty

Corey strode through the hospital lobby with two coffees. Stewart had spent the night here, so Corey wanted him to go home and sleep, but he also didn’t want him to fall asleep and crash on the drive home. Hence...coffee.

Corey had gone home last night shortly after they got word that Doug was out of the woods. He’d woken the fuck up, which had been the hugest relief Corey had ever felt in his life. He’d never known, until that moment, what a powerful emotion relief could be.

But with a severe concussion, and a hairline fracture in his cheekbone, Doug wasn’t getting out of here quite yet.

As Corey took the hallway toward Doug’s room, he spotted Wyatt Crandall, Doug’s older brother, walking his way. A local obstetrician, Wyatt had similar looks to Doug’s, big dark eyes, brown hair, but a bit leaner, with a higher hairline and glasses. He hadn’t spotted Corey yet, and Corey noted that he looked tired. And angry.

“Wyatt.”

Wyatt’s eyes widened as he looked up. “Corey, hey.” He stopped in the hallway. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“How is Doug?”

Wyatt sighed heavily. “He’s shitty. But he’s going to be okay. Corey, how did this happen? Doug’s really groggy and every time I try to ask Stewart about it he starts swearing and talking about people he wants to kill.”

Corey chewed on his lower lip. He really, really didn’t want to tell Wyatt that this had all started with
him
. His client. His enemies.
His
lover. Doug had merely gotten caught in the crossfire of Corey’s life. “I’ll explain all of that, Wyatt, but I haven’t seen him yet. Can I just go in and see him first?”

“Yeah, of course.” Wyatt’s eyes softened. “Brace yourself, his face is extremely swollen. Don’t let him do too much talking. And for God sakes, make Stewart go home, he’s going to keel over soon.”

“Okay,” Corey said. “I’ll call you? Is that okay?”

“Sure. Call me when you can. I’ll be back here later.”

“See you later, Wyatt.”

Taking a deep breath, Corey continued down the hall, then found the room number Stewart had texted him, confused for a moment when the name on the door was not ‘Doug Crandall’, but something else. But then Stewart appeared from inside, meeting Corey in the doorway.

“Hey.” Stewart smiled tiredly, dark circles under his eyes.

“I brought you coffee,” Corey said.

Stewart shook his head. “I’ve been drinking that shit all night. I need to go home and get some sleep.”

“Okay, good. I thought I had the wrong room!”

“Yeah.” Stewart nodded. “Because Doug was attacked and the whole thing with Angelo’s family, they put a fake name on his room, just in case.”

“Come on,” Corey said. “Doug’s not in danger, Tommy’s been arrested.”

“I would have thought Doug wasn’t in danger
yesterday
when he left for work in the morning, so.” Stewart shrugged. “Not questioning anything.”

“Go home,” Corey said.

“Will you stay with him a while?”

“Yes, Stewart.” Corey smiled. “Wyatt’s coming back later, too. Go home and sleep.”

“Okay. Just gotta say goodbye.”

Corey followed Stewart into the room. He stopped when he saw Doug.

Propped up in bed, Doug had bandages over his nose, but they didn’t hide the black eyes, or the giant, baseball-sized, purple cheekbone.
Fuck
, Corey thought.
This is bad. This is real. And this is my fault
.

“Baby, I’m gonna go home and get some sleep.” Stewart took Doug’s hand and kissed it.

“Good,” Doug said, his voice hoarse and groggy. “You look like shit. Look worse than I do.”

Stewart laughed. “Corey’s here.”

Doug’s swollen face turned toward Corey, and his lip crooked in a small smile. “Hey, ugly,” he said.

Corey smiled and moved toward the bed.

“See you later.” Stewart gave Corey a quick hug, slapping his back, then left the room. Corey took the seat beside the bed, trying not to show the shock and emotion he felt looking at Doug all banged up. The whites of his eyes were rimmed with red, deep, mottled bruises beneath them and on the visible bridge of his nose over the bandages. Not to mention the protruding, bulbous lump of his cheekbone. “How do you feel?” Corey asked.

Doug licked his lips. “Can you hand me that water?”

Corey picked up a glass of water with a straw on the bed tray and handed it to Doug.

“Thanks.” Doug took a sip through the straw. “Feel a lot better since they gave me a shot in the ass. But my ears won’t stop ringing.”

“Fuck, Doug, I’m so sorry this happened.”

“I’ll live,” Doug said. “Or so they’re telling me.”

“Do you...remember how it went down, before you got hurt?”

“Yeah. I remember everything. Trust me, memory was primarily on the brain damage quizzes. I’ve been asked if I know my name a hundred times now.”

“I saw Wyatt.”

Doug chuckled softly. “Poor Wyatt. You know, for years he’s been worried that I’d get gay bashed. He was always warning me about it. ‘Be careful out there, Dougy, don’t want you to get hurt.’ I’d tell him to chill out, that he’d been watching too many movies.” Doug turned his head and looked up at Corey. “This wasn’t supposed to happen to one of us.”

Corey rested his hand on Doug’s. “I know, buddy. Tommy’s going to pay for what he did to you. And Doug, I’m sorry. Sorry I brought this into your life.”

Doug winced and his hand went to his temple. “Ouch! Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?” Corey leaned forward.

Doug grinned, then winced. “I was trying to roll my eyes at you. That hurt.”

“Well, don’t...fucking roll your eyes.”

Snickering, Doug looked at Corey. “I should have known you’d make this about you. Egomaniac.”

“But it is,” Corey said. “Tommy was my problem to take care of. I should have called the cops that first day he came by. I was cocky and underestimated how much he hated me.”

“Corey.” Doug closed his eyes. “I chose to stand by you that day. And I
chose
to step in when I saw Tommy pushing Angelo around yesterday. Stop blaming yourself for everything.”

A young male nurse stepped into the room, holding a large bouquet in a vase. “Flowers for you, Doug. Should I put them by the window?”

Doug scratched over his bandage. “Yeah. Are they from my mom?”

The nurse set the flowers down and pulled the card out of the tiny envelope. “Leonard...Nardovino.”

Doug grinned at Corey. “Well, how ’bout that.”

The nurse approached the bed and checked Doug’s I.V. bag. “I’ll be back in a while to give you some more pain medication. How are you feeling?”

“It’s tolerable right now,” Doug said.

“All right.” The nurse left the room.

Corey watched the nurse go, then turned back to Doug. “Tommy was pushing Angelo around?”

“Something’s really wrong with that guy. He was so full of rage. Angelo was trying to reason with him. Didn’t work. He knocked Angelo to the ground.” Doug’s blood-red eyes turned to Corey. “You’re not gonna listen to Stewart. Are you?”

Frowning, Corey said, “What do you mean?”

Doug coughed, then took a sip of water. “He wants you to not see Angelo anymore.”

Angelo
. Corey had never felt so conflicted about someone. “I don’t know,” he said. “My seeing Angelo is what brought this on. You getting hurt...it’s all tangled up in my fucking love life. Maybe Stewart’s right. Maybe I was stupid to start dating a guy who came to my house to threaten me.”

“Wasn’t Angelo’s fault,” Doug said, eyes blinking slowly. He seemed to be getting tired.

“Hey, I’m gonna go get some breakfast. Why don’t you take a nap? I’m sure they had you up all night.”

“Yeah.” Doug chuckled. “I’m falling asleep here.”

Corey squeezed Doug’s hand and stood. “I’ll be back, ’kay?”

Doug lifted his hand in a wave, then dropped it, eyes closing.

Corey headed for the door.

“Corey,” Doug rasped.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t...fucking don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Corey walked back to the bed.

Doug sighed, eyes closed. “He’s your Krispy Kreme.”

Corey smiled down at Doug. When his breathing became steady with sleep, Corey turned and left the hospital room.

He thought about Angelo as he strolled past doctors and patients and visitors in the hallway. Hospitals sucked, and seeing Doug like that had drained any passion Corey had been feeling the past few days.

Logically, he knew Doug was right. This wasn’t Angelo’s fault. And it wasn’t Corey’s fault. But Corey’s new love affair was stained with it now. Stained with blood. And anger. And sadness. He decided that after speaking with Wyatt Crandall, he’d send a text to Angelo, filling him in on Doug’s condition.

But after that, he needed some time. Time for Doug to heal. Time to see if the sick feeling Corey got in his stomach now when he thought of Angelo would heal as well. Because at this moment, he honestly wasn’t sure he ever wanted to hear the name ‘Nardovino’ again.

Chapter Twenty-One

Once Angelo finished with his last client of the day, he packed up his briefcase, grabbed his jacket, and headed out. He aimed to go sit in the park for a while before going home, as he’d been doing nearly every day for the past two weeks. Thinking about everything that had happened. Trying to wrap his head around it.

He’d not heard a word from his family. Not one. Fucking. Word. Naively, he’d thought at least
someone
would have called to check on him after what happened. They all knew about it now, what with Tommy being arrested. At the very least, they could have called to inquire about Doug. That they hadn’t, made Angelo think less of them.

And then there was Corey. It had been two weeks since he’d gotten Corey’s text, telling him about Doug’s injuries, assuring him that he would pull through. And telling Angelo that he needed time.
Time
. Angelo knew what
time
meant. It was the reason he’d not heard from Corey since. Corey was rethinking his decision to continue their affair. And though Angelo understood this after all that had occurred, the sense of loss was almost unendurable. Never had he mourned the loss of a lover like this. And while a flicker of hope still crackled stubbornly inside him, deep down, he suspected it was over.
That’s what happens when you get your boyfriend’s best friend’s face smashed in.

Sure, it wasn’t Angelo’s fault, not directly. But it was his family member,
his
conflict that had led to such terrible consequences.

“Goodnight, Barbara,” he said as he passed through reception.

“Goodnight!”

When Angelo stepped through the doors and out into the fresh air, a man who’d been leaning against the building moved quickly toward him, and Angelo jumped, dropping his briefcase and throwing his arms up in a defensive pose.