Iron Cross: The Dartmouth Cobras #6 (51 page)

“What about you?”

Laura paused with her hand on the door handle as Ryan pulled up in front of the hospital. “What about me?”

“Will I have to deal with you if I scare him?” Ryan’s smile told her he already knew the answer.

She wouldn’t waste too much time playing this game with her brother, she needed to be with Tyler when he woke up, but she took a few seconds to meet Ryan’s eyes and nod. “It took me a long time to accept it, but he doesn’t belong to Chicklet alone. Think about that long and hard before you fuck with him, brother. I’m warning you because I love you. You don’t want to be on the wrong side of us both.”

C
hicklet almost ran into Demyan and Becky after the hospital receptionist gave her directions to Tyler’s room. One look at Becky’s face and she tossed her own anxiety and pulled the other woman into her arms, shifting the strap of the large case with Tyler’s favorite movies and his DVD player out of the way so she could hold Becky close. Laura had called and given Chicklet just enough information to keep her from completely falling apart, but Becky looked lost and afraid and her skin was cold to the touch. Holding her made Chicklet feel like she still had strength to offer, even though she’d doubted she had enough to place one foot in front of the other when how close she’d come to losing those she loved first hit her.

With Becky tucked against her side, Chicklet kept up with Demyan’s long strides to the room Tyler and Pearce shared. The police officers standing outside the door stopped them, one checking a list of approved visitors.

Demyan tried to push by the officer, baring his teeth when Chicklet jerked him back. “This is fucking stupid. I need to see him!”

“I know you do, sweetie, but they’re just doing their job. Someone tried to kill them both.” Chicklet winced as Demyan paled and Becky trembled. She hadn’t meant to be so blunt, but she was barely hanging on to her own cool. Letting Demyan get himself thrown out of the hospital, or worse, wouldn’t do any of them any good. She offered the cops a composed smile. “I’m happy to see they’re taking the safety of our boys seriously.”

One of the cops nodded. “Detective Hamilton insisted. You may go in, Mr. Demyan. Mrs. Pearce.” He went over the list. “Chicklet, your name’s not on—”

“Try ‘Kelsey
Galloway.’” A man practically growled from behind Chicklet. She glanced back as Sloan joined her. He looked fucking pissed. “You want to tell them I’m the boys’ coach, and there’s no reason I shouldn’t be allowed in?”

“Go ahead, Ms. Galloway.” The second cop put his hand on Sloan’s shoulder. “Sir, as I told you before, there are no exceptions to this list. You’ll have to take it up with the Detective.”

“Or I could just call him. Stay here, Sloan. Try not to hurt the nice policemen.” She smirked and patted Sloan’s cheek before slipping into the room. Seeing Tyler sitting up and making wild gestures with his hands as he spoke to Demyan and Becky made breathing that much easier. He stopped as Chicklet took hold of his chin and tilted his head to the side to inspect the large bandage on his temple. “I could kill that man. How are you feeling, my angel?”

“I’m all right. Doc doesn’t even think I have a concussion—he was here even before the ambulance. The team won’t let any other doctor touch either of us. Sorry if you were worried, I’m really okay. The fucking tire iron took out a chunk of skin though and—”

“That is disgusting, Tyler.” Chicklet chuckled as Tyler shrugged. Kissed him lightly and pressed her hand to his cheek, relieved to see he was whole and alive and apparently seeing the whole thing as some kind of crazy adventure. “I’d like to hear how you got involved. Without the graphic details because I don’t think Becky can take it.”

“Sorry.” Tyler chewed on his bottom lip as he glanced over at Becky, who was paler than either of the men in the beds. He cocked his head as though consider
ing what he’d say next very carefully. “The droid had the situation handled though, he told Jimmy he’d kill him if he mentioned Casey again…”

Not much better than the gory stuff, but Chicklet let him tell his side of the story. In the other bed Pearce held Becky’s hand and watched Demyan, his lips parting several times as though he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the right words.

Demyan appeared to be listening to Tyler, but he didn’t stay in one place for long. He sat at the foot of Tyler’s bed. Got up and moved to stand by the window. Walked to the side of Pearce’s bed, then started the whole process over again.

Rather than let him make her dizzy, Chicklet pulled a chair out between the beds and took a firm hold of his shoulder. “Sit, Demyan. Breathe.”

“Or better yet, say something.” Pearce released Becky’s hand and moved as though to rise from the bed. “Anything, please. I need to know you understand—”

“Understand? Are you fucking serious?” Demyan’s shout brought one of the officers into the room
, with Laura trailing close behind. Laura said something quietly that got rid of the man, then gave Demyan a pointed look. He nodded and inhaled slowly, keeping his tone at a reasonable level, though anger sharpened his every word. “You’re supposed to be the smart one out of the two of us. You’ve been letting that bastard blackmail you all this time? To what, protect me?”

“Not just you, Scott.”

“This is not the time for this discussion.” Becky shot Chicklet an apologetic look, patting Pearce’s hand, then going to Demyan. “He’s all right, Scott. He scared us both, but he’s okay.”

“He could be…fuck, Zach, if I
’d lost you—” Demyan’s whole body shook as he leaned over Pearce and gently cupped his face in his hands. “I love you, but you’re a fucking idiot. And we’re going to have a long talk about you not pulling stupider shit than I do.”

Pearce let out a pain-filled laugh and hooked his fingers in the front of Demyan’s shirt, pulling him closer to kiss him before whispering, “Deal.”

Aww, isn’t that sweet.
Chicklet grinned and pulled Demyan’s abandoned chair to the side of Tyler’s bed. She handed him the DVD case and called Hamilton as Tyler went through the movies with Laura. A few minutes after Chicklet hung up with Laura’s brother, Sloan was allowed into the room.

With Raif, who put on a pretty good act of not being on the verge of losing his cool. His hair was mussed up and his tie was undone, as though he’d pulled it apart because it was strangling him. She knew the feeling, so she got up to let him pass.

Before he could reach Tyler, Laura strode around the bed and cut him off. “Get out.”

Shit!
Chicklet recognized the defensive stance and the fire in Laura’s eyes. She thought she was protecting Tyler, but her timing was horrible. “Laura—”

“No. Tyler doesn’t need this man pretending to care about him.” Laura planted her hands in the center of Raif’s chest, shoving him back a few feet. “You had your fun, Raif. It’s over.”

“Get out of my way, Laura.” Raif didn’t raise his voice, but the warning in his tone was enough to bring the officers in. Both of them this time.

“Officer Tallent?” The bigger cop looked over at Laura, moving close to Raif as though prepared to remove him from the room. Demyan, Becky, and Pearce stared at them, each looking stunned and confused.

Tyler set his DVD player on the rolling tray table and slid to the side of the bed. “Laura, what’s going on? I told you that me and Raif—”

“He’s using you, Tyler. I’ll explain later, but—”

“No, I think you need to explain this to me now.” Tyler put his feet on the floor. Chicklet didn’t get a chance to stop him from standing, Sloan was already there, supporting him while glaring at Raif and Laura.

“You heard him.” Sloan
’s glare shifted to Chicklet, and her skin went cold as his eyes widened. She’d never been good at hiding anything from him, and he’d clearly figured out she knew what was going on. “Someone better start talking.”

The issues she’d been working on with Raif weren’t supposed to come out like this. Chicklet had wanted to get to the root of Laura’s behavior, then let Laura face the consequences of what she’d done. To stick with the original plan of teaming up with Raif to find where the relationship had gone wrong and fix it. She’d been convinced this could be handled without anyone getting hurt, but there was no way around it now. And Tyler deserved to hear the truth from her.

“I wanted to protect you from this, my love.” Chicklet rubbed her hand over her face as she realized her reasoning was no different than Pearce’s. Except no one’s life had been in danger. She lowered her hand and approached the bed. “Laura’s gone through a lot and…fuck, I never asked her if she was okay with you being with us long-term. I considered—I
consider
—you a permanent part of our life. But she didn’t feel the same. When she realized you had a connection with Raif, she thought you’d move on with him and it would be just me and her. She came up with a plan to…facilitate the process.”

Laura brought her hand to her throat. “You knew?”

A thin smile on her lips, Chicklet inclined her head. “Yes. You didn’t think you could fool two Doms, did you, pet? I paid more attention to you than ever before, and I realized the more difficult your life became, the more you focused on each and every mistake Tyler made. You’d decided he was the cause of all you problems.”

“But that changed—you have to know that? I tried to tell you what Raif was doing.” Laura hugged herself, her face losing all color when Chicklet didn’t reply. “I tried to tell you…”

Tyler sat heavily on the bed, teeth pressed into the tip of his tongue, nodding slowly. “What was Raif doing?”

“He was helping me see how badly I’d fucked up. He let Laura believe he was on her side—” Chicklet stood a little taller as Laura narrowed her eyes at her. “Better someone I could trust than whoever else you might have gone to. You were being sneaky and manipulative, and I wasn’t sure how far you’d go. Fine, you had your reasons, but that doesn’t change—”

“That doesn’t change anything.” Tyler’s tone was lifeless. His jaw tensed as he dropped his gaze to the floor. “Please go.”

Laura put her hand on Tyler’s arm. “Let me explain. It’s not—”

“Please.” Tyler didn’t look at her. Didn’t even pull away. “I want you to go.”

Tears spilling down her cheeks, Laura nodded and retreated, slipping out of the room.

Raif took a deep breath, but before he could speak, Tyler lifted his head, unshed tears glistening in his eyes. “Do I have to listen to more excuses for all this bullshit? Or should I beg,
Master
? Please leave.”

A jerky nod and Raif walked out. Chicklet had a feeling he didn’t want to push the issue because Tyler was in the hospital after nearly bleeding out, but letting Tyler believe Raif was to blame in any way wasn’t fair.

“He loves you. We all do and—” As she moved toward the bed, Sloan stepped in front of her. He was one of her best friends, a Dom she respected, but she’d never thought he’d have the nerve to get between her and one of her subs. Any other man would be flat on his back with her boot heel on his throat. Since this was Sloan, she’d give him the option to get the fuck out of the way. “Back off, Sloan.”

“He asked you to leave. You say you love him? Well, prove it by doing what’s best for him rather than what suits you. This isn’t a goddamn scene, and you don’t get to make up the rules as you go along. This is his life you were fucking around with.” Sloan looked past her, at the cops who still stood just inside the door. “I want to see that fucking list of approved visitors. If she refuses to leave, please escort her out or I’ll be forced to bring in the team doctor and our own security.”

Chicklet stared at him. Her throat tightened as she realized he’d have her removed without a second thought. As she realized he was right. “I’ll leave. This is a lot to take in, Tyler, and I understand if you need time. Just don’t expect me to let you go. That was never an option.”

Out in the hall she passed the people, doctors and nurses rushing around, families smiling who must have gotten good news, others in tears that hadn’t. For over a year she’d been in and out of places like this with Tyler during his recovery, loving him more and more as she saw him fight against the odds and grow stronger even when the prognoses seemed hopeless. She’d shared every triumph, every setback, and knew
no matter whether he ever played hockey again or not that he’d do something amazing with his life.

The age difference between them had never mattered. Being with him could be a head-spinning rush, but there were times he sat still and quiet and listened in a way few people really ever did. He was a man who could hear what wasn’t being said, who cared so much she wasn’t all that surprised that he’d gone after Pearce, thinking there must be something he could do to help.

But he always expected the best of people, and that was what would tear him apart now. At least he had Sloan and the team. They loved him—fuck, how could they not? Her boy was…

She reached the parking lot. Got to her car and blindly tried to unlock the door. A tear fell on the back of her hand, and she wiped the rest away irritably. She couldn’t make things right with Tyler if she let herself fall apart. Hell, she wasn’t even sure where Laura had gone. Tyler had the team, but who did Laura have?

Her family. If she’s not with her brother, she’ll be with her foster parents.

Chicklet closed her eyes. Fisted the keys in her hand.

She doesn’t need you.

“Chicklet, give me the keys.” With a firm grip on her shoulder, Raif turned her to face him. She stiffened as their eyes met, expecting anger, accusation—not the understanding she found in those warm brown depths. She handed him the keys and his lips curved in a tired smile. “I was expecting a struggle—anticipating one, actually. I’m unsure if you’d let me hold you otherwise.”

“Why would you want to? I’ve made a mess of everything, ruined all that you were building with Tyler, and destroyed what I already had.” She tensed as Raif pulled her into his arms, wishing she could accept his comfort, but knowing she didn’t deserve it. “If I hadn’t insisted on keeping secrets—”