Corrupting Cinderella (21 page)

I shoot a worried glance at Rock, and he shrugs off his jacket, laying it over Wrath’s chest. Trinity does the same.

“That better?”

He doesn’t answer this time, and tears start dropping down Trinity’s cheeks.

A helicopter had to be called in to lift Wrath out and take him to the nearest hospital. The rest of us got to ride in either an ambulance or cop car.

You can guess which one I ended up in.

No matter how many times I explained to the two useless pigs that we’d been run off the road, they kept insisting something else happened. I had no idea what actually happened or who those fuckers were.

Was I going to tell the cops it probably had to do with the underground fight we just left?

Fuck, no.

But I gave them the rest of the information, so at least it seemed like I wanted to be cooperative. Finally they let me go find Hope.

My girl did amazing.

Atomic rage fills me at the thought that she could have died tonight because of me. She never would have been in this situation otherwise. People didn’t try to run her off the road because she caused them to lose thousands of dollars on an illegal fight. No, that shit is part of my life, and it could have cost her hers. I’m sick with disgust.

But she kept her cool. She didn’t panic when we went over the cliff. She listened to me. She did her best to keep Wrath safe and comfortable until we could get him help. I didn’t think I could love her more until I saw her kneeling on the ground beside my brother, holding his hand, talking to him softly, her sweatshirt looking like a baby blanket on his big chest.

The hospital doesn’t want to let me see her because she’s not my wife. I get loud, and next thing I know, she’s flying out of one of the emergency room cubicles and into my arms.

“Baby, you okay?”

She winces when I hug her and her hands are bandaged, but other than that, she seems sound. I push all the awful things that could have happened out of my mind.

Trinity is fine. They checked her over. Barely a scratch. Doesn’t surprise me. Girl is very resilient.

Wrath is still out cold.

It’s hours before they will let us see him, but no one is leaving. The rest of the brothers filter in as the news spreads.

Teller, Murphy, and Dex join me in a huddle.

“What do we know?” Muphy asks.

Teller looks into the hallway. “Z’s checking out some leads.”

“Can’t be fucking Vipers. They would’ve straight-up shot us, not pulled that cowardly bullshit,” I mutter.

“Better not be them. We had the all clear to be there,” Murphy reminds me.

Not like it would matter to those honor-less fucks. The stupidity of my decision to bring Hope into this is close to crushing me.

Z bumps my shoulder and pulls me into the hallway.

With a shifty look up and down the open space and a low voice, he explains. “Looks like it was two assholes from Irish’s crew.”

“Who the fuck is that?”

“The kid Wrath fought? He fucked him up pretty good, so they were looking for payback.”

“They could’ve fucking killed us! Over a goddamn fight their guy signed up for?”

“Fuckin’ pussies.”

It would have made more sense if it had been one of the other crews who lost money on Wrath. Fuck, it would have made sense if it had been some Vipers since we were in their territory—all clear or not—but
this
is fucking stupid and senseless.

“Find out who they’re connected to. I want to know how much blowback there will be when we handle them.”

“Prez—”

“I’m fucking serious, Z. They want to fuck with us? Fine, but Hope and Trinity could have been hurt or killed.” I shake my head, still pissed with myself for bringing the girls. “No excuses for bringing the women into our shit.”

“I know.”

“Payback is a bitch.”

“Fuck, yeah.”

I give Z a manly slap on the shoulder. “I need you, man. Shit’s going bad all around us, and our enforcer is gonna be down for eight or more weeks. You gotta step up.”

Z sends me a “fuck you” look, and I feel a little bad for how that came out. “You know what I mean. Membership is tight as it is. With Wrath down, it’s gonna be even harder.”

We’re pulled out of our conversation when Trinity wanders into the hall, looking more lost than I’ve seen her in years.

I hold out my hand and she drifts over, letting me hug her to my side. “Babe, I want you to go home and get some rest.”

“I need to see him first.”

Z and I share a glance. “I know. As soon as he’s awake, I’ll have one of the guys bring you back. Promise.”

After some cajoling, Z takes her home, and I go into the waiting room to find Hope standing and staring out the window. I nudge her with my shoulder, and the corners of her mouth lift in a weary smile. She settles down in the chair beside me and takes my hand.

“You all right, baby doll?”

“Yeah.”

After what seems like many hours, a doctor finally comes in. “Wyatt Ramsey’s family?”

I stand up. “I’m his brother.” I’m not getting blocked by some bullshit hospital rules again. He’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a brother anyway, so it’s not a lie as far as I’m concerned.

The doctor looks at each of us before pulling me into the hallway. I tug Hope along. Doc looks at her but doesn’t say anything.

“Mr. Ramsey has a concussion. The cut on his temple wasn’t too severe. We stitched it, but we need to keep him a night or two for observation to make sure there’s nothing more serious like a cerebral hemorrhage. Now, his leg is a different story. He suffered a tibial shaft fracture. It’s a stable fracture, which is good. With this type of fracture, the bone is barely out of place. The broken ends of the bones basically line up correctly and are aligned.”

He rubs his fists together in an imitation of what he’s trying to explain. Hope looks ready to barf.

“He’s got a cast. It should be completely healed in four to six months if he listens to instructions,” the doc continues.

I snort at that.

He nods once as if he suspected Wrath might be an ornery dickhead. “He’s in very good shape, a healthy young man, so he should be closer to the four-month end. He’s also a large man, so it’s crucial he keeps his weight off the leg right now. In a few weeks, I’m going to recommend some sort of physical therapy, and he can probably use a cane or crutches in limited amounts of time. The fracture pain usually stops long before the bone is able to handle the stresses of his everyday activities, so it’s going to be important he doesn’t overdo it or it could fail to heal properly. Are there a lot of stairs at his house?”

I think about his room at the clubhouse. Upstairs. Fuck.

“Yeah.” I run through what other options are available. Trinity’s room downstairs. Boy, is she going to be pissed. Maybe I’ll set him up in my house, although I’d feel safer having him at the clubhouse. Double fuck. Hope’s house is a one story. No fucking way.

“We’ll get it sorted out, doc. Thanks.”

He turns his keen eyes on Hope. “Are you Trinity?”

She blushes before answering. “No.”

“Hope?”

An even deeper flush stains her cheeks. “Yes.”

“Good—he’s been asking for you too. If he’s still awake, you both can visit with him for a few minutes.”

Hope swings her questioning gaze in my direction, and I shrug. Poor bastard is probably delirious.

I hesitate and wince when I see my brother in the hospital bed. The nurse told me they had to get him a special, larger-sized bed, but he still dwarfs it. We’ve been through a lot of scrapes and rough times together, but this is definitely the worst I’ve seen my indestructible best friend.

As soon as he holds his hand out to her, Hope rushes to his side.

I’m not sure how I feel about that.

“Oh my gosh, they shaved all your beautiful hair off,” she fusses while gingerly touching his scalp.

Wrath looks her over carefully. “You okay, sweetie?” He frowns at the bandages on her hands.

Sweetie? The letters W, T, and F come to mind.

“Some scrapes. Nothing. How are you?”

“I feel like I got run over.”

I step up. “You kinda did, brother.”

“Where’s Trin? Is she okay?”

“Yeah, I sent her home with one of the guys to get some rest.”

His face settles into hard, angry lines. Whether it’s from pain or something I said, I’m not sure.

“Who’d you send her home with?”

Something I said. “Easy, brother. She’s on her way back now.”

Wrath grunts at me and turns his attention to Hope, taking her hand again.

“You sure you’re okay? That was some bad shit, sweetheart. Thank you for taking care of me like you did.”

Her free hand flutters in the air. “I didn’t do anything useful. I froze. Trinity is the one who went all Tomb Raider on us.”

Wrath huffs out a laugh, then scrunches up in pain.

“Fuck. How long did doc say I’ll be down?”

I don’t dick around and just give it to him straight. “Four to six months.”

I can see he’s already prepared to fight, so I cut him off. “You’re going to follow every damn instruction. If you don’t, your leg will heal all fucked up and you’ll be a gimpy fuck the rest of your life. So six months is nothing to make sure you’re not walking in circles from now on.”

He chuckles and settles back into the bed. “You gotta take my patch, don’t ya?”

“Fuck, man. Why are you worried about that now? It’s not going anywhere. Z and the others will take care of shi—”

“Can’t ride. You gotta take my cut, prez.”

“Knock it off.”

Hope seems to have checked out of the conversation, but for some unknown reason, she’s still holding the fucker’s hand and running her fingers up and down his arm. Mildly disgusted at how jealous I am of my girlfriend comforting my mangled best friend, I wrack my brain for some good news to tell him.

“We know who it was?” he asks before I can come up with a better topic of conversation.

Hope looks at me with the very same question in her eyes.

“Z has a lead on it. We’ll discuss it later.”

“When they gonna let me out?”

“A day or two. We gotta get you set up on the first floor somewhere—”

“He can stay in my room,” Trinity says softly from the doorway.

Wrath’s whole face lights the fuck up when he sees her. He holds out his empty hand. Still hanging onto
my
girl with the other hand, though.

Greedy bastard.

Trinity brushes by me. Except for pulling on her bottom lip with her teeth, she seems calm.

“You’re such a big baby. Don’t you know how to drive your bike off a cliff by now?”

His face breaks into a wide grin. Hope lets him go and gives him a pat on his uninjured leg before walking to my side.

I tap Wrath’s hand once. “We’re gonna get going. Trin, you need a ride, call me.”

Our departure barely registers for either of them.

I stop in the waiting room to tell everyone else we’re leaving. Except we need a damn ride. “Who’s got a car?”

Dex jumps up. “Take mine. I’ll catch a ride with Swan.”

I catch his keys, take Hope’s hand, and get the fuck out of there.

Hope is so quiet in the car, I’m worried about how she’s processing everything.

“You okay?”

“Just tired. I want to crawl into bed for like a week.”

It hits me we haven’t discussed where we’re going. By some unspoken agreement, we never spend the night at her house together. My plan is to bring her home with me. I need to have her close.

As if she hears my thoughts, she puts her hand over mine. “I’d like to go home. To my house,” she clarifies.

This is not good. I’m not sure how to frame what I want to say. The thought of having her out of my sight for even a second is unacceptable.