Goal Line (The Dartmouth Cobras Book 7) (8 page)

She gave him her address, relieved when he didn’t try to start a conversation. She didn’t need another opportunity to prove what an idiot she could be.

Once, after the
perfect
date, was plenty.

* * * *

Getting to the hospital took less than ten minutes, but Dominik was pretty damn sure he was too late to stop Sloan from flying completely off the handle. He parked as fast as possible and hustled across the lot, into the Emergency entrance, dodging empty wheelchairs and stretchers in the hall. He came to a stop in front of the reception desk, not sure if Oriana would still be in Emergency or if she’d been transferred to a private room.

He didn’t hear any shouting, so she had probably been moved. He quickly asked a nurse to look up Mrs. Perron. She smiled after he gave his name and told him where to find Oriana’s room.

An elevator took him to the fifth floor. When the doors opened, he heard raised voices.

Yep, this is the right place.
He squared his shoulders, taking long strides to reach Sloan’s side. And jerk him back before he took a swing at the cop. Who already had a pair of cuffs out.

Sloan twisted free, not getting any closer to the cop, but still talking in a way that was gonna get him hauled in. “I’m not leaving her. Get out of my fucking way.”

“You think she wants you around her, you sadistic bastard?” The officer stabbed his finger in the air in front of Sloan’s face. “Keep it up. You’re just giving us a stronger case against you.”

“Then talk to my goddamn lawyer. Until then, you have no right—”

“Her husband is the only one with any rights here, pal. The doctor considers you a risk to his patient, so you will leave or I’m bringing you in.”

Well, that made the situation pretty clear. Max had explained as much as possible on the phone, but Dominik hadn’t quite understood why Sloan would flip out in the hospital while Oriana was in bad shape.

Not that it was smart of him to lose it either way, but Dominik could sympathize. For whatever reason, the doctor and the police were treating this like it was a case of domestic abuse. Max could legally stay with Oriana. The cop had a point; Sloan didn’t have any rights.

“Look at me, Sloan.” Dominik fisted his hand in Sloan’s jacket, giving him a little shake to get his attention. When those dark green eyes narrowed at him, he gave Sloan a short nod. “I get it, but you’re not helping her like this. Come take a walk with me.”

Rage, and strength, seemed to seep out of Sloan. He paled as he glanced toward the room where two more officers and a statuesque black woman in a crisp skirt suit were standing. The woman said something to the officers and started over.

“I didn’t… She fell.” Sloan pressed his eyes shut, leaning against the wall when Dominik released him. “I need to be with her.”

Dominik squeezed Sloan’s arm, watching the woman as she spoke to the officer. And got him to back off with a few sharp words. The man didn’t look happy, but he didn’t argue with her.

She came over, a professional smile on her lips, but a fair amount of compassion in her eyes. “Mr. Callahan, my name is Tina Dejesus. I am with the Department of Justice, Victim Services.” She held out her hand and appeared to relax a bit more when Sloan straightened and shook it respectfully. “I am an investigative social worker, and we have received a referral on your family. I need to interview you all separately to address the allegation.”

“The allegation.” Sloan stared off at nothing, almost as though he were in shock. “They think I hurt her.”

“The doctor was required to file a report due to the nature of some of the injuries, but I’ll be speaking to Oriana shortly. Maybe you can take a walk with your friend and meet me in the family room down the hall in about fifteen minutes?” She smiled when Sloan nodded absently. “I understand that this situation must be very stressful, but it will go smoothly if you’re willing to cooperate. Oriana is receiving the best care. I’m sure you’ll be able to see her soon.”

Silence for a few, long minutes, then Sloan took a deep breath and inclined his head. “Yeah. I don’t want her upset. Just…please tell her I’m not far. If she asks for me—”

“Someone will let you know.” The social worker met Dominik’s eyes, as though assessing whether or not he’d make things better or worse. At his level look, she grinned. “Your players are clearly devoted to you, Mr. Callahan. You must be a very good coach.”

Sloan let out a lifeless laugh. “Dominik was in love with Oriana. He probably still is. If I don’t come back, send your officers to the parking lot to find my body.”

Nice.
Dominik ground his teeth, refusing to react to the social worker’s questioning look. As Sloan made his way toward the elevator, Dominik remained at his side, wondering why he’d even bothered. Yes, the team needed their assistant coach, but the head coach could manage without Sloan.

A few days behind bars would be good for the man. He might not deserve it for the edgeplay that had likely freaked out the doctor, but from what Max had told Dominik, Oriana had been left alone after the scene, which is how she’d cracked her skull on the bathtub. To make things worse, Sloan had lost his cool when he’d been asked to leave the hospital room. He was an idiot and he was lucky anyone cared enough to keep him out of jail.

They were outside before Sloan decided he wanted to talk. He actually stopped by the smokers and bummed a cigarette, his hand shaking as he lit it. “Thank you for coming. I don’t know why you did, except you want to tell me how badly I fucked up. Have at it.”

“You don’t smoke, Sloan. What the fuck are you doing?” Not exactly what he’d planned to say, but it made him sick to see Sloan with a cigarette between his lips. The man was smarter than this. “You want a fucking drink while you’re at it? We have a game tomorrow.”

Sloan choked out a laugh, walking out into the parking lot and leaving Dominik half running to keep up. “This gets out and I won’t be there. The league takes domestic abuse pretty seriously.”

“True. But you aren’t abusive. Oriana consented; this won’t go further than a few questions about what happened.”

“You sure about that? The doctor called the cops because of ‘violent injuries.’ The nurse who put Oriana in the hospital gown told me and Max to leave, then the doctor joined her. And the cops showed up.” Sloan pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. “Max was able to get back in, but I haven’t seen her since.”

Dominik wasn’t sure he would have been reasonable in the same scenario, but he was here to make sure Sloan didn’t aggravate things. So he faced Sloan, arms folded over his chest, waiting for the man to look at him. When he didn’t, Dominik cleared his throat.

Looking worn out, Sloan lifted his head.

“This whole thing is a mess, but you can’t lose control. Oriana needs to see her Doms are there for her. That everything is going to be okay. Do you think she’ll believe that if she finds out you were about to be arrested?”

“The cop kept calling me a sick freak. Said I would pay for what I did to her.” Sloan rubbed his lips with his fist. “I ignored him at first, but then the doctor wouldn’t let me in the room. I heard her crying. She didn’t know what was happening. Max told the doctor he was her husband and they couldn’t keep him out. But…I don’t have the right to be with her. That never occurred to me before.”

Damn it, Dominik didn’t want to feel for Sloan, but he did. Regardless of their past, Dominik knew he’d never really fit in the relationship. But Sloan did. He was as important to Oriana as Max was, but the law would never acknowledge his place in her life.

From day to day, the three of them could live as though none of that mattered, but in times like this, the world they lived in would always push Sloan aside. A fact he’d never had to face before now.

Moving on had been hard. Dominik still wondered what he could have done differently so he could still be one of the men in Oriana’s life. But for the most part, he’d accepted that it wasn’t meant to be. What they’d had wasn’t solid enough to fight for.

What Sloan had with her was worth every barrier they’d have to cross, but at the moment, there was a wall standing between him and the woman he loved that couldn’t be moved. All Sloan could do was wait there until she could meet him on the other side.

This had nothing to do with Dominik, but he couldn’t help wanting to stand by Sloan and make sure the man knew he wasn’t alone. Dominik had no doubt that Sloan would be there for him if someone had made the call and said he was the only one who could get past the haze of anger and pain. He hadn’t hesitated when Max had asked it of him. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for friends and family. And like it or not, he considered Sloan a little of both.

He let out a heavy sigh and took the cigarette from Sloan, dropping it to crush it into the dirt. “Enough of the fucking bullshit. You’re a good Dom. I didn’t train you to fall apart when things get tough. Pull your shit together and figure out what you’re going to do next. The woman you love is in the hospital. Everything you do from this point on will be about her. About making sure she has everything she needs.”

“What can I do for her here, Dominik? They’re going to try to keep me away from her—who knows for how long? She’ll be in the hospital for days for the head wound.”

“And if they do, you’re going to make sure this isn’t harder on her. You talk to her on the phone, you send her flowers, and you don’t give her any reason to worry about anything besides getting better.”

Raking his fingers through his hair, Sloan let out a quiet groan and shook his head. “I can’t fucking believe this shit. We’ve got to talk to a social worker.”

“That’s what you get for being a kinky fucker.” Dominik grinned when Sloan laughed. Some might figure it was too soon to joke about things, but he could tell Sloan had calmed down enough to deal with the drama like an adult. This wasn’t the first time the police had to get involved in something like this. Hell, he’d heard of cases where rough sex led to an investigation. Shit happened.

They spoke for a bit longer, walking around the perimeter of the hospital grounds. When they went inside, the cops watched Sloan as he headed for the family room, while the social worker motioned Dominik over.

“Mr. Perron asked if you could sit with Oriana while I speak to him. At this point, I don’t see any reason to keep Mr. Callahan away from his partner, but unfortunately, hospital security is insisting he leave after I’ve questioned him.”

“They won’t even let him say goodnight to her?” Losing his own temper wouldn’t help anyone, but it was starting to seem like Sloan and Oriana would continue to pay for the doctor’s overreaction. “They’re taking this a bit far, don’t you think?”

“It may seem like that, but your friend wasn’t exactly reasonable when this all began.” She pulled a file folder out of the huge purse slung over her arm and headed back toward Oriana’s room. “If all goes well, I’ll see if I can get him a few minutes with her.”

“Thank you.”

She smiled, holding the door open as Max came out. “I should thank you. This could have turned out a lot worse.”

Max held out his hand, then pulled Dominik in for a rough hug as they shook. His throat worked as he swallowed and looked back into the room, and Dominik tightened his grip on the other man just long enough for Max to school his features. Then he let Max go with the social worker and stepped into the room.

Golden-mahogany hair spilled across the pale blue pillow case, eyes closed and normally light olive skin deathly white, Oriana was still one of the most beautiful women he’d ever known. He moved silently, hoping not to wake her. The lights were low, but he could still see the harsh bruises on the side of her head, with half a dozen stitches holding the torn flesh together.

He inhaled slowly, imagining how fucking scary it must have been for Max and Sloan to find her—probably unconscious and bleeding out on the floor. Max’s voice had broken when he’d mentioned that she hit her head on the side of the bathtub. And how he’d left the floor soaking wet.

Finding out what happened had brought back all kinds of messed-up emotions for Dominik. Mostly anger, but he couldn’t really blame anyone for the accident. And seeing Oriana, he couldn’t even be irritated at Sloan’s reaction.

If she were still mine, no one could have forced me out of this room.

Which, considering how pissed off Sloan must have been, it was surprising that only three cops were here. Sloan must be going soft.

Lips slanted in a wry smile, Dominik settled into the armchair by the bed. It creaked as he shifted and Oriana’s eyes shot open.

“I didn’t mean to wake you, sweetheart.” He leaned forward, catching himself before he could reach out and touch her. Her men would be back before long, and he needed to be here as a friend. One who didn’t touch her cheek and hold her as though he had every right to. Because he didn’t. Not anymore.

Which didn’t hurt as much as it once had. He wanted her happy and healthy. He still cared about her. But the loss was more of a distant ache than a fresh wound.

Oriana tried to lift her head and groaned. Then pressed her eyes shut and sighed. “I’m surprised that you’re here. Did Max call you?

“Yes.”

“He shouldn’t have. I’m sorry, it’s not fair of him to drag you into this.” She winced as she adjusted her head on the pillow. “Not that I don’t like seeing you, but you have your own life and—”