Mistakes like this never happened to him.
“Maurice, for fuck’s sake, you know I’m good.”
“Xavier, this has never happened before.”
This made him pause. “Excuse me?”
“Look, everyone deals with their women differently. Boss has never had to invade a play like this, nor has he had to take care of a woman. She’s a civilian and was at risk of being killed. She’s been exposed to the traffickers you needed to bring down. Boss is taking care of her because he doesn’t trust anyone else. This was supposed to be a clean mission. You should have kept her out of the loop. I don’t know what Boss is going to do because it has never happened before. I’m sorry, Xavier, you really fucked this up, and everyone is pissed off.”
With that, Maurice ended the call.
He stopped near a bench and lowered himself down on it with a groan.
Rubbing at his eyes, he couldn’t think. Hitting his head repeatedly, he let out a scream, aware of the fact he was drawing attention. He didn’t care. He needed to get the image of her out of his mind to know what to do next.
No matter what Boss said, he wasn’t going to give up nor would he ever give in.
****
Alesha’s mouth was dry, and something was stuck down her throat. She grabbed hold of the tube as a large man came into focus. She heard him trying to get her to stop, but she couldn’t.
Xavier!
Where the hell was he?
She didn’t have a clue where she was or what to do.
Her heart raced, and she heard machines beeping, letting her know that she had to be in some kind of hospital.
“Shit, she’s a tough one, isn’t she?”
“Boss, stop, you’re going to freak her out.”
“Alesha, listen to me. You have to be careful. You’ve been out of it for a few days. Take it easy. You’re in safe hands. We’re friends of Xavier’s.”
Hearing his name calmed her down enough for a nurse to come into the room. In the next few minutes, she finally had the tube out of her mouth and water placed in front of her. She sucked on the straw, drinking down the liquid as if it was a lifeline.
The man she vaguely recognized stayed in the room as the nurse asked her some really irritating questions.
She was asked her name, her age, what her favorite pet was. Stuff she didn’t want to talk about.
“Where’s Xavier?” she asked, turning to the man who stayed by her bed even as the nurse left the room.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“You heard how I’m feeling from the nurse and her twenty questions.”
“You’re rather prickly. I imagined El Diablo going for someone more timid, with a little less fire.”
She stared at him. “Who are you?”
“Ah, I see you don’t recognize me. I’m Boss.”
She tried to think but could only think of Xavier talking about him. “You’re Xavier’s boss?”
“Something like that.”
She rubbed at her head.