Drake’s voice came through the line next. “Damien?” he asked gruffly, sounding annoyed.
“Why the fuck was Hayley left alone by herself?!” I roared. Dr. Burns glanced up at me for a moment before focusing back on Hayley.
“She’s fine—" Drake started, but I cut him off, slamming my fist against the wall. I barely registered the pain that flared through my fist as I hit it. I couldn’t believe he was trying to tell me she was fine, when she was currently knocked out to have a fucking bullet removed! A bullet that could have fucking been prevented had he given enough of a fuck to make sure she was taken care of and protected!
“She fucking got shot!” I roared at him.
Silence rang on the other end of the line for a moment. I knew Drake felt something for my woman, but that shit ended today. She was mine, and just like before, I couldn’t fucking trust anyone else to take care of her. This just proved it.
“Fuck,” Drake swore. “Is she alright?”
I wanted to slit his throat. I wanted to shoot him in his fucking thigh just like Mark had done to Hayley, except I wanted to do it over and over again.
“It’s none of your fucking business anymore if she’s alright,” I snarled. “I’m sending Miles and one of my other men to your place to get her shit. She’s staying with me, and if I see you anywhere around her, I will fucking hold true to my word and fucking murder you, do you understand me? Your carelessness could have gotten her fucking killed.”
I hung up the phone and shoved my hands through my hair before I looked over at my baby girl lying on the hospital bed. The left side of her face was swelling from where she had obviously been hit. I knew I should have taken her with me the first damn day I heard of this problem, but I wanted to give her the opportunity to come to me on her own—to show her that I had changed.
Goddammit though, I couldn’t allow this shit to happen to her again, even if, once again in our lives together, it meant I had to take away her options.
I texted Miles to go with Quinn to get Hayley’s stuff from Drake’s. Drake called my phone three times as I watched Dr. Burns work on Hayley’s leg before he eventually got the memo that I wasn’t fucking talking to him.
Dr. Burns turned to me. “She’s going to be alright. I’m going to give you some pain medication to give her. You can go ahead and take her home so she can be properly protected.” He looked back at Hayley with a sigh. “I take it the girl wasn’t in your care?” he asked me.
I shook my head. “No. I left her in the care of someone else, but I sure as hell won’t be making that damn mistake again.”
I strode over to the bed after pocketing the prescription from Dr. Burns and lifted Hayley up into my arms. Using the back entrance, I walked out of the hospital and over to my car so that I could take her home. After settling her into the passenger seat and making sure she was buckled in securely, I got in on my side and drove off to my place.
When I pulled onto my property, Tyrone and Drake were sitting in the driveway. I ignored them and walked around to the passenger side of my car and lifted Hayley out, cradling her to my chest.
“You want me to park your car?” Quinn asked me. Quinn had still been working his way into my organization when Hayley and I were first together, but I knew he played a role in trying to keep her motivated while I was locked up.
Until she left, that was.
I nodded at him, turning to the side so he could grab the keys from my pocket. He flicked his eyes behind me to where Tyrone and Drake were. “And them?” he asked me, obviously able to tell that I was in a foul ass mood.
“Send them inside. I’ll deal with them once I have her in bed,” I told him.
He smiled at Hayley in my arms. “It’ll be good to have her back around again, Damien.”
I smiled down at Hayley, silently agreeing with him before I sauntered into the house, carrying her to my room to lay her on the bed. I gently pulled her jeans down her legs, thankful that she was still passed out from the morphine. I covered her up and pressed a kiss to her temple, turning on the lamp on the nightstand so that she would be able to see when she woke up.
I walked out into the living room where Tyrone and Drake were waiting. Without a word, I walked up to Drake and knocked my fist against his face, sending him sprawling back onto the floor. I pulled my gun out and pointed it down at him, seething with rage. Tyrone tensed, ready to spring between us if need be.
“She could have lost her fucking life, Drake,” I snarled.
He put his hands up in a defensive gesture. “Trust me, I’ve got enough of a fucking beating from Tyrone for it,” he muttered. I glanced at his cousin, arching a brow. Tyrone just shrugged at me. “Gregory was supposed to stay at the house to make sure she was protected. There’s no fucking trace of him anywhere.”
“Because maybe he was the goddamn traitor?!” I roared, my finger itching to pull the trigger on him. “With someone as fucking precious as her, you don’t take any fucking chances, Drake!”
“Gregory has worked with me for fucking years, Damien,” Drake snapped. “Gregory isn’t a goddamn traitor.”
My phone rang in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see Miles’s name on my screen. Putting my gun in my belt, I answered it. “What?” I snapped.
“Guess who I just watched take money from James,” Miles sort of sang out.
“Does his name start with a fucking ‘G’?” I snarled.
“Yep,” Miles said, popping the p.
“Put a goddamn bullet through both of their skulls,” I ordered.
I hung up the phone and glared down at Drake. “A real fucking leader doesn’t just let anyone watch over the most precious things in their life,” I snapped. “Tyrone’s learned that one, but you just don’t fucking learn, do you? First, you allow Lacie to get caught up in all kinds of bad shit, and then she gets fucking killed because of it. Because of your carelessness and Lacie’s stupidity, my girl is caught up in this bullshit, and her fucking life is in danger.” I pointed my finger toward my bedroom. “When it comes to that woman lying on my fucking bed, I barely trust Miles to take care of her, Drake. You need to learn from your fucking mistakes.”
I shook my head, turning on my heel. “Tyrone, take your fucking trash out,” I snarled before I walked back towards my bedroom.