My heart clenched in my chest. I’d just gotten her. I couldn’t fucking lose her. Not like this. I couldn’t fucking live without her. Couldn’t breathe.
Without her, everything else would cease to matter anymore. I’d let the club fall, let the officers do whatever they wanted.
“Why the fuck wasn’t someone in here in time?” I asked, not once taking my eyes off her face. If I took my eyes off her or my hands off her soft skin, I’d destroy this entire fucking hospital room. My soul was thirsting for blood, practically salivating at the thought.
And we wanted the blood of one man—the same man that put these marks on my woman.
“We tried. He had the door locked.”
Fucking Christ. I was never leaving her side again—not while she lay vulnerable in a hospital bed. Not while she was where I couldn’t put proper protection on her. She was a queen, and I had to start guarding her like one.
I brushed my thumb along her jaw. “I’d like some privacy.”
The door clicking shut was the only signal I’d gotten that he was leaving. Clenching my jaw, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and held it to my ear, calling Blayke.
“Prez,” he answered.
“Dirk Wilson—he just got arrested. Keep an eye on him. I’ll give you details later.” I wouldn’t risk saying more where there were cameras. I wasn’t stupid enough for that. My head might have been a mess, but I wouldn’t risk being taken away from her.
Both times she’d almost died, I’d been away from her.
Never fucking again.
Only giving him that little bit to go off of, I hung up the phone and then sat down in my chair beside her bed, grasping her cool hand in mine.
“I’llneverlet a goddamn thing happen to you again,” I swore. “They’ll have to fucking kill me first.”
And I’d carry that promise all the way to my fucking grave.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Johnston
Iwas going stir fucking crazy.
At least, that was how it felt. And I didn’t like feeling like this—all out of control.
I’d always been able to keep a level head on my shoulders. But with Aaliyah unconscious, unresponsive?
Control was lost to me.
A week—an entire fucking week—and Red still wasn’t awake. Brain scans showed there was still activity up there, but I guessed almost being killed took a bit to come back from—a hell of a lot longer than I’d like it to.
I wanted to see her hazel eyes—neededto fucking see them. I missed them, yearned for them.
Her skin was slowly gaining its color back, but nothing would be the same until she was smiling at me, flushing under my gaze as I made her think about how fuckingincrediblewe were together.
And we were incredible. She was never getting rid of me. A woman like her was a once in a lifetime kind of thing. I’d trap her in my clubhouse if that was what it took to keep her with me.
I was obsessed with her. And the time I’d spent sitting here, staring at her, waiting on her to wake up, only made my obsession with her that much worse.
“Prez, you look like you’re ready to rip this hospital apart,” Trigger commented as he strode into the room. “I think you need a break.”
I glowered at him. “I think you need to mind your own fucking business.”
He smirked. He was probably one of the only members besides Blayke who could take my shit and just brush it off his shoulder. He wasn’t intimidated by me, though I knew he respected the shit out of me.
“You sound like a toddler, Prez. Come on. Go to the clubhouse. Do some president shit. Get a round of boxing or working out in, then come back. She’ll still be here when you get back. None of us will allow anything else to happen to her.”