by Winters, KB
“I’m sorry, Ian,” I whispered close to his hear. With the whir of all the machines keeping him alive, he couldn’t have heard me. This was all such a fucking mess and all I wanted was to curl up under my blankets and pretend life was perfect.
But it wasn’t. It was far from perfect. Some might call it an outright mess. But I couldn’t curl into myself and pretend none of this was happening. I had to do something, and I decided to start by calling the police to see if they knew anything they weren’t telling me.
I rinsed my face with cold water in the bathroom connected to his room, smoothed my jeans and t-shirt, and went out into the corridor.
I turned a corner to find a quiet spot to make a phone call and with one word, all my resolutions went out the window.
“Ivy?” That voice sent my nerve endings vibrating.
I looked up from my phone and there he was.
“Shae,” I said, my voice trembling. “What are you doing here?”
His smile bloomed as he lifted a hand and ran two fingers through a lock of my hair. “I came to see you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Shae
Arms crossed with a blank look on her face, Ivy’s blue eyes penetrated my gaze with enough ice to freeze the whole state of Nevada. “Why?” she said without any of the joy that erupted the last time we spoke. “I’m pretty sure we cleared up everything we needed to the last time we saw each other, Shae.”
She was feisty today, and I already knew why.
“How’s your brother doing?” After Shamrock interrupted dinner, I spent the night doing a little recon on Frank and Gio. Those dumbasses didn’t know their heads from their asses, flashing cash all over the dirtiest, scuzziest strip joints in town. Not that I had anything against any strip joints, I didn’t. The Connelly family dabbled in the tits and ass just like any other respectable business would, but the low end girls could be bought. Easily. It had taken less than a grand a piece to find out what those assholes were saying while the girls worked for their tips. I’d found out a lot, which had delayed me getting to Ivy.
“What business is it of yours, Shae? No, don’t answer that. Just tell me what you hoped to accomplish by coming here?” She was pale and her clothes looked like she’d dug them out of the bottom of the dirty clothes hamper. On top of that, her messy hair told me she’d left home in a hurry.
“I’m sorry, Ivy.” She just looked at me with contempt. Everything about her body language screamed at me to fuck off.
“There’s no need to apologize, Shae. We had fun together, but you and I want different things. No harm, no foul.” Ivy’s walls were firmly in place. She was ice cold where I was concerned, and it was my own damn fault. But why did I care so damn much?
“You say that, Ivy, but you’re lookin’ at me like I kidnapped you or something.”
She smiled, slightly amused and shook her head. “You might not be used to this Shae, but not everything in this entire world is about you. In fact, I’ve hardly thought of you since I last saw you.”
“Hardly? That means I’ve crossed your mind.” I leaned in and smiled at her, tracing the line of her jaw with my finger. “That’s promising.”
“You don’t want to know what I was thinking, trust me.” She skirted around me and went to the large desk where the nurses gathered. “Can I get another blanket for my brother, please?”
Okay, I got the message. Fuck off, but not before I took care of some business. “Look, Shamrock was looking for me the morning after we spent the night together, and he followed you back here.”
I knew she wouldn’t like hearing any of it, but I needed her to know everything.
“You had me followed? Un-fucking-believable! You’re a piece of work, Shae whatever the fuck your last name is.”
I smiled again and that only seemed to piss her off more. “Connelly. Shae Eoghan Connelly.” I held my hand out with a wide grin that I knew she would be unable to resist. For some damn reason my whole body relaxed when she placed her small, delicate hand in mine. “Nice to meet ya, sweetheart.”
“You too.” She let me hold her hand in mine. “Shae Eoghan Connelly.” Looking up at me, I saw every gear turn in her pretty little head until everything clicked into place.
“Patrick Connelly is your dad? The casino magnate?” She smiled but it was bitter and unamused. “It all makes sense now. Rich boy slumming it on the down low.”
With a huff of disappointment she brushed past me again and walked to a patient’s room. I assumed it was her brother’s.
I followed because I couldn’t not follow her, but I avoided looking at the battered form in the bed. I vowed to get the Milano’s for the mess they’d made of Ivy’s brother. He was collateral damage and didn’t deserve this. Then I wrapped my thoughts around Ivy.
“Listen, Ivy,” I said. “It wasn’t like that.” Wasn’t it though? She was just a fine piece of ass I wanted to bury myself in.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. We had our night together. It was nice. You can move on with a clear conscience, Mr. Connelly.”
“My conscience is always clear, but I don’t plan on going anywhere, sweetheart. Besides all that, we need to talk.” She looked down at where I gripped her arm and then back up at me.
“You should really be careful where you put your hands. Someone might take offense.”
Maybe so, but we both knew the truth. “You love it when I put my hands on you. Don’t deny it.”
“I liked it, past tense. Now if you don’t mind, my brother is in a medically induced coma, so I have something to worry about other than some rich playboy who isn’t used to rejection.”
My brows arched. “Is that what this is meant to be, rejection? If so, you should probably step up your game, sweet cheeks.”
She smacked my hand away from her. “Don’t call me that, damn you.”
As fun as it was to play with Ivy, we needed to talk. “Shamrock overheard your brother’s friends talking to the cops. He was the only one attacked.”
That was weird on its own, but when combined with all the other shit that had been going on lately, it was cause for concern.
“That’s what I heard, too.” Ivy wrapped her arms around herself in a protective gesture, and I wondered if she was protecting herself from the truth, or from me.
“I don’t know what it means, and I don’t really want to think about it right now, Shae. I just want my brother to get better.”
“I know, and that’s why I’m here. I know a few cops, and I called in a favor to see if they could find anything.” That had gone about as well as I’d expected it to, but I accepted their ribbing because it was the cost of doing business, along with the literal cost of doing business in Rocket without being hassled by the cops.
“And?”
“And I haven’t heard anything yet, but I wanted to check on you and Ian. Make sure you were both all right.”
“Thank you and yeah, we’re both as fine as can be expected. He’s in a medically induced coma and I’m here, praying to God that he fucking wakes up because I’m selfish, and I don’t want to be left alone in this world.”
She hugged herself even tighter and dammit, my heart went out to her.
The Connelly clan was nothing but tight. We looked after each other, and we got all up in each other’s business, pissed each other off, but we always had each other’s backs. I couldn’t imagine not having them. Being alone? That would fucking suck.
“You’re the opposite of selfish, Ivy. And there’s nothing wrong with not wanting to lose your family. Even when they are annoying and ungrateful.”
Her smile appeared, soft and amused. “Thank you, Shae. And thanks for calling in that favor. Let’s hope something comes of it.”
The resignation in her voice said she didn’t believe it, but she hadn’t given up yet.
“No thanks necessary, Ivy. It was my pleasure.” I didn’t know why I even gave a damn, but I did. It was a novel feeling, and one I decided not to look at too
carefully for the moment.
“You don’t need to charm me, Shae. We’re not right for each other. Remember?”
I knew she thought that, but she didn’t know that I thought she was totally wrong. “Want to go grab some crappy cafeteria food?”
“Nope.” She grinned and I knew I had her.
“Crappy diner food?”
“Fine, but I can’t stay away for very long.” She cast another glance over her shoulder at her brother, tears clouding her eyes before she turned back to me. “I think something greasy and fattening is just what I need.”
“I can think of something else you need even though you insist on denying both of us.” I wasn’t known for my patience, but I could be a damn saint if need be. When I wanted to be, and right now, in this moment, I wanted it real bad.
Ivy rolled her eyes and bumped my shoulder before she walked to her brother and brushed his hair from his face.
“I’ll be back soon, Ian. Feel free to wake up before I get back.” She kissed her fingertips and placed it on his forehead. Then she pulled the blanket up to his shoulders before joining me by the door.
“Let’s go get food. Only food,” she clarified with a flirtatious smile.
***
“Thanks for dinner. Apparently chicken fried steak and buttery mashed potatoes were just what I needed to feel halfway human again.”
Ivy stood in front of me, hugging herself tight. She was still holding on to that protective gesture, and it bothered me even more after we’d spent more than an hour together at the diner.
“It was my pleasure, Ivy.” That was fucking truth of the matter. I liked this chick, liked hanging out with her, and I really liked fucking her. Hell, I wanted to do it again and again until this gnawing need for her was gone.
My family had a lot of shit on our plate, at the top of that list was dealing with the goddamn Milano family, and I didn’t have time for that kind of distraction fulltime. I hustled her out the door after paying the bill and we headed back to the hospital.
Her laugh was filled with disbelief. “Yeah, you enjoyed eating greasy diner food with me? I thought we weren’t lying to each other anymore, Shae.” Damn, it was that sexy, coy grin that got to me.
“We’re not,” I leaned in to her shoulder until I could smell the strawberry milkshake on her breath. “And I did. You’re good company and that food hit the spot. The only thing missing is a post-meal orgasm.”
She threw her head back and laughed. One of those big laughs that shook her whole body, especially her tits hidden beneath a soft green hoodie. “I’m sure you’ll have no problem taking care of that. Later.” She stepped away, but I wasn’t letting her get away that easily, and I moved in front of her.
“It is later. Right. Now.” Looking into her big blue eyes, so dark they were nearly black under the yellow lights of the hospital parking lot, I leaned in, ready to take the kiss I’d been dying for since she bumped into me at the hospital.
But she stepped back. “And I need to go check on my brother.”
“I’ll walk you up,” I told her and pressed my mouth to hers. Her lips were as soft as I remembered, thick and full, pliant. I was a greedy bastard, and I needed more, so I pushed in, fusing our bodies together against the red brick of the hospital back wall. I kissed the hell out of her until her arms were wrapped around me tight and her tongue slid against mine.
Ivy moaned and I deepened the kiss, devouring her mouth because it was savory and spicy and sweet and goddamn addictive. She moaned again and my dick went hard. I pressed it against her until she crawled up my body in an effort to get closer to me. “Dammit, Shae.”
I laughed. She wanted me as much as she didn’t want to want me. It was confusing as fuck, but for now, I was going with it. “You started it, I just wanted a simple goodnight kiss.”
She snorted and pushed at me chest. “Sure you did.”
The click of a lighter had us both looking around, where a cute little nurse leaned up against the wall, pulling on a long cigarette. She laughed. “Didn’t mean to interrupt, but when you need a smoke, you need it. I know, it’s totally cliché that a medical professional is smoking, but this job is stressful.”
“No judgments here, Candace,” Ivy told her kindly. “Whatever gets you through a shift, right?”
“Exactly. Though I guess your method of celebrating your brother waking up is better than a stick of nicotine.”
It took a second for her words to register, and by the time they did, I had to run to catch up with Ivy who was already running toward the entrance.
“Uh, thanks for the info,” I called over my shoulder as I ran to keep up with Ivy.
“No problem. Good luck.” Her amusement sounded behind me, but I ignored it because even though I knew Ivy would deny it until her dying breath, she needed someone with her.
“Ivy, wait up!”
“I can’t,” she said, both of us in the lobby now. She stepped into the elevator, pressing the buttons with more force than required to get the car moving. “I have to get to Ian. Thanks for dinner,” she shouted as I stepped into the elevator with her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going with you, what does it look like?”
“I’m fine, Shae. I don’t need my hand held and I don’t need a shoulder to cry on or anything like that. I’m going to check on Ian, make sure he’s all right and figure out what the hell happened. That’s it.”
That was what her mouth said, but the lines around her eyes and mouth pointed to tension. Fear. She was scared to death for her brother and dammit, I had a feeling his predicament was all my fault.
“If you’re fine on your own then imagine how much better you’ll be with these broad shoulders to lean on.”
I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against my chest, dropping a kiss on top of her head that made her gasp. It was stupid to indulge in such an affectionate gesture I wasn’t sure I meant. But something about this chick brought all of my protective instincts to the surface.
“Gee, Shae, your modesty is overwhelming.” But I noticed that she didn’t pull away. If anything, she leaned against me just a little bit more, and it felt fucking amazing.
“My modesty is one of my best qualities. My family tells me so all the time.” That full bodied laugh sounded again and the press of her tits against my side did things to my cock it shouldn’t. At least not as we stepped out into the ICU where they were keeping Ian.
Ivy rushed out of the elevator and ran down the hall to her brother’s room.
“Ian!” she called. Her long strawberry blonde hair floating behind her was the last thing I saw before she disappeared into the room, but I followed slowly, giving them a few moments of alone time.
I could hear her saying, “I’m so happy you’re awake!” when I stepped into the room.
The doctors and nurses were still working on removing the tubes and monitors and getting him to gently return to consciousness. I gathered coming out of a medically induced coma was a little more involved than waking up from a nap.
I stood by Ivy, though I’m not sure she was aware of me and eventually Ian opened his eyes. I heard Ivy gasp, and I know it was relief, but the doctor explained he needed to test his level of impairment.
WTF? After all this, her brother wouldn’t be as good as new? I couldn’t tell what was going through Ivy’s head, but I could imagine that when the doctor turned from the bed and said you can speak to him but don’t wear him out, she almost fainted. I had to help her walk up to his bed or she would have hit the floor.
Ivy let out a sob when she took her brother’s hand. “You scared the holy hell out of me Ian! I thought you were … God!”
The gut-wrenching sounds of her sobs tore at my insides, but I ignored the urge to run. She cried and cried for several long moments, giving me time to size Ian up.
He looked like the nerdy boy next door, just as Ivy had described him. In fact, I bet he was an easy target for those Milano pussies. But even though h
e was still groggy and able to only say a few words, I could tell from the way he assessed me, trying to figure out where I belonged in all this, he was smarter than his actions suggested.
“I’m fine, Ivy,” he said in a voice raw from the tubes. “I swear. You can ask the doctor yourself.”
“Oh, I will, Ian. I’m just so glad you’re alive.” Ivy straightened, smoothing small hands down her rumpled day-old outfit.
“The nurse said I can’t tire you out. But before I go, can you tell me one thing. We need to know who did this to you. Do you have enough strength to tell me what happened? Just give me a clue so we can find the bastards.”
Ian was still on oxygen, and he took deep breaths but indicated he wanted to continue. He spoke haltingly, but managed a piece of the story before we were kicked out of his room.
“I was out with Kyle, Topher and Darnell. We went to the bar over by The Onyx Room.” Ian paused and swallowed hard. “Water.”
Ivy looked around but there weren’t any water pitchers or anything in the room. She squeezed his hand and said, “I’ll be right back.” And took off out the door.
She returned with a cup full of ice and a plastic spoon. “Here, suck on these.” She held the ice chips up to his mouth and he took it.
“More please.” He whispered.
Ivy gave him another spoonful and he coughed and cleared his throat, breathed in some more oxygen and continued. “So we’re halfway back to the car and two guys came out of nowhere.”
“What did they look like?” It wasn’t the right time to butt in, but I needed to know if this was a random act of violence or if it was my fault.
Ian looked at me, his face suspicious and full of questions. “And who are you?”
“A concerned friend.”
Ivy stepped between us and I wondered who she was trying to protect, him or me. “Shae is a friend, Ian, and he did some asking around to find out what happened. Do you remember anything about the guys who did this to you?”