KILLIAN: A Mafia Romance (The Callahans Book 2)

by Glenna Sinclair

  “How long will the surgery take?”

  “It’s a complicated procedure, and it could take anywhere from three to five hours.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “Well, I’m going to be attaching each nerve, one by one, and before I move on from one nerve to the next, I have to see that your body is accepting it.”

  “And after I wake up, how long will it be before we know I can see?”

  “Rose, if your body rejects the eye on the table, and there is always a chance it will, then we’ll tell you as soon as you wake up.”

  “But if my body accepts it?”

  “In that case, we’d take the bandages off in less than a day and you would know.”

  She was both thrilled and terrified, as Dr. Fitzpatrick passed her off to one of the nurses who was there to help her change into a surgical gown and tuck her hair under a cap.

  Soon the nurse was guiding her into the operating room where a long table was set in the middle of the area. Rose hopped up then lay back, feeling the bright lights overhead.

  It felt like an eternity before Dr. Fitzpatrick entered the operating room with another doctor whose face was concealed with a surgical mask.

  “Rose, this is the anesthesiologist, Dr. Mendel.”

  “Hi, Rose,” said the doctor, who was fully focused on readying his equipment. She could hear him shifting and moving his instruments. When he placed a plastic dome over her mouth and nose, he told her to start counting backwards from thirty.

  “So this is it?” she asked. “I’m going under?”

  She wasn’t sure why she had expected some kind of reassuring pep talk, but the doctors weren’t planning on giving her one.

  “Yes,” said Dr. Fitzpatrick. “Go ahead and start counting.”

  She did, and she was unconscious before she reached twenty.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  When Rose woke, gradually regaining consciousness, she could see nothing. Groggily, she lifted her hand to her eyes, though her arm felt heavy as cement. Touching gently, she felt a thick band of gauze wrapping her head and breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that she couldn’t “see.”The gauze was preventing her from seeing. Vaguely, she remembered Dr. Fitzpatrick had told her it could take the majority of the day for her eye to heal, but by nightfall she would be able to take the bandage off and tell whether or not the surgery had been a success.

  Her hospital room felt warm, and for a moment she listened to the whir of the vent pump crisp air into her room. It was quiet, though she heard voices murmuring far beyond her door, perhaps nurses talking, doctors briefing the families of patients on their conditions, patients and loved ones reuniting after surgery, which made her wonder. Where was Taylor?

  Feeling along the armrest of her hospital bed, she found a few buttons on the console. The elongate one had to be for ascending and lowering her hospital bed, so she pressed it and slowly elevated into a seated position. Then she felt for the nurse call button. It was the round one, and when she pressed it, the door at the far end of the room clicked open and a nurse said, “You’re awake.”

  “Taylor Montgomery?” she asked, wasting no time to find out if he was out there in the waiting room or perhaps speaking with her doctor. “Is he here?”

  The nurse stammered some inarticulate nonsense then stated, “I can see if we can get him in here.” Then she quickly left the room.

  See if they could get him in here? What a strange way of putting it, but Rose tried not to dwell. Instead, she hoped he had come back. His suite at the Escala was fully equipped for her to recover, and the sooner she could get out of here, the better.

  A long moment passed before the nurse returned, and Rose heard Taylor say, “Hey, beautiful. How do you feel?”

  She smiled, relieved to hear his voice, and said, “I’m okay. I feel a little groggy.”

  “That’s the anesthetic wearing off, I would guess,” he said as he neared her bed. As he took her hand, he added, “You probably want to get out of here, don’t you?”

  “You read my mind.”

  “I’ve already arranged it. Nurse? Could you get me a wheelchair?”

  She padded off, and Taylor sat on the edge of her bed.

  “You look good,” he said, brushing her hair, not that it was straying. The bandage around her head kept it tucked.

  “You can’t see my eyes,” she pointed out. “But thanks.”

  “Does your eye feel weird? Or fine?”

  “Um…” She had to think about it. “I can’t tell.” After a moment, she asked, “Where were you rushing off to?”

  “Oh, that was nothing.”

  It hadn’t seemed like nothing.

  “Well, what were you doing?”

  “Rose,” he said, stopping her. “You need to rest and not get worked up.”

  “It was just a question. I’m not getting worked up.”

  He was evading the question, which made her think it wasn’t simply a question he was avoiding, but an issue. Had Porter said or done something to pull him away? Rose felt a stab of sudden regret that she should’ve told him about what Porter had done to Carter and Layla, the same offense he had committed against Taylor. She felt the urge to tell him here and now, but if he didn’t want her getting worked up, then she didn’t know how she would mention it. She decided to get home and get settled, and then when he seemed more receptive, she would explain all that she’d learned about his father.

  The nurse returned with a wheelchair, and Taylor helped Rose out of her bed, thanking the nurse in a tone that implied he could take it from here.

  First he assisted Rose in getting her jeans on, her bra and then her sweater. After easing her into the chair, he rolled her out of the room and down the hall in a manner that so reminded her of when she had left the Bellevue hospital after losing her eyesight.

  “Did you bring your SUV?” she asked.

  “Not this time,” he said as they crossed through the exit into the hot, early evening sunset. “I didn’t feel like driving, so the limo will take us home.”

  Rose heard the driver walk towards the back door and pop it open, and as Taylor guided Rose into the limousine, he said, “Dr. Fitzpatrick told me your surgery went very well. He said the nerves connected easily, and your new eye was responding to mild stimulation when he conducted a few simple tests.”

  “He was able to run tests with me unconscious?”

  “Yes, apparently,” he said. “It’s all very promising.”

  As Taylor drew her near and kissed her cheek, the limousine pulling away from the curb and heading north towards the Escala, Rose teased, “What did I tell you about getting my hopes up?”

  “I’ll never stop getting your hopes up,” he said. “Oh, and Greer made you a few new eye patches, single patches instead of double ones now that you’ll have sight in one eye.”

  “Again with the getting my hopes up!”

  He pressed his lips to hers to shut her up, and they settled into a comfortable embrace the rest of the drive home.

  When they reached the Escala, the driver rolled Rose’s wheelchair to the back door after lifting it out of the trunk. Taylor helped her sit and then thanked his driver and rolled Rose through the lobby and into the elevator.

  He keyed into his suite as soon as they reached the door on the fiftieth floor, but when he rolled her inside, she stood from the chair since she knew his apartment as intimately as she knew him.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked. “Tired?”

  “Both, I think.”

  Taylor suggested she get in bed and he would bring her a sandwich, which sounded wonderful, so she held his arm and they went into the bedroom. After she stripped away her jeans and traded her sweater and bra for one of his oversized tee shirts, she climbed into bed and listened to Taylor pad through the suite and make a sandwich in the kitchen.

  As she waited for him to return, she realized she felt more in the mood for his body than a sandwich, but exhaustion was also taking hold.


  Soon she felt him sitting on the bed beside her after peeling the covers back and slipping in. When he set her sandwich plate on her lap, she wondered if she might fall asleep before she could lift it to her mouth, but she managed a few bites, as Taylor explained the waiting period which would have to lapse before they could take her bandages off.

  Whether it was the anesthetic still in her system or perhaps painkillers the nurse had given her, she felt like she was becoming fatigued and delirious. She could barely follow his words. Then, without even realizing what she was doing, she began mumbling.

  “Porter drugged them....”

  “What?” he said quickly, though his alarm didn’t register.

  “Carter and Layla. He’s manipulating them. He blackmailed them. He drugged them just like he drugged you.”

  “Rose. Rose?”

  It wasn’t until she felt him grab her that she realized she had been falling sideways, but he righted her.

  “I think you need to sleep.”

  “It was him,” she mumbled, dozing off in his arms. “He tried to kill me. It was him.”

  Rose fell into a deep sleep. Taylor shifted her down into the bed so that they were both lying on their backs; Rose curled into the crook of his shoulder, and his arms wrapped around her.

  Hours passed and when Rose woke, she felt energetic and well rested, as if she had slept for ten hours. Had she? She sensed the room was dark, though the bandages around her eyes prevented her from truly knowing one way or the other if it was still nighttime.

  When she realized enough hours might have passed for her to unwrap her head and discover whether or not she could see, she bolted upright and felt for Taylor in the bed. He was breathing heavily, and she almost felt bad about waking him, but she was too excited and knew he would be, too, as soon as he woke up.

  Gently, she reached out, intending to find his shoulder, but he must have slid farther down the bed, because she felt his cheek with her fingers. Angling her hand against the side of his head to brush her fingers through his hair, she was startled to feel gauze.

  “What?” she heard herself say, even though she hadn’t meant to speak out loud.

  Gently, she felt his face with both hands. Gauze was wrapping his eyes, and instantly she knew why. At the same time, she couldn’t believe it.

  “Rose,” he said groggily, waking up and catching her hands with his.

  “Taylor, you didn’t,” she whispered, shocked.

  He sat up so he could be eye level with her.

  “Taylor, tell me you didn’t,” she demanded, confused as to how this was supposed to make her feel. No one should sacrifice so greatly for her, yet she was grateful he had.

  “Finding a donor was proving impossible,” he explained. “I’m a lot of things, but patient isn’t one of them.”

  “So you...?”

  “I insisted Dr. Fitzpatrick test me to see if I was a match, and when I learned I was, the decision was easy.”

  “Easy? How could it be easy?”

  “It just was.”

  He drew in a deep breath then sighed. “You can’t be upset with me for this.”

  “I don’t know how I feel.”

  “You will,” he countered. “Here.”

  He fell silent and she sensed him taking the bandage off his head. When he shifted, she heard him pull something over his head, and he mentioned, “Greer made me one, too.”

  He flipped the nightstand lamp on, and as soon as he did, she saw amber light through the gauze over her right eye.

  He helped her with her bandage, unwrapping the gauze until it fell to the bed, but her eyes were pinched shut.

  “Don’t be scared,” he whispered.

  Taylor slipped an eye patch over her left eye, making sure the elastic wrapped her head at the right angle, and then brushed the back of his hand down her cheek.

  “Look at me,” he said softly. “Open your eye.”

  She was terrified, but eventually found the nerve to lift her eyelid open, and when she did, she saw Taylor gazing at her.

  Immediately, she burst out in exhilarated laughter and cupped her hands around his face, drinking in the sight of him. She thought she would never see his face again, and the fact that she now could made her wonder if this was a dream.

  “I can see?” she asked, laughing and crying and hoping she wouldn’t wake up.

  “You tell me,” he said, smiling, his good eye glistening with a tear that was threatening to spill down his cheek.

  “We look like pirates,” she said, launching into contagious laughter. She kissed him. “God, I can’t believe you did this. This is why you rushed off before my surgery?”

  “Yes.”

  Overcome with emotion, Rose kissed him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. They fell to the bed, Taylor shifting over her, and hungrily pulling her panties down, as she wriggled, helping him get them off as quickly as possible.

  He pushed his boxer-briefs down next, and when he returned his gaze to her, she stared at him, unwilling to close her eye or even blink. Seeing him was too good. She didn’t want to miss him for even a second.

  Taylor pulled the tee shirt up and over her head then threw it off the side of the bed, In the next instant, she felt him thrust into her hard and fast, filling her completely.

  She moaned and her breathing turned into a hot flutter, as her body gradually expanded to accommodate his size. All the while they gazed into each other’s eyes, both smiling, and Taylor began thrusting with a slow, sensual rhythm.

  “I love you,” he whispered, quickening his pace again as she wrapped her legs around him, savoring the size of him sliding in and out.

  “I love you, too.”

  Soon she felt a surge of heat rushing through her, and she moaned, knowing he was bringing her to the peak.

  He groaned in response and began grinding into her, which caused a powerful clench deep inside her.

  “Oh, God, I’m coming,” she moaned then kissed him to enhance her pleasure. His smooth lips against hers and his warm tongue probing her mouth in contrast to the way he felt inside was enough to bring her over the edge, and suddenly Rose was riding the swell of pleasure, climaxing and crying out in ecstasy.

  “God, I love you,” he groaned, thrusting harder and faster until he was coming with her.

  Chapter Twenty Five

  The next day, Rose and Taylor drove out to the Starlight Energy pipeline in East Bellevue where the rest of One World was scheduled to meet them. Davey Construction, its managers, and its employees had been hard at work assembling the new piping materials in the trench that had been dug along the new route as approved by the city.

  When Taylor pulled the SUV up to the executive trailer, Rose spotted her team getting out of the Jeep and a few other vehicles.

  “I’m going to get them started on taking photos,” she told Taylor as they climbed out of his SUV.

  “I’ll be in the trailer,” he said in response before heading towards it.

  It was great to see Jenny, Hector, and the others. Rose smiled wide at the look of surprise on their faces as she made eye contact with each and every one of them.

  “You can see!” said Jenny, throwing her arms around Rose and giving her a big hug.

  Rose urged her back so she could look at her, then said, “I can. One eye, but it’s better than nothing.”

  “How did you find a donor so easily?” asked Hector.

  “I didn’t. And neither did Taylor.”

  When her team simultaneously cocked their heads with confusion at that, she added, “It’s Taylor’s.”

  “What?” exclaimed Jenny.

  “I couldn’t believe it, either, but it’s true.”

  Carter and Layla stepped forward but hesitated to give her a hug, as though they weren’t sure what she would make of them being here.

  But Rose held no ill will towards them, and the fact that they were here would only support her plan.

  Taking them aside, she said, “If you do t
his, then I’ll be more than happy to have you back in One World.”

  “Really, Rose?” Layla asked. “You forgive us?”

  “I’ve known you both far too long not to.”

  Rose shot each of them a determined look, then instructed the rest of the team to get started on taking pictures to commemorate the tremendous accomplishment. Jenny had set up some interviews for later in the day, and Hector was equipped to update their website as soon as the photos got uploaded into his laptop.

  One World was in full force, but the fight wasn’t over. It wouldn’t be until Porter Montgomery was exposed and held accountable for everything he had done.

  “Come on,” she said, leading Carter and Layla to the corporate trailer where they ascended the stairs and let themselves in.

  Inside, Porter was seated on the couch. His expression looked severe as he stared up at Taylor. The room felt tense. Even the executive sitting on the other end of the couch appeared agitated.

  She recognized him from the day Carter and Layla had used the Starlight dynamite against them, blowing up a stack of pipes. His name was Lawrence Mathers, and he was Porter’s right-hand man.

  Looking him up and down, Rose noticed his dress shoes, but it wasn’t until he rose from the couch and crossed the room to get a document off the desk that she discovered a slight limp to his gait and realized he was the man who had attacked her.

  “What’s this about?” Porter demanded, getting to his feet as his eyes snapped from Taylor to Rose to Carter and Layla. When his steely gaze returned to Rose, she could see it dawn on him that she now had her sight. She was glaring right at him. “You got him to do everything you wanted. Don’t tell me you have more demands.”

  “We know what you did,” she said firmly. “We know everything you did. And you aren’t going to get away with it.”

  He narrowed his eyes on her. “And what is it you think I’ve done?”

  “You drugged Taylor that night,” she stated, holding her head high.

  Porter whipped his gaze to Taylor, saying, “She’s insane.”

  Carter spoke up without hesitation. “You did the exact same thing to Layla and me.”