Dark Steel

by Fable Gray

  “Okay, take a breath,” Becky suggested. “The doctor’s just about finished.”

  “But…” I peered toward the door, trying to see what was going on. “Did he say anything? Does he…” The look the nurse was giving me made my stomach drop. “Does he even remember anything? Me?”

  She smiled gently. “He remembers some. But he’s been asleep for a while. He’s disoriented. This is totally normal.”

  I spotted the doctor leaving my dad’s room and rushed over.

  “Miss Patterson,” he said, nodding his head in greeting. “They told me you were coming.”

  “Is he okay?”

  The doctor stepped to the side and gestured to the door. “He’s awake now, so it would be a good time to see him. He’s still sorting through what happened so just be patient. We’re off to a good start.”

  A good start. I wasn’t sure why those words didn’t reassure me like they should have, but I took a deep breath and walked inside anyway.

  To my surprise, my dad smiled. Damn, it was good to see him smile. To see him do anything besides sleep.

  “Royal,” he said, voice rough. He coughed slightly, and the nurse walked around to the side of his bed to help him get water.

  I took a spot on the other side and held his hand gently. “Dad,” I murmured, my voice choked.

  He squeezed my hand softly. “It’s…okay.”

  I studied his face. He looked older than he had before and so, so tired. His head rested on a pile of propped up pillows and he looked like he might fall asleep again at any moment.

  “Dad,” I said again, torn between interrogation and laying my head in his lap and crying.

  His free hand moved to my cheek, brushing it just slightly before dropping to his side again. “I’m here, Royal.”

  My eyes stung with unshed tears. I gave him a wobbly smile. It was like it hit me all of the sudden—what I’d almost lost. My mom had been gone long enough I was able to remember her without such an intense ache in my heart. But now I realized how close I’d been to losing my dad too, how close I’d been to having no parents, and it shredded my heart.

  “How do you feel?” I asked him.

  He gave a wan smile. “Like I got in an accident.”

  Of course. For such an analytical person, he sure liked corny jokes. But that was good, right? He remembered me and he remembered the accident. Or at least something involving an accident.

  “But otherwise,” I said, “do you feel okay?”

  “I’m tired.”

  “I know.” I glanced at the nurse. “It’s fine. I just wanted to see you.”

  He closed his eyes with a little noise of agreement. “They said I’ve been asleep for a long time.”

  I looked up at the nurse, my eyes filling with tears again.

  “It’s okay,” the nurse said. “It’s normal for him to be tired. When you talk to the doctor, he’ll tell you what to expect, but he’s right. This is a good start.”

  “What now?” I asked, feeling lost.

  “I’m…still here,” my dad grumbled, keeping his eyes closed. But I knew he was on the verge of falling asleep again.

  “We’ll watch him closely,” the nurse said, “and he’ll need some tests. Right now, the plan is to take things hour by hour. We’ll know more later.” She walked around to my side of the bed and set her hand on my shoulder. “I’ll give you a minute.”

  I nodded and turned my attention back to my dad.

  It was going to be a long day, especially if my dad was still so tired. But I was more optimistic than I’d been in a long time.

  I kept my dad’s hand in mine and talked to him like I used to when he’d been in the coma.

  “I missed you,” I told him. “And I didn’t know what to do. I…thought maybe you found out something, some information you weren’t supposed to know, at work.”

  “Work,” my dad said, his voice rough and scratchy.

  My heart leaped. “Yes, work,” I said. “Do you remember work?”

  His eyes fluttered open. He looked confused at first but then his features cleared slightly. “The lab…?”

  I nodded. “Right. You worked at the lab.”

  His hand flexed in mine like he was frustrated.

  “Work,” he said again.

  I leaned in closer to hear him. “Do you remember something, Dad?”

  His lips moved silently, almost as though he was working through the words he wanted to say.

  Then he grunted softly in frustration. “I don’t remember.”

  “It’s okay,” I soothed, fighting back more words. Questions I wanted to ask. “I’m here. You can sleep now.”

  It was good. He could rest and then I’d be able to visit with him more when he woke up again. This would give me a chance to call Xander and update him. I should also call Declan and tell him I wasn’t going to be able to meet him.

  I started to slide my hand from my dad’s, but his grip tightened.

  “Dad?”

  He didn’t open his eyes but mumbled “work” once again.

  “Do you remember something?” I asked.

  He grunted in agreement.

  “About that day?” I said, my voice quiet.

  He grunted again, making my heart race. Shit. He remembered the day of the accident or something about it.

  “Dad?” I said again.

  His eyelids flickered and then his gaze fixed on me. He said one word, only one, but it rocked me to my core.

  “Dark.”

  Chapter 16

  Adrenaline raced through my veins. Dark. He’d said Dark.

  Declan had seen him that day. And he’d lied about it.

  Along with the adrenaline, a healthy dose of rage boiled up in my veins.

  I knew all along that Declan had something to do with this, but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was even going to meet him today.

  That asshole.

  I stepped out of the room, already pulling my phone from my pocket. I should probably think through what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t. I was filled with purpose. I wanted answers now, and Declan needed to know that I knew the truth.

  I pressed his name to send the call. With the phone to my ear, I heard the ringing first in one ear, then in the other.

  My head jerked up at the sound, realizing what it was. His phone. Declan was somewhere close by.

  I caught sight of the back of a jacket before it vanished around the corner and I yanked in a breath.

  The call went straight to voicemail as though someone had abruptly ended it.

  Declan was here. Had he been following me?

  I raced after him, not even trying to be discreet. When I rounded the corner, I saw the door to the stairs shut and cursed.

  Fuck. He was fast.

  But I already knew that, which was exactly what made what I was doing so reckless and ridiculous.

  I was chasing after a man who was faster than the speed of light. Or at least, fast enough I could barely keep track of his movements let alone keep up.

  But I wasn’t going to let him get away with this. Not again.

  I ran to the door, yanked it open, and then started down the stairs. My breath came in sharp, controlled spurts but I was nowhere near my limit.

  Hiking mountains had prepared me for this.

  When I reached the lobby, I pulled the other door open and exited to the main level of the hospital.

  I cursed again when I didn’t see him. He might have gotten off on another floor for all I knew.

  But no, I didn’t think he’d try to hide. He’d probably try to run. He’d want to get out of here as fast as possible.

  Cool mist hit my face when I rushed outside. I spotted Randy’s car in the same spot I’d left it and there! Across the parking lot was the same black Bentley.

  I raced to Randy’s car as I saw someone jog to the Bentley. When they got in, and when I caught a flash of dark hair and a dark jacket, I gave a rueful smile.

  Tha
t’s right, I thought. You can’t go as fast when you’re around people. You might get caught.

  I yanked open the back door to Randy’s car, startling him, and pointed.

  “You have to go—you have to follow that car,” I said, breathless.

  Randy shoved his thermos back in the passenger seat. “What?”

  “Go, go, go!”

  To his credit, Randy started the car quickly and didn’t ask any questions until he was racing across the parking lot toward the black car that was trying to exit the hospital.

  “Why are we following this car?” he asked. I noted he still put on his blinker even though he was weaving around a car that wouldn’t move.

  “Because the man inside was following me,” I told him.

  “What the hell?” Randy went around another car and then turned onto the man road, going in the opposite direction we came from. “I thought you were going to see your dad.”

  “Just don’t lose that car,” I said.

  I pulled out my phone and called Xander. “Pick up, pick up—”

  “Royal?”

  “Xander. Declan was at the hospital—he must have been following me—”

  “Wait, what? He was doing what?”

  “Following me,” I said, keeping an eye on the black car. It was getting farther ahead of us than I was comfortable with. But I couldn’t exactly yell at Randy to go faster. “Listen, we’re right behind him—please don’t ask questions. He has a cabin, right? The place my dad was going to meet him—wasn’t it on this road?”

  “Yes. But—”

  “Can you give me the address?”

  “Royal, this is a terrible idea.”

  “Xander,” I said, breathless. “Come on. This might be my only chance to get answers.”

  He grumbled but I heard him typing on his computer.

  “I’m sorry,” I told Randy.

  “Royal,” he started, eyes squinting against the rain. “It’s hard to see.”

  The worry in his voice made my stomach clench. Dammit. This wasn’t his job. And if Xander found the address, I could go after Declan anyway without racing down a slick road.

  “I’ve got it,” Xander said. “I’ll text you the address.”

  “Thanks. I should go.”

  “Ro—”

  “It’s okay,” I told Randy after I ended the call. “You can slow down. I don’t…”

  I didn’t want to get anyone hurt. This was the same stretch of road my dad had had his accident on, probably chasing the same answers I was right now.

  Randy slowed the car. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, sounding very much like a father. “I mean, if this guy was following you, maybe you should just call the police.”

  “I can’t,” I told him. I was prepared to elaborate when Xander’s text came through on my phone. “I have the address.”

  I told Randy and he nodded.

  “We’re close,” he said.

  I sat back in the seat and tapped my fingers nervously on my knee until Randy slowed the car. Water coated his windshield and he turned the wipers up so he could see better.

  After another minute, we were sitting outside two iron gates that were open, almost like Declan expected me to show up.

  “I think this is it,” Randy said. “You sure you want to do this?”

  “I’m sure,” I told him before thinking it through. I couldn’t stop now.

  He drove down a long driveway before the house came into view. But when it did, he whistled, “Wow. Your stalker is rich.”

  He was Declan Dark. Of course he was rich. But his place was beautiful. It looked like a cabin, but not the cozy kind you saw on television or in magazines. This place was huge, backing right up to the mountains and taking my breath away.

  “I guess stalking pays well,” I mumbled under my breath.

  Randy stopped the car as close to the house as he could get it.

  Feeling guilty, I grabbed a wad of bills out of my wallet—everything that was in there—and passed them over the seat.

  “Thank you, Randy,” I said. “You didn’t have to drive out here, but you did.”

  He held the bills loosely in his hand. “Two things: One, I can’t take all this from you—”

  “You deserve it—”

  “And two,” he continued like I hadn’t said a word, “I can’t leave you here. I do my best to ignore what’s going on in my back seat when I’m driving clients, but since you’re my favorite client and I was sort of involved in this pursuit—the first one I’ve done by the way—I feel like I have at least a little say. Leaving you here would eat at me all day.”

  “Randy,” I started. I sighed and eyed the house. I had to get in there soon. If Declan spotted me and ran again, then what? “I get what you’re saying, but this isn’t your problem.”

  “Royal,” he said, using his Dad voice again. “You have to be close to the same age as my boy. If this were him, I’d be looking out for him like a father’s supposed to do. Since your father can’t be here right now, I’m doing what he’d probably want me to do.”

  Emotion thickened in my throat. I swallowed hard. It felt like it had been so long since I’d had a father or someone to care for me like this. Randy was a good guy and I had to let him. That was the type of person he was.

  I nodded and gave him a small smile. “All right. Tell you what. I’ll go in there and you wait out here for fifteen minutes. If I’m not back out by then, you can worry.”

  “Sounds fair.”

  He leaned back in his seat while I got out, stuffing my phone in my back pocket and willing my legs to carry me to the front door.

  It opened before I could reach for the handle. My breath caught when I saw Declan, dressed in black from head to toe, his jaw clenched.

  “I thought we were supposed to meet at the coffee shop,” he said, voice rough.

  I arched one eyebrow. “Then what were you doing at the hospital?”

  He looked to the circle drive and eyed Randy’s car before stepping back. “Come in.”

  It was an effort to keep my breathing even, to not give away anything as I trailed behind him to the living room. It was two-story, with wide windows on one side that offered a view of the mountains he seemed to appreciate as much as I did.

  As I walked, I pulled out my phone to check the time. I didn’t have long before I had to reassure Randy.

  “You’re the first intern I’ve ever had at my house,” Declan said wryly, dropping gracefully into one of the chairs by a fireplace.

  My stomach clenched. He was acting way too casual and it made me suspicious. I sat on the edge of the other one, not feeling comfortable enough to relax all the way.

  “Would you like something to drink?” Declan asked. “Or to eat?”

  I choked on a laugh. “Seriously?”

  He gave me a confused look. “Why not? Isn’t that good manners despite the fact that you tracked me somehow and showed up at my home unannounced?”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said dryly, irritation making me respond like a sarcastic teenager. “I figured since you showed up at the hospital—more than once—where my father is, we were on an unannounced visit basis.”

  His jaw shifted when I said more than once. Nice. I’d caught him off guard.

  He leaned forward and propped his forearms on his knees. Right now, he looked like a normal man. A strong, powerful one with devastating good looks. But a normal one, nevertheless.

  “I don’t have long,” I told him, keeping my voice steady. “If I’m not back out there in about ten minutes, more than one person is going to come looking for me. And you might have been able to convince the police you weren’t involved last time, but I have proof of who you are this time. You’re not going to be able to get away with it forever.”

  Declan stood, a controlled movement that made my heart race in my chest. If he wanted, he could probably snap me like a twig right now, hide my body in the blink of an eye, and concoct a wildly convincing story
that even my father would believe.

  And even then, he’d have the city’s—maybe the world’s—best lawyers to defend him against any questions or uncertainties coming his way.

  “I don’t like threats,” Declan said.

  I stood. “I don’t like liars.”

  To my surprise, his lips curved. “But you’re okay with hypocrites? Because I’m pretty sure your entire week at Dark Enterprises was based on a lie.” He lifted his eyebrows and took a step closer. “Isn’t that right, Royal?”

  Alarm bells rang in my head. Shit. I forgot that if he knew my name, he probably knew other things about me. He might know about the cameras. He might know everything.

  But then why did he kiss me in his office? Was it just a ploy to get me to spill my secrets?

  Who cares! my brain screamed at me. He knows too much. You have to get out of here!

  “I’m leaving. Right now,” I said with a shaky voice.

  “I don’t think so.”

  I made a split decision and ran. I darted around the backs of the chairs, aiming for the door.

  A split second later, Declan was there, his body blocking me.

  “Move,” I said, my breath coming in short spurts.

  “We’re not finished here.”

  I darted in the other direction, but he was too fast. I still had to try. I reached out to shove him, but he gripped my wrists to ward off a blow that would have been useless.

  “Royal—”

  “Fuck you,” I yelled, struggling. “You—”

  “Dammit, calm down.”

  “No! I—”

  My breath rushed out when he moved, faster than lightning, and had me trapped against the wall. He pinned my arms to the space above my head and held my body in place with his, every hard inch against my quivering frame.

  “If you hurt me,” I whispered, a stray hair fluttering by my mouth, “people will know.”

  His eyes searched mine, both anger and confusion marring his beautiful features. “Hurt you? What the hell kind of person do you think I am?”

  “I have no clue,” I murmured, but that was a lie.

  In the light of day, with his body pressed against mine, I knew it. I could feel it deep in my bones that he didn’t want to hurt me. He would have tried already. He would have done it if he wanted to.