How can she still love me?
“You should go back to the hotel,” I suggest, feeling almost too guilty to look her in the eye. “I’ll wait and talk to her when she wakes.”
“Okay.” She places a soft kiss on my cheek. “I’ll see you later.”
I watch her leave, the smell of her fragrance lingering in my nose. I wish things were different. I wish being with me would be a source of unending pleasure for her, not of pain, and fights, and stress.
How can she still love me?
The next few hours, the rest of the Sinclairs leave, and I’m left alone waiting for Ava.
Inside her room, there are a few bouquets of flowers. I sit on a chair beside the bed and watch her breathe.
“I’m so sorry, Ava,” I say quietly. “I’m so sorry this happened.”
She doesn’t wake up. I stay till late in the night, and then I head to the hotel.
Rachel is already fast asleep when I get there, and in the bedroom of our suite, I watch her sleep, praying I can always protect her. Finally, I take a shower and join her in bed.
She wakes up when I slide under the covers and she turns to me, whispering my name with a question in her voice.
“Shhh.” Kissing her, I slide my hands down her body. She’s naked, and warm. She kisses me back with something that feels almost like ferocity, matching my need for her.
We make love in the dark. “I love you.” I say the words over and over. She echoes them back to me, and for now, that is enough.
The next morning, I leave the suite early to talk to Claude. It’s disappointing that Evans could get into Ava’s suite and leave without being seen. Claude is distraught, but it’s not really his fault. The focus of my team was watching where Ava went outside the hotel. It never occurred to them that she would bring him here.
After I review all the security footage and spend a few minutes on the phone with Jed, I return to the hospital.
Ava is asleep when I get to her room, the machines beeping around her.
“She woke up for a little while. She asked about you. She was glad to know you were here,” a friendly nurse tells me.
I nod then settle in the chair. The other Sinclairs are not around today, and I can’t say I regret that.
After a while, I get up and go to the window. Outside, it’s a beautiful day, and somewhere out there is Evans, hateful and vengeful, eager to hurt me, willing to hurt his own sister because of how much he hates me.
I should be with Rachel. I should be protecting her.
“Landon…”
I turn to the bed.
Ava is smiling at me, her face pale. “I knew you would come.”
I move closer to the bed. “How do you feel?”
She makes a sound. “A bit weak.”
“Do you want the nurse?”
“No. Not yet.” She holds out a hand to me. “I’m so sorry. I should never have asked him to come to the Gold Dust. He wanted more money, and I wanted to see him. I think being there, he got a little triggered, and when he found out I’d seen you in New York, he just…” Her eyes fill with tears. “I just wanted to talk to him.”
“Forget about all that.” I smile at her. “Focus on getting better.”
“But what will happen to him?” Tears slide down the sides of her eyes. “He can’t go to jail. You have to help him.”
“I don’t…”