“I want to see her.”

Dr. Melvin nodded. “All right. But only for a minute. And I have to warn you, she has a lot of contusions and lacerations. She won’t look normal to you.”

The doctors led me to the ICU and into my mother’s cubicle.

I gasped. She was hooked up to myriad machines, and her skin was gray and pasty. Her lips were cut, both eyes were blackened, and one was so swollen that the eyelid had turned inside out.

“She may require some facial reconstruction eventually,” Dr. Rosenblum said. “But obviously we’re more focused on keeping her alive right now.”

Her heart monitor blipped slowly. “Why is her pulse so slow?” I asked.

“It’s the anesthesia,” the doctor said. “It’s fine. As the drugs wear off, it will go back up to normal. She’s on a lot of pain meds right now—”

A buzzing soared into my brain.

“Shit,” Dr. Rosenblum said. “Crash cart!”

The buzzing turned to beeping—from my mother’s machines. My heart beat in tandem with the equipment. My skin turned to ice.

“You’re going to have to leave,” the doctor said, ushering me out.

“But my mother!”

“We’ll do all we can for her.” She pushed me out the door.

Chapter Four

Talon

In a daze, Jade stumbled back into the waiting room. I stood and rushed to her.

“What’s wrong?”

“My mom is crashing. Or something. They wouldn’t tell me. Her monitors started blaring. I don’t know.”

I crushed her to me. I wanted to hold her and protect her from all that was wrong in this cruel world. I hadn’t been able to protect myself, but goddamnit, I would protect her from the evil and cruelty that surrounded all of us.

But I couldn’t. I had no control over what happened to her mother. I hadn’t been able to save my own mother, and I couldn’t save hers either.

She wilted against me, and I helped her sit down. All we could do now was wait.

A half hour later, the female doctor came out.

Jade stood. “My mother?”

“She’s stable,” the doctor said. “For now.”

“Thank God.” Jade wilted back into her chair.

“You need to get some sleep, Ms. Roberts. You’re no good to your mother like this. Go home. I promise we’ll call you if there are any changes.”

“She’s right,” I said.

“No.” Jade shook her head. “I don’t want to go.”

“Then let’s at least get a room nearby for the night.”

She sniffed. “All right. But I don’t want to be more than a couple blocks away.”

“We can handle that, blue eyes.” I turned to the doctor. “Thank you for your help. Do you have our contact information?”

“Just leave it at the front desk when you go.”

I nodded and walked Jade to the elevator.

It was going to be a long night.

 

“Two rooms,” I said to the guy at the front desk of the Carlton.

Jade held on to my arm, her eyes glazed over. I handed the guy my credit card, signed, and took the key cards.

Both on the fifth floor. Good. “Okay, come on, blue eyes.” I led her to the elevator and pushed five. When we stepped out, I turned right to the first room. I slid the key in the slot and opened the door.

“Here you go. This is your room,” I said.

She turned. “What do you mean, my room?”

I knew what was coming. “Your room. Mine is down the hall.”

“Oh, no. You’re staying with me. I need you tonight, Talon.”

“Baby, you know I can’t do that. Remember what happened the last time I slept with you?” I’d never forget, waking up and finding my hands around Jade’s neck. I couldn’t risk that happening again. Even though I’d worked through it with my therapist, I still wasn’t ready to sleep with her.

I couldn’t take the chance of hurting her.

She shook her head vehemently. “No. Please. No.”

“I’ll be right down the hall. I promise. If you need me, just call me.”

“Talon, please. This is my mom. I didn’t think she meant as much to me as she does. This is surprising me how much I’m freaking out. But all of a sudden, I want my mother so much. My dad is on his way. He’ll be in sometime tomorrow.” She looked down at her watch. “Okay, sometime today, but it won’t be until later. He’s driving in from Denver. Please.”

“I can’t, blue eyes. I can’t take the chance.”

She yanked on my arm, pulling me inside. The hotel door closed, and she grabbed my cheeks and pulled me down into a kiss.

The kiss was violent. We’d had kisses like this before, yes, but this one was different. Jade was so…needy.

Usually, I was the needy one.

I wasn’t used to anyone needing me. Sure, my brothers and Marj said they needed me, but they didn’t. Not really. No one had ever needed me the way Jade did now.

She clung to me as though her life depended on it, and then she broke the kiss with a gasp. “Please, Talon, don’t leave me. I’ll never ask you for another thing. I promise.”

Something in her eyes made me stay. She was scared, genuinely afraid of losing her mother, whom I’d never heard her say a kind word about. But sometimes emotion ran so deep a person didn’t even know it was there. I, of all people, understood that.

I nodded slightly. I’d stay, at least until she fell asleep. The room had two beds. I could sleep in the other, or I could go to my own room. Yes, I’d have to go to my own room. But later.

“Please”—she started sobbing—“I can’t be alone tonight. I just can’t.”

“Shh,” I said against her hair. “I won’t leave you, baby. I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”

Truer words had never crossed my lips. I was here for her, and I would do whatever she needed me to do. All she had to do was ask, and I would be there. I knew this in the depths of my soul.

She pulled back a bit, her steely blue gaze meeting mine. “I need you to make love to me, Talon. Love me. Show me what’s really important in life.”