Page 106 of Royal Flush

I turned around, uncertain what to expect.

Although I should have.

She cracked her palm across my face, her look of hatred matching her expression of indignation. “You fucking asshole. You acted as if you cared about me, treating me like a princess after luring me to your island. All the while, you were planning my father’s murder?”

“That’s not it, Jasmine.” I cupped the side of my face, feeling the burn as I deserved.

“Then what is it? I mean come on. You get me to sleep with you, to trust you telling you private things. Did you use those against me because you were planning all along to kill him?” She took a long stride backward.

When I took one closer, she threw out her hand. “Jasmine. We should talk.”

“You know, I don’t think we have a single thing to talk about and if you come closer, I’ll make certain you’re arrested.”

“He hurt you.” What the hell was I trying to accomplish by reminding her of that? I was a calculating man. Shit didn’t just flow from my mouth.

She laughed bitterly. “Yeah, he did, but not nearly as much as you have. My father wasn’t the best of men but he was still my father, my blood. You’re not.” She shook her head and once again, I gave her some space. “I need space. Time.”

“You’re still in danger and you know that.”

“Maybe so but I can’t stand the sight of you right now. In fact, I don’t think I can any longer.”

“What are you saying, Jasmine?”

There was a new hardness about her, a sense that I’d betrayed her. “What am I saying? I think it’s perfectly obvious. I never want to see you again.”

CHAPTER 28

Four months later

Braxton

There were no beeps coming from machines like in worthless movies. There were no screeching carts coming in and out of the room, medical professionals frantic. There were two IV drips that made no noise.

Everything else, including my thudding heart was encased in silence. I stood by the hospital window, my hands in my pockets doing nothing more than staring out onto the full parking lot. The hospital was busy because it was considered the best in San Diego, which I’d demanded the ambulance driver head to even though it was fifteen miles further away. I knew the doctors. I knew the nurses.

Fortunately, I’d only needed them once for my own medical condition. Several served with me on various charity boards, our discussions over wine or whiskey eye opening. The medical profession was fucked, only those with money to burn able to demand the finest, the best, the most cutting-edge drugs, but no amount of money would keep me from providing the best care for…

Her.

The pronoun was easy to use at this point, less biting. Only there were two pronouns attached to the frail person lying in the bed completely unconscious. But I couldn’t think that way. Not now. Maybe not ever.

I heard footsteps as Valerio came up from behind, hesitantly placing his hand on my shoulder.

“Any additional news?” he asked after a full minute of neither one of us saying anything. Gage was actively making phone calls, taking the burden of attempting to get a lead on the person responsible off my hands. Family could be invaluable.

“Time will tell,” I said, almost shocked there was no emotion left. Maybe that was good since I’d gone into a rage, nearly beating two strangers to death for getting in my way. Right now, I felt nothing, although I knew another wave would surface at some point. “She’s in a light coma, the possibility of internal bleeding still existing and her vitals are erratic.”

He cleared his throat before responding. “And the baby?”

The baby. He had to say it, to make the little creature human. My little human. God. There were so many questions, so much to discuss with Jasmine but I wasn’t entirely certain I’d be given the opportunity. God didn’t owe me any favors. I’d done this to myself.

My arrogance.

My greed.

My lack of tolerance.

I rubbed my eyes, finally forced to blink given their dryness. “Another wait and see. At least forty-eight hours.”

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