Page 21 of Vegas Baby!

“Okay,” she whimpered.

I ducked in briefly to update my team, but Darius was already waving me off before I could open my mouth.

“I said go. Family first.”

I bolted, hopping into one of the many cabs hovering outside the hospital. I was only ten minutes away, but I probably dialed Bryce at least that many times on the way. He didn’t answer a single one.

I called Ava on his phone as I was getting out of the cab, letting her direct me to where she was. I found her standingin the hallway around the corner from the room she had been sharing with Andrew, and pulled her straight into my arms, my bonding sickness symptoms disappearing instantly.

“Sweetness, you were supposed to stay in the hotel room. Why didn’t you wait for Bryce?”

Ava buried her face against my chest. “I know Andrew’s schedule. I thought I could sneak in and get everything while he was busy, but my card didn’t work.”

“All right. Let’s go down to the front desk and see if we can get that sorted.”

Bryce nearly bowled us both over when he burst off the elevator. “Shit, sorry.” He careened to the side, catching himself on the wall. “What happened? What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

Ava winced at the fresh burst of anxiety. I got only a whisper of it through the bond from Bryce, but that was bad enough. I explained quickly, and he looked instantly relieved.

“Okay, for the future,pleasetext too and tell me what’s going on. I have way too much anxiety and thought I was gonna have a heart attack when I saw those missed calls.”

Ava’s bottom lip wobbled and she extracted herself from my arms, sinking against him. “I’m sorry. I panicked.”

“That makes two of us,” I said with a relieved laugh. “It’ll probably take us a little while to figure out communication.”

“I didn’t realize how bad my headache was being away from you.” Bryce visibly relaxed the longer he held her. “Let’s go get your stuff.”

Luckily, the staff member who had checked Ava and Andrew in remembered her because her name was not on the room. Any resistance they’d had to getting her a fresh card melted away when she burst into tears and told them why she needed to get her stuff out.

“Hey, Bryce, do you think you could find Andrew and stall him?” I asked. “Or at least keep an eye on him to make sure he’s not going to surprise us?”

“I can do that.”

“Good. I’ll message you once we’re done.”

We parted ways, Bryce back to the convention, Ava and I up to Andrew’s room.

“Sweetness, this can’t happen again.”

Her eyes filled with fresh tears.

“I’m not mad, I promise. I will drop anything at any point in time whenever you need me. I just don’t want you to put yourself in an unsafe situation. Andrew has already proven that he doesn’t care about your well-being, and we don’t know what he might do if he sees you again right now.”

“Oh,” she said quietly. “I didn’t think about that.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to. I’ve just seen far too many domestic violence calls. I know that leaving is the most dangerous time, and anyone who would do what he did shouldn’t be trusted with your safety.”

Ava swiped the card, the light flicking to green, her hand frozen on the handle. “Do you really think he would hurt me?”

“Hasn’t he already?”

“I…yeah, I guess he has.” She sighed and pushed open the door.

I went in first to make sure he hadn’t somehow slipped away and wasn’t already in there. Once I gave the all clear, Ava stepped inside. It looked like he hadn’t touched her things, at least. We popped open her suitcase and I grabbed all of her clothing that was hanging in the closet while she scooped up her toiletries and dumped them in the suitcase along with them. She changed out her heels for sneakers and tossed the heels in with everything else.

“Is that everything?”

She stood stock still, staring at the bedside table where a small velvet box sat. Ava moved toward it as if on autopilot, her fingers trembling when she picked it up. I was at her side as she lifted the lid, revealing a glitzy platinum band and rock of a diamond.

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