Page 12 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

The doctor chose that moment to make his entrance, carrying a manila folder and a clipboard.Let me get out of here.

“How are you feeling, Ms. Knight?”

“Just tell me what the damage is.”

He sucked in a breath and slapped an X-ray onto the lightbox. “This is your tibia.”

Which was obviously fractured.

Fuck.

“I’m supposed to be flying to Belarus tomorrow.”

“You willnotbe flying to Belarus.”

“But—”

“As fractures go, it’s relatively benign. You were lucky. It’s a closed fracture, and the bones haven’t been pushed out of alignment. You’ll need a cast. Crutches too, and most importantly…” His gaze lasered in. “You’ll need to rest.”

Tulsa snickered beside me.

“You think this is funny, Ms. de Vey?”

“No, sir.”

“I’m aware that your entire team finds instructions difficult to follow, but if you keep running around with an injury like this one, you’ll only prolong the healing process. And believe me when I say that I don’t want to see you back here any time soon.” He turned to Sin. “Ms. Fischer, I trust your hand has healed?”

She flexed her fist. “Feels good to me, doc.”

“Excellent. Perhaps you could avoid punching anybody else for a few months?Please,” he added under his breath.

“I’ll do my best.”

Four hours later, I’d been scanned and studied, and the medical team had fit me with a temporary boot while they 3D printed the cast I’d have to wear for six to eight fucking weeks. I could shower and float around in the pool, but I wasn’t supposed to put any weight on that leg. Not that Iwanted to, because it fucking hurt. They’d reevaluate the fit of the cast once the swelling had gone down, but for now, Doc Martinsson had ordered me to Netflix and chill.

I was ninety percent sure he didn’t know what “Netflix and chill” meant, and after the Cole incident, I’d have to rethink my pickup strategy anyway. In twenty-four hours, my life had been turned on its head. Tulsa was packing for her trip to Belarus, and I was sidelined.

I should have been royally pissed at the upheaval.

But as I lay back on the sun lounger beside the pool with the shushing of the waterfall in the background, all I could think of was Cole.

Andthatannoyed me to no end.

CHAPTER 5

COLE

Cole Gallagher thunked his head back onto the pillow and groaned.

She was gone, and so were her clothes.

He should have known she was too good to be true, that his luck wouldn’t last. Bella had been a bright spot in the darkness, but now it was time to step back into the nightmare.

The Galaxy.

Cole had only met Uncle Mike a handful of times, but he owed the guy. That was why he’d left his life on Emerald Shores and travelled back to the US, into a situation that was far beyond his understanding or control. He had to at least try to fix this. Hundreds of people were depending on him, and he’d never felt so alone.

His muscles ached as he rolled out of bed, but after last night with Bella, that was no surprise. But the disappointment… He hadn’t been prepared for that.

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