Page 151 of Pucking Obsessed

The meaning of Shay’s words hit me like being drenched in ice water.

My mind clears.

D’Angelo has been kidnapped by Heine.

Was the wine spiked?

With a burst of furious adrenaline, I force my eyes to open.

I meet Shay’s red-rimmed eyes, which widen.

He’s clutching the phone to his ear like without it, he’ll fly apart. As if it’s the only way that he’s holding onto the present, rather than falling back into a past, where he was once trapped with his brother bypsychos.

The ghost of his monsters are lurking in the way that he’s shaking as much as I am because of whatever we were drugged by. He’s still holding me up, however, protecting me.

“S-s-shay,” I slur.

“Love.” Shay desperately sweeps his fingers over my lips, as if desperate to check that I’m truly still breathing. “Love.”

“Shay,” I repeat, more steadily.

He coughs, clearing his throat.

Then he blinks, taking a steadying breath, before he says into the phone, “Our Robyn is awake. She’s —fuck— she’s… Okay, she’s here.”

Shay holds the phone up to my ear.

“Can you hear me?” Michael asks

“Yes,” I reply, although I’m struggling to concentrate.

“Shay is refusing to go to hospital for tests. He’s a doctor’s nightmare. He even played on his sprained ankle. So, I’m strongly advisingyouthat we take you both to Freedom Heart for a checkup. The drug will leave your system likely as fast as twelve hours. We need—”

“W-w-here’s D’Angelo?” I demand.

I’m quivering with panic.

I don’t care about tests.

My gaze rests on the overturned wine bottle. I make an effort to kick it with my foot.

Shay follows my gaze and picks up my thought. “We can test that.”

I nod.

“Robyn, I’m here.” Eden must have taken the phone. He sounds calmer than I’m expecting but also, darker. There’s something dangerous blazing underneath his tone that makes me reassured that he’s going to burn the world down to save D’Angelo. Literally. A thrill of fear runs through me. I haven’t seen this side fully of Eden before. “Jude will be back with us soon. No one hurts my family.”

I believe him.

“Tell Mike,” I say, firmly, “that I’m not going to hospital. He can do a professional check up on us, when he arrives. We’re not leaving Jude alone with Heine a moment longer than we have to.”

Shay is stroking my hair over and over. He hugs me close to his chest. He’s shaking as hard as I am.

He leans over my shoulder to call into the phone, “Stay on this line until you arrive. Don’t go, okay? Don’t leave, Dee.”

Shay sounds unbearably young.

I switch the phone to speaker.

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