Page 75 of The Opposite Effect

I give them a few moments of privacy by stepping into the corridor. Warmth spreads across my chest when I discover the number of off-duty police officers lining the walls of the ICU hallway. It is a sea of law enforcement officers for as far as my eyes can see.

I shouldn’t have expected any different. Ryan is a much-loved member of the entire Ravenshoe community, let alone his law enforcement colleagues.

Ten minutes later, my neck cranks to the side when thevisiting room door opens, and Cormack strides through. Spotting me standing to the side, he raises his index finger to a gentleman wearing a three-piece suit standing at the end of the corridor. When the dark-haired man curtly nods, Cormack spans the distance between us.

“Thank you for taking care of Clara,” he says, holding his hand out in offering. “I’ll take it from here.”

I keep my hands fisted at my side. It isn’t that I’m ungrateful for his praise, but he said it like I was paid to take care of Clara instead of doing it of my own free will.

“I didn’t take care of Clara because she’s a member of my crew. I took care of her because I wanted to.” My angry sneer gains us the attention of a handful of officers in the hallway.

“I understand,” Cormack replies, gently nodding. “But she needs more care than you can give her right now. She’s in shock. She needs to see a doctor, take a shower, and eat a warm meal.”

“I can give her that. You don’t need to step in.”

Cormack’s icy-blue eyes spear into mine. “Can you take care of Clara and Ryan at the same time?”

A dash of indecisiveness tinges my mind.

“That’s what I thought,” Cormack replies, reading my internal dialogue. “If you care for Clara like you say you do, you will encourage her to come with me. A hospital waiting room isn’t the best place for her to be in her condition.”

While scraping my hand along the scruff on my jaw, I turn my eyes to Clara. She’s sitting on the hard plastic chairs that line the walls of the waiting room. Her posture is slumped, her face is gaunt, and she looks both physically and mentally exhausted.

I swallow the bile sitting at the back of my throat before muttering, “If I step back, will you call a truce with Clara? Stop this stupidlessonyou were supposed to be teaching her?” I try tokeep my tone neutral, but my words still come out in a vicious snarl.

Cormack’s lips tug into an uneasy smirk before he nods. “Yes. You have my word.”

“Your word don’t mean shit to me.” I take a step closer to him. “The fact you sat back and watched all the crap Clara went through the past four months and did nothing doesn’t even make you a man in my eyes. Let alone a man of his word.”

“Everything I did, I did for Clara. You may think it was cruel and unwarranted, but you should be thanking me. The Clara you see in there…” he points to his sister’s slumped figure sitting in the waiting room, “… isn’t the same Clara she was six months ago. My tactics may have been harsh, but they were necessary.”

I hate to admit this, but part of what he’s saying is true. Not the part about Clara not being the same Clara she was six months ago. To me, she will always be the same Clara. She just needed to be shown she deserves to be loved. My agreement is the part I should be thanking him for. If he hadn’t forced Clara out of her comfort zone, she would have never walked back into my life.

For that, I will forever be in his debt.

Ignoring the twisting of my heart, I say, “Give me a few minutes to talk to her.”

Not waiting for Cormack to reply, I walk into the waiting room. Clara’s downcast head lifts from staring at the floor when the door gives out a slight creak.

“Is Ryan okay?” she asks, wrongly intuiting the forlorn look on my face as concern for Ryan. The tightness in her shoulders slackens when I nod.

“Do you have your purse with you?”

She nods while slipping her hand into the front pocket of her blood-stained jeans to produce her all-in-one cell phone purse. I’vebeen so embroiled in everything happening, I didn’t even notice we’re both wearing blood-stained clothes. That just proves what Cormack said is true. I can barely take care of myself right now, let alone Clara.

“Do you want me to have your luggage dropped off, or will someone from Cormack’s staff come and collect it?”

Clara’s brows stitch as she stares at me, shocked and dazed.

“Cormack is going to take you home,” I advise her baffled expression.

“To your apartment?” she queries, her voice high and laced with worry.

I shake my head. “He’s taking you home, Princess. To the side of Ravenshoe where you belong.”

“I thought… I thought you said I was staying with you until all this blew over?”

Her confusion intensifies when I shake my head. “I said you were staying with me until the men who mugged you were held accountable. That has happened, so there’s no reason for you to stay with me anymore.” My words come out strangled since I had to fight my mouth to relinquish them.

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