Page 35 of Control

“Come on. Let me take care of you now, baby girl.”

She lowered her head and took a mouthful of the sticky fluffiness on the fork. A drop of syrup smeared on the side of her mouth, out of reach of her tongue, which darted out to lick it off.

I couldn’t help the loud groan that came in response. “At the rate you’re going, I’m not going to have any motivation to listen to Nurse Ratched’s orders to rest.”

She swatted me gently on my bicep before falling into a fit of giggles.

•••

Claire spent the better part of the morning with me. Much to my disappointment, our make-out sessions never turned into kinky hospital sex. She was paranoid about my injuries and pulled away any time our kisses escalated. I would have let Nurse Ratched amputate my left foot if it had meant Claire would hop on my dick and ride me until the damn heart monitor exploded from a system overload. The longer I went without burying myself inside of her sex, the more desperate I became.Worst timing ever to get myself into a fucking car wreck!

And since she had heard the medical staff demand that I rest, she’d taken it upon herself to make sure that I heeded their orders.

She had only one class to teach today, which she had nearly bailed on, but I’d convinced her to keep her commitment. Shyam would be here soon to help me get home, and I was sure by now he had found out the real reason behind the car crash, and I didn’t want Claire around to witness his rage. There would be no holding my brother back once he started on me.

As if on cue, the door slammed shut and all I noticed was the fury blazing in my brother’s eyes.

“Hey, bro. Bring me any flowers today?” I couldn’t help the wise cracks that left my mouth. It was a nervous habit of mine to be a smart ass when I really should have been uneasy about a situation. This was one of those times.

Shyam lunged for me, nearly launching his body onto the bed on top of me. Grabbing the fabric of my hospital gown, he pulled my chest up so I was face to face with him, though my body from the waist down stayed on the bed. Pain shot through my chest, my ribs feeling like they were piercing through my skin.

“Shut up, you son of a bitch.” Spit flew onto my face as his face moved in so close that our noses nearly touched. “You nearly killed my wife,” he seethed.

“I know you’re angry, but—”

He shook me hard. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me about Leonid?”

“Because I was handling it,” I managed to say through gritted teeth. The pain was so agonizing that I broke out into a cold sweat that coated my skin.

Zayn had visited me soon after Claire left to let me know that Leonid and his men were behind the crash. The driver had been one of their Brothers stationed in America. My informant, Mikhail, hadn’t heard about the plans until after they had been unsuccessfully enacted.

Until now, Zayn had kept the situation with Leonid quiet from Shyam—that was, until Amelia had become a target too. Anyone around me was now a target, as well.

“She’s my goddamn wife, and you kept this from me? Were you ever going to tell me that you were involved in a war with the Bratva?”

My body slammed back down after he released my gown from his grip. “I said I’ll take care of it,” I groaned out in distress.

“The fuck you will! I left this business to keep her safe, and here you are inviting danger back into our lives,” he bellowed with his finger in my face. I hoped these hospital walls were sturdy enough to contain this level of commotion, or a lot of patients would be quaking in their beds right now.

“Look, I should have told you, but I figured that if I held back on his supply, he’d get the message that he couldn’t fuck around with me.”

“But instead, he decided to fuck around with me and my wife. This shit doesn’t only affect you, Jai. He’s not going to stop until he’s taken all of us down. What if Meena and Dylan had been in the car too?” He circled his index finger in the air and roared, “THIS. This doesn’t only involve you. If, God forbid, he comes after my children, I will kill you myself.”

My stomach churned thinking of Leonid murdering my niece and nephew, or maybe even worse—kidnapping them and using them for the same job that they had once intended for Amelia. I had seriously fucked up.

“Leave the business,” Shyam said, glaring at me.

“What?” My mouth gaped open in disbelief.

“You heard me. Leave it. Give Leonid all of it.”

I searched his face for any hint of humor but found none in his lethal scowl.

“Are you fucking crazy? This is our family legacy!” Our father had built this business with his own hands and he wanted me to throw it away? Hand it over to that scum? Maybe it was easy for him for to say that now, since he had left it without ever looking back. He had forgotten how he’d earned his millions in the first place.

“Don’t include me in this shit. You’re lucky Amelia walked away without a scratch; otherwise, I would have made sure you never lived to see another day.”

I should have been more careful, but what kind of message would I have sent to Leonid if I had given into all his demands? “Bhaiya, please.” I used the brotherly name that I had spent my entire childhood calling him, hoping he’d remember those days and forgive me. “I’m sorry. She’s my sister too and Iwillfix this. I swear to you.”

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