Page 52 of Wrathful King
My heartbeat slowed. Faces swirled before my eyes. Papà’s. Grandma’s. Dante’s. His. The little boy whose stars had swallowed me all those years ago.
Then the world went pitch black and the horror’s shadow disappeared. I knew it would be back.
19
AMON
“Okay, everyone out,” I gritted as I laid Reina back on her bed. I hated sedating her. It wasn’t the right way to help her heal. “The therapist said not to crowd her, so why am I finding you both in here? I’m guessing she knows about her sister now? Goddammit. None of this was in her treatment plan.”
She’d been crystal fucking clear with her instructions. Why couldn’t anyone follow them? Reina needed time and space, not to be overwhelmed by things she couldn’t control.
“I showed up and Tomaso was still here.” I swear to God, Reina’s grandmother was a pain in my fucking ass. If her concern for her granddaughter wasn’t so deep-seated, I’d send her away. “I think she’s getting better,” she stated calmly, causing me to do a double take. Was she fucking blind? “Well, aside from the stress of Phoenix being unreachable.”
And I fucking lost it.
“Her visible scars are healing,” I hissed, eyes flitting over the yellowing bruises on her body, the gashes on her skin. “But there are invisible ones too. I know them as if they’re my own. Mutilations she’s hiding from everyone. So don’t tell me she’s getting better.”
The hurt in Diana’s eyes had me regretting the harshness of my words, but not enough to apologize. The time for seeing things through rose-colored glasses had long since passed. Reina was so fucking far from being better. Her screams at night kept everyone awake. The way she stared at a blank spot on the wall for hours without saying a word was even worse.
It would take years, if not a lifetime, of therapy to get my happy cinnamon girl back.
“You’re just mad because I had you kicked out of her hospital room three years ago.” Fury and ice shot through me at her words, rendering me speechless. She really thought that fucking little of me to think I’d stoop so low?
“If that were the case, I wouldn’t allow you to sit in my home and be around my wife.” The tone of my voice rippled with the undercurrent of anger that threatened to erupt. I already took accountability for that accident, harbored enough guilt. I didn’t need to get petty about it. “Watch what you say next, Diana, or you’ll find yourself back in England before the day is over.”
“I can say whatever I want. It’s a free country and I’m a grown-ass woman,” she hissed, glaring at me. “Besides, what do you want? An apology?”
“Those words never left my mouth. I understood your position back then, and I’ve moved on from that. Reina’s my wife though, and she needs to recover in peace. Without your drama. So either get on board or leave.”
Romero chimed in. “I agree with Amon. The last thing Reina needs is more stress. This is not helping her.”
“But—”
“Get out of this room and let her rest,” I hissed, my eyes locked on hers. She whirled around, smarting at my tone. With a terse nod at Romero, I left too so I could get my shit together.
So, for the next thirty minutes, I watched from the monitor as my sedated wife slept. This was the closest I could get to her without provoking her panic attacks. Fuck, I didn’t know how we’d get through this if the sight of me alone caused her condition to worsen.
It barely registered when Dante and Romero entered my office, and it was only when they were two feet away that I quickly switched the screen to my hacker’s report. They took a seat, eyeing me suspiciously.
I finally snapped. “What?”
Dante raised his hands as if in surrender. “I didn’t say anything.”
“But you thought it,” I grumbled. It was another side effect of sleepless nights and the distance Reina carved between us. I was cranky as fuck. My brother had been more than happy to call it out on several occasions.
“I heard what happened,” he stated. “I’m proud of you for telling the dragon off.” Dante wasn’t helping at all. “If you want me to talk to her, I volunteer to put her in her place.”
I shot him a dry look. “I bet, but I got it.”
Romero actually rolled his eyes. He and Dante weren’t exactly amicable, per se.
“Reina will get better,” Romero stated. “She’s strong. She always has been.”
“But you need to be better too,” Dante added, watching me closely. “For her, if not for yourself.” The fact that he was right only pissed me off more. He was the irrational one and I was supposed to be the reasonable one. “Besides, you’ll need your energy once my half sister and I gang up on you.”
Fuck, I wouldn’t mind that at all. It would mean she was well enough, and I’d happily take whatever they had to give.
“Let’s focus on filtering through this report,” I finally said. “We have to locate Hiroshi and the others.”
