Page 83 of Don't Break My Heart
“He was already dead, they both were.” Orlando looks at me, and I can see he’s not even surprised. Actually, he looks proud of me.
“Last time I save your life, motherfuckers.” I grin at them as best I can with my sore face.
Onyx drops down to his knees in front of me, and his hand comes to my face. I wince away from him, wishing he didn’t have to see me like this. I know it must kill him. I still can’t open one of my eyes properly and my whole face throbs like it’s taken on a life of its own. I can only imagine how bad I look in their eyes.
He glances back at Reef and Romeo. “That was the shooting we heard. Fuck, trouble, we thought we were too late.”
I pull the hand grenade from my pocket. “I guess you can have this back.” I pass it to Orlando.
His brow shoots up. “What the fuck did you plan on doing with that?”
I shrug, looking between them as I sit up, still with Orlando’s arm around me for support. “Blow him up.” I look at Orlando and Romeo. “After you signed his fucking papers” —I motion to the now very bloody papers lying just beside Valentine— “he was going to send you two off on a boat and make sure you never made it to land. I wasn’t going to let that shit happen.”
Romeo and Reef move into my side, both of them hugging me softly one at a time. It’s then I realize they are all messed up, their clothes torn, their faces battered like they have been in a fistfight.
“Fuck, we’re lucky to have you,” Romeo says, and I hear the pride in his voice.
Reef takes my hand in his, and I flinch away in pain. Gently he looks it over. “We need to get you to a doctor. This looks horrific.”
Chapter 35
Theboyswerenevergoing to let Valentine do any of the things he thought he would get away with. They came to the island prepared. So much so, they came in at the back of the island and parked their boat at the old rundown ramp I found the night I tried to escape Orlando. They had a plan, and I’m sure it would have worked, but I’m thankful we don’t have to play the what-if game and I had already taken Valentine out.
When we got off the boys’ boat at Ravens Hollow, they drove me straight to Harley’s clinic, their handsome faces etched with worry. The fog that has been clouding my head since Valentine threw that bucket of ice water over my head is starting to clear, and the events of the last day are coming back to me in crystal-clear vision. Orlando getting me out of there through that trap door and the noises coming from the boys’ apartment are just a couple of questions I have for them.
“What the hell happened to you guys last night?” I whisper as we wait for Ricky to come and look me over. “We could hear banging and crashing. Is the apartment still in one piece?”
“Valentine sent in ten men to attack us. It was a fucking distraction, but we didn’t know that,” Romeo says, and I hear the disappointment in his tone like he thinks he failed me.
Onyx looks my way from his place leaning against the far wall. “Malachi thinks he was able to hack into our server and disarm the alarm system without me knowing. I’m still trying to work out how he did it.”
“Don’t worry about the apartment, wildcat, your brothers have already got it all back in place for you to come home.” Reef smiles softly, and I can see he’s trying for me even though he’s shaken. He and Romeo have both taken seats on the other side of Ricky’s desk.
I glance at Orlando, sitting beside me on the doctor’s bed, his hand resting on my thigh. “The other thing I can’t work out is how did you get into my room? That place is five stories up. Unless you have some sort of superpowers I’m not aware of, it would have been impossible.”
“I was already there. Got in about half an hour before his men arrived. We thought we had enough time, but Valentine was one step ahead of us.”
“That’s why you took me through that trap door? Who owns that place anyway, and why weren’t they home?”
“That’s my place, or it was before I started living upstairs with you and the boys,” Onyx says. “Has been since Jagger did up the building.”
“Oh,” is all I can say back to that, because how didn’t I know where Onyx lived all this time?
Ricky knocks at the door then enters the room. “Reception told me you needed to see me.” He looks between the five of us, a brow raised in question. “Wasn’t expecting all of you.”
“Sloane’s been attacked, she needs medical attention,” Onyx tells him as if it’s not obvious with the terrible bruising on my face and hand.
Ricky shines a little penlight in my good eye, then he listens to my heart with his stethoscope. “You will need a couple of X-rays. My guess is your cheekbone is busted, and there is at least one break in yourhand. You could have a minor concussion as well. You need to take it easy over the next few days.” He looks at the boys who all had to come into the room for my consultation. Control freaks, the lot of them. “Keep an eye on her, and if her symptoms get worse, then take her straight to the hospital.”
They all agree, their faces serious as Ricky talks. Truth is, I didn’t mind when they insisted on coming in here with me because they all need to be looked over as well. And I knew they wouldn’t if it were up to them. “Thanks, Doc.” I offer him a half smile, the best I can muster. “Can you look Orlando over next? His head looks nasty.”
“I’m fine,” he mutters under his breath, giving me a look that tells me to mind my business. But I don’t care. He’s not fine, and he’s not dying on me now from some brain bleed we didn’t know about.
“Why don’t I just have a quick look to give Sloane some piece of mind.” He smirks over his shoulder at me, that smug knowing look Ricky does so damn well.
Orlando huffs out a protest but lets Ricky approach him.
Ricky feels around Orlando’s scalp and looks over his bruising and the terrible lump. “I will have to send you for a CT scan. You could have a fracture, and we also need to rule out any bleeding on the brain,” he says as he shines the same little flashlight in his eyes. “You are, however, responding well, so it would be just a precaution.”
