Page 10 of Beautifully Broken
Chapter 6
Ezra
Blaire stares at me with nothing but hatred written on her beautiful face.
Leaning against the doorframe, I allow my gaze to move over her body. “What’s the matter, Ivy? The bed not to your liking?”
She lets out an exasperated sigh and falls back to rest against the headboard. “Where am I, Ezra? And why the hell does it feel like I have a damn swimming pool inside my head?”
Fuck. That damn sass. It brought me to my knees when I was a horny teenager, and that hasn’t changed a decade later.
Not now, asshat.
Pushing off the door, I move to sit on the edge of the bed. Everything in me wants to be close to her. My body aches to feel her skin against mine, but right now, she looks like she wants to punch me again, so I will give her a break.For now.
A look of hatred falls over her.
“C’mon, Ivy. Don’t give me that look. You loved me once. Remember?”
Blaire crosses her arms over her chest and glances to the ceiling and lets out a frustrated sigh. Returning her gaze to mine, her voice is firm and void of emotion. “I am not dignifying that statement with a response until you answer my questions, Ezra.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself in check.
She doesn’t know what you have been through over the past decade, Ezra. She doesn’t understand that you had no choice.
I run my tongue piercing along the top of my mouth and take a deep breath. I know she isn’t going to believe a single word I am about to say, but I know she won’t let me touch her if I don’t tell her the truth. If I can’t touch her, Ican’t help her get better and in turn, protect her from the monsters lying just beyond the penthouse walls.
“You passed out when I killed Tank. I knew if Tank was there, the rest of Carson’s minions weren’t far behind. So I did what I had to do to get you to safety.”
Her cheeks heat, and it feels as if she is shooting daggers at me with her fiery stare. “What exactly did you do to get me here? Wherever the hell here is.”
“I did what I needed to do, Blaire.” Standing up, I make my way to the window stretching from floor to ceiling and push back the curtains, giving her a clear view of Central Park. “Welcome to the city that never sleeps, Ivy.”
Blaire momentarily gets lost in the rainy cityscape. But it doesn't last long. “What. Did. You. Give. Me?” she says, through gritted teeth.
Fuck. I’m in trouble.
“Propofol. It induces a deep—”
Blaire sits up and tries to move but can’t.
It will take a few days for all the medication and trauma from almost dying multiple times for her to fully recuperate.
“You’re just like him! I–I need to get out of here. I can’t do this!” Before I can stop her, she flings her body to the side. She attempts to catch herself on her hands, but her arms give out, sending her crumbling into the hardwood floor.
I’m at her side in seconds.
“Ivy. Are you okay?” The second my hands touch her shoulder, she screams and scoots backwards to wedge herself between the nightstand and bookshelf.
I throw my hands up in surrender. It feels as if a knife just stabbed me right in the chest at the sight in front of me.
My once brave and full of life, keeper of my damaged heart, looks like a shell of her former self.
It’s my fault.
Her entire body shakes and I sit on the floor in front of her, giving her plenty of space so she doesn’t feel trapped.
Scrubbing my tattooed hand down my face, my eyes cast downward. “I’m sorry. If I had any other choice, I would have kept you awake. But the stresswas killing you. I had to get you out of that hospital. You were a sitting duck. I know I fucked up but—”
