Page 95 of Hero Unbound

Theo’s phone rang from the corner of the ring, and he jogged over to grab it. It was Becky. He wasn’t sure if he should even answer.

Did she know about Eva’s secret? She had a right to know. Technically, she was probably risking her own license having hired Eva without checking her accreditations. But he also didn’t want to just blurt it out. He’d rather be there to support Eva as she told Becky.

“You going to get that?” Bear asked.

“It’s Becky.”

“You taking the Derek route and avoiding her too?”

No, he wasn’t. He was going to have to talk to her sometime. He pressed the accept button. “Hey, Becky.”

“Theo!” There was some sort of noise in the background, and he could hardly hear her. “My mom just called. Eva is in the ER.”

For a moment, his heart stopped. The worst thoughts possible went through his mind—the look of devastation on Eva’s face when she said she had to leave the horses.

Had she done the unthinkable? Tried to take her own life?

“What happened?” He could barely get the words out past his throat that was rapidly closing.

“She fell off some ladder in town. Hit her head. I’m not sure how bad—” Becky was going in and out. “I’m not there. I—”

“I’m going. I’ll be at the hospital in a few minutes.”

“Okay. I—” Her voice went out again. It sounded like she was on a plane. “—or how she’s doing.”

“You’re breaking up, Becky.” He tore off the rest of his sparring gear. “I’ll call you later.”

He disconnected the call.

“Sounds bad,” Bear said.

“Eva’s in the emergency room. Hit her head or something. I don’t know. I’ve got to go.”

Bear shooed him. “Go. I’ll get everything cleaned up.”

Theo was already running for his truck.

* * *

Theoall but ran into the emergency room when he got into town. He gritted his teeth when he was told no information about Eva could be released to him without her permission and was sent to the waiting room just down the hall.

He was already getting his phone out to call Lincoln—who might not be able to get him in the room with Eva but would be able to hack the hospital system and tell him exactly what was going on medically—when he saw Gareth sitting there.

He forced himself to stay calm. After yesterday and last night’s events, he couldn’t afford to put his hands on the other man again, no matter how much he might want to.

Gareth’s eyes narrowed when he saw Theo. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question. Nice shiner, by the way.” Theo didn’t care if the statement made him sound guilty of giving the black eye to him.

“The hospital called me since my fiancée”—Gareth’s word was a deliberate dig against Theo—“is still on my health insurance, and I’m listed as her emergency contact.”

What if you take everything Eva has said as the absolute truth?

His mom’s words bounced back through his head. Eva had no recollection of ever being engaged to Gareth, so Theo was going to take that at face value.Not that he was going to argue with Gareth about it. He could still be listed as her emergency contact without being herfiancé.

“Showing them our engagement pictures helped solidify it,” Gareth continued. “So, I should be going back there any second.”

Maybe Theo was going to have to put his hands on the other man after all. Because there was no way he was letting him back with Eva without making sure someone else—preferably himself—was there to run interference.

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