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Through gritted teeth and as the needle slides in, I manage, “Don’t kill ’im. He’s mine,” before the drug takes me under.

The world comes back to me in bits and pieces and then a wild rush of panic. I’m prone, lying on what is more massage table than hospital bed, and staring at the floor. I try to lift my head but even that slight movement has my back—both the muscle and skin—screaming in pain. Both hands are heavily bandaged, visible just in my periphery.

“W’ere am I?” I can’t see if anyone is in the room with me, but I can’t imagine Hibou would leave me completely unattended. “Hey?” My voice is little more than a handful of gravel scraped across a chalkboard. I work my mouth, swallow a pitiful amount of saliva, and try again. “Hey. Where am I?”

“Settle, Grey. You’re a fucking mess. Don’t need you undoing all my hard work,” Hibou grumbles from somewhere down by my feet. “You’re going to be sore for a while, get used to sleeping on your stomach for the next couple of weeks.”

“My hands?”

“Yeah. Like I said, a mess. Couple good breaks in one, the wrist of the other. You’re lucky you’ll be able to piss on your own, but that shake’s going to be a challenge. Not going to beat the meat for a while either.”

“Jesus.”

“Nah, it was all me, buddy. Can’t say I got to play God with this one, but it was a fucking miracle I was able to piece you back together. You’re welcome.”

This fucking guy. He’s much more tolerable when I’m upright and intimidating.

“Liked you better when you weren’t quite so comfortable running your mouth. Can I sit up? This sucks.”

“Eh, not yet. I’m going to give you something for the pain, you’ll be out again in no time.” Sneaker-clad feet finally make it into my field of view. With them comes a really unwelcome poke to one of the wounds on my upper back. “The worst of it is up here and, you know, your hands, but you’re definitely going to want to give this some time.”

“Yeah, and that’s helping? You should pour salt in those wounds while you’re at it.” I mumble the asshole under my breath because the last thing I want is him poking and prodding at that shit any more than he already has. “Is Truie safe? Get me Garrick. I need him to check in on her.”

He huffs a laugh. “You’re timid little pink thing? She’s fine, better than fine. Didn’t know she had that kind of steel spine in her. Giving orders, standing up to the bossman.”

“She what now? What…? Where is she? She’s not here,” I insist. Wrongly, I should add.

“Pacing her suite like she’s got a cleaning list going for Lapin. Raising hell in the quietest way possible.” Those sneakers retreat, and I try to raise up again when I get a quick tap to my ribs. “Stay down, tiger, or I’ll tie you down myself.”

“Get her. Now. Or you won’t have a chance to tie shit.”

“You sure about this? You’ve looked a hell of a lot better, man. You want her to see you all fucked up and oozing?”

I don’t. But I do need to make sure she’s okay. I left her for what was supposed to be a quick meeting, a couple hours of shit I couldn’t do from the house, and then I was going straight back to her. Yes, I was going to fuck off work for a bit and get lost in her the way Christophe has with Winnie.

“I need her.”

“All right, man. You asked for it.” The door opens, and all I hear is mumbling.

“Dude. You have me ass up, feet toward the door? You want to throw a sheet over the lower half or are you trying to shock the shit out of anyone coming in here?”

“Didn’t know you were shy, Teague. Nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s a little cold in here,” he teases, but a sheet lands on my ass, folded low over my back just before the door opens again.

“Is he okay? Will he wake up soon?” Truie asks softly.

“I’m here, hummingbird. I’ll be fine soon enough.” It’s awkward as fuck staring at the floor while talking to her. I would give my left nut to be able to see her big brown eyes. See if she’s truly all right.

“Teague.” She says my name like a prayer.

There’s a light touch to my elbow, my forearm above the cast, before fingers run softly through the hair at the back of my head as knees lower to the ground in front of me.

My eyes fall shut at the sensation. “Not how I expected you to be on your knees for me, hummingbird.”

“Right, then,” Hibou says from somewhere to my right. “Let me just pop a little happy juice in your IV, and I’ll leave you to it.”

A cool tingling spreads through me, and a shiver runs down my spine as the saline flushes the meds through my veins. I don’t have much time, and I want to see her, look into Truie’s eyes and see for myself that she’s as unharmed as she can be.

“I’m going to try to time this. Get just enough pain relief that I can lift up and see your face before I pass out from the drugs.”