Cousins In Love: An Alpha Bad Boy Romance (Book 3) (29 page)

I don't know exactly how long I've been in this hospital, but all the medicine I've been on for the pain can't be good for the baby. Roman's baby. I wanted to ask the technician a million questions when they gave me my sonogram, but my throat is still so sore, so I couldn't ask much. I suppose there's no use in me asking anyway. What's done is done. I've been drinking like a fish, eating crap, and drugged up these last few weeks, but there's not much I can do about it now, but try to do better moving forward.

There are so many things I want to ask Sloan, but there's no way I'll be able to comfortably get the words out. Not all of them anyway. So I just ask the important stuff using one word prompts, starting with Blake. He was in the car too, and I'm worried that his injuries were far more severe than my own. If I remember correctly, I had my seatbelt on and he didn't.

"Blake," I say my second word to her.

Sloan's eyes drop to the floor.
 

"I'm not going to sugar coat this, babe. You've been through too much for me to do that. Blake ... is still in intensive care, but they expect him to be moved to a regular room really soon."

I close my eyes in painful remorse. What have I done? If I've been in intensive care for days, but he's still in there, what on earth happened to him?

"It wasn't the accident, Bitsy." Sloan assures me after reading my facial expression. "He only broke an arm and I think a rib from the accident. The crash only crushed and pinned your side of the car in. There wasn't as much damage on the driver's side. In fact, Blake's the one who was able to get out and get you some help. He was also here when you went into surgery."

I open my eyes wider and look at Sloan with bewilderment. Hoping she can understand that I am confused as to why he's in intensive care if everything she told me is true.

"It was Roman," she says bitterly.

"Why?" I try saying and cough a bit afterwards.

"Don't talk. Sip on your water." Sloan pours some ice water from a mustard colored pitcher into a Styrofoam cup. She seals it with a plastic top and straw and hands it to me. I take a small sip, almost afraid to swallow.

"It was all too much for him to find out at once. You met with he who will not be named, which you didn't tell me about, but that's an argument for another day. Shrek was also there, then you were in a horrible car accident, Blake was with you when it all happened, and then it was him who ended up saving you. So I think the Dark Knight just lost it. He lost his ever loving mind and beat the shit out of Blake as well as a few security guards for good measure."

That's when the tears start to fall and my body begins to violently shake. Everything I was trying to avoid was happening tenfold right before my eyes, and there wasn't a thing I could do to change it or make it right. Jade's warning suddenly pops into my head about trust and how Roman doesn't give it freely or give it twice.

The urge to vomit is overwhelming. I turn my body as best as I can to the side and throw up all over the floor and apparently Sloan's shoes as she rushes over to hold my hair back for me.

She doesn't at any time ask me about the baby. That pretty much confirms for me that she has no idea. She would have said something already, especially after I puked. I'm actually impressed to see that the doctors really enforce HIPAA laws in this hospital. They probably can't discuss my pregnancy with anyone, because I'm over twenty-one. Not even with my parents. Which reminds me ...

"Parents," I whisper while Sloan cleans up the mess I've made.

"They're here. They've been staying in a hotel close to the hospital. You've been in and out of it. Sleeping a lot. So you missed some of their visits, but they are here all of the time. Listen, Bitsy, I think I should call the nurse in. Tell him you threw up. It's a male nurse, and he's not half bad looking." Sloan smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. She's trying to be comforting, but I can tell that she's worried about me.

I try my best to return her smile and ask the question that I've wanted to know since I woke up in this place. The one question that I'm now frightened to ask.

"Where is he?"

She sighs deeply.

"He was arrested for the beating, but he posted bond. So he's home warm in his bed. Your parents convinced Blake to file a restraining order, so that the hospital would be forced to bar him from visiting you. I suppose if it wasn't for the restraining order, he'd be camped out in your room every single moment of the day."

Oh God ... maybe my parents do know about the baby.

"Your parents are at the hotel getting some rest." Sloan tilts my cup of water as a directive to take another sip. "We've all been taking shifts. Me, Juliette, and them. Even if we weren't allowed in your room, you haven't been alone for one second. Someone was in this hospital 24-7. They'll be back tonight, but I can call them now if you want."

I shake my head no as best I can, and I begin to cry harder than I think I ever have in my life. My life is a complete mess, and I have the nerve to be bringing a new life into my mess.
 

Sloan slides her chair over as close as she can to the side of the bed and starts combing her fingers through my hair. "Shh, Bitsy. It's going to be all right. I promise. It's all going to be fine. I'm just glad you're okay."

I close my eyes as the tears continue to roll down the sides of my face and inside of my ears. Everything is not okay, and all I want to do is go to sleep and wake up ten days ago.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

SLOAN

"I have to admit that this is very awkward," Is how I start the conversation.

"How so?"

"I don't like you even a little bit."

"The feeling is quite mutual."

"You seem broodier than usual."

"How very astute of you."

"I suggest you adjust your tone if you want my help."

I'm wearing a curve hugging jersey dress, a pair of knee high, leather boots, and my Burberry trench that my parents bought me last season for my birthday. Not only do I look good, but I'm feeling like quite the badass, superior bitch right now. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd have the Dark Knight right where I wanted him. On his fucking knees. Figuratively that is.
 

With his oversized body, scarred face, and tatted skin, he is the king of his gutter world, but in the soft and safe land of my best friend Elizabeth Hill, he is nothing more than a mere peasant; and I hold the only opportunity for him to gain entrance back into Bitsyland. It's the ultimate example of karma.
 

Treat people like shit and shit happens to you.

Elizabeth's recovery has been painstakingly slow. The healing process of broken bones, a concussion, and damaged vocal chords is no joke, especially when you're heartsick, and she's definitely heartsick. She misses the jackass like crazy, but she's also carrying around a tremendous amount of guilt over what the lunatic did to her employee Blake.
 

He beat that beautiful golden-haired Viking of hers so badly, that his jaw is wired shut for eight to ten weeks. I'm not even sure how you pull something like that off in a hospital emergency ward full of doctors, nurses, and security staff, but he managed to get it done. Honestly the guy should be in jail right now, but I suppose he knows a lot of people in very low places who help him maneuver the system and keep him out of jail all the time.
 

No justice, no peace.

"You listen the fuck up, Glamazon–"

"No, you listen. I have a name. It's on all my official documents. My birth certificate. My license. Hell, my daddy gave me that name." I point directly to his face. "And you're going to call me by that name, or we aren't going to continue this conversation.
You feel me?
" I say satirically mimicking one of his usual go to phrases.

He thumps his fist on the table we're sitting at in The Lotus in anger. Maybe to get my attention, or maybe to get a reaction out of me, but his temper tantrums mean nothing at this point. He needs me, and I don't need him. Pure and simple. He's the one that better play nice.

"All right,
Sloan
." He says my name like there's garbage in his mouth.

"Good!" I clap my hands together. "Now we're getting somewhere. What do you want to know?"

Roman is on the outside of the circle of trust. Even though he isn't in jail, he's been barred from the hospital. I think forever. Bitsy's parents won't take or return any of his calls. Juliette and Joseph were so angry with him for embarrassing the hell out of them in the hospital that they've cut off his Elizabeth information pipeline. At least temporarily. Juliette has been known to slip when it comes to her stepson. She has a soft spot for him.

Elizabeth's phone was trashed in the accident, and she doesn't want another one until she's out of the hospital. I figure she doesn't want to field calls all day from fair weathered friends and curious extended family members. So I am the only direct connection the Dark Knight has to his beloved cousin, and it's a fantastic feeling. I am now the overlord.

*Cue my evil laughter!*

"What's up with the parents?"

"They're leaving in two days, but they're coming back for her."

"What do you mean
for
her?"

"Obviously they want her to finish her recovery at home with them. It's normal for a girl's parents to want her close after something traumatic happens like this."

I love seeing him sweat.

"I've been trying to be respectful,
Sloan
, but I'm running out of patience," he blusters. "They're trying to take her from me. Everyone is trying to take her from me."
 

He sounds like he's going a bit batshit if you ask me.
 

"And that is never going to happen. She's mine, and she belongs with me."

"And how exactly have you been
respectful
? You've only stayed away from the hospital, because legally you aren't permitted within twenty feet of the building. Don't act like you're staying away out of respect for Bitsy or her parent's wishes. The reality is that you don't have a choice."

"I would think that
you
of all people would know better than that. I could throw some money at that place, and in ten minutes they'd throw a red carpet down for me that leads straight to Elizabeth's room. Trust me, I'm giving her parents what they want ... for now."

"You mean what Elizabeth wants."

"She doesn't want this."

"You sure about that?"

"Let me get you up to speed. Elizabeth is having my baby."

I almost choke on my own salvia. What the hell did he just say?
 

"Your baby?"

"That's right." He grins triumphantly. Like he's won some sort of prize.

"She never told me anything about being pregnant. We were just out drinking–"

"She didn't know she was pregnant then. She just found out. So like I said, I'm pretty sure that distance isn't what she wants. We just need to talk. I have to clear some things up."

"Oh you mean clear up the fact that you went to Miami to see about a kitty
Kat
?"

For a moment there, it looked like I caught him by surprise. I wonder if Bitsy is seriously considering having this guy's baby.

"There's nothing going on there."

"Really? So you go to Miami and barely say good-bye to Elizabeth, because there's nothing going on? That's real confusing."

"I didn't ask you here to talk about Miami."

"Listen, I don't know what I can do for you or if I even want to do anything for you. You don't seem remorseful one iota about Blake, you have some mystery bitch in your life, and you always complain about Bitsy spending any time with me. Her cutting you off actually works out for everyone's benefit if you ask me. There's no real motivation for me to help you."

If looks could kill, I'd be at the bottom of the Delaware River right now. The Dark Knight wants to throttle me. Good. He needs to feel a little pain right now. Baby on the way or not, he fucked up. We were all frightened about what happened to Bitsy, and maybe Blake did say something out of pocket to him back in that exam room. I don't know. None of us will really ever know all the words that passed between the two of them, but what I do know is that taking it out on his face like that was not the answer. It only made things a hundred times worse. Maybe in his world that's what you do, but not in ours, and I come from a crazy family of professional athletes. They fight all the damn time, but they definitely don't put people in intensive care.
 

Roman doesn't just punish, he obliterates.
 

Bitsy is smart, driven, and non-confrontational. She's supposed to be with men like Blake, or Jagger, or some other good looking square who just wants to marry her, put nerdy babies in her tummy, and move her back to the 'burbs.

"When's the last time you've been out on a date?"

What a strange question. Probably trying to mess with my head.

"What does that have to do with anything that we're talking about right now?"

Weirdo.

"Answer the question."