Infraction

Infraction

Copyright © K.I. Lynn

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are
products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

This work is copyrighted. All rights are reserved. Apart from any use as permitted
under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in
a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without
prior written permission of the author.

Cover image licensed by depositphotos.com/ ©Moguchev

Cover design by L.J. Anderson

Editors

Chanse Lowell

D Beck

Marti Lynch

Serenity Jones

Publication Date: September 3, 2013

Genre: FICTION/Romance

Print ISBN-13:
978-0615867854

Copyright © 2013 K.I. Lynn

All rights reserved

I
NFRACTION

by

K.I. Lynn

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to:

My husband, David, for his support and encouragement in my writing endeavors. Crystal,
for without her friendship, support, and guidance I would never have entered this
journey. Massy, for being the voice of wisdom and clarity. Stephanie, for sharing
is caring. Kyla for her sessions. Nyddi for her unending encouragement and help through
this process. Deborah for her support and teachings. Chrisann for her perspective
and love of lemons.

Last, but very much not least, to SM for writing a beautiful love story that helped
me find the passion in life I was missing, and the fandom for bringing me friends,
family and the courage to spread my wings.

Words can never express my gratitude and love to you all.

C
HAPTER
1

I
woke to throbbing pain throughout my body, a pounding headache, and the sound of
my name. It was faint, but growing in intensity as it moved toward me.

My eyes opened, and I looked around, seeing the door of what I recognized as a hospital
room.

“Lila! Lila!” Nathan’s voice cried out. It was a frantic, panicked tone I had never
heard before.

“Lila!”

“Mr. Thorne! You need to return to your room!” was screeched at him by who I assumed
was a nurse.

“Lila!”

“Don’t pull that out,” another voice scolded.

“Lila!” he wailed, and it sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

It was clear he was ignoring the nurses as his search for me continued; they were
threatening to call security.

“Lila!” he called out again, desperation flooding his tone. He was louder, only one
room away.

My chest tightened, and my heart began beating at a furious pace.

Seconds later, his hands appeared on the doorway, bracing himself while his eyes searched
for me.

I gasped when I took in his appearance; he was wearing nothing but a hospital gown.
One tube hung from his wrist, hanging down on the ground.

His expression was what had me in shock and my heart wrenching. Tears streamed down
his pink cheeks; his eyes were wide and frantic, a look of despair overpowering all
other emotions.

As soon as his eyes met mine, his body relaxed, and his face morphed into one of relief
and joy.

“Lila!” he cried out once more, stumbling toward me.

He reached out and grasped onto the sides of my face, his forehead leaning onto my
bandaged one.

“Oh, thank God. Thank God, you’re alive.”

Warm tears landed on my cheeks as he continued mumbling. I stared at him in stunned
silence. This was not the Nathan I knew. The mask was gone, and for the first time
I was seeing the true Nathan without any inhibitions. He was raw and lay bare before
me.

He was stunning. More beautiful than usual in his agony.

I didn’t move, I didn’t speak, I lay there stunned. He was crying.

Nathan
was crying.

One of his tears dropped, sliding down to my lips. My tongue peeked out to lick it
away, and my taste buds danced, registering the salty evidence, proving I wasn’t imagining
it.

“Nathan, what’s going on?” My voice was thick, my throat dry, and I began to wonder
how long I’d been out.

He pulled back from me to look into my eyes. “You don’t remember?”

I shook my head and immediately stopped when I found how much it hurt. My vision spun,
and my eyes were having trouble tracking.

“You were in a very bad accident…” he trailed off, and his eyes moved from mine, looking
over my whole body.

I could tell I was hurt – the throbbing and shooting pain when I tried to move was
proof enough without the excruciating breaths. His expression told me I was as bad
off as I felt. His fingers ran over my gauze covered arm. I realized my whole arm
was wrapped when he pressed his fingers to mine. He moved back up to my head, inspecting
the bandage and gauze that was wound around it. With light strokes he ran the back
of his fingers against my cheek, and even that hurt. I was certain I didn’t want to
see a mirror at that moment.

He stayed clear of my leg, which was good as I might have punched him if he touched
it because it hurt so much already.

“I’m so sorry. This wouldn’t have happened if I…”

His being there, his pain, made me angry. His apology even more so. “If you
what
? Hadn’t left me? Broken me? Left me a shell of the paper thin person I already was
before you? If that’s even possible.”

“All of those. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

My jaw clenched, another thing I found painful, as annoyance took over. “You didn’t
do this physical damage to me. What you did was far worse.”

“Please, Lila, please!” he begged in a whisper.

My chest felt like he was stabbing me with a knife, and in an angry fit I lashed out.
“Please, what?”

“Please, I’ll tell you everything, anything you want to know if you… Can we start
over? I need you so much.”

My tone was harsh. “Why? Why did you leave me if you were going to beg for me back?”

“I’m so sorry I did this to you, to
us
. I was trying to protect you, and myself.”

“Protect you from what exactly? What did you need protection from?”

“From losing you the same way I lost…my wife,” he admitted, his eyes screwed tight.

I swallowed hard, absorbing his words. There was a twinge in my chest that had nothing
to do with my injuries and everything to do with him. My anger subsided for a brief
moment, but bounced back.

“And what were you protecting me from?”

“From the Marconi family.” His eyes were boring into mine, beseeching me to understand.

My eyes widened. The Marconi family was well-known for their criminal connections.
Their reach was mostly the northeast part of the country.

I was hesitant with my next question as I wondered what he’d been involved with in
the past. It left me wishing I’d read those articles about Nathan instead of closing
them down. “Why would you need to protect me from the Marconis?”

He sniffed and another tear slid down his cheek. “Because if they found out about
you, they would kill you like they did her.”

I stared at him, slack-jawed. He’d mentioned his condo wasn’t in his name. It was
evident to me now it was part of his hiding. “Why did they want to hurt her?”

“They were trying to kill me.”

“Oh.” My lips pressed into a thin, taut line. My head was pounding, and as much as
I was happy he was opening up, I just wanted him to go.

“I can’t let that happen to you.”

“So you let me go? Were you ever going to ask me what
I
wanted? Were you ever going to tell me and let
me
decide for myself to risk my life to stay with you or cut all ties? Do you feel anything
for me?” I needed some answers right then, though I wondered if they would be enough.

“I feel
so much
for you. I tried to stop it. I knew it could happen with you—I sensed it from the
beginning. The pull I feel to you is so strong. I tried to will myself
not
to develop these feelings for you, but you just won’t fucking be denied!”

“I don’t understand what the fuck you’re saying,” I grumbled.

“I’m saying Darren was right. I tried so hard to deny it, to deny
you
, but he saw it. He said I was being selfish by leaving you, that I did it because
I didn’t want to be hurt again, that I was a coward for it. He was right. He saw it
from the moment he arrived at the hospital when you were unresponsive.”

My brow scrunched. “Dr. Morgenson? How do you know him, and what did he see?” My patience
was running thin, and Nathan’s head shook, making it worse. “Just fucking say whatever
it is you’re trying to say!”

My chest protested, screaming at me, and I laid my head back down. The pain was almost
unbearable.

He looked at me, his face torn as he studied my features. His mouth opened and then
closed again, the words stuck.

“He knew that I’m in love with you.”

My eyes widened, my mouth dropping in shock as my brain attempted to process what
he had said.

“I love you, Lila,” he declared. “I’m so scared about what that means for you.”

My heart skipped a beat as words I had longed to hear slipped past his lips. The problem
was they were tainted by the darkness he had carved in my heart.

I laughed; it was a harsh one, my bitterness soaking through, and he flinched in response.
“You love me? Then why did you leave me?”

“I’m sorry, I…”

“You love me? You’re sorry? Do you somehow think that makes everything better?” I
asked, my voice growing in volume despite the protest in my lungs.

“No.”

“Then what, Nathan? What the fuck do you want?” I asked, tears welling in my eyes.
I needed to know. He needed to tell me. No more hiding.

“I…” he began, and then shook his head, his eyes pleading with me for some sort of
unknown understanding.

“Out.” My right arm lifted, despite the pain, and pointed toward the door. The chance
was given for him to give me something, anything, but he didn’t take it.

“Wait, Lila, please,” he begged.

“I said get the fuck out!” The action of yelling caused my eyes to grow wide as an
agonizing fire ripped its way through me, my injuries protesting my movements.

My breaths became shallow, each harder than the last. The beeping on the machines
increased.

Nathan stepped toward me, and I growled at him in warning. “No! Out!” My hand grabbed
hold of the ice water on the stand next to me, and I threw it at him. The lid popped
off when it crashed into his chest. The cold water spilled all over him, and he wore
an expression of utter shock while the sound of the plastic, hitting the hard floor,
filled the room.

I screamed out, the pain from jostling my body so intense a white light clouded my
vision. In the background, Nathan was calling to me along with other voices, coaxing
me to calm down, but all I could pay attention to was my own gasping breaths and shooting
pains coursing through my body.

I was crying out in pain between the pants. Every sound I emitted caused the stabbing
in my chest to flare, which would cause me to scream yet again. It was a vicious cycle.

It took a while, but with the help of some drugs, I regained a normal breathing pattern.

“Ms. Palmer… Delilah, I’m Dr. Thomas. Do you recall how you were injured?” he asked,
and I shook my head. His hand reached out and stopped the motion. “It’s okay, not
too much. Now that you’re awake, I’m hoping we can better assess your injuries. As
of right now, we know you have a broken leg. You also have multiple lacerations that
we’ve stitched up. We’re going to evaluate you and go from there, all right?”

I nodded in response, and nurses began taking new vitals while fingers poked and prodded
me. I may or may not have hit one of the nurses when my leg was bumped, but thankfully
they understood.

For what felt like the next millennium, I was examined and moved about, left with
nothing but my thoughts to keep me company. The nurses tried to draw me into conversation,
but I wasn’t paying attention. What had me was him: Nathan. Everywhere in the hospital
I went, I could still feel him. My eyes searched for him as they wheeled me down corridors.
I never did see him, but I knew he was near. After everything, there was still that
rope that bound us together, pulling me to him.

Sixteen hours, seventeen x-rays, and one CT scan later, the tally was in: bruised
ribs, broken tibia and fibula which needed surgery to be realigned with a metal rod
to hold the bones together, sprained left wrist, a concussion, and a linear skull
fracture. To top it all off, I had multiple lacerations to my arms, legs, and head,
and bruises with various scratches that covered my body. I was also informed I would
not be leaving the hospital until after the surgery to fix my leg. My surgery was
scheduled for Tuesday, and if I was lucky, I would be released on Wednesday.

It was going to be a very long week.

They gave me lots of medicine for the pain, and I soon found myself drowsy. After
a small fight I gave up trying to stay awake and fell into a deep sleep.