“Why am I here?” I ask Keller again. He winces and his face turns red. Even under that hood I can see he doesn’t want to tell me. “Tell me, Keller!”
Sighing, he pushes back the hood, letting it fall against his back. Troubled gray eyes meet mine and I gasp. Flashes of tears, of screams, of the metallic scent of gunpowder assail my fragile mind. Frightened, I twist, yanking free from Keller’s grip and press the heels of my hands to either side of my head.
“Britt? Britt? What the fuck? Hey! Help! What’s happening?”
I curl up, screaming while pushing on my temples to try and purge the horrific visions. The machines attached to my body go crazy, beeping in a loud cacophony that only adds to my agitation.
“Move back, please.” A commanding voice enters the room.
“Fuck you, I’m not leaving her!” Even while I’m falling to pieces, the panic edging into Keller’s voice is obvious. Keller is on the verge of losing it.
“Sir, if you don’t step aside, I’ll have security remove you from the premises. You are not family and we can keep you out.”
“Fuck!”
Keller must do what they ask because several sets of hands touch me at once, causing me to flinch and let out a strangled cry. A stranger speaks. “Britton? Can you calm down?”
Blood, gunpowder, silver eyes, burnt rubber, more blood, so much blood… memory after memory pummels my mind as it splinters into fragments—ignorant bliss on one side, reality demanding to be set free on the other.
“Mona, push one milligram of Versed, IV.”
A soothing chill enters my vein and before I can piece together the images, my world goes dark.
* * *
When I wake up, it’s nighttime. The bright lights of the Vegas strip shine through the huge windows on one side of the room. Disoriented, I push myself to a sitting position.
The furniture is familiar. This is definitely my hotel, but not my room. A quiet snuffle next to me answers the question as to whose room it is. Keller is lying on his stomach, arms under his pillow, his face slack with sleep. My eyes trace over the intricate, traditional Thai sak yant tattoos on his back.
How did I get here?
My bladder cries for relief, so I slide out of bed and quietly take care of business. When I return, I sit on the edge of the mattress to watch Keller for a few minutes. He’s handsome all of the time, but without all of his hard edges and angry scowls, he is positively stunning. Sleep wipes away the constant fury, the hostility, the walls he puts up. I see Keller as he’s meant to be, young, relaxed, gorgeous—it breaks my heart that he’s filled with such anger and self-hatred.
We all have our demons.
Keller rolls to his side, slinging an arm out across the bed. His hand finds my waist and as strong as he is, I don’t stand a chance. Keller pulls me to his body, tucking me into his side and dropping a soft kiss on the back of my neck.
I melt into his touch, letting the safety of being in his arms quiet the noise in my head. There are so many questions, but do I really want to know the answers if it could jeopardize what I have with Keller? For the first time in a decade, I feel calm. The constant anxiety I carry around has been shed like dropping a heavy, dead outer husk, leaving me light and free to live without fear.
“Hey.” Keller’s muffled voice breaks me from my thoughts.
“Hey.”
I twist to see over my shoulder and Keller presses a chaste kiss to my forehead. Such a tender gesture from such a violent man. “You feeling better?”
I shift to sit up and Keller joins me, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His dark hair is matted in the back, sticking up in every direction. Beneath his gray eyes are heavy, dark circles. Keller looks tired. And adorable.
“I’m fine. I just… what happened? Please, tell me.”
Keller throws off the sheet and stands up, his perfect body on full display. Wearing only a pair of tight black briefs, he stalks over to the window, bracing one arm on the glass over his head, pressing his forehead to the smooth surface as he stares out at the lights of the strip.
“You… a… then… scary…”
I move closer—with his back to me, my bad ear prevents me from catching what Keller says. I run my hand down the silky skin over his spine and his chest rumbles with pleasure. “I’m sorry, K. I didn’t hear you.”
Keller breathes in and out slowly. I can see the muscles in his jaw pulsing. He still won’t look at me, blindly staring outside. “You had a seizure, Britt.”
My blood runs cold and my hand drops to my side. I take a step back, not wanting to hear the rest.
Keller spins around, his face a combination of fury and anguish. “That fucker Wolfe shoved me and…” He squeezes his eyes shut, causing the tendons in his neck to pull taut. “I hit you with my elbow.” Speaking through clenched teeth, he continues. “That asshole made me hit you and you hit your head and started convulsing. Fuck, Britt…” Keller swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his eyes still closed.