Derek frowned at Li. “Could you go and wait for the ambulance? And make sure my people know she’s not talking tonight. They can take statements in the morning. Fisher and I both saw him trying to kill her. With that and Starr’s statement, we’ll be able to hold him no problem, but she doesn’t need to go anywhere but the hospital and home for tonight.”
He was being a little dramatic. Yes, it had been traumatic and she’d been scared, but she could handle it. Her job alone had taught her to be cool under pressure. He should know that. “Derek, I’m fine. I have a bump on my head and my arms hurt like hell, but I can certainly talk. Where’s Daley?”
She wouldn’t call him Master Will where anyone could hear. That was not for vanilla ears. He’d done nothing wrong except get caught in her drama. She would try to mitigate the damage for him in any way she could.
Derek helped her sit up as he unwrapped her breasts. Terry must have studied up because he’d done a fairly decent job of imitating Shibari. “He’s on his way to the hospital, too. He seems to have put up a hell of a fight before they took him down. I have no idea what they gave him. Something worse than you.”
“I think it was a sedative they gave me. The way Terry talked they gave Will some drugs. They wanted them in his system when you found us here.” She managed to not scream as the blood rushed back into her arms.
Derek noticed anyway. “Fucker. If he damaged nerves, I’ll kill him.”
He wouldn’t because he was one of the good guys, but he seemed to regret it at this point. “Won’t you please hold me?”
He stopped. “Karina…”
Her heart dropped. The case was over. He didn’t want anyone to see him touching her in anything but a helpful capacity. It was over.
She hadn’t expected that. She’d told herself she had, but she hadn’t. Somewhere in the back of her head, she’d thought that he would come around. He would see that she was right for him.
He didn’t.
She could hear a siren now. The ambulance.
More cops walked in, including the Rangers, and suddenly there was no more private talk. She was hauled up and given time to change. She found herself in Will Daley’s rather opulent bathroom.
Karina stared at herself in the mirror. She could see the marks on her face and rope burns on her body.
But the hole in her damn heart hurt far worse.
Chapter Twelve
“Is there anything I can do for you?” Avery sat down on the bed and reached for her hand.
Karina shook her head. “You should be at home with Aidan.”
Her son was only weeks old. Karina had no idea why Liam had called her. She was fine. After numerous scans and a horrific amount of blood work, the doctor had even said she was fine. She was going to be released as soon as the paperwork was done.
To go home to her empty place. She wondered if Derek had already had someone go and pick up his things or if he would offer her a ride home. Perhaps that was why there were so many of her friends up here. Li had probably called in the troops because he knew how hard this would be on her. She had no doubt she could lie about her feelings for Brighton, but it wouldn’t do her any good. Li probably knew.
That was just one more embarrassment to face.
Avery squeezed her hand. “Aidan is fine. He’s happily asleep at Ashley’s. I’ve been told that Jill and Ryan are babysitting as much as they can trying to figure out if they’re ready.”
The door opened and Ashley Paxon, soon-to-be Langston, walked in carrying a tray of what smelled like coffee. “Ryan won’t admit it but he’s scared of poop. Jill is trying to get him used to the quick change. If you don’t get in there fast, my baby girl will get it everywhere.”
Avery’s eyes widened. “I thought we agreed to not talk about poop around the civilians.”
Ashley grinned, looking even younger than twenty-five years. “Avery thinks if we lie and say it’s all easy that we can trick Big Tag into giving it a go. Grace is telling him that Carys is already almost potty trained.” Ashley shook her head gravely. “Yeah, so not true. As long as we keep him away from the Internet and baby info books, I think we can do it. Anytime a show with a baby comes on, Charlotte switches it over to porn. We’ll get him yet.”
Avery and Ashley had shown up an hour into her hospital stay with clothes and toiletries. They had sat at her side.
Derek had ridden with her in the ambulance. He’d made sure she was set up in a room and she hadn’t seen him since.
When he was done, she supposed he was done.
“Well, Li shouldn’t have called you. I’m fine.” She would have preferred to be alone. Avery and Ashley were just reminders of how singular she was. They were both happily married and starting their lives. She wouldn’t be doing that anytime soon. She hated the fact that she was thinking of her friends that way, but she’d settled into a nice little pity party.