Page 99 of Gray Area

“Get him out of there,” the suited guy now snarls, showing his first real emotion and giving me a gauge for how much embarrassment he can take. Because that’s what is happening to him. He’s embarrassed that his team couldn’t handle me. And I like knowing that they couldn’t. It just shows me what kind of a fucking amateur show this is.

I’m still fighting whatever they gave me to put me out, so my head continues to hang. But I listen as there is a hushed discussion between the thugs and then the room is cleared out. Then footsteps, and some fancy fucking shoes come into my view, but far enough away to be just out of my reach. This guy is a quick study.

“You think you’re so fucking smart, don’t you, Falco?” the suited guy spits at me. “Worth billions, your fingers in every industry, acquiring more and more, but when it comes down to it, you’re just a fucking thug. Just like my father told you that you were, you son of a cunt.”

Chapter 61

VIVIAN

Atech takes me from the triage check-in to the curtained area where Kent is. His eyes are closed when I go in, and he looks so peaceful albeit beat to hell. He has oxygen in his nose and EKG leads on his chest. A rhythmic beep comes from the monitor above his bed, and his breathing is noisy as he gingerly moves his chest to get air in and out through his mouth, his nose too swollen to attempt to provide him the air he needs.

His eyes open slowly and he sees me, the beeping on the monitor increasing. “Vivian,” he croaks through cracked lips, wincing as he does. “I’m glad they got ahold of you,” he grunts out.

I step closer, worry painted on my face. “What happened, Kent?” I ask softly, looking him up and down.

“Declan,” he whispers.

“But why?”

Kent swallows slowly and pulls in a ragged breath. “He wanted me to push something through, a bill.” He wheezes in more air and then he grabs his side and starts coughing, the monitor on the side of him alarming.

“What bill?” I ask once Kent’s coughing settles down, totally confused.

“An FDA regulation,” he gasps.

“I don’t understand,” I say. “FDA…his company doesn’t own a drug company.”

Kent shakes his head. “Not yet. They want to get one, but they want everything in their favor to make money.”

“Oh,” I say, nodding. “So you refused?”

“Yeah,” Kent says, closing his eyes and grabbing his side. “I won’t put people at risk.”

“Of course not,” I agree. “I would hate that.”

“And he wanted you,” he said, his eyes opening and boring into mine.

I raise my brows. “Me?” I ask in surprise.

He nods and reaches forward, grasping my hand. “He asked me to leave you alone. I told him we were just friends, but he beat me harder when I said I wouldn’t leave you to a thug like him.”

Kent falls back, sucking air in, shallow breaths working hard in order to accommodate his broken ribs. The monitor alarms go off. I let him hold my hand, and he squeezes it emphatically as he fights to calm his body back to relaxation. Once he is settled, his lips part, and he looks at me under his lashes, seeming exhausted by the effort to speak with me.

I lean forward and Kent turns his face to me, ready to accept my lips on his, but I angle my face to his ear. “That is a beautiful performance, Kent. Now tell me the fucking truth,” I whisper and lean back to examine his face.

Confusion covers Kent’s face, his monitor beeping quicker as his heart rate rises. I remain stoic as I monitor his response just as closely as the equipment attached to him.

“W-what do you mean?” Kent asks, still holding the confused, constipated look on his face.

“I know there is no drug company, I know there is no bill, and I know that Declan didn’t beat the hell out of you because of that.”

“Vivian…”

I use my hand that is still holding his and pull him to me, causing him to call out in pain as he is lifted from the bed. “Declan would neveraskyou to leave me alone; he would tell you. And if you refused, you wouldn’t be alive right now,” I inform Kent in a whisper. “He loves me too much to let someone bother me. And you, Kent, are like a fucking cancer, one he’d have just removed,” I explain to him and then release his hand.

“So tell me what really happened.”

Panic has now seized Kent’s face, coupled with pain. “I told you—”

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