Page 91 of Isaac

My heart lurches in my chest, a cold knot of dread settling in my stomach.

I snatch up the phone and call him back. The line rings once, twice, before he picks up.

"Blade! Where the fuck have you been? I've been trying to reach you all night!" Jeremy's voice comes through the speaker, strained and frantic.

"Sorry. Was...preoccupied," I say, glancing back toward the stairs, where Hawk still sleeps, blissfully unaware of the shit brewing. "What's going on?"

"It's Jessica… She's been attacked. She's in the hospital." The words slam into me like a fist, knocking the breath from my lungs. "I need you here."

CHAPTER 25

DA— HAWK

The harsh wind coming at me from the rolled-down window bites at my skin as Isaac and I speed through the Vegas traffic. My heart races, adrenaline pumping through me like a drug, but it's not just from the situation with Jessica. The memory of last night—of things I did to his body and he to mine—still lingers in the forefront of my mind, making my pulse thrum erratically.

Isaac's confession about his time in prison gnaws at my conscience. And I can’t stop thinking of me as a traitor for letting myself be involved with him. It feels like a storm inside me where guilt and desire clash violently and I can’t make it stop anymore.

I say nothing, just glare out at the blurry cityscape zipping by. Even the roar of the engine isn’t enough to distract me from all the madness in my head. At the intersection, Isaac glances at me and I meet his gaze. We look at each other for a several heartbeats while the light is still red. I'm not even sure who reaches out first but the next thing I know is his hand grasping mine, our fingers intertwine like roads on an old paper map, and I find momentarily solace in the warmth of his touch.

We barrel into the hospital parking lot, skidding to a halt outside the entrance. There’s a man in a security guard uniform waving his hands at us, screaming that we can’t park here.

Isaac does what only Isaac can do—a perfectly choreographed scene from a high-stakes mobster movie. He pulls out a crisp hundred-dollar bill from his wallet and hands it to the guy along with the fob. "Park it where it won't get towed," he instructs. "You'll catch another Benjamin if both you and my fob are here when I come back."

The guy says nothing, standing flabbergasted in response.

We rush inside where the sterile environment offers no comfort. Jessica’s in ICU on the third floor and each second the elevator ascends is an eternity steeped in silence and smothered with dread.

It’s only by chance that there is no one else inside but us and our fingers brush while we stand side by side. As soon as the doors swing open, he withdraws his hand.

Isaac Thoreau can't be seen like this. It breaks every unspoken rule for him to be caught in a moment like the one we just shared—touching another man so intimately.

I swallow down my disappointment. I understand.

Jessica is barely recognizable, scars intersecting with bruises sprawling across her skin. She’s unconscious, hooked up to the machine.

Jeremy stands by her side, his eyes red-rimmed and furious when he sees me. "What the fuck is he doing here?" he growls at Isaac, trying to keep his voice low as if that could wake his sister up. We all know it won’t.

Isaac dismisses Jeremy’s question and walks up to the bed where Jessica’s body is resting. She looks detached from reality altogether. He looks at her for a long time while I’m standing in the corner, feeling like an intruder but aware of the fact that I need to be here as Agent Dallas Bradley.

"He shouldn’t be here," Jeremy hisses out at Isaac again, firing off another death glare my way.

"He's here because I want him here," Isaac snaps back, his voice dangerous. "Understand?"

"Are you for fucking real right now?"

Isaac takes a deep breath and steps away from the bed. His jaw is clenched and his face is a mask I can’t read at the moment, a total contrast to the expression of fury on Jeremy’s face.

"Things went downhill after he came," Jeremy spits out hatefully into Isaac’s ear, an accusing finger jabbing at my direction. "Brainless not to see it. He has no business being around my baby sister. Now or ever."

"I’ll wait outside," I say quietly, not wanting to instigate further conflict between the two men.

Isaac glances at me over his shoulder as I move toward the door and something passes between us—a silent understanding perhaps that even if he wants me here, it’s best that I’m not.

I step out of the ward, giving Isaac and Jeremy some space to talk. The weight of the situation presses down on me like heavy fog, suffocating my thoughts. I lean against the wall, trying to regain my composure, but instead overhear Jeremy's rage through the thin hospital walls.

"Fuck, man! I swear, when I find the fuckers who did this to her, they're gonna wish they were never born."

"We'll handle it, J. You know we will. But right now, you need to focus on Jess," Isaac says, attempting to calm him down. But even Isaac's usually unshakable demeanor sounds strained.

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