“Ella…” He reached out to her and she jerked away from him.
“Get away from me.”
She walked across the room, choosing to sit in the other corner. Her mother followed her and she rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. She didn’t need comfort.
“Ella.” Her mother sat beside her. “Your father has been working against these gangs for the majority of his career. He knows how dangerous they are and he appreciates you helping to bring him back to us.”
“Don’t.” Ella shook her head. “Don’t you dare say what I think you’re going to say.”
“These people are not good people, Ella. Your father is not to blame for what went on tonight. You should have listened to him when he warned you numerous times to stay away from them.”
“Yes, I should have listened.” She laughed humorlessly. “Of course I should have. He fucking knows everything, including how I should live my fucking life. And of course, I wouldn’t want to do it the wrong way. I need to do it the way my fucking father tells me.”
“Stop saying the F-word.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Ella screamed the last one at her mother before standing again to leave the room.
She couldn’t do it anymore. She couldn’t be the nice doctor that cared about every fucking being on this planet. Rage filled her, and a part of her wanted Razor to come after her. She’d love to use her medical education on him to maximize pain and torture before she watched him take his last breath. If anything happened to Ryker, she would. She knew that without a doubt.
“You know he talked about you.”
Ella turned around to see one of the Roaming Devils. “What’s your name?”
“Parker. Everyone calls me Vampire, though.”
“Vampire?”
“As in bloodthirsty.” He shrugged.
“What did he say about me?”
He smiled. “He wanted to be with you. When he became president, that was his goal. To figure out a way that you could be part of his life without all the other bullshit raining down. He called you his saving grace. He was surrounded by darkness in his life and you were always his light.” Vampire scratched his chin. “You’ve known each other since you were what? Fifteen?”
“Yeah.” She folded her arms over her chest. “He always asked me for a pencil in homeroom. It was the only conversation we had with one another. Neither of us minded either.”
“He loves you.”
She nodded. “I know. I love him too.”
“I don’t think anyone questions that.” He leaned against the wall next to her. “I didn’t know what to expect when I met you. You were sick as a dog and jumped right in to sew him up like it wasn’t anything to worry about.”
She nodded. “I’m a doctor. Emergency medicine. I don’t know if that’s where I want to be anymore.”
“I’m pretty confident that you saved his life today.”
“Yeah.” She didn’t want to think about it. The look on his face as he’d shoved the knife into his stomach was enough to haunt her for years. The rapid blood flow had told her immediately that he’d nicked the artery. “He’s such a fucking bastard.”
The man laughed. “He can be.”
“What’s the deal with you? Aren’t you supposed to pledge loyalty or something to Razor?”
“Loyalty has been in question for a while now. Ryker is where the majority of the club wants to go. He’s not half bad, even if he is a fucking bastard.”
She snorted, glancing to the side as her father stepped out. The police were at the other end of the hall and she had a feeling that the cockroaches weren’t going away just yet.
“Can I say something?” Vampire asked.
“What?”