Page 83 of The Toy Collector

Her voice sharpens. “You want her to be okay? Then go burn off some of that rage somewhere else. You hovering won’t help her breathe.”

My glare cuts toward Voss, but she doesn’t react. “Let me make myself as clear as I know how to,” I growl. “I. Am.Not. Leaving.”

Instead of cowering, she pins me with a glare of her own. “Just don’t get in my way, Lorenzo.”

She turns her attention back to the monitors and starts adjusting the IV drip. I stand just behind her, close enough to make her aware of my presence, but far enough that she can’t accuse me of interference.

Voss works quickly, efficiently, then steps back, scribbling something onto a chart before peeling off her gloves. “I’ll be back to check on her in twenty. If there’s any change, hit the call button. The nurse will stay in the meantime.”

A moment after she leaves, a younger woman steps in, trying to avoid making eye contact. Ignoring her, I pull a chair to Piper’s side and sit, bracing one arm on my knee, the other wrapped tightly around her hand.

“Everything looks fine,” the nurse says. “I’ll be in the back if you need anything.”

I don’t look away from my toy, don’t even bother to nod.

Time passes, but I don’t measure it in minutes. I measure it in the number of times her fingers twitch beneath mine. In the slow rise and fall of her chest. In each fucking heartbeat that the machine insists on announcing like it’s doing me a favor.

The nurse comes in every thirty minutes on the dot. She checks vitals and does whatever else she needs to do. Hell, she even makes polite noises that I completely ignore. Luckily, she stops trying after the third visit.

Cy sticks his head in at one point. “Still nothing?” he asks, his tone as grave as I feel.

“No.”

He doesn’t ask me anything else, he just comes over and squeezes my shoulder once. “Ben’s locked down. He won’t be a problem,” he informs. “You want me to stay?”

“No.” My voice is a knife. “And don’t you dare fucking touch him, Cy. Ben’s mine.”

“Of course.”

I order him to find everything he can on the Jacks family. I want to know where Ben’s parents went to school, where they got married, what investments they’ve made. They don’t know it yet, but they’re about to lose everything.

Cy nods once before leaving again.

The nurse also leaves eventually, with a murmured, “She’s stable. Call if you need anything.”

As I reply with a one-word answer that barely registers in my brain, I keep staring at Piper like I can force her to wake up with sheer will. She looks like a wax doll as she lies there. Too still, and too fucking quiet.

Fuck!

I try to stop myself from thinking about what almost happened. But with nothing else to do, the thoughts come rushing in. I squeeze my eyes closed, and let out a huffed breath.

My toy came close to being raped.

Raped…

It’s the first time I allow myself to admit what I walked in on. Ben fucking Jacks drugged my toy and intended to rape her.

A feral growl builds in my throat, but I squeeze Piper’s hand tighter, letting the touch calm me. I can’t lose it here, not when she needs me. My breathing turns ragged from the effort, but I manage.

Rather than thinking about whatcouldhave happened if I hadn’t found her in time, I force my thoughts on whatwillhappen once she’s safe.

Yeah, when I say his family is about to lose everything, I mean it. The only one who has to die is Ben. But the rest will be left to deal with the rubble. And when that bastard pays for what he did—because Iwillmake him pay—I’ll make sure he knows exactly why he’s dying.

“They’ll all fucking suffer,” I vow as I drag my thumb across Piper’s knuckles.

It’s hard to imagine it was only this morning she came for me in her sleep. I miss her breathy moans. Fuck, I miss her sassy attitude. I’d give everything I have to hear her chew me out, it would be better than this hollow silence.

I don’t know how long I sit like this. My back’s stiff. My jaw’s clenched so hard I might crack a fucking molar. I shift in the chair, careful not to disturb her. I can’t stop staring at her. At the way her hair brushes her cheek. Leaning closer, I move the strand in case it bothers her.

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